The
media plays a pivotal role in a democratic country like ours. We are gifted
with the media, as a fourth estate, which acts as a pressure group and ensure
the effective functioning of the three estates – the judiciary, the executive
and the legislature. The Constitution of India provides immense liberality in
terms of freedom of speech and expression, as a Fundamental Right, which has
been the backbone of the Indian media. With deep penetration of technology,
media has now-a-days been able to deliver its duties fantastically. The media
has been given extreme importance by all the people, right from a poor rural
Indian, to the elite corporate fraternity and to the highly positioned
politicians. Also, all of us do consider the media as a part and parcel of our
lives. This is evident from the fact that India has humongous news channels and
newspapers. There are over 72,000 publications registered with the Registrar of
Newspapers of India and over 350 news and current affairs channels. Also, India
is now the fastest growing and biggest newspaper market in the world; having
pipped China with currently over 110 million copies sold each day! The media
has been very functional in terms of exposing a number of crimes that our
society witnesses and in keeping track of those until justice is delivered to
the aggrieved. It has also been able to reduce the rural-urban divide in terms
of disseminating information on culture, technology, trends, etc. effectively.
Media
is not only playing this role of extreme importance in India, but in the entire
world. The recent struggle in many countries, to overthrow their rulers and also
to put a democratic system in place, widely referred to as the ‘Arab Spring’
was also largely successful because of the tireless and fearless role the media
played.
The
Indian media has certainly been successful to a great extent in raising
awareness about major issues among the entire 1.2 billion population of India.
It covers the entire length and breadth of the Indian Territory. It acts as an
eye opener to its viewers. The present day media, unlike of the past, has been
able to expedite the dissemination of information to a great extent, thanks to
the technology advancements.
The
Indian media is possessed with enormous power as it is the third eye of the
common man. The way media presents an issue to the viewers helps in shaping a
perspective in every common man’s mind. Hence, the way in which media presents
each and every issue becomes extremely crucial. It is capable of bringing small
issues to the fore and also showing major events in the dark. This
discretionary power of the media lies in the hands of the owners of media
houses and also the top editors. Hence it is highly imperative that these
people think rationally and in an unbiased manner.
The
media houses choose among various issues, taking into consideration the
Television Rating Points (TRP) they obtain. Having such an approach of
selectively categorizing issues can be highly detrimental and will lead to
biased publishing. For the greed of money, some editors give more importance to
only those issues which fetch them more moolah, often referred to as ‘paid
news’. Such acts done by some channels or publications can raise serious
questions on the credibility of the entire media, as a whole.
The
media also, at times deliberately divert attention from certain issues either
for their own vested interests or under pressure from the higher echelons of
the society. They, at times, blow hot and cold on issues which confuse the
viewers and also make it difficult for them to judge the situation. Civil
society movements are the most affected with such acts of the media. The
media’s unstable publishing of the recent anti-corruption movement and the anti-Koodankulam
nuclear power project are some of the examples to substantiate this.
The
media also reads too much between the lines causing more trouble to the people
involved. Politicians often fall into this trap of the media. Journalists,
reporters, writers and editors should hence not go too much in depth into the
issues, without proper background study. A media publication which did such an
act recently regarding the movement of Army units without prior notification an
issuing a warning of a coup, raised serious concerns within the army and also
the Prime Minister’s office. Such acts create a bad image on the media.
The
media also, by itself, investigates issues and conducts sting operations. Most
of these prove to be true. The recent sting operations conducted by the media
on the ‘tatkal’ railway ticket booking and doctors conducting illegal
sonographic tests and ‘selling’ of babies provided a good proof for the law
enforcement agencies to act upon. Here again the media should maintain its
‘lakshman rekha’. Recently, a video tape showing a senior politician in bad
light was aired without any proper background checks. Very soon it was removed
and stopped from being aired. Such acts can cause high damage to a person’s
integrity. The media should hence ensure the authenticity of the video tapes
and also take full responsibility of its publishing and should be ready to face
the ramifications.
The
media also shows nuance regional bias in publishing and covering the issues.
The coverage of to the recent Assam riots can be an example of this nuance
regional bias. Had such a riot happened in any other region other than that of
the North East, the manner in which the media handled the situation would have
been entirely different. Many critical issues happening in the north-eastern
regions of the Indian Territory has not been covered widely. It is only when
the issues boil and reach the peak; the media takes interest in those.
Similarly
issues regarding health care, nutrition, sports, etc. do not manage to hit the
headlines of our media and hence are underplayed.
However,
having said all this, when it comes to our democratic institutions, the Indian media
has never remained on the back foot. The media, in fact, has been highly
dynamic and pro-active in covering issues related to the judiciary, the
executive and the legislature. Hence, on issues related to administration and
governance, the Indian media has given special attention. This special
attention given to these estates make them more vigilant and perform their
functions effectively.
