Mirror Mirror on the wall expose this face before all.

Hindustan Times should be commended for it efforts and yeoman service, it is rendering towards promoting journalism in India, it has for all practical purposes converted this publication into a Hyde Park of this field, any individual with the most minuscule of pretentions of being a journalist is afforded unfettered opportunity to unleash his/her spiel on the unsuspecting readers.

“A half-way house” by Mr.Rajdeep Sardesai, being the latest fruit of that labor!

 “Today, there are more than 120 news channels. The frenzied competition among channels has been brilliantly caricatured in Peepli Live, but ironically, the manic nature of the medium may well have acted as a round-the-clock watchdog when the Ayodhya judgment was delivered last week, thereby ensuring that there was no place for any potential trouble-maker to hide. That a majority of news channels consciously shied away from projecting extremist voices is also a sign that amid the madness of the news whirl, there is still some space for restraint and responsible journalism.”

Granted there are more than 120 news channels, agreed there is intense competition. At this point we would have to part ways. Author has gone on a flight of fanciful, self delusional overstatements which flies in the face of ground realities. The medium is perceived to be a watch dog, fact is it is a pet poodle of a particular political party and its ideology. Just as there are others catering to the same master and it grand plans.

This ostensible watch dog, watches all events however reports selectively, which are beneficial to its master. Convenient arguments, twists are added to emphasis, sway public sentiment in a direction preselected to the detriment of those who are to be maligned or presented negatively to fit the larger picture and the grand plan.

Point by point rebuttal of all the claims is feasible; temptation to indulge in such an act is also high. Monotony of such an exercise would diminish the import of the points that are the main focus of this blog.

However will pose two questions, before proceeding to the crux of the matter.

1. Why has this watch dog not been able to reduce corruption?

2. How many individual have tasted their just fruits at hand of the law for their misdeeds? Due to the efforts of this watch dog!

Let us explore just two points, one efficacy of this watch dog in reporting and preventing events which have profound effects on the society. Second being the restraint exercised which calls for applauding its role in pre & post Ayodhya verdict period.

Who can forget the extensive reporting and prime time debates on Switzerland disallowing building of minarets for a mosque in that country, overlooking the fact that the citizens of that country delivered their verdict in a referendum conduct by the government of a sovereign nation as envisaged in its constitution, and again when France opted to ban the use of Burkha in public. Both nations are democracies older than us. Alacrity with which these two incidents were dubbed as Islamophobia, by this channel and others, the shrillness of their reporting made them out to as fanatical as the Jihadis who are being shunned by their own community. Would we be wrong if we were to label the author and his ilk as secular Fundamentalists?

Now let us contrast this with the events they chose to ignore. There was a deafening silence on this event there was no mention what so ever.

“2010 Deganga riots: 24 North Parganas West Bengal India.
From Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia The 2010 Deganga riots began on 6th September when an Islamist mob resorted to arson and violence on the Hindu localities of Deganga, Kartikpur and Beliaghata under the Deganga police station area. The violence began late in the evening and continued throughout the night into the next morning. The district police, Rapid Action Force, Central Reserve Police Force and Border Security Force all failed to stop the mob violence, army was finally deployed. The army staged a flag march on the Taki Road, while Islamist violence continued unabated in the interior villages off the Taki Road, till Wednesday in spite of army presence and promulgation of prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC. The violence finally calmed down on 9th September after hundreds of Hindu business establishments and residences were looted, destroyed and burnt, dozens of Hindus were severely injured and several Hindu temples desecrated and vandalized by the Islamist mobs led by Trinamul Congress MP Haji Nurul Islam.”

You judge for yourself if this watch dog was making the right type of sounds for the first two events and if it was looking in the wrong direction and was suffering from a serious bout of cold that it did not open its mouth.

The other point is about the restraint shown by the media.

                    

What do you have to say to this, did your stomach not knot up in disgust, where is your sense of restraint and sensitivity? What kind of an example is being set by placing such thoughts in public domain, what will be the effect on the young of this country? How would your children react to this? The individual in question is not just an employee of your channel, but also your spouse. What action have you taken? Why have you not apologized to the nation for this? Oh please do not tell us Freedom of expression; that incidentally stops where our nose begins, this is a straight hard punch on our collective nose.

Do not misappropriate what belongs to the people of this country, self congratulatory article, patting your own back for a job well done is premature and misplaced. Leave this to us the people to pass our judgment on your role and its effectiveness.

This is the latest update on CNNIBN. 12/17/2010

: CNN-IBN in row over "fake" Twitter comments Nowhere to hide everything is coming apart.

 @barkhadalal @saikatd @sardesairajdeep is still lying.

CNN IBN’s “apology” What purpose will this serve?

I welcome a debate and discussion on this…As always, please keep your tone civil, your language polite…no sweeping generalisations please and no personal abuse.  Thank you.

Postman disagrees with contents of the letter.

India has won. It is a great victory that is what we heard after the 1st test match at Mohali. India’s Gold Medals rush at the Common Wealth games say the headlines of newspapers. TV channels also echoing this. Magnificent opening ceremony to the Common Wealth Games in Delhi! India and Indians won on the 30th of September 2010. No one seems to be celebrating that. WHY?

