The Tehelka incident- Why the hue and cry?

The molestation of a young woman journalist by her boss, who, as one of the English news channel anchor puts it, ‘one of India’s best journalist’, has created ripples which have touched and 'shocked' the upper echelon of the society.

However, this is nothing new, Molestation in media, that is. I entered the ‘reverend’ Fourth estate in 2006. It has been 7 years now and I have seen and witnessed many such incidents, which have taken place not in elevators but inside the meeting hall where the bureau head or the editor in chief is taking the bureau meeting on how to cover stories, ironically, one such incident took place when the bureau was discussing how to 'cover' rising rape incidents in the national capital.

The assault happens in front of everyone, from the junior most reporters to the special correspondent. All sit and just wriggle in their chairs as their editor undress a woman reporter through his eyes. What choice do one have?

With time, any conscience in the mind of the editor that this ‘undressing’ will be witnessed by the other reporters who are present in the editor room, also fades. And with time, this ‘visual-rape’ is imbibed in the values of those who are working for that newspaper. This becomes a part of 'ethos'.  Soon enough ,the undressing of the female reporter by the editor is discussed over tea and fag, and forgotten with the last puff. This ‘talent’, one of the many that the editor possesses, becomes a part of his rich repertoire.

A close colleague of mine recently went to interview one of the most well known investigative reporter in India (He is synonymous with the concept of sting in India). The meeting lasted for 20 minutes and as she told me later, he was too informal with her. But, she took it as a sign that he was trying to make her comfortable so that his ‘awe’ does not affect the young reporter.

Later that night she received a message from his number- “You are beautiful. Your sultry and dusky color…”.The sentence ended with three dots.

This was a message that came from a 40 plus ‘senior’ journo to a girl who was in early 20s.  Was this molestation?  I leave it on your better judgment to decide this.

I understand the concern over the Tehelka incident that is being expressed by those who are outside the media fraternity, but it is a bit difficult for me to fathom that why the journalists are raising such an outcry over it. It is not that  the Tehelka incident has happened for the first time.  This clamorous conduct on their part amounts to something more than hypocrisy.

It is not the Nirbahaya moment for media as someone called it and it is not definitely the ‘chickens have come home to roost’ moment. It is just that the veil that covered the black albeit colorful conduct of the who’s who’s of the media has been blow, temporarily of course. People should just stop perceiving the media as a ‘holy cow’. It never was.

Sexual banter and assault emanates from the top. No reporter would have the courage to do anything bordering sexual assault if he knows that his editor is watching him and not her. It is they who have to take up the responsibility. Till that happens, we can continue with our protest on Twitter and the shows on news channels.   

Media unbiased- A 'mythical shit'

The spotlight has never been as intensely focused on the media itself as it is now as the respected Fourth pillar find itself being subjected to the same questions that it showered all these years on the other three pillars of a vibrant democracy.

One after the other, incidents,leaks,expose have come out in the public sphere bringing out in open the dirt that was always present in the media but was very subtly swept under the carpet.

Journalism is about truth and spreading the information. But rare are periods where it was confined under these limits. Ethical and moral limits in journalism are loosely codified and very rarely followed.

Politics,Police,Paisa which ostensibly amounts to ‘power’ have always been a part of the media. And when these three walk with you side by side you are bound to enjoy the rise associated with them and equally share their disgraced fall.

Mumabi is not just about Taj

After the 26-11 seize of Mumbai ended, the post mortem going into the conduct of the electronic media during the whole sixty hours of operation began to surface.

There are two thought process which have gained wind as we move more into analyzing the way media reported the whole incident. The first one says that the media did its duty in a commendable way and the second one which also has equal followers, says that they were inherently biased. And even in that time of ‘War on India’ as they described it, they were not able to move away from the magnetic force of TRPs.

The first notion is out there in the open for anyone to judge. We all were glued to the TV, we watched every second of the operation. And we can all make out what was happening.

The second one though needs to be elaborated. The terrorist before being surrounded in The Taj and Trident caused mayhem at the CST railway station. But none of the media personnel were present at the CST to bring out the details of those who died. Some people will attribute this to the great socio-economic difference that separates someone walking in the Taj and someone at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

The other reason which comes into mind is that perhaps at CST the action was already over, those who had to die, were dead. The marauders had moved to the Taj. And I can well imagine that an editor instructing his reporters, for obvious reasons, would have told his crew to focus on Taj where the action was still unfolding.

As we watched in disbelief, reporters and cameraperson waited for hours, ducked for cover whenever a blast occurred as they brought out the real picture to us. Even if nothing was happening, the news-anchor, would move to the reporter on-site and ask him to update on the current situation. While people were searching for their dead ones at the CST, the media continued its focus on Taj. According to those who were entrusted with the job of bringing out the news, Taj was a more visible face of Mumbai, known to the world, visited by the ‘elites’. Is not CST a part of Mumbai? I am sure that the ordinary Mumbaikars have spent more hours in and around CST then they have in Taj.

In the midst of all this, the idea of unbiased reporting was forgotten. And also lost was the sense of empathy and compassion. Perhaps overtaken by other materialistic consideration.

