Media Bias – Myth or Reality
Newspapers on 27th May, predictably provided wide coverage to Narendra modi’s swearing-in ceremony and almost the entire paper was devoted to the new government formed the previous day. One story that caught my eye was about presence of sadhus in large number. Times of India reported “…Two prominent slogans that rent the evening air were: Vande Mataram and Bharat mata ki jai. At least on two occasions, one also heard, Jai Shri Ram, one of the lead slogans in the Ram Janambhoomi movement leading to the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992”. I was appalled to see such a prestigious paper linking chants of Jai Shri Ram on a solemn occasion like oath-taking ceremony to Babri Masjid demolition!
“Media is the epitome of honesty” is a line our media celebrities would like to sing in self praise. This is followed by another in very fine print and rarely spoken aloud “….all the rest are liars” which, often would mean “Only secularists and minorities speak the truth…all rest are blatant liars”. Is media honest in its reporting or demagoguery, misinformation and bias are shaping public opinion? In the last few years, media has become so influential and pervasive in our lives that regardless of exactly where on the ideological fence you sit, the question of media bias has become all-but unavoidable.
Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan was detained by U.S.Homeland Security at New York airport in 2009 and again in 2012 and Indian media went overboard in hyping the issue, demanded apology from US and relentless pressure by media even forced the Indian government to take up the issue diplomatically with US. But, when one of India’s greatest Hindu religious leaders Swami Jayendra Saraswathi of Kanchi Mutt was arrested in a false murder case, Indian media quickly slipped into the shoes of a prosecutor & a judge and virtually held him guilty of murder charge and the issue was discussed ad infinitum for days. But, In Nov 2013, when the seer was acquitted of all charges, the news was mentioned casually by media without featuring it on the prime time. A few years ago, another highly respected seer Sankaracharya of Puri Swami Nischalanand Saraswati alleged that a section of media, particularly the electronic media kept their focus on Nun rape case in Kandhamal but not a single TV channel showed the brutal murder of Hindu seer Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and the side effects of conversion. Well known author and religious activist late Sita Ram Goel also claimed that there is media bias in India, in particular media is averse to criticism against Islam and Muslims, but not against being critical of Hindus. Cut to present and the raging debate on the death of a 24 year old Muslim in Pune. This brutal killing is condemnable in no uncertain terms. But, equally reprehensible is the role of media in stoking communal passions. Did media highlight the equally brutal killing of a young Hindu BJP worker in kerala late last year, or the relentless violence against BJP workers by TMC activist for days in West Bengal? Did media discuss dispassionately that AIMIM chief Owaisi’s inflammatory speeches in recent days may have provoked some disgruntled elements within Muslim community to post offensive caricatures of Shivaji and Bala Saheb which led to the killing of this innocent youth in Pune? Has media failed to represent all sides of the story? The answer to all these questions is an unequivocal No.
Media often talks of its commitment to creation of Indian identity, but fails to do its homework before discussing publications by foreign authors, which may be flawed to cause hurt to a vast majority of Hindus (most media seem to think Western authors writing on Hinduism can never be wrong). Media will invariably pull out from its armory, oft-repeated examples of how hardliners brutalized the liberal worldview and forced James Laine’s book on Shivaji off the bookshelves and more recently withdrawal of Wendy Doniger’s book The Hindus: An alternative history. But, while they bemoan the attacks on freedom of speech, rarely our celebrated liberals will discuss the derogatory remarks and insults of a highly revered personality like Shivaji or hundreds of factual inaccuracies, misrepresentations and errors contained in Wendy Doniger’s book. This is bound to raise questions in the mind of a reader/viewer: Is media bias keeping us from getting the whole story? Are there forces in media that are duping unsuspecting public into believing someone’s opinion for news?
When Narendra Modi filed his nomination for Vadodara Lok Sabha seat and mentioned Jashodaben as his wife in the nomination form, media took voyeuristic pleasure by tip-toeing in his past and discussing threadbare Modi’s marital status. Why he abandoned his teenage wife barely a couple of months after marriage and how will Modi as Prime Minister ensure women’s rights; are some of the many questions raised by media. But, did any media discuss a similar incidence of abandoning spouse among political heavyweights? Informed readers would recall that in 1960s, Indira Gandhi reportedly left her husband to pursue a political career and moved to her father’s home taking her two growing sons with her and thus denying both the children their father’s love. While, Modi was a mere teenager from a small town and driven by RSS ideology left his new wife, presumably without thinking of the consequences, in case of Indira Gandhi, parting came several years after marriage when both the partners were educated and matured. In an informal talk with social activist Ms Madhu Kishwar, BJP leader Narendra Modi sums up the media bias very succinctly, when he reprimanded a TV channel for adding fuel to communal fire.
We often wonder why there is a perceived bias against Hindus in media which appears to be more concerned with espousing the cause of minorities and frequently accused of forgetting journalistic ethics of objectivity and fairness. Many believe that the genesis of media bias can be traced to M K Gandhi’s mindless appeasement of Muslims with complete disregard for sufferings of Hindus, especially during the years leading to independence & until his death. Starting with his refusal to seek commutation of death sentence for Bhagat Singh, Rajguru & Sukhdev; his ambivalence in going immediately to Noakhali after riots broke out there resulting in macabre killing of thousands of Hindus, to his yet another threat of fast unto death to press payment of Rs 55 Crores to Pakistan; but, his insistence that government should not pay for rehabilitation of Somnath temple. All these acts of perceived appeasement played on the minds of minorities, made them more aggressive and also proved decisive in forming a pro-minority policy pursued by Congress government in subsequent decades. In an earlier article on media carried in these columns in Yugvani, I had highlighted how political parties (especially Congress) were manipulating media, which was only too eager to fall in line with Congress party’s avowed disdain for Hindus traditions & culture and this bias reflects in media’s reporting. What also may be equally plausible is another point of view given by Panchajanya which suggests that many big media houses in India are owned or funded by Christian missionaries who may be influencing editorial policy and an anti-Hindu stance infiltrates its reporting. Media bias is damaging the credibility of news sources and doing disservice by not living up to its professional obligation. With a new dispensation at the centre, India is at an inflection point with optimism sweeping the nation. Media must redeem itself of its past wrongs and rededicate to ethical journalism.
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Reality must turn myth , in this case.