Patricia Mukhim
During the current assembly session when the Chief Minister who is also the Tourism Minister was asked why so few tourists are visiting Meghalaya, the answer given was that Meghalaya received bad press and therefore tourists tended to shun this route. The CM was sore with the national media for not highlighting the unprecedented floods that hit Garo Hills last September even while it was quick to focus on the issue of militancy related killings. The fact of the matter is that bad news sells. Good news is no news! This is true across the world. Look at all the national dailies! Today the only good news we will be reading about is that India thrashed Bangladesh at Melbourne and that is because Cricket is a sort of national fad although it hardly makes sense to 80% of the Indian population. Other than that, the news is all about what is not working for this country. We read about the rape of a nun in West Bengal; the death of an honest civil servant in Karnataka; some church being demolished somewhere and so on. If anyone listens to the NewsHour on Times Now where spokes-persons of politicians are regularly abused by the anchor Arnab Goswami, I don’t know what the Meghalaya CM’s reactions would be.
What is offensive for the media fraternity in Meghalaya is to hear the CM say that the media has become the mouthpiece of militant organisations and that we are publishing paid news. Perhaps the CM wants all of us to become a sort of public relations agency for the state government. But is that what the media is supposed to be? We don’t have to be lecturing a media savvy CM about what our role is. I am sure that if he was in the Opposition he would have enjoyed the discomfiture of those in the Government. And that precisely is the role of the media –to make the Government uncomfortable so that it does not rest on its haunches but strive to serve the least empowered, whose voices the media is supposed to hoot. I have had occasion to listen to a few well meaning officers in the Government who feel a similar pang – the media has no good story to tell. One of them even told me that if we in the media project only gloom and doom then that could turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I beg to disagree with that line of thinking.
The fundamental role of the media is to inform citizens about the developments in society so that they can make informed choices. Media also keeps the elected representatives accountable to those who elected them by highlighting whether they have fulfilled the mandate for which they were elected. To be able to operate in an ideal democratic framework the media needs to be free from governmental and private control. It needs to have complete editorial independence to pursue public interests. Media role is to create platforms for diverse voices for democracy to thrive. If media is the fourth estate in democracy then its role should not be to align with the other three estates but to critique them. To that extent the media is more often than not adversarial to the executive, legislature and judiciary. It remains the referee for the other three pillars of democracy.
The media is not without its lapses. There is the propensity for sleaze, sensationalism and superficiality but despite these lacunae the media is still the only tool that can correct democracy. It is only the media that can ensure that governments are held accountable. Often there is this erroneous belief that the media is just a passive recorder of events. Media is a proactive agent whose role it is to enable citizens to hold governments accountable. The citizens can only critique their governments if they are informed about the actions of officials and institutions. So the media is a watchdog and guardian of public interest, warning citizens against those who are doing them harm. The media cannot be a pet dog of power holders such as those in the Government. If we do so we have lost our credibility.
A fearless and effective watchdog is necessary to check corruption in high places or the abuse of power by some. If the media is not exposing the excesses of chief ministers, ministers, civil servants and other public figures who are elected to serve a public cause then there is something seriously wrong with it.
As I understand the role of media it is mainly to give voice to those marginalized because of poverty, gender, or ethnic or religious affiliation. By giving space to their views and their afflictions the media pushes their agenda to become part of mainstream public debate and therefore to contribute to a social consensus. This will push those in power to redress the injustices they face. Hence the role of media is also to ease social conflicts and to promote a climate of harmony among diverse social groups. Any media that ignites social tensions is doing a great disservice to democracy.
It is not uncommon, however to see the vernacular media in many states including our own, often taking a position for one ethnic group against others and becoming a sort of avant-garde of the society whose language they speak instead of rising above community, caste, religion, ethnicity etc. These are correctives that need to be taken note of. During the Inner Line Permit agitation in 2013, a section of the vernacular media became the flag bearer for the agitators instead of holding a mirror for them to reflect on their actions. After all the agitators do not necessarily represent a cross section of the population but a certain interest group only!
Now coming to the CM’s statement that the media is the mouthpiece of militant groups in Meghalaya, one is forced to ask oneself if this is true. When an outfit like the GNLA which is known to take its own threats seriously, decides to call a bandh, is it not incumbent upon the media to report this? What happens if someone inadvertently travels to Garo Hills and gets caught in the bandh and the resultant retaliation from the militant outfit which is known to make good its threats? Would the media not be held responsible for blacking out the bandh call? It is the same with the HNLC. Many well meaning citizens and policemen have asked us why we allow ourselves to become the bulletin board of outlawed organisations? We really have no answer except to say that our duty is to inform people lest they are harmed during the course of the bandh! And I know we mean what we say. No media house is happy to give free publicity to any militant organisation. Hence for the CM to make such serious allegations in the floor of the House and to follow that up by saying that he would write to the Prime Minister and President of this country to come up with stringent laws against the media is to be hyper-ventilated.
The CM has also accused the media of publishing paid news. Is he implying that the militants pay us to publish their emails calling for a bandh? It would be good if the CM were to be more specific. To this day we can say that we have not been a billboard for paid news. No one is given undue space because that person has paid us. It is true that we publish advertisements but they are distinct from news.
It is unfortunate that the media has been at the receiving end of Dr Mukul Sangma’s wrath which is totally uncalled for. That he should go hammer and tongs at the media does not auger well for press freedom in Meghalaya. And we always thought we were an example to the rest of the country as far as a liberal media space is concerned. Its a sad day for the media in Meghalaya! But we will continue to do what we do best – report the truth, no matter how bitter a pill it is for those in Government. That is our call!