The Fourth Pillar

“In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” - George Orwell

The role of media in a democracy can never be overstated. When the three pillars of governance – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, fall prey to the trappings of corruption it is on this fourth pillar that democracy rests its chin. The print, visual and online media then becomes the forum where policies are questioned, critiqued, appreciated and public opinion is reflected and shaped.

The power of media is rooted in the human thirst for information and the desire to know what is going on around them. Even when the media has to play to a certain voyeuristic need of the public by reporting about celebrity marriages and royal babies, it also serves the purpose of pointing its fingers at the plagues of the society such a poverty, corruption, crime and injustice. In fact, often time media plays a role in getting the fundamental right to constitutional remedies delivered to hapless citizens by highlighting their case and drawing public attention. The recent proposal to amend the law regarding rape and enforce stricter punishment and the whole debate on juvenile law was singularly triggered by the attention that the media gave to the Delhi rape case. By reporting the gruesome details of the case and running the story 24*7 on television and backing this with statistical data showing the critical nature of the safety situation of women in the country, media in a way motivated the public to rise in protest.

In an ideal society media often serves this purpose of being an alarm bell. However we hardly live in an ideal society and the picture is most often tainted than rosy. Most media houses have become profit making enterprises. Even when this is not the case, any media needs money to run and advertisements are where they get it from. Political parties and large MNCs often take the role patrons and do the job of the editors. Many scams get unreported and even the ones that pop up now and then are often the result of political rivalries. Congress backed papers would write against BJP and CPI and vice versa. Take the Asaram Bapu rape charges for instance. It hardly got any attention till he decided to open his mouth and criticize the Congress Party. In the ideal scenario the wrong doings of political persons should be brought into light regardless of their allegiances. This bias is most evident when there is an election round the corner and the media is turned into a wagon for propaganda.

The fact that media has a huge hand in shaping public opinion is both its power and its responsibility. It can manufacture both consent and hate and make puppets out of people. And many times this is done subversively. In the Batla House case for example the accused where give Islamic headgear to cover their faces, photos were taken and most newspapers and channels ran the story with these images. Now such an image triggers subconscious associations in the minds of people and reminds them of say Bin Laden or any other Islamic terrorist who is usually dressed up that way. When media leaves its mind in the hands of the government it may inadvertently be lending a helping hand to paint the innocent guilty. In a diverse multi cultural, multi lingual country like India one careless word, one thoughtless instance of reporting can trigger violence and riots. And being a democracy the media like the citizens is given the right of free speech and expression with only little restrictions. It is for this precise reason that here in India, more than anywhere else the media needs to have a certain ethics, maturity and responsibility. We need to remember that in countries like China neither the media nor the people enjoy these privileges and the fourth pillar is reduced to a clown that lauds government policies and sing praises of the leaders reminding the public that if anything they need to be grateful towards the Big Brother.

However, hopefully there will always be Assanges and Snowdens who incarnate in this hour of need to save the world from corrupt governments and establish dharma. But their victory can only be guaranteed if they have an honest media and a politically aware public as their sidekicks.

So, is the media truly the fourth pillar of democracy? Yes. How strong is this pillar? Well, that depends on the country and its people. Very often in life, we settle for what we think we deserve. As citizens of this democracy we need to understand that an unbiased, honest media is our right and we deserve it. If we refuse to read biased newspapers and view biased channels, eventually when the ratings would come down they would have to give in and do decent reporting. But if we continue to stay politically numb with the social awareness of a potato, then god save this country!