There is nothing called public discourse in India; what exists is public-gossips. I may sound cynical, but I am simply frustrated by the complete silence in media/public forums on the issues that matter to the people– issues that are related to the development of people and their quality of life – how India is generating resources and preparing itself for the present and future challenges – what systematic reforms are required and carried out in order to establish transparency and accountability at each level of governance. The Planning Commission of India lists “Twelve Strategy Challenges” for the 12th five year plan (2012-17):
1. Enhancing the Capacity for Growth
2. Enhancing Skills and Faster Generation of Employment
3. Managing the Environment
4. Markets for Efficiency and Inclusion
5. Decentralisation, Empowerment and Information
6. Technology and Innovation
7. Securing the Energy Future for India
8. Accelerated Development of Transport Infrastructure
9. Rural Transformation and Sustained Growth of Agriculture
10. Managing Urbanization
11. Improved Access to Quality Education
12. Better Preventive and Curative Health Care
More details about this list can be obtained here: http://12thplan.gov.in/displayforum_list.php
My cynicism stems from the following experiment:
• On any day go to any of these Indian Media (print/TV) sites
o NDTV
o CNN-IBN
o Aaj Tak
o India TV
o DNA
• Count stories/articles/videos which are relevant to India’s strategic-challenges in12th plan as mentioned above.
I have attempted this experiment and have had results varying between 2%-20%. And when I counted articles/reports based on any research studies, there was none. You can do the same experiment. There are hundreds of news-papers/channels, so pick up the one that interests you the most and start counting. I am sure your result will not be more different than that of mine.
It is a disheartening fact that the media is completely indulged in the cheap gossips of personalities of four areas – cricket, cinema, corporate, & politics. There is just not enough constructive discussion on issues that matter to you and me.
Nonetheless, I think media is in-a-way reflection of the society. Media’s dumbness points out that the masses are interested in a few people’s lives, and not in pondering how their own life will ameliorate.
Some people would argue that this status quo has been challenged by the unprecedented popularity of the new talk show “Satyamev Jayate”… But, to my mind, it only corroborates the fact that masses are so uninformed about what’s going on in their country. If you did not know about the wide spread problems of female feticide, child sexual abuse, or malpractices in healthcare, I wonder if you can be considered educated at-all!!! Do we really need Aamir to sensitize us? Can’t we be self-aware and fine-tune our actions in the direction of solutions???
Just in case if you are still in denial of Indian media's flaws, here's Mr Umesh Aggarwal’s documentary, “Brokering News”, released by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) that exposes the depth of corruption in the mainstream media. It shows corruption in the political coverage of elections, news on business and industry and even movie reviews.
Directed by Umesh Aggarwal
Assistant Director & Editor – Naveen Samhotra
Assistant Director & Editor – Naveen Samhotra
Script – Anirban Bhattacharya
Narration – Roshan Set
