How to fight a media war

Kargil still haunts us. As the body count mounts, as the coffins go home, the media has shifted focus: we now witness a people in mournin...

Kargil still haunts us. As the body count mounts, as the coffins go home, the media has shifted focus: we now witness a people in mourning.

We have read about and we have seen the grieving families of the dead; we have experienced the moving and uncommon sight of an entire village or community accompanying the deceased to their last rites.

We have memorised the passport-size photographs of the dear departed; and we have felt a shiver of fear tremble down the spine as we watch fresh, shiny-faced recruits take their final salute at the National Defence Academy before they pass into the ranks of those who are scaling mountains to face death. Who said you8217;re too young to die?

Last week, we suggested that Kargil go live on television; that the cameras go to war and fight the media battle alongside the armed forces. But in the absence of that unlikely event, there are things that might be done. Here are some of them:

a Immediately change the official/military spokesmen who brief the media every day.Nothing personal: Jessel and Singh must be sterling chaps, law-abiding, god-fearing, kind to lizards, rats and bats, perhaps even experts in their respective professional fields, but media managers they are not. It8217;s not simply that they look all wrong, sitting sombre behind a table; it8217;s not just that they read from hand-me-down hand-outs in laborious voices; it8217;s not only that they8217;re unfamiliar with the art of talking at TV cameras 8230; It8217;s that they are unconvincing. You need to use people of a higher authority who know exactly what they are talking about and are able to reassure us that they know what they are talking about because many of the journalists who attend don8217;t know what they are talking about. Men who ooze confidence, who suggest by their conduct, body language that the conflict is under our control.

Also, be bold: occasionally, bring on an officer who has been up there and back.

b If a few such persons can be found within the copious folds of the government, broadcast the briefingslive or repeat them after the 9 pm news on DD so that the entire country can hear what is happening or what we claim is happening!. The private TV channels already carry extensive excerpts.

Story continues below this ad

c Change the stock footage. Almost without exception coverage of Kargil dwells upon tanks without men, tanks with men, picturesque shots or graphics of the mountainous terrain as if these were tourist promos. We need a closer look at the war, even if it means looking into open, dead eyes. We need to see the damage done to them, to us. Don8217;t hide it. Exploit it.

d Feed it to the international media: enlist CNN and BBC and the Internet for worldwide exposure by showing it like it is. Develop a long term game plan for the foreign media which has normally supported Pakistan by criticising us. Turn the tables: line-up our own articulate defense analysts for them, otherwise they will deploy their own analysts to talk about us.

e Provide fresh footage, daily, which looks new: the latter is crucial because much ofwhat we see might indeed be new but because it is almost identical with what was shown the previous day, the day before that, there is a seamless similarity which lessens its impact.

The defence ministry should arrange for TV crews and journalists well-known faces would be a great help to go as high as is feasible; to visit base camps, meet those who have seen the horror and lived to tell the tale. Take us into their bunkers, let us see how thy live. Let8217;s look at their toes when the boots are scraped off their swollen feet. Exploit the human interest angle for all it8217;s worth.

Story continues below this ad

f Simultaneously, be more open and explain the strategic imperatives that compel and propel this war. We have enough experts and don8217;t we just!, who can spell out the consequences of allowing the infiltrators to remain in the mountains, Pakistan8217;s ambitions, our compulsions. This is being done but too many people speak with too many opinions: much better if we get clear for8217; and against8217; voices, not a cacophony.

g Showpoliticians if you must making confidence-building noises ! or commiserating with the bereaved. Otherwise, ignore.

h Advise media managers to replay coverage of the Gulf and Kosovo crisis; again and again and again.

Next week: the travesty of Thoda Hai Thodi ki Zaroorat Hai Sony which ended last week, the Big F ads and why BBC is running a beer ad in which a woman8217;s hips caress the bottle.