Needed: A self-accountability mechanism.
The rapid proliferation of private TV channels during the last decade has been a breathtaking social phenomenon. To begin with, it brought to an end the government’s monopoly over truth. The independent electronic media made new experiments, dispensed with outdated styles and conventions and introduced variety to make its programmes interesting. Old taboos were broken and things kept long under wraps were exposed. Catering to the public’s insatiable hunch for information media probed every nook and corner of society for stories, sometimes giving undue importance to the common place or the banal. The race for top ratings and advertising profits through minute-to-minute breaking news cared little for the stress it might cause to the public. The anchorperson conducting talk shows gradually assumed a centre place in the new channels. All kinds of issues, social, political, undisputed or controversial were discussed in the talk shows. There were however unannounced red lines. The talk shows particularly grilled the political class while they spared the military. Anchor persons rarely minced words, while a few even gained notoriety for being abrasive. The talk shows increased public awareness about a variety of issues including some that were hitherto considered to be the exclusive domain of the constitutional experts and diplomats.
There was however a flipside to the affair. Media houses and anchor persons acquired power which was not always accompanied by a sense of responsibility. There were occasional complaints that they were using their clout for personal gain. In January 2012 the airing of an off-camera discussion between two talk show hosts and a real estate tycoon indicated the extent to which the newly acquired power could be misused for ulterior motives. Complaints of the misuse of channels for personal gains continue to be made even these days. Members of business community often complain that they are being unjustly targeted. Sweeping observations, factually untrue, are made about deals brokered by respectable business houses. They are sometime accused in talk shows of acting in an unpatriotic manner. The entire privatisation process is rubbished as based on corruption and loot. Insinuations are made about the enterprises acquired by them through a fair and transparent process. An anchorperson has even called on religious scholars to declare development charges on electricity as ‘Riba’ in their Friday congregations, thus inciting the public to stop paying these bills.
One cannot conceive of democracy without criticism. While the media has to expose cronyism and bending of rules and regulations for favourites, media groups and anchorpersons must not be seen to be using their position to settle personal scores or have personal gains. There is a need for the media community to evolve a code of conduct. The best way is for the media itself to devise a self-accountability mechanism. This would make media more responsible and add to its credibility.
