‘When the Hunter got hunted’
This was the status message of one of my friend’s on his facebook account after the Radia tapes were leaked. Much has been spoken about the 2G scam but it’s a very interesting case to actually discuss media ethics.
Media which is often referred as the fourth estate has become an integral part of Indian democracy. The print media was always vigil for the past six decades but the real turning point came when the electronic media (TV) made an entry. The whole coverage & news reporting approach has taken a three sixty degree turn in the last one decade or so. Expose, sting operations, sound bytes, powerful visuals have all changed the dynamics of the way media functions. Till one & half decade back the only piece of television news one saw was on state run Doordarshan which at best can be described as the mouth piece of the government. The entry of private media players marked the real change in news reporting.
But unlike other institutions media is primarily a private driven enterprise and therefore is not under pressure from the government. The involvement of two celebrated journalists- Barkha Dutt (Group Editor of NDTV English) & Vir Sangvi (Consulting Editor of Hindustan times) in breaking the deadlock between Congress-DMK at the time of government formation in 2009 has come as a real shocker.
Just to give a clear context the tapes also contains conversations of Radia with Barkha Dutt & Vir Sanghvi at the time of government formation in 2009. Radia is heard lobbying for the DMK, while both Dutt & Sanghvi are seen to be presenting views of the Congress. The conversations indicate that Radia asked Dutt & Sanghvi to use their access to the Congress to pass on messages from the DMK.
Most people are shocked to see that two stalwarts of Indian journalism were involved in the lobbying process which has to a great extent tarnished their image. Journalists are not expected to be involved in any sort of deal which may not be monetary in nature but may lead to one party benefiting.
Dutt & Sanghvi are not corrupt but the fact that they were part of the lobbying process is a shameful act. On their part both have denied to have passed on those messages to the Congress leaders. They both claim that they were playing along to extract information and did not pass on those messages.
So what are the charges against these two journalists? No one is alleging corruption charges against them this act is a clear breach of media ethics. Journalism is all about of credibility and if that takes a beating then the journalist’s past track record & image does gets tarnished. Both have accepted that they should have handled Niira in a proper manner.
Journalist as a part of their job to extract information talk to all sorts of people from all walks of life. But there is a thin line between extracting information and divulging details that can benefit the source. Both Dutt & Sanghvi have crossed that line or at least seemed to have crossed that line. Both have done a mistake and should apologize to for that
But this brings me to a bigger question- Can the whole institution (Media) be painted with same brush. Now that is a very narrow & prejudice way at the looking at it. Yes, this incident has raised questions on the ethics followed by journalists but the medium is still fair & honest in its approach. The biggest testimony of that it is that the very same media that has actually made these tapes public without any fear of the whole institution’s image take a beating.
Like any other institution media also has grey areas and these tapes are example of that. So if there is a certain section (which is a small section) that believes that media in general is like that then by that principle – the army will have to also called corrupt because some its top officials were involved in Adarsh scam and the Tehelka scam which broke a few years back. They will also have to call the whole judiciary corrupt because of judges like Justice Dinakaran. Outlook magazine have made 141 tapes public, out which Radia has spoken to over thirty journalists. But the ones who have been found guilty on account of breach of ethics are hardly six to seven. The remaining twenty five odd have come out clean. This clearly shows that it’s not the whole institution that practices poor journalism. There are always a few rotten apples in the basket and it’s important to throw them out before they spoil the basket. And that is what is needed.
The same friend who I mentioned at the beginning of this piece also put a this status message
‘Radia deserves the Padma Bhushan for this expose’
For those people – had it been not this media then the multi crore scams like – CWG games, IPL, Adarsh society & now 2G scam which saw the exit of two cabinet minister, one chief minister & one sports administrator would have never happened. That is the impact of a genuine & vibrant media. Instead of asking for severe punishment for corporate lobbyists who work only & only for the benefit of corporates & politicians this friend of mine is much happier to see media found guilty for once forgetting all the work media has done for so many decades. Well, despite a section of cynic Indians the nation has overcome obstacles and shall continue to in the future as well. As for the media and journalists- this is a big lesson to look within and take corrective measures to ensure that the over all credibility remains intact.
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