Why the media needs to introspect
Opinion is divided over Arnab Goswami’s arrest. Some feel that this is politically-motivated retaliation by the Thackeray government, while some say this is a criminal case which has nothing to do with press freedom or freedom of expression
The arrest of Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami is almost like the mythical samudra manthan which yielded both nectar and poison. Similar, in the churn in the media today, we get both genuine news and fiction dressed up as news. The lines have become somewhat blurred these days.
In the name of truth, some self-styled influencers have glossed over the distinction between news, opinion and hypothesis. They seem to believe that the louder people are, especially on television channels, the more authenticity there is to their arguments. But aggression and decibel levels don’t change the truth. Which is probably why this period in time is being called the post-truth era.
Let us look at the case of the death by suicide of promising actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The uncertainty and drama surrounding his death had been going on for months until experts ruled that it was indeed a case of suicide.
Initially, after registering a first information report in Bihar, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI spokesperson did not issue any statement on the case at that time. But some television channels were determined to cast themselves in the roles of the plaintiff, lawyer and judge, all at once.
In the next chapter of the saga, his former partner and film actor Rhea Chakraborty was pilloried as a gold digger and as a person who may have had a role in his death. Other top agencies, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) also joined the investigations into the allegations. Chakraborty did not say much but that did not stop the channels from indulging in wild speculation. Some said the case was all about money laundering, others said it was about drug peddling. Several actors and Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray and his family were targeted.
For the first time, some of the actors and film-makers who were vilified moved the courts. They did so to stop some television channels from tarnishing their hard-earned reputations. One of the channels named as indulging in this mud-slinging was Republic TV of which Goswami is the editor-in-chief and owner.
Goswami and some other mediapersons have gone against established norms under which the media has long functioned and have hurt people in the process. Many journalists have pushed the envelope in the past, but never crossed ethical lines.
To buttress his stand, he has cited the Television Rating Points (TRPs) as evidence that his offerings are accepted and liked by viewers. However, when the Mumbai Police arrested some people on charges of rigging the TRP system, Goswami lost no time in alleging that this was part of a political conspiracy against him. He blamed some editors-in-chief and directors of certain media houses, publicly naming and challenging them. He did not stop here, he hurled accusations at the Maharashtra CM and the police commissioner of Mumbai.
This had never happened before in journalism. But Goswami did not seem to care. It is this sort of behaviour which has led to an erosion of the media’s credibility and has affected everyone in the media negatively in varying measures.
Opinion is divided over his arrest. Some feel that this is politically-motivated retaliation by the Thackeray government, while some say this is a criminal case which has nothing to do with press freedom or freedom of expression. The Mumbai Police have not handled the Goswami case well, but then that is what usually happens when law enforcement agencies begin acting against journalists. Many of these cases have taken place in remote areas, away from the spotlight. No one raised a hue and cry in these cases.
This episode calls for serious introspection on the part of the media in India. As Thomas Paine, an 18th-century American political activist and philosopher said, “Character is much easier kept than recovered”.