This morning I was in class teaching Media Studies. We were looking at different aspects of media — especially the ‘filtering aspect’. Dennis McQuail - media theorist - defines this as

…selecting out parts of experience for special attention and closing off other aspects of experience, whether deliberately and systematically or not…

And, then i got down to explain the nature of filters. For example, the ToI does not really believe in publishing news that will impact the self image of Indians on the front page. Senior members of the news industry have told me and all of us - go to any media event like FICCI Frames - that Indians don’t like watching news on Caste murders, political maneuvers and minority harassment. It does not jell well with this notion of India - the seat of tolerance, the seat of equality, the seat of culture, the seat of living in harmony. And, anything that takes away from this image is unappealing. So, Muslims or Christains attacking Hindus will make frontpage or lead story, where as the reverse will be tucked away. An Indian taking over a firang company will make front page news, and a firang taking over an Indian company will not. The Oscars or Brangelina will make front page news, but regional films that win a National Award or Caste murders will not.

The example that I used was of Priyanka Bhotmange - the 12th standard girl who wanted to grow up to be someone and join the army.. she and her mother were gangraped and murdered. And her brothers were brutalised and hung. It was just another murder that could happen anywhere in the country. Somehow filtering the gory and gruesome pictures off the front pages (or even the inside pages) helped to sanitize the crime. It also seemed to make us care less. If more people saw the pictures, then maybe the outrage would have been more.

The MSM didn’t even pick up the news, until it got too big to be buried. A couple of days after the verdict that denied the existence of caste in the murder of the family .. the story is as dead as the protagonists. No one - including the judiciary - wants to admit that maybe, just maybe - caste played an issue. We will rest content knowing a family was massacred and ‘justice’ may have been done. And we move on.

And, then one of the girls piped up and asked - why is the media quiet on Orissa ? And, the answer is the same. The bulk of the population are like ostriches - we don’t want to believe that ‘our’ people will kill, burn, rape and loot. Other people do it. Not us.

There could be another reason. And that is media bias. It is that news agencies are so infiltrated by Hindutva supporters that they spike the news that is unfavourable to the cause. Either that, or they are being run by morons.

I have suggested that my students go beyond the ToI and news channels for news - and look at other sources as well. And, while the whole truth may not be represented in the MSM, it is the start point to understanding any story. Read the Indian Express, Read the Hindu, read Tehelka, Read CounterCurrents, Read Atrocity News. Read what ever you can lay your hands on. All of them will contain biases - that is natural, the only unbiased person is a dead one! The truth will lie somewhere in the middle. What else could i tell them?

do check out Shivam Vij’s blog - he broke the Khairlanji story - and has stayed with it since.
Read the Tehelka coverage on Orissa.

And, Finally on Orissa -
if you are Hindu and reading this - maybe you would contemplate sending a message to the RSS and its allies. And, that is “This is not happening in my name. As a Hindu, I oppose this violence and hatred”. Just look at countries like Iran . Ordinary people didnt’ stand up against religious fundamentalism and look at the result. I hope and pray that India doesn’t become like that!

Tags: India, Indian Media, Khairlanji, Maharashtra, Media Bias, media filters, Orissa, Priyanka Bhotmange