Recently, 280 youths in Pune were arrested by police during a "rave party" - and it came out big in the news. Within a couple of days, a popular news channel - let me call it '168' :) ( 24 * 7 ) organized a "debate", ostensibly to get different 'perspectives' on the incident. So, here was a debate going on with the Police Inspector who conducted the raid and another 'dude' ( forget his name, but he comes on such debates all the time - always supporting the wrong side ! ). So, let me call him the Crazy Stupid Dude - CSD.
The '168' news reader was the moderator.
Here's how the arguments went :
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CSD : The police just want to hog media attention. These things are happening everywhere.
They don't have the guts to arrest the big fish ( aka politicians, film actors ) ....
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What was that !? Look at his argument :-
"Because you can't catch the big fish, you let the small fish go ?!! "
Jeez - and then the '168' correspondent takes a que for his argument and tries to bring the heat on the police inspector ! Really ! I was very annoyed. Here we have a police force cracking down on an illegal activity and instead of applauding / encouraging them , we try and find SOME STICK to beat them with ??
I find this a clear instance of abuse of the Right to Free Speech. Observe how CSD coolly uses the phrase , "..don't have the guts .." . Somebody should tell CSD to show a little bit of respect to the set of people who are trying to make his life safe so that he can have a good night's sleep daily. ( Believe me, it requires guts )
Okay , don't get me wrong - I am not saying that the country's police force is full of honest, incorruptible people - there will always be bad eggs here and there. In fact , there might be many...BUT , that doesn't mean we talk so lightly about them - and more importantly when they have done their duty !!
Which brings me to ask whether media was right in holding a debate like this. Tomorrow, the Supreme Court may give a ruling against a psychopath who probably murdered lots of innocent people and there you see media playing God by being the moderator and giving a 'fair chance' to the guilty party. With a million Indians watching the show, there is bound to be some people who will turn in favour of the guilty , especially if we have people like Mr.CSD who can speak impressionably.
My point is just this - after watching the program - you MIGHT begin to wonder whether the police were right after all. Now, there will always be two sides of a coin - so if we keep highlighting the wrong side - what should become of our sense of morality ?
In their enthusiasm to show 'both sides of the coin' , the media seems to find it "fashionable" to look at it from the criminal's perspective. And that is exactly what scares me .....
7 comments:
Actually, I find most programs on these new channels very funny. They lack content of any kind and there's this effort put in to "be the first". Most of them lack differentiation. It's become a crazy play out there.
And if you have noticed, even news-reading has gone to dogs. Most readers dont respect the "full stop" at all. And some readers have an accent that is put on. Real crap.
1:1 shows are much better.
I agree with Vinay. Mainstream media is just timepass. Don't look for anything meaningful.
At the same time, I would wish all kinds of people to openly speak their mind. Abuse of freedom of speech should be invoked only in the rarest of rare cases.
The media should debate any and every issue it sees fit, including judicial proceedings with great impact on society.
The Supreme Court and police have power only because the people have agreed to outsource some of the specialized work to them. If enough Indians think they are messed up, then it's time to fix those institutions - not throttle debate.
Morality is largely at the individual level. Drawing it into the public sphere will restrict individual freedom.
W.r.t the Pune incident, to me the root question is whether "drugs" should be legalized, like tobacco (No targetting children, no ads). A group of 20-25 year olds having a party with drugs and drink seems perfectly alright to me. It's strange that society is coming in their way and trying to impose morals.
P.S: How about you copy-paste your post on LiveJournal also? It has threaded comments and much easier to track comments.
@pramod
I dont much of narcotics law, but I *think* the law is queasy about two things:
1) Amount of substance consumed (I really dont think so...vague recollection from some reading)
2) Source of the substance
@bili :
Morality is largely at the individual level. Drawing it into the public sphere will restrict individual freedom
I disagree. You are referring to an ideal scenario ( very Ayn Rand-ish ! :) ) where the entire society consists of sane individuals who appreciate reason.
In reality, people need to be 'herded' like sheep with the batons of Law and Morality.
You are referring to an ideal scenario ( very Ayn Rand-ish ! :) ) where the entire society consists of sane individuals who appreciate reason.
(I don't want to get into what Rand said because that's academic.)
Keeping morality in private life actually means accepting that human morals are completely irrational. Let's not look for reason in our morals. The more society tries to enforce a consistent, rational set of morals, the more it will grate against human nature.
Here, we should learn from Indian history where common morals were only expected at caste or family levels. No one tried to enforce just one set of values on a broad swathe of society or a big country like India - be it meat eating, drinking, polygamy. (Of course, groups can gang up and enforce untouchability, where you affect others whilst following your ideals. That's a hard problem.)
Where do people need to be "herded"? What's the common goal? Isn't it enough as long as they lead their life and die without causing problems to other humans?
hey kandy
totally agree that media is losing its credibility by the day...but the worst part is.....its u n i who think this way.....for the millions of people who beleive every word they read....every word they hear.....wat media says...wat their leaders say....is the gospel truth
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