s
a reporter, I have attended numerous media interactions and press
conferences, but my visit to PACS Programme - TARA Akshar media
interaction on March 26, 2008 at the Indian Women’s Press Corps, New
Delhi, was an altogether different experience. For one thing, this was
my first visit to a media interaction organised by an NGO.
Actually, nowadays, most
journalists prefer going to a press conference where either some
celebrity has been invited or the venue is a five star hotel, because
covering an event with a celebrity increases the TRP meter of the
respective news channel and visiting a five star hotel surely guarantees
irresistible delicacies. But within such a cocoon of comfort and
self-priorities, journalists have forgotten some basics of media ethics
– Social Responsibility.
Fortunately, I realised this
when I attended the PACS Programme - TARA Akshar media
interaction.
I was not particularly excited
about the entire affair. To me, it was just any other press conference.
Soon I realised my error. On reaching the venue, the first thing that I
saw were two young rural women sitting just outside the conference hall.
Later, they were introduced as Harpyari and Anjana of Dhamala Village of
Firozpur District, Haryana. To my surprise, they were supposed to
interact with the media. I was not very keen with the idea of inviting
these women to a press conference that included journalists from
national dailies and news channels. I was also unhappy because these
women were supposed to discuss their experience with the TARA Akshar
programme and I was unsure about their participation in the interaction,
as it was their maiden exposure to media. Furthermore, they were from a
community where women have very limited say in any matter. However, all
of my apprehensions were cleared in short order.
When Harpyari came over to
speak, she did the unexpected. She was loud and clear. This did not seem
to be her first public appearance. She answered all the questions with
ease. Even
Anjana
expressed her thoughts quite well, though she started a bit slowly. Both
these women expressed their gratitude to Development
Alternatives for giving them such an effective tool through which they
had become literate. At this juncture, some journalists tried to check
the authenticity of Harpyari’s and Anjana’s claim by asking them many
questions but, to their surprise, both these rural women answered them
correctly and clearly. Even then, the reporters were not satisfied.
Again, they tried to verify their literacy skills by asking them to
write in front of them. Not only did these two enterprising women
provide the reporters with their signatures but they also wrote whatever
the reporters asked them. These women cleared all the hurdles. It was
not just the victory of Harpyari and Anjana but also that of DA. I could
see satisfaction on the faces of the people from PACS Programme and TARA
Akshar. In fact, this examination seemed to be theirs, which they
passed with full marks.
During the press conference, I
met a couple of my journalist friends who were quite impressed by the
TARA Akshar programme and on interacting with the beneficiaries.
When I asked them about their experience, most of their answers really
surprised me. ‘We really miss a lot good things which are happening
around us and generally we focus on things which are not much relevant
for the society’, said a journalist.
And it is quite true. The TARA
Akshar programme, which made 45,000 rural women literate within a
year, is naturally more important news than the latest escapades of any
movie celebrity. Also, even this notion that development news does not
attract audience is not true at all. Most of the news channels and
national dailies not only covered the PACS programme TARA Akshar
press conference but also gave their critical comments, which was quite
surprising. Overall, it was a pleasant surprise and a revelation that
the media, in the flow of TRP and the readership race, does not always
forget any important news of the development sector.
It is quite disheartening to
see entertainment news and controversies making headlines or being in
the front page in a developing country like India, where more than 70%
of the population still lives in rural community. In India, the media
has to understand its responsibility towards social development.
Covering development news will not hamper their business. In fact, by
highlighting development-related issues on their respective channels or
newspapers, it will not only benefit the rural community but it will
also attract rural communities to Donation for the channels or
newspapers regularly, which will naturally increase the TRP or
readership, which converts into more revenue for the news agency.
Though this realisation of
social responsibility is building up in the media sector, it is quite
slow in pace. The current difference in the coverage of news is quite
disappointing. There are some stories that simply do not make the news,
while others more than make up for it in terms of volume, even though
both may be in the same zone. Let us look at a few random examples:
• The reigning Indian film
personality, Amitabh Bachchan’s house getting flooded is news, but 1.3
million people in Bihar and Orissa losing their homes due to floods is
not newsworthy
• A poor little boy being stuck
at the bottom of a deep well generates interest, while a Dalit boy burnt
alive for daring to draw water out of a well does not make the grade
• Running for a cause by
celebrities is news, the landless marching to Delhi - in the largest
march since Independence - is not
• The Sensex at 20,000 is news,
but companies laying off people due to the strengthening rupee is not
considered worthy of print or air time
• Discrimination against
starlets is news, but the same against minorities and the
underprivileged is taken as the norm
• The diets of celebrities is
news, but the millions across the globe not having any diet to speak
about is not so sensational
The media (Newspaper/TV/Radio)
has been reaching out to millions of
Indians. This itself openly demands
a social responsibility. Journalism is indeed a tough task and demands a
lot of discretion. But the media, specially the television media, has
become so commercial that people are creating news by themselves (sting
operations) to be in the forefront in media competition. The importance
of reporting accurate, fair and correct news is now overpowered by the
self-seeking commercial domination in the press industry. Aggressive,
interrogative and persistently fearless journalists have replace be
noble, virtuous and courteous ones. Reports published on some issues are
getting increasingly judgmental and defamatory. Provocative compositions
are employed to sensationalise issues or to prompt the people to think
and behave in a certain way that may seem appropriate to the agenda of
the press. Social agendas incompetently deliberated by the press have
grievous consequences in the society, and this has been going on for a
long time. The media has been instigating repugnance between the people
and some political parties in order to benefit other political parties.
Questions in the poll conducted by press are so composed that the result
achieved is as per their desire. People’s opinions are sought with
biased questions that will derive answers that are beneficial for the
press.
Even so, hope is eternal.
Nowadays, the media is showing some responsibility towards the society
and has begun to realise that it is not only the entertainment sector
that makes news or controversies. Nowadays, even big government
programmes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(NREGS) are attracting many journalists to cover incidents linked with
their schemes. Similarly, there is commendable media coverage in social
programmes like the Mid Day Meal Programme, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak
Yojana, etc.
Hence, the media bias in the
media fraternity towards the rural community or the development sector
is quite evident and present but it is not entirely correct. Neither is
this going to help the media agencies in any manner, nor are they
representing a responsible fourth pillar of the constitution.
The media has to realise its role in carrying
development through their medium to each and every corner of the society
and country. If India is eying Vision 2020, then this has to start from
today. q