Media: The Villain Spreading Toxic Hate

From Nuh to Manipur, the foundational ‘Idea of India’ is under threat. It is all very well to point fingers at unhinged politicians who only care about electoral stakes, compromised law enforcement agencies, reckless pronouncements by judiciary, fringe elements who are patronised and openly provoke, religious supremacists et al, but one ‘institution’ that has played an unbelievably pernicious role in fueling the societal polarisation has been the media at large. There are a few honourable exceptions, who haven’t succumbed.

Editorial tilt and preferences aside, throughout the tumult, a large part of the media was beaming inflammatory passions, fear mongering and hatred while choosing to forsake all pretences of nuance.

The shrill-quotient was not just reserved for the way reportage was conducted, or the so-called ‘debates’ held, but got personified in the sheer smallness-of-spirit exhibited by the anchors. They posed leading and loaded questions that were designed to vitiate the environment, even further.

All pretences of unfiltered ‘news’ and factual reporting were surrendered. It seemed that the media was clearly playing on one side or the other, and was therefore an active participant in the ensuing mayhem and its accompanying blame-game.

While these tragedies did entail the de rigueur shutting down of the internet in the riot-affected areas, there was absolutely no check on the nature of content getting bombarded incessantly on the ‘rest of country’. It is perhaps due to this parallel poisoning that the efficacy of internet bans hardly work, despite the infamy of the ‘world’s largest democracy’ also topping the global list of internet shutdowns!

Last year, out of the 187 internet shutdowns, 84 had taken place in India (our fifth consecutive year of topping this list). Adding to the curse of Indian context is the accepted phenomenon of ‘WhatsApp University’ that relentlessly peddles dangerous fake news, ‘manufactured-outrage’ and selectivity. It is thus affording the monopoly-of-truth onto one convenient side of the argument.

There is absolutely no culture, eco-system or desire for a thriving fact-check industry, as that could potentially diminish the ability to sew the desired storyline. It is tragic how well Mark Twain’s comment, “A lie can travel halfway across the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes” fits here.

Another telling commentary is how little primetime or print space is afforded on debunked ‘facts’. Those with propagandic intent get away without being questioned, after having lit the fire with their ostensible ‘facts’. It seems that the media is more interested in carrying out the outrageous statements (that usually benefit one side, selectively) than call out the bluff of those who knowingly misrepresented, purposefully inflamed, and fueled hysteria.

Given the sheer volume, pervasiveness and multipronged platforming of (un)subtle narrative of selectivity and falsehoods, it is only natural for consumers of content to start imagining a grain of truth, even if it were to stretch their realm of the bizarre.

It is important to remember that the shameful incident pertaining to the videos in Manipur were triggered by fake news and social media forwards. That there is hardly any action taken against fake news, emboldens and empowers those who remain busy, propagating the same.

The victims of such news are naturally more focused on protecting themselves and their families, extricating themselves from the harassment of legalese and officialdom, or even on plain survival. For them, going after the reckless peddlers of hateful falsehood is an unaffordable luxury, and the cyclical rot continues.

Presumably, the essential control levers of the press have been tuned to a such level, wherein even if one were to ideally present the coverage more responsibly, unbiasedly and in a balanced manner, the said journalist may not survive the consequences for too long.

An inevitable collaterality of the state of Media in India has been the steady slide in the Global Freedom of Press Index. Indian media has sunk to its lowest rank ever of 161 out of 180 countries, according to Reporters Sans Frontières.

On the parameter of safety, the report notes, “Journalists are exposed to all kinds of physical violence including police violence, ambushes by political activists, and deadly reprisals by criminal groups or corrupt local officials”. While it is increasingly fashionable to attribute such observations to the likes lobbies that are inimical to India like China, Pakistan, and the ‘West’, the reality of a compromised and caged media can hardly be denied, anymore.

It is as the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, who noted, “Freedom of Press is a precious privilege that no country can forgo… The true function of journalism is to educate the public mind, not to stock it with wanted and unwanted impression”.

Today, that purported privilege ought to encompass responsible coverage, and not as Gandhiji warned “wanted and unwanted impression” owing to partisan intentions.

The TV media circus is especially toxic during the primetime charades when some inarticulate and dodgy ‘spokesperson’ of some community, religion or cause, are drawn into making the most inappropriate and vile comments. Then that inelegance is gleefully latched upon by the anchor to make sweeping statements, attributing them to the entirety of a community, religion or the ‘cause-champions’.

It is an extremely successful formulaic approach that does immense disservice to the issues. It is enabling and disabling, as per the intent of the media management. Instead of lumping the loose voices of the fringe, they are knowingly encouraged.

With all official and self-regulatory media watchdog agencies made ineffectual in terms of calling out the fake malicious narratives, the vicious circle of hate masquerading as ‘news’, continues. It is eerie how each time an incident flares-up anywhere in the country, the media zeroes down on it with pre-decided positions and attributions with loud comical ‘sincerity’.

The days when media reported with some space afforded to ‘opinions’ have now turned on their head. Almost all news space is now dedicated to ‘opinions’ with little or no space seceded to facts or reports.

Lt General Bhopinder Singh (Retd), is the Former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. Views expressed are the writer’s own.