An Open Letter to the Media

Dear  Indian Media,

At the outset, i do not want to take any  names, because i feel the issue in Question is not of a few individuals, it is concerning an entire institution. I do not belong to any political party,  nor support any  one either. I am just an ordinary, tax paying 41 year old Indian, making a living, getting along in life.

In the 80's and to a greater part of the 90's, i grew up wanting to be a journalist. I wanted to join the media and be a reporter. People like Arun Shourie, M.J.Akbar, Chitra Subramaniam motivated me.  When i saw the fearless, intrepid  reporters  exposing the scams of the high and mighty, i wanted to be one of them. When i saw men like Rajat Sharma,  Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai  take on the high and mighty of  India, i wanted to be one of them.  That was around 20 years back.

But  that  was all in the past, over the last decade or so, what  i have been witnessing is a steady deterioration in the Quality of the media.  Where the media  should have been exposing the  system, it became a part of the system, paid  P.R  pieces masquerading as article, sensationalism  masquerading as investigation became the norm. Instead of the issues  related to the common man,  media  seemed another extension of the Rich and Famous  Show.  Covering weddings of  any two bit actors,  gushing  P.R. pieces about some random celebs,  showcasing  the lifestyles of the elite, seemed to be the norm. This  deterioration was not all of a sudden, but gradual.

The explosion of  news Channels,  just  made things worse. Where the Media,  was supposed to act with sensitivity  in exposing the issues, it turned into a judge, jury and executioner by itself. Lies and Half  truths became the rule rather than the exception.  Instead of  analysis, all we had was a kind of lynch mob mentality, where  the goal was to find a scapegoat, and  then go all out to massacre him or her.  In the name of TRP's, the media  overlooked it's  primary  responsibility and turned into a money making tabloid. People who talked about social responsibility, ethics,  accountability  were dismissed  as "dinosaurs", mocked and ridiculed.

The expose by the OPEN magazine  about  the involvement  of certain media  personell in the Telecom scam, is  a  Watergate moment. It is a moment of truth  for the media. For  long, the media  has been screaming out for  integrity, and  asking people to look into the mirror.  Well now it is your turn to look into the mirror. The picture is not  pretty,  what you see is an image that is  obese, ugly and stinking. But then pretty pictures convey nothing much, it is the Ugly images that convey  far more.  

I have seen  some  senior  journos  Tweeting away furiously about  "Lynch Mob"  mentality. But for the last 10 years, have you folks not been doing the same. Some doctors indulge in corrupt practices, and you have no  qualms in declaring that  the entire medical profession is corrupt.  Some defense personnel are caught in scams, and  you go  screaming about how the Army has become degenerate. Couple of cricketers are caught  fixing  matches, and enough for you to go on about how the entire game has been corrupted. Today when it is your turn to face the heat,  all of  a sudden  its Lynch Mobs and Mud Slinging.  

BUT  THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT  YOU PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DOING  ALL  THESE  YEARS. 

One of  the esteemed members of  your tribe,  felt  anguished enough to file a defamation suit against a blogger.  But  what about  a young 13 year old girl called  Aarushi, who  was brutally murdered?  You  went on a slander campaign against her,  commenting on her  personal life, you dragged their  parents through muck, murdered their reputations.  Did  you not  sit back and reflect  that what you are doing, will come back some day and haunt you? I  doubt it, considering, you have become so obsessed with playing God. You have become power drunk, arrogant, insensitive to public opinion, so don't  expect us to symphathize with you.

Political  leaders and Govt  officials  are usually corrupt the world over. Even in the West, you have politicians, business men  routinely  caught with their hands in the till.  But they have a vigilant media and a strong  legal  framework which  catches the crooks. The media's function is the Watch Dog of the democracy, but when it turns into a Lap dog, well the nation just goes to the Dogs.

Yes folks, the  heat is fairly on you. Face it. Don't  expect  civility, because for decades many of us  have been seething with anger at  the degeneration, and today when it hits a peak, the anger is bursting out. When people burst out in anger, don't  expect  politeness.  For long you have been demanding, integrity. Now  the  demand is on you,face it up. This is your moment of  reckoning, don't go by a few bad apples, there is something  rotten within your system, clean it up.  Don't  try to sweep that muck  by  uttering vague words of "Ethics"  and "Responsibility".  Sorry  but right now we have lost  faith in you. It is up to you to restore that faith. 

Yours truly,

An Ordinary Indian