By Sushil Kutty
In recent days, South Indian films have been very objective in depicting the social reality and it is not surprising that the mainstream media is being exposed for its loss of credibility, especially the television channels. Right now, Malayalam film, ‘Naradan’, has come down heavily on the mainstream media, especially the television news channels, which will go to any extent to accumulate TRP.
‘Naradan’ scalps ambitious newspersons and greedy media-barons for using underhand methods to “win” at any cost. The fact is, movies get the privilege of having the last word on anything under the sun even if print and broadcast media get the opportunity to get in the first word. And when the media are accused of overstepping their brief, a film could become the medium to teach media outlets a lesson on what should have been reported, how it should have been reported, and why? In many cases, what shouldn’t have been reported, and why!
The movie ‘Kashmir Files’ is an example. While ‘KF’ is a slap on the face of the media, it is also criticized for being more propaganda than movie. For the Hindutva votary, ‘KF’ is a shot in the arm, and righteous revenge. For the Opposition parties, and the left-liberal, ‘KF’ is hitting below the belt, and so late in the day that it reeks of make-believe.
But to the media, this is what happens to journalism when journalists—editors and reporters—do not report news as they happen, truthfully and honestly. The evening edit meetings are when newspapers and television editorials discuss “news stories” and decide their line-up. But 32 years on, it is apparent the KP exodus, despite its news and shock value, was ignored by a large part of media.
And it was not at one edit meeting, it was the same at tens of thousands of edit meetings in newsrooms across the length and breadth of sprawling India. The media could have reported the horrors of January 19, 1990 on January 20, 1990, but the best of India’s media chose to ignore the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. The best of India’s editors and correspondents, a galaxy of media stars, axed the story not only from the line-up, but also from their conscience.
Not because ‘Kashmir’ was an outpost or an outlier in terms of geography and news. On the contrary, Kashmir is geographically and strategically very sensitively placed, and a perennially happening place, not only for the amounts of news generated, but also because of how they impacted India and India in its neighbourhood. Media presence in Kashmir is even today total—national as well as international media.
Yet when it came to the exodus of KPs, the news blackout was total, and permanent. Newshounds stuck their heads in the snow, and carried on life like nothing had happened. There were, however, those early days of the exodus, no television channels like there are now in India. But the Kashmiri Pandit exodus wasn’t one-off news. It was always there, and there were always people who hadn’t forgotten.
Such people talked; they were talking after 10 years, after 20 years and after 25 years, even after 30 years! By then television news channels had proliferated. And newspapers and news TV channels hadn’t stopped covering J&K, not with the terrorists running amok—with the stone-pelting, and the shenanigans of the separatists. But even with all these happenings, the media never thought of picking up KP exodus for scrutiny.
It was forgotten, as if it hadn’t happened at all. Till ‘Kashmir Files’ broke through the layers of curtains that had been dropped on the exodus, not to be discussed even backstage! But if it is being discussed by the media now it is only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took it up for special mention. The mainstream media— especially the ubiquitous audio-visual—woke up to the ‘Kashmir Files’ and KP exodus only because ‘Kashmir Files’ had political value for the Modi Government. BJP and the Sangh Parivar are the publicity organ of this KF film done by a Modi loyalist.
The media otherwise wouldn’t have talked of ‘KF’ for as long as they have been doing now . The movie ‘Kashmir Files’ is as much an indictment of India’s mainstream media as it is of the likes of Yasin Malik and Bitta Karate. Even calling the exodus a “genocide” took much effort for the media.
India’s mainstream media has in the last couple of decades been losing respect and purpose. Especially the mainstream television media. And now the movies are talking of this downfall of the media. ‘Naradan’, a Malayalam film released last week, is about journalism stooping to sleazy depths unimaginable for the sake of TRP, and more. Interestingly, the main lead in ‘Naradan’, is a true copy of Arnab Goswami in all respects, even to his going to jail. (IPA Service)
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