By Avner Pariat
On September 20, 2024, the first ever Meghalaya Media Meet (M3) was held and it was a good initiative I thought. Bringing members of the Press and Media together in order to parley with the Government is very important. We need to discuss the issues and obstacles that the fraternity are facing. Oftentimes everyone pays simple lip service to the Press as the Fourth Pillar of Democracy but very little is done to actually address the problems faced by the members of this crucial and vital service. Two issues which were brought up and which I thought were very interesting were the requests by the Press members for an old-age pension and for housing and accommodation. But these are by no means, isolated only to the Press. There is an urgent need for pensions and housing for the wider public also. The Chief Minister spoke about how these two demands would be very difficult to achieve. He said that if his Government gave the Press pensions and housing then it would have to do the same with everyone else. I thought to myself at that moment – so just give everyone housing and pensions! It might sound absurd but why not?
Kindly endorse my digression a bit. I don’t see why we can’t have state-wide housing and pension plans laid in place and rolled out. We have enough borrowings right now. And if the question comes up – Public debt is not something to be scared of. As eminent economists like John Kenneth Galbraith and Stephanie Kelton have argued in their own manner, time and again, governments need to spend without being obsessed about bringing down the deficit. In the case of Housing, government will have to do the heavy lifting. Providing accommodation which people can then pay for with a low instalment (annually or monthly) over a long period of time can be done. As we heard recently, the CM went on about 50-year loans at a press conference (on 3 Sep 2024). So why can’t the government do this important and crucial task over that time period? Certainly, it is not an unusual idea as many other successful nations have undertaken Housing programmes. Singapore for instance.
Secondly, since most of Meghalaya’s population is under 35 it is a golden opportunity to set up a pension fund which can make strategic investments into the Bombay Stock Exchange (or others) thereby reaping dividends which will make life more comfortable for these young people after their retirement. Again, with planning and purpose, this can be done. It depends now on what the masters of the state believe in at the end of the day. Do they believe that people should have prosperous and comfortable lives or do they still cling to the old uncle idea of “there’s no free lunch”? I will leave it at that but these would be popular political decisions and would reap electoral dividends for sure.
Where was I? Oh yes, so I must applaud Mr Vijay Kumar Mantri for organising the first M3 (I hope it becomes a regular affair). It was a much-needed platform for media people, Press personnel and the government to discuss issues and tackle problems, in particular the rather serious problem of fake news and disinformation. It is no secret that YouTube and especially Facebook have been at the forefront of this problem. Globally there are numerous reports that have highlighted this. And it is no different here. One may recall the 2018 troubles caused by quick-fingered angry young men over the Them Metor altercation and how they leveraged technology to create chaos. Facebook and its child WhatsApp were instrumental. It cannot be denied that these platforms have been responsible for fostering and strengthening toxicity whether that be racism, sexism or bigotry of every hue and colour. But as we sat down to our panel discussion it became apparent that the underlying reason would not be traced out and the talk turned instead to putting the blame on social media influencers and YouTubers. It seemed clear that many of my friends in the the Press had in fact decided – though cautiously – to back a proposed government curb on these alleged agents of disinformation. I felt that this was not wise because it went against the constitutional freedom we have, to dissent and disagree with our government. It seemed to me to be a case of the Establishment i.e. old media/Press waging a war with new media i.e. influencers and YouTubers, with the government serving as the cudgel. So, as we sat down and proceeded with our discussion, I asked a simple question: we were all in agreement that fake news and disinformation are issues that must be tackled, we were equally in agreement that it was uninformed and biased opinionators who were to blame BUT where did they learn all these tricks of the trade? They did not simply decide to do any of this without a template nor example set before them by others. They learned it from somewhere and it was at that moment that I reminded the audience about a few recent headlines that had been published by the established media houses of Shillong. These also happened to be entirely vernacular (Khasi) newspapers. Let me quickly give a few gems without naming the sources as I want this to be instructional not vindictive.
KA BOR JONG KA JINGDUWAI, KI HATI RUH KIM TREH BAN THOMBOR – Translation – The power of prayer keeps even elephants away (a story run by a Khasi newspaper to push the idea that if you’re confronted by rampaging elephants you should just pray and they will sweetly and kindly go away)
HUSIAR HABA PHI THIAH MYNMIET, ЇОН ВА PHIN SHAH SIAT ЇАР НА KA SORKAR
Translation – Be careful when you sleep at night lest you get shot dead by the government (a story run to ostensibly highlight the gunning down of Mr Cherishterfield Thangkhiew but the click baiting is apparent)
U BAH PAUL U LA PYNPAW BA U IEID MYNDER RI
Translation – Bah Paul (Lyngdoh) has proven that he loves foreign invaders i.e., non-tribals (a carefully chosen headline which was ostensibly uttered by the pressure group HNYF but the signalling is very evident)
As I wound up my examples I once again turned to the audience and asked them again: Who has taught these young influencers and YouTubers how to spread disinformation and fake news? The room was quite silent. As I have mentioned before I think platforms like M3 are crucial if only for the sole purpose of airing out dirty laundry in public. For too long have vested interests, particularly those political in nature, been allowed to play games with the minds and hearts of the local populace through the Press and media. Disinformation is an old game and it cannot be blamed on any one group in particular. By no means can we not dissent and question our government, its actions and its functionaries. We must and will dissent! But we must be wary of those who seek to make us irrational, illogical, unscientific and who strive to whip up public hysteria at any chance possible.