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Trial
By The Media?
What exactly is the job of a newspaper? Is it only about disseminating news to the readers or is it also about anticipating news? Or more relevantly does the job and duty of journalists’ demand that acts of commission and omission by the Government of the day and high ranking officials should be exposed? And if so to what extent should the newspaper or rather journalists go to dig out the story?
To many, these questions may seem self evident but underlying these are the ethical points that cannot be simply written off. And to many of the newshound and the less glamorous ‘desk boys’ engaged with the local newspaper here, these questions today pose the greatest hazards or challenges, whichever one chooses to look at it. With corruption getting institutionalized and eating into the very vitals of the administrative set up, it has now become the order of the day for the people, at least here, to pin their hope on the newspapers to expose the acts of commission and omission by the Government and officials especially those at the helm of affairs.
While we certainly welcome the trust and confidence reposed in us by the masses, we will also not hesitate to say that on more than one occasion the media, including this newspaper, has been taken for a ride by some over zealous organizations or associations who are out to settle some scores with any individual official. We really do not blame anyone for the goof ups committed by us, rather we take each error as a lesson to be learnt, for journalism is an endless learning exercise and no amount of knowledge or working experience is going to be enough to say that one has mastered the profession.
This then is the peculiar or rather interesting point that stares at the face of any journalist worth his salt. We take up this point for deliberations because of late there has been a spurt in the allegations of misappropriation of funds by high ranking Government officials and the names of quite a few have been sullied by the media coverage. The question before us is, should the media name the official purportedly involved in the matter without giving him/her a chance to have his/her say? Is trial by the media really fair?
Investigative journalism is what lends that certain aura of glamour, purpose and yes credibility to a journalist and it is precisely because of this that the names of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of Watergate fame will remain etched in the annals of journalism. Closer home we can cite the example of Ashwin Sarin of the Indian Express who caught the imagination of the people with his story on Kamla. Even the recent petrol pump allocation scam that left the BJP red in the face followed the expose' run by the Indian Express and of course who can ever forget Tehelka.
The pogrom in Gujarat was also exposed to a great degree by the newspaper houses of the country. These examples show case investigative journalism at its highest level and it is precisely because of such earth shaking instances that journalists and newspaper houses are today elevated to a ‘righteous’ status, especially in Manipur, where there is just no mechanism for the people to lodge their grievances.
Understandably, to many, the newspaper has today come to mean the medium where they can go to air their grievances and while we are committed to keep a watch on any acts of commission and omission, we certainly do wish that the people realize that the newspaper is no platform to trade charges and make wild allegations. Moreover we can also ask the question, how free are we in discharging our duties without fear of retribution? And moreover, how do we go about distinguishing the false from the genuine and how much attention should we pay to allegations against the political class and the Government officials? These questions may seem easy but the answers are tough to find because journalism is not a physical science and not everything is laid down in black and white.
(Courtesy: The
Sangai Express)
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