Power Struggle by Proxy
Nidhu Bhusan Das
When media tend to believe they are privileged to teach a
pliable/gullible public and manufacture news accordingly, they are, in fact,
involved in the struggle for political power by proxy. Politics is more
important for them, and they seek to build and reshape the architecture of the
state politics pitting one party against the other, and even go to the extent
of helping coalition formation calling interested party leaders to come together
to fight against the bete noire of the media baron(s).A particular political
leader becomes the bete noire of the baron(s) because (s)he is not pliable.
Would Thomas Jefferson ,had he been in West Bengal now,
assert what he said long ago as the President of the USA – “…were it left to me
to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers
without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter” ? Jefferson was of the view
that where the basis of the government is the opinion of the people, the very
first object should be to keep the opinion straight. None can question the
sagacity of the assertion. But the wise man might have not anticipated that the
media barons would dabble in politics and seek to control it when the political
bosses lack wisdom, have scant respect for democracy and are only after power
sans the sense of responsibility to the state and the people.
Is it to keep the opinion of the people
straight that the TV media show the Central Security personnel in Murshidabad
are in the markets to buy things when elections were on in Jangalmahal to make
people believe that the forces on election duty were irresponsible? Is it not
the way information is made into story and disinformation is given the
semblance of news?
The media since 1980s till 2011 reported
massive malpractices, intimidation, violence and post-poll violence in West Bengal to the extent of
chopping off hands of voters who allegedly voted for the hand symbol, and
vandalizing the houses of voters who voted against the ruling party. It is
known the Election Commission, meanwhile, cleansed the electoral roll deleting
ghost voters in thousands, yet a section of the media harps on the presence of
ghosts in the polling booths who push the EVM button allegedly for the ruling
party.
Bloodbath was once the part of the electioneering in the state. By the
time two phases of the state assembly elections are over without any such cruelty.
Is not the Election Commission right when they claim the elections so far have
been, by and large, peaceful? The Leader of the Opposition Dr. Surya Kanta
Mishra displayed his leadership when he expressed satisfaction regarding the
election in Narayangarh wherefrom he seeks reelection when the media continued
with the refrain that ghostly and ghastly phenomena desecrated the election
process.
Perhaps Jefferson would be shocked to see how the
media deliberately refrain from keeping the opinion of the people straight
spreading canard, not in the interest of democracy but in their own interest in
the power game.
If
we take into account the perversion of democracy that has taken roots in West Bengal over the decades,
we cannot expect an overnight paradise of people’s rule. Media can help develop
a democratic awareness and attitude among the people if they can maintain
equidistance from the politicians and parties and do not harbour any ambition
to pull the string of power from behind. They have areas like development
communication for the benefit of the people to mind than politics only. So far,
the media in the state have not shown interest in such areas. This is
unfortunate.
PS: On 25 April 2015 Civic Body elections were being held in
the state when an earthquake jolted and scared the people. A major TV news
channel continued with the polls related discussion even when the national
channels in no time foregrounded the quake reports and photos. Is it
sensitivity enough for such a media outlet to claim sense and sensibility?