Yes the Ayodhya verdict. The litigants accepted the verdict without any show of emotions of either triumph or dismay. There was no gloating from BJP, VHP, RSS and the other usual suspects as we have been repeatedly told by the media since 1992. Nor was there any shrill cry from the other side. Some political parties like the SP of Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD of Lalu Prasad Yadav, LJP of Ram Vilas Paswan have made noises in order to exploit the verdict, Congress has displayed its traditional wishy washy stance.

Indians by nature are emotional and expressive, more so when it is an emotive issue of religion. Collectively we have displayed extreme equanimity, grace and maturity. There has not been a single report of an untoward incident from across the length and breadth of the country, which is very unusual, yet a more than welcome change. A clarion call from the common man, move on, no more divisiveness. No more debating Secularism Vs Communalism.

The discordant note in all this is emanating from the messenger that is the main stream English media. The common refrain is do not shoot the messenger, in present case its role is highly suspect, there is a concerted and deliberate attempt being made to project the Allahabad High Court verdict as being seriously flawed by intent, to the detriment of the Muslim rights and community. Is the media competent to sit on judgment of the verdict? Is it its brief and in fitness of things? Why is it indulging and overreaching? What is the purpose of this explicit exercise of negating the verdict of the Hon Allahbad High Court, as also the message from the people of this country?

It leads us to believe that a gory blood bath on the streets of India was the expectations of the media and it is deeply disappointed that the average Indian has fooled all these journalists who were looking for a field day/days of mayhem and violence…so they could have continued their cry on “secularism in danger’ “majority mafia rule” “Islam in danger” and the usual attack. We should congratulate the average Indian that he has now the capability to decide what is best for him and not listen to the doomsayers.

The question that is uppermost in our minds is, why have the TV channels rummaged so deep into their moth balled trunks to bring out old relics who described the judgment disparagingly? Why are aspersions being cast on the Judges involved? There are many more questions that we seek and need answers to from the media for its unremitting negative role since the 30th of September 2010. One article a day in the print has been the norm since then, not one of these authors has presented to us a balanced view or a cogent basis, so that we may move from our present position, the judgment provides an opportunity to move forward, we do not wish the millstone to be round a neck anymore.

Castigating personalities, specific media channels, and publications is not the intent though it would satisfy temporarily; nor is the purpose to delve superficially or propound a theory which would not stand scrutiny of logic and be dismissed as fanciful flight of imagination of an individual. Indian is bemused he is finding it difficult to differentiate between the Jihadis and these “Secular fundamentalists.”

Why should we not examine the media as per the below mentioned criteria? Permit me to place before you the readers something significant which I came across recently.

“Are Businessmen Smarter Than Children?”

According to the research of Lawrence Kohlberg, children at around the age of ten progress to a higher level of moral understanding moving from consequence thinking to considering the intent behind the action.. I quote: At approximately the same time–10 or 11 years–children’s moral thinking undergoes other shifts. In particular, younger children base their moral judgments more on consequences, whereas older children base their judgments on intentions. When, for example, the young child hears about one boy who broke 15 cups trying to help his mother and another boy who broke only one cup trying to steal cookies, the young child thinks that the first boy did worse. The child primarily considers the amount of damage–the consequences–whereas the older child is more likely to judge wrongness in terms of the motives underlying the act (Piaget, 1932, p. 137).

There are six stages in Kohlberg’s theory:
1) Obedience and Punishment Orientation
2) Individualism and Exchange
3) Good Interpersonal Relationships
4) Maintaining the Social Order
5) Social Contract and Individual Rights
6) Universal Principles

For now we will ignore all other stages and focus on stage 4.

Level 4 thinking means a person begins to consider “society as whole” as a factor in moral decision making. Breaking the law, damaging the environment, treating people badly, acting in the interest of a foreign government or corporation or trading partner to the detriment of your own country, etc. are acts that damage society as a whole. A businessman willing to maximize profit at all costs with this level of moral development has to believe that the long term benefits of illegal and unethical actions will produce in the long term a better society or embrace simple villainy as a way of life.

It would be fitting for all of us to look deep into the motives that have driven the media to it current stance. Judgments maybe formed on independent basis as it would be grossly unfair on my part to enforce my views or opinions as per my perceptions. Yes media handling of the issue has left much to be desired. After all it is the fourth pillar of our vibrant democracy, given the extensive interactivity, need for restrained reaction cannot but be emphasized, propagation of a unidimensional picture is not in the larger interest of the Nation.

In conclusion, this was by far the most disgusting way of expressing oneself it appeared on twitter “Lord Ram A Divine Encroacher.” The author of this tweet is yet to issue an apology to us. Media is but a ‘Postman’ and not a party to the title suit hence obduracy displayed by it is misplaced and uncalled for.


Link to some of the article published from 1st Oct onwards.
1. Shaving grace?
2. "Are we not free yet?"
3. Could a better deal have been struck two decades ago?
4. "Full Tosss"
5. "No triumphalism"

Thank you Mr. James Pilant for permitting me to use material from your blog “Are Businessmen Smarter Than Children?”