The word NEWS, I learnt in school, has an etymology that associated it with the four cardinal directions. I learnt about the existence of News Reporters and News Readers, responsible for “reporting” news as it happened or “reading” it at an anointed hour on TV. This was the media of my growing years – responsible for merely conveying What happened, When and Where! Sometimes a How.
But No Why, Never!
Objectivity and faithful reproduction of events as they transpired, accurately without distortion was the underlying Dharma of this pillar of Democracy – So I learnt. This was Mass Media – the media of the masses!
Not any longer- Today, my son learns something entirely different. He learns that in this age of instant noodles, fast cars and instant gratification – not to mention the obsession with choices- he must choose what he reads, and that includes individual opinions, viewpoints and perspectives. Not a bad idea in itself.
So, we had this Internet and Social Media boom and Media stopped being Mass, despite retaining and exceeding its traditional reach. Borders and definitions between News, News makers, News Providers and the views they held in their personal lives blurred. As I adapted to this new generation blitzkrieg, I learnt that every news agency or channel had a “viewpoint” and “agenda”. Suddenly, I was being bombarded with details of personal lives of a Barkha Dutt and a Rajdeep Sardesai and such others, and constantly being tutored that personal lives of these journalists (see, they weren’t reporters and editors any more) and where they “came” from, did in fact, influence, what or how they published or covered an event.
Lo and Behold, I was seeing a new pattern. Channels covered the same news differently- They clearly took Sides – With or against an institution or an issue and that stand dictated the tone and tenor and extent of the coverage. Headlines were subjective, and newsreaders transitioned into opinion makers.
Multiple news channels beamed into my living room through a digital set top box in high definition mode and screamed for my attention 24×7, and were willing to creating a ruckus over it.
Suddenly, as a viewer of news, I wasn’t sure of what was happening – What was the News, after all? My dilemma was akin to that of a man who has two watches, and yet, is never sure, what is the right time!
Concurrently, in what Arnab Goswami so fondly calls the Pseudo Liberal Lutyen’s Delhi Cocktail Circuit, there was yet another species in the making – the Rohit Vemulas and the Kanhaiya Kumars and the John Dayals and the Arundhati Roys and the Kavita Krishnans and the Teesta Setalwads and the Shabnam Lones of the world – People with opinions and viewpoints divergent from the mainstream India. Armed with a laptop and a website which willingly hosted their thoughts on various issues – these were the new generation news broadcasters and newsmakers – the word “makers” itself being a strange paradox. National interest was no longer a consideration, merely the compulsive need to state a viewpoint.
Opinions, viewpoints, Freedom of Expression, Democracy – All of this was News!
Amidst all of this, I asked myself – Is National Interest Absolute, Is Truth Absolute, or are those too, subjective issues, best reserved for television debates?
The Truths l have learnt just yesterday through the fourth estate will shock you, surprise you and shatter you – if you love your country.
(a) I learnt that in this country we have a Supreme Court Lawyer – an authorized practitioner of law in the highest temple of justice in this country – with a sworn allegiance to the constitution of my land- who cannot answer a straight question with a Yes or a No- if Burhan Wani was an enemy of the state as a self-proclaimed Commander of a known terror outfit, globally acknowledged with a history of killing and openly flaunting his credentials on social media.
(b) I learnt that there are many liberals in this country who dare to call a patriotic, decorated Army Officer, with an impeccable record of service, as a Deshdrohi on live national television when all he said was that if you were on the side of the terrorists, you were against the Indian state.
(c) I learnt that Democracy in this country is a term can be used, abused or seduced to further all kinds of agendas and that intellectual one-upmanship scored each and every time over national interests.
Moral of the Story – I always knew Freedom of Speech wasn’t absolute and came with riders. Truth and National Interest are pretty much the same!
Jai Hind