“Why is the media- especially the journalists in Manipur painting a gloomy picture of the society almost everyday”? – a thought provoking question thrown my way by a very dear friend who have made it in a cosmopolitan city of the country by sheer dint of his hard work and tenacity. This here then is a thought on it, one which will surely be subscribed to by more than a handful of readers in the state. First off, are we really getting too sceptical in our views? Sceptical and contemptuous to the point of ignoring and failing to appreciate the good things happening around us?- a charge leveled at the media more often than we can care to count. The thing is that the media do take note of the public opinion and suggestions- very seriously. Here is however another and more pertinent aspect the public should ponder upon- that the media is much more than a mouthpiece of the ruling party, a crime branch or a tax office, but more an entity resembling a government in exile, demanding from those in power the same exacting standards it applies itself, and when we fall short at times despite our best efforts, we admit, apologise, learn from the mistakes and double the efforts to prevent it in future. We are here not just to provide an insight into the economics and principles of administration but to provide the general public a view of the paradise the state or the nation could be heading for. The media should not be taken merely as a conveyor of gossips or pandering to the whims of the majority, but as purveyors of possibilities that can make the best of a world we have inherited. It would not be too far off the mark to put that news has become the most significant aspect setting the tone of public life and shaping the opinions of a community beyond its frontiers, yet the fact still remains that a majority of the public knows dismayingly little of how to consume it. More often than not, instead of the opinions that should be formed through the news, opinions are being formed around the news, demonized by politicians when it turns uncomfortable, threatened by proscribed groups when their views are not endorsed or criticized by the opposition when their unfounded diatribes are not accorded the space they expect. It is pertinent, perhaps vital for the journalists to provoke those in power to elicit the kind of response they are elected to carry out. It has become a necessity, more than ever to challenge and lay bare the system which is trampling everything in its path and present a possibility for a united community to resist and change it. Journalists should not be confused with paid media who trumpet every development decision as an achievement in themselves.