The
judiciary has been the most respected estate and the Constitution provides it with
enormous powers and hence the judiciary itself acts as a check to the executive
and the legislature. Even such a powerful judiciary is under a constant watch
of the Indian media. Media follows every trial; understand its judgments and
then carry further debate on it. Though it cannot make the judiciary change its
final decision by force, it acts as a strong pressure group and helps the
judiciary in knowing the public sentiments on certain issues of national
importance.
Cases
like the one of death sentence to the three perpetrators of the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination, the 1992 Bhanwari Devi gang rape case, the 1999 Jessica Lal
murder case, the more recent 2008 Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case, etc. were
and are, closely watched by the media. Some of these involved top politicians
but still the media has not deterred from publishing the news. Hence media
makes the judgments made by the judges, under public scrutiny. This attention
the media provide is functional and hence it does have an impact on the cases.
The
Indian executive is a huge organization and is responsible for the day to day
affairs of the nation. It is directly responsible for the growth and fall of
the nation due to the policies it adopt. The executive includes the bureaucracy,
with a plethora of civil servants and the council of ministers headed by the
Prime Minister. Even this large executive does not miss the media attention.
Each and every policy adopted or rejected is discussed at length by the media
and it explains to the common man why the particular action was taken and if
that action was right or wrong. This puts immense pressure on the working of
the executive.
But
the pressure put on the executive, is essential to make them perform their
duties in a better way. Had there been no media, the policy discussions and decisions
would not have been known to the aam admi at all. It would have remained known
only to the bureaucrats and the ministers.
Issues
like the 123 nuclear agreement, the international environmental summits, the
recent ones like the FDI in retail, the Lokpal, the MGNREGA scheme, etc. were
brought to the fore front by the media. The media does the work of an informer
and thus ensures true participative policy making.
The
legislature too is under the watch of the media. The exclusive television
channels for the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha keep showing live of what is
happening inside the Parliament. Media also does highlights when some serious
issue happens in the Parliament. The media hence helps people to be aware of
the discussions going on inside the Parliament and put forth different
perspectives before the people. Interviews with Parliamentarians help the people
to realize what the representatives elected by them, are doing for them. Such
interviews help the people to choose between the candidates in the future
elections. Hence media upholds our democracy.
Even
the work of various commissions and committees set up by the government are
under the media watch. When the Chairman of the National Commission for Women
had named the victim of the Guwahati molestation case in public, the media took
up the issue and debated it very constructively. It gave out a large message
that naming of the victim in public was wrong and that such commissions should
ensure that their members be more cautious while talking. Even the Thorat
committee’s report on the removal of 21 cartoons was debated at length in the
print and visual media. It raised
serious questions if the removal of content from the textbook just because
there was uproar in the Parliament was essential.
The
media also aid the constitutional bodies in spreading the message they send
out. The CAG reports, though opposed by many Parliamentarians because it named
some of them, were sent out to the public, by the media. The corruption and
mishandling of funds in government sectors was exposed by the CAG report and
the media did not abstain from publishing it. Many rules notified by the CEC
during elections are also sent out to the large public by the media, like the
caps in election campaign spending. Media themselves carry out investigations
to check the political parties. Even the Panchayati Raj Institutions are under
the watch of the media. Even the working of a village Sarpanch is keenly looked
by the media. Those which are bad are exposed and corrective measures are
ensured. Good too are exposed so that it sets a right example to the
neighboring villages. The media also
exposes the works of a number of RTI activists, which become a source of
inspiration for others. Alongside it helps in raising awareness about the
working of government or government funded bodies.
The
media plays a very vital role in a nation like ours. They are a driving force
in orienting the minds of the common man. They ensure information is reached to
the people as early and effectively as possible. It also ensures constructive
democracy. The media, in India is a very powerful tool. It is owned by the
elite class and some by politicians. While performing its functions, it should remain
free from the clutches of the elite class and the politicians. It should also stick
to high ethics, morals and values. It should keep the national interests ahead
of the personal gains. If the media does not follow such ethics, not only will
the media lose its relevance, but also a new ‘avatar’ of media will take birth
– the Social Media. The social media has already been very effective in
mobilizing public opinion. Many movements have tasted success because of its
effective exploitation of the social media. Social media also has the
connection to the youth, which makes it even more powerful. Hence, the birth of
social media, as an alternative to the conventional media can be witnessed if
the latter becomes dysfunctional.
The
freedom of press in India is quite high. This can lead to major problems.
Statutory bodies like the Press Council of India, which governs the conduct of
print media, should be empowered to a great extent so that these check the
functioning of the media. Such statutory bodies for visual media should also be
constituted. Only such powerful bodies can be a watchdog to the highly powerful
Indian media and prevent it from being destructive.
