Media at War!

English Professor to a Sardarji: And what is your name?
Sardarji to the Professor: Ranjit Singh
English Professor to a Sardarji: Which Country?
Sardarji to the Professor: Punjab!

The above is an excerpt from the hit show (Mind your Language) of early 1990s that got imbibed in my memory for all the wrong reasons. I assumed Punjab is a country and as a teenager with limited exposure to the outside world (unlike the teenagers of today) I may have been excused for the infantile assumption. After all the concept of the show was to depict the comic situations that arises when a motley bunch of student from diverse backgrounds attempt to learn a foreign language.

It was after I watched recent re-run of the episode that I realized the egregious abuse of freedom by the foreign media that pandered to the difference of race and sect. In a lay man’s terms, I did not find it funny! However, it is not a one off incident that can be ignored. Despite the growing economic and political importance of India, some of the leading news channels continue to focus on the squalid sites of our country. It is perhaps consistent with their image of India as a Nation of lackeys that was once ruled by the British. This kind of positioning for India by the foreign media has been going on with the acquiescence of Indians all over the world.

One might say that true journalism knows no boundaries and a journalist is essentially neutral. This is one concept that will require some hard selling to convince Indians who followed the recently concluded Cricket series in Australia. The difference in the reporting of Indian and Australian media and the methods employed that bordered on tabloid journalism would have thrown the theory of journalists as ‘neutral’ out of the window. The Australian media worked hand in hand with their cricketers to target certain Indian players who were viewed as a threat and had gotten under their skin. Luckily the young Indian cricketers were impervious to the criticisms by the Australian media and came back as victors. A loss for India would have been a victory for the Australian media. The Indian media supported the Indian cricketers throughout the series and effectively ensured that BCCI could not ignore National interest and had to stand by its players. In effect, the Indian media helped to level the playing field.

A strong nation needs a strong media as much as it needs the Army, Navy, and the Air Force as not every battle can be won by force. The pen (or keyboard in today’s context) is mightier than the sword and it has never been more relevant than as witnessed during the cold war. The US has won the Cold War and is able to assert itself not only because of its might, but also because of the reach of its media that imposes the ‘America Way’ across diverse cultures. A journalist faces as many challenges as a soldier does when at war. The name that immediately comes to mind is that of Daniel Pearl (American Journalist) who was kidnapped and brutally murdered. It was also reported that Pearl may have been killed because he uncovered a nexus between ISI (Pakistani Inter Service Intelligence) and Al Qaeda. Since then there have been many more Pearls fighting the war for Media in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kargill, amongst many others.

Reporting has become increasingly onerous and ideally the journalists work should be free of parochial biases. Yes, on occasions the media crosses the line and obfuscates the facts for various reasons. The media can be forgiven for that as it is always at war and as they say, “All is fair in love and war”. As long as the war is for a just cause and in the National interest.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 (I migrated from blog.co.in)