Glossy features that hide real life

There is a growing feeling that the media does little towards actively preventing human rights violations, as most of these abuses occur a...

There is a growing feeling that the media does little towards actively preventing human rights violations, as most of these abuses occur among the most economically, politically, socially backward classes.

Reviewing various news stories and the fare put out by the electronic media, one finds that serious stories, especially those dealing with human rights violations, are conspicuous by their absence. This raises the basic question: What are the concerns of the media? Has the obsession with globalisation, where human values 8212; including concern for human rights 8212; is sacrificed at the altar of profit, blinded the media to the rot within?

Perhaps it would be wrong to put the entire blame on the media for this general apathy to human rights. Isn8217;t society, which the media claims to serve, responsible for the situation too? Isn8217;t the media not dishing out what audiences want to hear and watch? After all, aren8217;t different media competing with each other to capture the attention of, more or less, the same audience at the same time?

For instance, how can you account for the popularity of Kaun BanegaCrorepati? Why are so many people glued to their TV sets when this programme is telecast? Or, to put it differently, will Star Plus continue to produce KBC, if people raise serious questions about gambling and the lure of easy money? The issue finally boils down to what society likes to read and watch, which in turn determines media output. Would the public be interested, if say, instead of KBC, there is a programme reporting, discussing and debating human rights on Star Plus at prime time? Would people buy magazines if they featured pictures and reports of famished communities rather than the glossy features they do now?

The debate on the role of the media is an never ending one, but some corrective steps could be suggested to address the dismal situation of human rights. First, media houses, corporate executives, publishers, senior editors and others need to be sensitised to the gross violations of human rights and how the situation concerns them as decision makers. The community of scribes, including programme producers, need to be made aware of the dangers of sensationalising their stories and in being content withincomplete news gathering which provides only one side of the story.

There is also a tendency to regard subjects like equity and human rights as drab subjects. A great deal therefore depends on being able to write on these topics in a fashion that generates interest. After all, they concern other human beings and lend themselves to copy that is of human interest if sensitively handled.

Popular media can help a great deal in educating people on how to fight human rights violations.Media education8217; would be a major intervention. People must be taught to critically review what they read and see and relate it to their own lives. Finally, the mantra of maximum profit also needs to be challenged. Because the media is crucially dependent on ad revenue, the ethics of advertising is left largely unquestioned.