Media challenges for young journalists in a diverse and multi cultural and multi religious society like India.
12th of October, 2004
Media challenges for young journalists in a diverse and multi cultural and multi religious society like India.
By
Anjali Tirkey
Freelance Writer
India
anjalitirkey@rediffmail.com
My dear young and younger friends,
Jai Jesu (Praise the Lord)
Naamaste
Good Morning
Johar Gomke
And Sawadee ka dear Thailand.
I used 4 greetings (not including the last- the Thai equivalent of hello) and all the 4 describes me. Jai Jesu / Praise the Lord- a reminder of I being a Christian, naamaste – a form of greeting used by the Indian community, Good Morning- of the international or rather universal family I belong to and Johar Gomke- a greeting by my tribal community and I am happy being a member of all these families.
Stepping into someone else’s shoes at the last moment is always dangerous for most likely they won’t fit you and you end up with a grotesque, ungraceful, wobbly walk. But the “little streak of madness” made me do such a thing- even when it means a not so smooth walk through the next 40 minutes I stand here instead of Liz Mathew.
A little while ago I used those greetings to make a point. They all are a reminder of my various identities i.e. my religious, cultural and ethnic identity and also of the fact that they exist in a single person i.e. I. They exist sometimes in conflict, each wanting a better breathing space and most of the time resembling a harmonious symphony. And believe me, when all these various identities of mine are balanced – are in a harmonious co-existence- I feel at peace. Of course maintaining a balance between all these little I’s becomes difficult at times- it’s never impossible.
But this is a story about one tiny, insignificant person. And my country India is neither of the two. It is really, really huge, important and has an unimaginable number and variety of identities. Maintaining harmony or let me now use the term pluralism in such a heterogeneous atmosphere is more than a Herculean task; almost impossible. But with certain deviations and aberrations, on and off, India has remained a harmonious pluralistic country and the four pillars of the civil society have more or less remained strong. And peace and development has found a place whenever the balance has been reached.
But this is not always. Especially in the last few years India has seen rather abnormal, chaotic and catastrophic situations. And the Fourth Estate, especially, had important challenges to face and a significant role to play during such times. And it did. It did play many roles – some black, some white and many greys.
Today I will reflect on the challenges of media not specifically from the Catholic point but more from a more human point of view. But I start by giving a brief picture of India which is not only a very big and populous country; it is also a very diverse country. This diversity leads to various diverse viewpoints and mine may not be in tally with other Indian people.
India has about 28 states, more than 16 main languages and a large number of dialects. Each region is as heterogeneous as it can be.
Hindus form over 80 percent of our over 1 billion population. A fair number of Muslims (about 12%), Christians – including the Catholics and the non- Catholics- (nearly 3%) and though on a smaller scale, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and even Parsees live in India.
In addition there is enormous geographical diversity with climates, varying from extremely hot to extremely cold, variations in food habits, cultural forms of art and performance, social practices etc. There is also diversity in terms of the levels of developments in the country. On the one hand India has the third largest scientific manpower in the world and on the other nearly 36% of the population is illiterate. There is research and academic institutes of a very high order and at the same time there are several villages deprived of the basic amenities like elementary schools, primary health centres, clean drinking water etc.
There is the beautiful Indian Hospitality of atithi deva bhawa where a guest is said to be a god but the female foetus – a tiny guest in the womb- becomes unwelcome and its existence terminated much before it sees the first ray of the sun.
In spite of all these differences and diversity, there is a common element of “Indianness” binding the country together. (Perhaps like the bonding of being Christians binding us here despite the fact that we have come from different parts of the world.) This common binding can only be described as “Indianness” because it rises beyond the boundaries of religious, languages, castes, geographical or even political barriers. It may be composed of all these elements but is not circumscribed by it. The end product is clearly more than mere sum total of different elements. The often -mentioned Indian unity in diversity is not a mere slogan or cliché, because India has a very long history of harmonious co-existence between different ethnic groups. It is true that there are occasional conflicts, sometimes very virulent and long persisting but by and large, the society has displayed remarkably harmonious relations.
In a sense there is a constant interplay between assertion of individual or group identity and being part of the national mainstream or even belonging in some way to the international community in today’s global village. This interplay between assertions of individual identity and being part of a mainstream may lead to stress or conflicts. But they are not necessarily contradictory or conflicting. Every individual belongs to a small ethnic group- linguistic, regional, religious etc. and at the same time is a citizen of the country, is a member of the international group and thus wears multiple roles but they are not necessarily conflicting.
Another important feature of the Indian nation is that it is a democracy. In spite of several pulls, pressures, stresses and occasional distortions in its functioning, it has remained an active and vibrant democracy for more than 50 years. The country has endowed itself with a very liberal constitution where equality under the law and the freedom to practice one’s religion has been guaranteed. Freedom of expression and the rule of law have been ensured in the constitution. While certain amount of conservatism may be a part of the Indian ethos- as is likely to be the case with any ancient civilization – it has always been receptive to new ideas and new technologies.
