Media is considered the fourth pillar of democracy. It is the conscience keeper of the government and the Society. It keeps a check on the activities of the government and acts as a bridge between the vox populi and the ears and eyes of the government.
Oftentimes, government becomes blind after capturing the echelons of power. This behavior is more prominent when the government is without any credible opposition. Lord Acton has precisely put it "power corrupts". Corruption does not have to be strictly monetary. Disturbing the balance of democracy is also a form of corruption. It is even more fatal because it injures the soul of the political balance of the nation. Those in power often reject this injury as the expression of the will of people. The recently proposed definition of corruption in the draft prevention of corruption act may also take a very conservative view of corruption. But in reality, power corrupts and absolute power corrupt absolutely. In such precarious situations, Media acts as a lid on the absolute exercise of power by the rulers. Therefore, Media acts as a guard of the soul of the democracy. Just imagine, what could happen if the guard itself becomes the predator of the soul?
Well, one don't need to constrain her imaginative faculties. You just have to open your eyes wide and you can see it happening in every walk of life in Indian political setup. Media has lost its non-partisan and unbiased status in the recent times. Every channel is patronized by some or other political party. Every political party has invested their hard earned black money into some or other print or TV media platforms. Those who are unaffected from this money flow are so ideology driven that even from a fifteen feet distance the newspaper stinks of biased and prejudiced content.
For example, Surya TV is owned by DMK, Jaya TV is owned by AIDMK. CNN-IBN and NDTV speak good of Congress. IndiaTV and ZeeNews have already sold their content to BJP. The Hindu smells of the left party opinion. Times of India has become a mouthpiece of Modi.
It is so sad that people are fed with opinions and paid news instead of facts and unbiased news. The anchor tells us what is right or wrong and what is correct and incorrect. The beautiful young girls who are probably not able to gauge the indirect impact of their news feeding behavior on the democracy, continuously try to capture viewers attention using her high pitched voice and excess makeup. Even a simple news is pitched with such a high baritone and drama that it can wake even Kumbhakarna out of his deep sleep. And suppose if Kumbhakarna is in his sixth-month hibernation then all you need to do is change the channel and put NewsHour debate or Arnab show on the TV channel.
I bet even Kumbhakarna will wake up from the noise which the anchor and his guests make on the subject.
Today Newsrooms have become noise rooms. News has become noise. The debates have degenerated into cat fight among the so-called sober, elite and educated members of the society. It is sad to see such state of affairs. The one news keeps doing rounds and rounds since morning till evening. The effect of the camera, sound, and video animation is added to highlight certain aspect like a climax scene of a K-series serial. Recently I was watching the SP crisis on the TV. The news channel kept showing the same video for the whole day in slow motion. Akles bhaiya walking towards Netaji and throwing tantrums against chacha Ji. The channel kept showing the same sequence, highlighting the event with red circles and markers, on a trifurcated screen. One screen showing the fast movement, other focusing on chachaji and third one showing Akles bhaiya in slow motion. It was funnier than a Kapil Sharma comedy sequence.
Does this mean there is no hope of saving the true character of our democracy? Has the democracy become politically colored?
The answer to this is yes as well no. Democracy is no longer white anymore. It has become politically colored. The media is slowly injecting color in the soul of democracy. But a new face of media has emerged. The social media. It was a ray of hope in the early years. But has it lived up to its potential? Has it done any better in providing correct news to the common man of the country? That will be take up in some other blog. Till then Goodbye.
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