There is a strong anti-Congress wave sweeping across at least the media world. Switch on your television set, connect to the internet or read the morning newspapers—it’s all there giving the strong impression that the Sonia Gandhi led Congress party is truly on the decline and the UPA II government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is on its last leg. While in general there is indeed trouble for the Congress led UPA government, one cannot tell the real depth of the problem because there is also the fact that there are too many media propaganda doing the rounds. In fact one is left to wonder as to what the truth is actually. It is easy for the public to get induced to falling for the wrong choice or decision. Political parties are everywhere from television to print to facebook to twitter, propagating what they believe is the truth. So everybody claims to speak or have the truth. In such a state of affair, one wonders as to where the independent media is. Take for instance the case in South India where ahead of the 2014 polls, political warfare or propaganda is heating up on the airwaves. It is said that in southern India, owning a TV news channel is becoming a must for the success of any political outfit. According to a news report, after the AIADMK-owned Jaya TV and DMK-promoted Sun TV, another TV channel backed by a political party is set to be launched in Tamil Nadu. The channel - Lotus News - comes from the BJP stable and will be launched on October 11 in the state. The same news report goes on to inform that next year neighbouring Kerala, which has been a stronghold of communists, will also see the launch of a news channel, which will promote the CPI. The state already has two channels - Kairali backed by the CPI (M) and Jaihind promoted by the Congress’ state President.
So with politics in mind, the so called media as a profession or as the fourth pillar of democracy remains in danger of becoming merely a propaganda tool at the hands of the publicity or power seekers. This is detrimental to democracy and fair play. With 24/7 television news and the easy access to journalists and the newsroom, anyone can go on air and say as they wish without proper check on the veracity of facts by the media. While in the short term giving license to such publicity seekers may boost their ratings, in the long term, this will discredit the role of the media if one is not cautious on reporting facts from fiction. In the present context where there is a maddening rush for news and the intense rivalry among media channels we need to perhaps revisit the role of the Editor and the responsibility towards the readers or viewers. With so much information available at the click of a button, what goes out for public consumption should be carefully managed in a way that does not discredit the media into getting branded as showcasing this or that politics or ideology. The press is the Fourth Pillar of democracy after the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Someone has rightly said that a free press is the oxygen of democracy. While the press has to demand accountability it should also remain accountable and not abuse its power. If the press fraternity is merely satisfied with putting out propaganda, we are not doing justice to the noble calling—to be an independent and free press and to represent the voice of the people.
