There have been some thoughts festering within me, that I wish to express. My thoughts are still an untamed mess; therefore I hereby sacrifice coherency at the altar of expression.
The last week was a strange experience for those millions in this country, who have been brought up on a staple diet of cable television. We witnessed the first live sting operation by our 24/7 news channels and to use an unpolished phase we fell into it 'hook, line and sinker' didn't we?
Welcome to the era of 24/7 hardhitting news, where no stone is left unturned in order to serve up the truth, but to what extent can and did the media go in order to acheive this end and was this really the end they wished to visit?
After a day or so of watching those unforgettable events unfold, it was becoming apparent that the media's focus was neith on the act of terror itself nor the terrorized public, but rather on its own turf war.
The conflict within the media and between the media channels had superceded all else and in its quest to become the first channel to capture the 'breaking news', each channel, in my opinion violated many fundamental tenets of censure, that the media must practice.
By all accounts the events that unfolded deserved focussed attention and the public had the right to information. Yet, the media in its own quest for singular glory, perhaps crossed all boundaries. What we witnessed was a 24/7 war movie or rather that is how the media wished to showcase the events, from the jarring background music to the in your face journalists, who were omnipresent and always trying to shout above the din, rendering just about everyone else speechless.
Enough is enough says one chanel, anger, tears and determination says another. This is not a mystery thriller and the media is not the whoddunit.
What struck me most was the level of maturity or shall we say immaturity displayed by the media.
Take this for example: witnessing some loud shouts outside nariman house, a journalist says thats it the operation in nariman house is over; the commando showed a thumbs up sign. We were to learn later that the operation did not end there. Another journalist says I think there are 6 terrorists inside the Taj, but this is unconfirmed. My question here is, if it is unconfirmed, why do you say it?There were man other such instances.
The media is meant to be a medium for the expression of facts. It was never meant to take the facts into its own hands and twist it for its connivance. Yet, that is what the visual media in this country has been trying to do for the past 2 weeks. We witnessed many scenes of microphones eith being thrust right into the face of the survivors or being thrust into the faces of fireman who were doing their job.
Some of the journalists repeatedly tried and succeded in violating boundary lines set by the authorities, leaving me to wonder if they were aiding or hindering the work of the authorities.
The media has, in my opinion also been singularly biased in its reportage of public opinion. Actors and Socialites, do not represent mass public opinion. Yet, in the days following the attacks, we were privy to comments from every immaculately dressed page 3 figure and were given a crash course in policy making by these know it alls. While I appreciate their sentiments and can understand their anger, the media failed in its responsibility to remain objective.
The most tragic episode in the media coverage, occured after the events ended. Each media house swarmed the hotels like vultures swooping onto a carcass and proceeded to claim to become the first to show us the carnage inside these beautiful hotels. What was the need to enter into these places when the sanitization operations were not even complete? Another interesting thought which strucke me was how singleminded the media was in covering these hotels, but completely ignored the other places. Did the public not have a right to know what happened in the CST or by the same token the hospital, or is the media in this country only a voice for the elite?
The media has every right to criticize a governments policies and has every right to be the ones to say the politicians erred at too costly a price, but the media in this country is trying to stage a revolution and trying to whip up a mass frenzy that it does not have the maturity to handle. It seems to me that the media is just picking up opinions that suit its tune and trying hard to make the music it wishes to hear for itself from this.
I have always felt that the media in this country must be made to follow a certain ethical code of conduct and I have never felt this more strongly than in the aftermath of these attacks. There is a strong need for a more calm media that can at least try and voice different shades of public opinion. Instead what we have are either media honchos who are locked in an ' who will lose their vocal chords first contest' or rookies pretending to be master of all trades but ending up being jack of none.
