The penchant for reading news precedes a well-informed society

Lucky Sapam *

A newspaper clipping from a Imphal based Daily :: Pix - TSE

A strong press and a well connected media network shape a particular country up in a fair and just manner. A fine balance of morality and rationality in any approach has been always appreciable from the early times. Generally people have the tendency to draw conclusion quick. This in turn always leads to confusion and uncertainty among various sections of people.

In these modern times, there is an overload of information upon us and we are being exposed to all sorts of detailed information or facts about everything and this creates an extraordinary paradigm shift; a shift among people of wanting to know the correct and accurate information. We are too quick to react and make a judgement about everything. There is always a coterie of sycophants lurking in the corner to pound on anything they hear which are not usual or customary. Strange times it is.

"Half-knowledge is dangerous and wrong"

The ground reality is somewhat different from what we hear about it in the news, be it on print media or on television or on the social-media. A news article is a brief report about some information or events prepared in order to make the world aware of it. There is no cent percent certainty that the news articles are always veracious or impeccable. The ridiculous thing now is that people sometimes believe in everything they hear from the media.

A feeble correspondent report taken from various sources is manipulated to make it look far more interesting and informative. The recent news report on the national media of the carnage of the army personnel in Chandel district of Manipur is a clear cut example of how manipulation works. With the little pieces of news picked up from various unverified sources and handles are made it through to the media houses and were broadcasted over and over again. 'Were the details accurate?' could be a plausible question to ask. The rest of the world would look and read the news and would take a standpoint to it, but the minute details concerning the facts and truth are known only to the local people.

"Human beings and its enigmatic state of mind"

Human tends to incline themselves to various forms of interest, pleasure and curiosity. When there is a news report about the killings and bombings, we immediately turn our attention towards it. This in turn makes up a large audience and all of a sudden the whole nation is tuned to their television sets. Like a market selling various fresh produce from the farm, the television channel too try to sell its stories or reports in a best possible way.

Exclusivity is an important factor for any media house. Due to a highly competitive environment, the television channel with the best strategy always wins the war of viewership. The media wars are fought daily and this is not a healthy precedent. The news-shows on the television channels have become more like a reality show, debates have become like a debate happening in the parliament, anchors no longer stand neutral but acts more like a moralist. Sometimes media personnel are very reluctant at admitting mistakes. "To err is human; to accept that is good human; to forgive is superhuman".

Most of the media houses are owned by the private players. It is a business setup and the sole aim of any business set up is to make profit. The main source of revenue generation for any media house is through advertisement. It makes up for a large chunk of the returns. The various planning of strategy and consulting are done to target the right audience. The larger the audience tuning to a particular broadcast channel; the larger is the prospect of a higher profit generation. That's the only reason why there is primetime news and primetime entertainment slots for every broadcast channel where they broadcast their best shows and series.

Just to get into the perspective, let's take an example: During the IPL (Indian Premier League) season, the 10 seconds slot for advertisement was 2-4 lakh rupees and went up to 10 lakh rupees for the later stages of the tournament. The reason for such a high fee is because the broadcaster knows that there will be lakhs of people tuning to the channel in that particular period of time.

The investors know the business prospect of the situation so they will go ahead in paying the high amount. That's shrewd business and these investors are the most astute people. Likewise for the media houses, they too want large audiences and large investments. In order to attract prospective investors and larger audience, they inculcate the trend of showing the best shows and best debates during these primetime. More people tuning into the show mean more money and more profit.

"North-south-east-west divide and the Pan-India"

Due to diverse demographics, diverse languages, diverse viewer choices and multiplicity of television channels, there is not a single platform to path of all the news to a particular channel. People from one state would not be so much interested in news from the other states; of course, generally speaking. And now with the localization of news channels people have started to watch their own language channel only.

With all these in the background, let's observe and analyze why there are very less news reports from Manipur and from the North-Eastern states in the national media. First, Manipur's population is less than 30 lakhs, which gives the status of minority. Secondly, we are not the intended target for any corporate to some extent. And third, people do not want to read or see news which does not relate them. Any event happening in Manipur is a big deal for any Manipuri but for the rest of India, it is just 'unimportant' news.

So is it fair and just from our part to blame the 'national media' or 'mainstream media' for ignoring the north-eastern regions? Do the media houses need to maintain a fine balance; a balance between businesses and social responsibilities. That's a tough call and a perpetual concern, but ultimately they should take a stand; a stand of just, unbiased, equitable and impartial approach.

"The outsourcing of local problems and the eternal wait for answers"

On a flipside, but in a similar direction, the pondering thought comes in a form of rational and logical approach to the minds of the people and questions like 'What good will we get if the so called national media report news about us?' arises. Yes, we get exposure and we may feel like we are part of a nation, the feeling of alienation decreases and we feel connected and good.

But does that even matter when Manipur is in just a predicament position and have our own local bigger problems. These local problems which are to be solved by the local people are being outsourced to people who do not even have any sort of relevancy to the state or so.

The irony of our state is that we seek help from outsiders and have an undying faith in them. The best and the foremost thing to do now is to first tidy up our homes then complain about the others later. Just because people don't help or give importance to us, do we need to sulk, complain and grumble about it? I don't think so. We cannot let our morale and strength shrinks just because people ignored or do not help us.

"When you have an iron will and an indomitable spirit, the Gods themselves will join you in the combat and the universe conspire to help you succeed"