Questions about how long will the Taj be shut, who will renovate it, will MF Hussain’s painting don the walls again, will the guest be able to forget 26-11 once they enter Taj , every such questions were asked. But not even a question about who died in CST was ever heard.

The who’s and who’ of the electronic media, seasoned journalist, and veteran editors found themselves moving with the more vibrant side of the whole incident.

It was not an operation that got over in matter of minutes or a couple of hour, but as we all know, it lasted sixty hours. Taking every practical consideration, the networking with the authorities, the sound bytes, the updates, Sixty hours was more than enough for one to focus on CST and VT Hospital. Only if they wanted to.

In one of the articles that appeared in the Washington post after the Mumbai attacks, the writer has emphasized on this very disparity, which even in such testing times, failed to corrode. The article talks about the serial blast in the Mumbai trains that took place more than 2 years ago and says that since if affected the common people, the media sensitiveness was subdued. Even we as common citizens were subdued, no candle light protest, no ‘awaken India’.

Have we started perceiving things as perceived by the media? Does the media’s response decide our response?

Was 26-11 more deadly than 11-07 just because electronic media thought it that way?

India as we all know has more number of the poor and the voiceless. And it is always unfortunate that it is the rich and the vociferous, however less in number, get the attention. 26-11 was no different.

In an open letter to all those who are concerned, one of the journalist who has been on the line of fire, says that “Surely, India has bigger lessons to learn and larger points to mull over, than to expend energy over which television journalist tops the charts or falls to the bottom.”

I sincerely hope that the media too has learnt its part of the chapter and hopefully they will practice what they preach and see the bigger picture.

But then it has never been about the common Indian. Or is it?

http://desicritics.org/2008/12/11/102451.php

Media and Politics hand in hand

With every new day our media is increasingly transgressing the boundaries that has been allotted to it for functioning as a ‘liberal media’. Every 9 out of 10 write-ups on terrorism that appear in a daily or a magazine is based on the basic premise that the terrorists that were shot or apprehended are innocent and the investigative agencies had concocted something false, a false story, a false investigation and more importantly a false encounter.

In the recent shoot out almost every national newspaper expressed that they were skeptical about the whole ‘setup’ that surrounded the Jamia Nagar encounter. Soon the electronic media followed suit

They came out with a series of questionnaire which were put before the public and security agencies. Though it’s another thing that the verdict to the questions was a foregone conclusion. “Police is guilty”.

The investigative agencies are always first to be blamed; for not investigating properly- for not following leads that could have stopped a blast and ultimately blamed for indulging in a false shootout.

With this increased pressure from the media political parties specially the Congress, are also feeling the heat. Congress leaders have gone on the records to say that they also feel that something was not right in the Delhi shout out.

The media has conveniently linked Islam and terrorism. In most of the terrorism related stories they say that Islam and terrorism should not be linked. Later in the same article they write that since the police are targeting terrorists the Muslim community is feeling insecure. Why give birth to this notion of fear in the Muslim community? What happened to the earlier stand of keeping Islam separate from the whole story?

Earlier the Congress was going soft on terror and now it’s the medias turn to tow their line. I may sound someone from the "low strata-not-so-educated" but still I take the liberty and ask the ‘Softist’ that how will they react if one of their kin becomes a victim of such blasts?

A terrorist whose participation in the parliament attack has been proved beyond doubt by the highest judiciary of the land is still enjoying the state treatment. Reason? The Congress doesn’t want to alienate the Muslim vote bank. Why this assumption? Has someone made any representation to them on behalf of the Muslims that they will feel alienated if Afzal is hanged?

Home minister Shivraj Patil says that the existing laws are enough to tackle terrorism. I guess he wants to send a message to us that we should be thankful to him and to the existing law and its ‘effective’ implementation for if it was not for the effective law and Patil himself , we would have been witness to more such incidents. Maybe every alternate day! Thank you sir, we feel honored.

Rajinder Puri in his column in Outlook has rightly and refreshingly lambasted the Political setup of this country. I guess if the ‘well read’ leaders of our country go though that piece they would be forced to introspect on what they said in the past and what they did in the present. But then some one told me that that ‘introspection’ for them is a word that translates into how to rectify their past errors and maximize their votes. Ah!! More hatred- more fiery speeches- more blasts.

In the end he suggests a ‘very very far fetched idea’ that the UPA and the NDA must get together to form a national government. The noblest of suggestion that I have come across but as the saying goes ‘the two shall never meet’. And I will be happier that they never meet for it will be hard to imagine what will emerge when their minds work collectively.

Whether it’s he Congress or the BJP everyone is on the proverbial ‘same plate’, though they look different even act different yet they are the same. Fraternal twins would be the appropriate word to describe them.

There the terrorists strike at will and here we are at our wits end on whom to select in the forthcoming polls. The dilemma is summed up in the following words

“The wave was with the Congress all this years
now they’ll find a solace in the saffron wear;
to again return to the Gandhi cap five here hence
for the path to salvation is still not ‘Left’.”