Friday 5 April 2013

THE MEDIA - A Perfect Dilution

With the advent of technology and social media,Indian political scenario is moving faster towards a new set of dynamics.Theres a new game that has unfolded and more than half the indian population don't even know that this has already arrived and probably here to stay for a very very long time.How good or bad this game is or what its going to cost, is a matter of huge debate and speculation.The fact remains that its anything less than a deadly democracy remix.
                     When you look up at the night sky and see the stars twinkling, you feel happy.But the fact is that you are looking at a false image.An image which is not true.In reality you are only seeing the light.The star may have died millions of years ago, yet you see it alive ad twinkling.Truth is the purest form of god.but for govt agencies,media channels,internet giants,corporates, truth is the purest form of business and money making.For a normal Indian who works,earns money for his/her family, its a mountainous task of identifying the truth in its purest and undiluted form. He often depends on the word of mouth,newspapers,internet articles,social media and accepts it as the only available information and tags it as "The Truth" and finally this becomes his belief.Its a sad state of affairs that this version of truth is almost all the time distorted when it flows down the chain from the top.I often wonder why do we have so many political parties when all of them have a single point common agenda namely "DEVELOPMENT"....one simple answer i have is the prospect  of choosing a different party when one does not perform..its a great prospect..if  'x' does not perform ,i can always vote 'y' after 5 years.Every Indian who does not have a political agenda would think the same...But the actual truth is that x=y and that all political parties are the same.That they name this as a 'healthy competition' is a farce.There is a very thin line of  individuality that differs but the general character remains the same.
                     The fact that riots,corruption,religion based politics and all forms of bad governance , took place under both the BJP and Congress governments .The fact that both talk of inclusive development is not worth believing.The BJP portrays an image of being the Hindu representative ,while the congress acts as representatives of Minorities,poor and backward section of the society.
Yet both are brazen enough of an inclusive development rhetoric.Be it Head or a Tail...the end result is the same conclusion.The probability is a 100% of a likely consequence.
                     Media plays a major role in the portrayal of an image of a political party.Let me give you a couple of examples.
  1. The recent controversy of Pardon to Sanjay Dutt .NDTV was quick to report "Shiv Sena reverses stand on Sanjay Dutt"....while Times of India reported "Shiv Sena opposes pardon to Sanjay Dutt".If you are of those kind, who read the paper in a local train,you wouldn't notice.But a careful reading of both the headlines give you the difference.
  2. The controversy of the Chopper Scam...Times Now reported "Govt dragging feet...11 months after Times Now broke the news of the scam ,there is no action from the govt" while NDTV reported the same news in a different light "Govt threatens to cancel Chopper contract "
Its the same news projected differently and its no secret that Media has its own agenda and its own program.A few other West funded News channels who keep praising the western countries and The Pope.Also true that rich Indian businessmen are said to be major stakeholders in almost all the News channels that a normal Indian watches every day.The Media's only job is to  create,morph,distort and present news to increase TRPs and thereby increase their per second cost of endorsements.With such a huge business turnover, Media is a power to reckon with.This power increases their bargain ability thus creating a strong lobby with political parties and businessmen.Such huge is the power of Media,that they have come up with the term "Sting Operation" to armtwist the government and the party.They repeatedly show a 30 second graphic content of an Member of parliament, taking bribe or slapping,beating or harassing a commoner.Basically, Media is a shop where you can get an Image makeover for anyone in this world and there are no free lunches here.A flop actor can simply get into the shop,strike a deal and he/she is back in business.We are already hearing of news reports that businessmen who are major stakeholders in a news channel influence the stories and reports.A single report can make a killing at the Bombay stock exchange,National Stock Exchange,NASDAQ,Dow Jones.With advent of technology Media now has occupied the internet too.They are everywhere.Twitter handles,Facebook posts,websites,articles,print media.They set the agenda and the people follow it,like it,share it,re tweet it,and tag it.Its also often said but still unofficial though ,that Internet giants and social media like Facebook and Google are tracking your usage and confidential data thus invading your privacy.They sell this data to 3rd party vendors for billions of dollars compromising your privacy and security.The Media even decides which government to vote in.Media even decides policies on National Interest.Media even decides whether to go for a war or sign a peace treaty.
                                        We are in the age where news is being churned on the back of a turtle with gods and demons at each end.With the ever-growing Media , governments are going to be completely overpowered one day.Its often believed that we are all a part of a bigger conspiracy unfolding.Each and every global incident is connected to a common point on the timescale.All the means of attaining Knowledge will have vanished.The doomsday will not fail.Its our own making and it will hit us hard.The 'Truth' is simply gone.No traces of it will be found.Its the Beginning!!!!!