COLLAPSE OF MORAL STANDARDS IN MEDIA By P.N.BENJAMIN THE FOURTH Estate ranks first in shaping public opinion when society is politically literate and socially sensitive even in this information age and knowledge era. We have not yet fully realized the profound importance to our democracy of an educative, objective newspaper, which publishes promptly and marshals information without fear and favour, affection and ill will. Journalistic independence, intelligence, investigative ability and probity are integral to the greatness of the Press. Unfortunately, the massive outcry on the recent spate of vigilante attacks by alleged Hindu groups against young women and pub-hoppers in Mangalore raises doubts about the quality and integrity of Indian journalism. The media makes instant heroes and villains. It can be brutal, callous and utterly casual in doing so. Sensationalism sells. Serious issues can be trivialized in crisp but meaningless sound bytes and photo opportunities or in the manner of their display and editing. This makes it that much more important to insist on and uphold media values professionally and socially. Distorted mirrors can warp society. From being a marketplace of ideas, these newspapers are marketed more than edited – commodification of news, sensation, trivia, and gossip. Often there has been less depth, inadequate follow-up and a certain arrogance of power manifest in disdain for correction. John Pilger (Hidden Agenda) writes: “I have become convinced that it is not enough for journalists to see themselves as mere messengers, without understanding the hidden agenda of the message and the myths that surround it. High on the lists is the myth that we now live in an “information age” – when, in fact, we live in a media age, in which the available information is repetitive, ‘safe’ and limited by invisible boundaries. In the day-to-day media, much of this is the propaganda of Western power, whose narcissism, dissembling language and omissions often prevent us from understanding the meaning of contemporary events. ‘Globalization’ is a prime example. This smokescreen extends to journalists themselves. Jack Anderson, wary of the collapse of moral standards in the media observes that they have become the lap dogs of government (and also powerful persons in the private institutions) instead of watchdogs over them. They wag their tails and seek approval instead of growling at the abuses of power. The reporters who go along with the powerful, and act as explainers and apologists for those who violate the public trust, must be considered accessories to the pillage. Like the politician and special seekers, these men sell a little of themselves each day; and the chumminess between the power structure and the Press apparatus robs the reports of integrity. In the Mudroch epoch, sex, vulgar values, purchase of the readers’ souls and propaganda which beats cultural heritage and vintage traditions, are apt to captivate readership and buy up the media with monopolistic hunger. Many national dailies in India have taken to “sensationalism and soft porn” to keep ahead in the mad race for increasing circulation. Today there is no news-balance in any of these “largest” circulated ‘national’ papers. They all promote commercialism. They are selling our souls to “glamourous” models who stand still, look stupid and bare their navels. But, there are newspapers even today, which are no mere mechanical messengers but are dailies with a message, which makes the reader more informed, illumined and thoughtful. . It is high time Indian newspapers returned to their moorings and maintained their high standards. Why? Because the media influences what people think of and the way they think. If the focus is wrong, direction is lost. A people without reliable news, rooted in its vintage values and primitive of its progress will sooner or later be a people without the basis of swaraj. The soft stories demanded are a slice of a cake. It is being presented as if it is the whole cake. There’s an overwhelming emphasis on the light and trivial. We are not an affluent democracy. The media in a poor country like India must be the voice and face of the voiceless, faceless millions; it is warped just to be the face of the upwardly mobile, urban middle class. Newspapers by plurality of editions, should not indulge in fragmentation and localization of news, missing the national perspective which alone keeps alive the unity and integrity of the country. They, with their long history of glory in the field of nationalist struggle and thereafter for the freedom of the Press, have a soul to preserve and a struggle to wage, so that they are no longer opium but tonic. The patriotic duty of the Fourth Estate today is to stress democratic discipline, expose untruth wrapped in gloss and party and individual interests in appealing dross. If power belongs to the people and the Press is a trustee, resistance to exotic pressure is a new challenge to the Indian media. P.N.BENJAMIN 7, 4th A Cross HRBR II Block Kalyan Nagar Bangalore 560 043 Tel. 25455620 E-mail: benjaminpn@hotmail.com 09/02/2009
