My Goa trip mostly comprised food, sleep, church, food, sleep, playing with Lassie, food, sleep, listening to the waves, food and sleep. But watching a little TV did inspire some reflections on several issues such as where our Indian democracy is headed, paid news, et al.
While the Ruchika case is no doubt gaining media mileage, it’s because her friends and family have persisted with courage and determination, and forced the media to stand up and take notice. The prospect of more pageviews and TRPs is enticing. But on a positive note, the coverage has brought random people together to protest and put pressure on the authorities, which is a good thing. But who knows how many more Ruchikas are out there, whose families and friends are neither affluent nor articulate? What is the media doing about them?
As a part of this tribe, I feel sorry to say that the India media has lost its way. On the one hand, the new-age interpretation of content is a string of words that fill up a part of the page, while the rest is paved with advertisements. On the other hand, several mainstream media publications and channels are ready to fabricate stories of political glory in exchange for the money. Outlook’s recent cover on ‘paid news’ brought this to light, and opened a can of worms for both politicos, and media houses.
Everyone’s doing it, but some are doing it more unscrupulously than others. So, if we media folks don’t question these practices, pretty soon, it’s just a matter of time before we’ll ALL be writing puff pieces for politicians and corporates.
A very senior editor once confessed to me that he likes his job because a marketing guy is not telling him what to write (no offense meant to marketing folks). Yes, media houses need to make money and pay employees. But paid news isn’t just unethical and offensive; it’s bad strategy.
On a different note, it’s very evident that our politicians and government servants will continue to be lazy, indulgent and corrupt until someone decides to take them to task, and with a vengeance, because the former have obviously sensed that people are trudging along, each fighting their own daily battles, individually. Our expectations from politicians and their ilk have diminished to such a low, that it’s becoming more and more convenient for them to do nothing about anything.
In this day and age, when the channels of communication allow us to video-conference with anyone across the globe, us mere mortals ought to use these tools of communication to expect and demand something better from our politicians, a better quality of life, a green environment, et al. We must not have to strive so damn hard for the bare necessities be it roads, quality public transport, a reliable judicial system, subsidised food prices (which can be afforded by the lowest common denominator), to name a few things.
Unless we take the onus, no one else will.
written with alot of passion