The derogatory comments made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma regarding Prophet Muhammad has brought substantial embarrassment to the country as the voices of condemnation grow stronger internationally. The BJP top leadership had to do a face-saving act and removed Sharma from the party. But what has gone largely unnoticed is the media’s role in contributing to this controversy. The remarks were made by Sharma during a debate aired by a private TV channel.
This is not the first time that the mainstream media, especially the private television channels owned either by ruling party leaders or business conglomerates favoured by the ruling establishment, have ignited communal passions in the country through their news content.
Media must be held accountable for mainstreaming hate speech, divisive nationalism. Amidst the growing protests following the derogatory comments on Prophet Muhammad and Islam, the media, which is one of the biggest culprits in this matter, is getting away with impunity.
Mass media in its different forms have influenced human life in the present century. They have primarily provided information and entertainment to people across countries. Print media, being the leader over a considerable period of time has now got competition from television, which is reshaping many of the social responses.
There is also the internet and social media, which has made it possible for people to disseminate information and opinion in real time across the globe. However, among all these developments there is a cause of concern. Is media really fulfilling its social responsibility? In a country like India, media has a greater role to play rather than merely providing information and entertainment.
The conduct of the media has to take into account public interest. India is a pluralistic country, having mix of multiple cultures, languages, faiths all intertwined. Media has to respect this ethos of India and avoid being partisan towards any one particular community, faith or language. The media has to protect the human rights and avoid harming the feelings of individuals or any group.
The social responsibilities expected from media in the public sphere were deeply grounded with the acceptance of media as the fourth estate, a term coined by Edmund Burke in England. With the formation of the 1947 Commission on the Freedom of the Press the social responsibility of media became a strong debating point.
Media has certain obligations to society; news media should be fair, objective, relevant and truthful; there should be freedom of the press but there is also a need for self regulation; it should adhere to the professional code of conduct and ethics and government may have a role to play if under certain circumstances public interest is hampered.
But are the media organisations in India really regulating itself? The broad answer is no. Be it pressure of revenue or fear of censorship, there is some or the reason for forcing the media pursue the agenda of either the government or corporate.
The genesis of media in India lies in the freedom movement where the Indian newspapers came together to support the freedom struggle and post independence question the government for its failures.
Already due to proliferation of social media, a large chunk of people of stopped relying on conventional news media for information. If this trend of supporting actions detrimental to the society’s welfare continues, then very soon we will have a situation where the line between social and conventional media, which already getting blurred, will be completely erased.
This will be a very dangerous thing to happen where the people would only trust the plethora of fake news that gets bombarded on social media. This means more rumour mongering and social discord.
For the sake of our society and future of our children, the media has to get its act together and instead of fuelling fire to existing social fissures, should douse the flame and restore normalcy.
