The media is replete with reportage of politicians making comments that are in bad taste. Have our politicians lost their flair for language? Or is it the media that is covering such comments more than usual in its quest for more visibility and TRPs?

SIDHARTH MISHRA // Remember the time when Sharad Pawar was slapped and the media had a field day covering it? Well, it wasn’t the first time it had happened, but due to a change in editorial priorities, the incident was highlighted much more than it should have been.

Years ago, when TV was not the dominant medium, some great speeches by our politicians and repartee between politicians were covered in a great way. Back then, the journalists worked with their heads held high, took pride in their work and had the ability and intellect to cover such incidents in the right light.

I remember an incident from as late as 2007, when Atal Bihar Vajpayee was at a public meeting for an election campaign. The weather was overcast and the clouds were rumbling. Taking a cue from it, Vajpayee started his speech with, “Badal gargara rahey hain, mausam badalney wala hai .” (The clouds are rumbling, indicating the weather will change). The lines were a play on Parkash Singh Badal’s name, a prominent politician in the state. I concede orators such as Vajpayee, Chandra Shekhar and Somnath Chatterjee, are few in today’s political world. But it is also true that the good speeches and language of the politicians is hardly covered or reported by the media. What is covered today is the unruly behaviour in the Parliament and in other places.

What grab eyeballs are the primetime debates conducted by news channels, which capitalise on name-calling, heckling and hectoring. If you look closely, there are no serious discussions that take place during such programmes. They are like WWF shows, really, where these personalities have a go at one another. Funnily, people don’t even remember these debates and programmes the next day. Largely, media is to be blamed for all this.

Why, even the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches are so articulate in the Parliament. But do we ever see them being talked about in the news channels or newspapers? On the other hand, his speeches during the election campaign got a lot of mileage.

Remember the times when a lot of magazines such as Satya Katha and Manohar Kahaniya used to be published from Allahabad and were the rage at newsstands? The same is with these TV programmes and the media coverage about such remarks – they are not to be taken seriously. But then where does a viewer or a reader get good quality news coverage from?

By covering such incidents more than others, the media is further lowering the intellect level of the lowest common denominator in the society. Ironically, at times like this, it is the newspapers that are being taken more seriously for their reportage, since they still have some element of decency when it comes to covering news like this.

Sidharth Mishra is the founder of Centre for Reforms, Development and Justice (CRD&J), a think tank aiming to consolidate India’s intellectual capital. A journalist, Mishra is a consulting editor with Millennium Post, and has worked for publications such as The Pioneer. He has also written several political commentaries and written Jina, a book about Jaina temples in Bihar.

RAJIV SAXENA// Media is a mirror to the society. And like most mirrors, it, invariably, reflects the reality. To expect that it will hide our warts would be foolhardy. Makeup may, perhaps, help. But for how long? Wouldn’t it be better to rid ourselves of the warts? The process may be time-consuming. It may also need significant will power and perseverance. Yet, I am confident that the aam aadmi can do this.

But will the high and mighty among our netas be able to accomplish this? Going by their track record, it is highly unlikely. There are not too many Valmikis around in India’s neta-dom. The current crop of politicians would rather call the mirror faulty. They would rather attribute murderous motives to the media. But this sounds more like some magical abracadabra. Why does one say so? Because, the cunning politicians’ tricks can be easily deciphered even by so-called dimwitted commoners.

After all, how is it possible that a large number of print and TV journalists from different media houses would report the neta ji’s speech, venom and obscenities included, almost exactly the same way? We also know the camera does not lie. Print journalists too often use mobile tape recorders to cover rallies and press meets. And how many of our readers would believe that dozens of journalists representing different shades of opinions and diverse media houses would gang up and file false and defamatory reports against any given politician or political party at a given point of time?

Such a hypothetical scenario implies that while one politician mouthed the Gospel, dozens of journalists conspired to present the holy words as the Satan’s diabolical dictate. Such a supposition is also patently undemocratic as it negates popular view in comparison to that of a politician who has far too many axes to grind.

We have also witnessed how several politicos chose to apologise, but only when they had run out of all excuses and had been really cornered. Their behaviour in the august Houses of Parliament and state legislatures too do not inspire much confidence among their electorate and people at large. If paper balls were bullets, many Speakers of legislatures, at whom these weapons are often aimed by MPs, MLAs and MLCs. Thanks to the media, we have also witnessed miracles wherein our lawmakers are many a time imbued with inhuman strength, uprooting microphones, hurling chairs at opponents, hopping from seats to desks and ultimately into the well of House, all along emitting strange and blood-curdling sounds.

If parents allow their children to watch Parliament’s proceedings on television regularly, they can rest assured that their children will grow up into anything but ideal citizens. However, the tiny tots may certainly emerge as dabang bullies, fully capable of flouting rules, braying louder than donkeys and making use of their limbs to deadly effect. Not such a bad prospect in these times – a direct route to power and pelf.

As I draw to a close, I wonder whether I have been barking up the wrong tree. What good is it praising the media? Children and youth may be beguiled into taking up journalism as a profession. The bright and brilliant ones may crack entrance tests to IITs, CPMT, IAS and so on. Those who cannot do that but whose parents have bulging pockets can just murmur the magical word “capitation fee” and find themselves in glitzy and glamorous campuses.

But to what avail? Neta ji will still call the shots. He will continue to spew venom at the news media. Most media house owners will continue to grovel at his feet. The aam journalist may also find himself in the queue for solid favours like editorships superseding erudite and unbending compatriots or a place in Rajya Sabha.

I think I have gone berserk. I am thoroughly confused. You may read this piece as the ranting of a lunatic.

Rajiv Saxena is a media and communication expert with over three decades of experience in leading newspapers such as Indian Express, Sunday Observer and Mid-Day. He has also headed corporate communications for companies such as Career Launcher, ACC, BirlaSoft and HM-Mitubishi Motors. He is currently a communication advisor to several reputed companies.