Media matters

The arrest of Keonjhar journalist Benoy Bhushan Patnaik for having conducted a TV interview with Dara Singh, the alleged murderer of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, raises yet again questions concerning freedom of expression and the media. Patnaik was arrested on the presumed grounds that he had information on Dara Singh8217;s present whereabouts. This is an unfair presumption, as Patnaik8217;s colleagues in the media pointed out in a memorandum protesting the action. They perceived the arrest as an attempt by the state8217;s officials to gag the media, since they themselves have failed to present any evidence to suggest that Patnaik was indeed harbouring Dara Singh.

True, Patnaik8217;s story that he happened to stumble upon the fugitive while trying to film elephants in the forest has a rather incredulous ring to it, but it does not necessarily follow that the man is in cahoots with Singh. The nature of journalism may sometimes demand that mediapersons interact with highly dubious characters inorder to gain information that is of public value. If the procurer of this information is criminalised for doing this job, it could severely jeopardise the whole process of newsgathering in this country. There can be no freedom of information, without protection being extended to newsgathering activities. This is precisely why the right of the journalist to protect the identity of the 8220;source8221; of information has traditionally been guarded in the media. Of course, this also means that journalists are also required to conduct themselves with scrupulous honesty and professionalism. No journalist has the right to demand a free media and at the same time misuse it. These issues had figured earlier in another context and region. When R.R. Gopal, editor of Nakheeran, accessed Veerappan, notorious sandalwood-smuggler and murderer, deep in the forests bordering Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, he faced accusations similar to the ones being hurled at Patnaik today. When asked why he didn8217;t help the police arrestVeerappan, Gopal had answered that it was not his job, although he also was careful to clarify that his relation with Veerappan was merely that between a journalist and a murderer.

Gopal8217;s response that it8217;s not his job to track the smuggler down may smack of crudity, but there is no denying that the Orissa authorities in the Dara Singh case, just as the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka authorities in the Veerappan imbroglio, have singularly failed to close in on an alleged criminal who, from all evidence, was operating right under their noses. By making Patnaik the scapegoat of their own incompetence, and even possible complicity, they ended up exposing only themselves. Intimidating mediapersons is a game that the elite plays with great elan. In October 1996 Kanshi Ram, the Bahujan Samaj Party leader, let his anger at a 8220;Manuwadi Press8221; get the better of him and he and his men physically attacked a group of mediapersons who had gathered outside his Delhi home. On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court ruled that ithas, prima facie, found enough material for framing charges of rioting, criminal intimidation and sexual assault against Kanshi Ram. Clearly, politicians, bureaucrats and police personnel in this country need to value a free media more than they seem to do.