The challenges of the media have to be understood in this overall socio, religious, cultural, political context.
The Indian media scene is also extremely diverse. India is the producer of the largest number of feature films in the world ( average per year : approximately 800), publishes a very large number of newspapers and magazines in different languages ( if I am not wrong, about 300 English dailies and nearing 3900 regional language dailies).
The reach of the electronic media of radio and television has been expanding at a very rapid rate. There are more than 60 channels including the national and regional channels.
And the most positive part of Indian media scenario is that we have no censor ship.
Indian cinema has crossed its hundred years. Some censorship is there but the censorship board is often found to be liberal. Cinema has played a tremendous role in the field of entertainment and also infotainment. It has been a binding force for not only all Indians but also for the countries in the South Asia and even beyond. Politicians, cricketers, and actors have been worshipped in India though not necessarily in the same order. For many Bollywood is India. But still after one hundred year of Indian cinema, a Christian is a man who drinks to death or is the villain and has name like Michael, Tony, etc. A Christian woman is one in short revealing outfits, who is more than ready to fall in love with a Hindu man and won’t really mind sleeping with him as long as she can repent with her rosary in hand.
What a stereotype portrayal of Christians especially the Catholics in India!
I’d rather say that it is a challenge for us young journalists to make people know that a woman in salwars and sari, living like any other normal Indian woman who is neither aggressive nor apologetic about her identity can be a Christian, too.
We have a Government sponsored TV channel the Doordarshan but the other more than 60 channels are private, either owned by big business houses or corporate that have their own interests and inclinations. We also have many foreign channels. But it is often observed that the national channel Doordarshan has been more sensitive in enhancing pluralism while channel like BBC and others in their desire to be the fastest and truest have often been insensitive to national integrity and to the factors that maintain pluralism and peace. I feel this too is a challenge for us that we do not lose our sight or sensitivity to the impact a report can have in our attempt to be the first and the best in this competitive world.
A new phenomenon has been noticed in rise in the recent years. Though we are yet to have a Christian channel many Christian programmes made by Catholics and non Catholics are being telecasted in TV. But yes, often in late nights or early mornings. Of course we have the mandatory Christmas and Easter programs every year which get good coverage in all the channels. Fully devoted catholic channel is still a dream.
Indian press has been free and has a tradition of 150 years. The tradition may be divided into 3 phases.
The first phase-
The pre-independence time (the bright phase)
Though we had no Indian owned national papers, the local and vernacular papers became the mouthpiece of the country’s struggle for independence. It was indeed a very positive role of the Indian press.
The second phase-
(1975-1977) (the dark phase)
This was a time when Emergency was declared by the then Prime Minister. The media went through a phase of censorship and control. They lost their freedom of expression, freedom to report and report the truth. And while many preferred to remain silent, there had been papers and journalists who protested. It is heartening to remember the catholic weekly The Examiner, published from Mumbai which protested the Emergency by carrying an editorial with a black border and no message written. They had expressed their point.
The third phase-
Phase of say past two decades
I would describe this period has a grey phase of the media. I say grey because for every hardcore, fundamental view there has been a liberal, secular voice to counter it. It is this 3 rd phase I would like to elaborate on.
It was this phase which saw the result of a pro-minority (in particular pro-Muslim) attitude of the policy makers of the Indian nation. India saw two faces of secularism. A progressive, reformatory face for the Hindus despite the opposition from Hindu fundamentalists bodies (e.g. the reforms in encoding the Hindu marriage act) but maintained a silence where the Muslims were concerned even when their practices were regressive.
This kind of bias attitude of the government and the feeling of the Islamic threat generated by relationship India shares with its neighbour cross its western border, inflated the Hindu fundamentalism organized under the banner of Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal etc. They got a free hand when the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was in power (our previous government) which was a pro-Hindutva regime.
The Indian press especially the vernacular one which has a better reach to the mass was communalized. Caste factor and Brahmanism escalated. Indian Muslims and Christians were/are considered and written off as threats. The Muslims were portrayed as a group that had not completely integrated to the Indian culture and Christians because of the conversion policy. This communalization of the Indian press was carried out systematically and aggressively by the vernacular media. The theme of their news was the gradual increase in the Christian population and also a rise of Muslim population and their “doubtful” integrity.
The number of Christians in India has definitely increased mainly because of the new converts who belong to the poorest of poor, to the low castes and the tribal community who joined the Christian family for socio-economic reason if not exactly for the message of hope and peace in Christ. They were seldom forced.
But the propaganda intensified during the rule of the previous government. This resulted in attacks to the missionaries. The states of Gujarat, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra showed a trend that was dangerous to the pluralist nature of the country. Missionaries were beaten up or killed (e.g. the killing of Graham Staines and his sons), nuns raped (in Chabua), and the Christian laity were looked with some contempt. The Godhra incident in Gujarat which led to a riot and mayhem was like the finale of the hate management against the Muslim. Gujarat bled. Fatal wounds were caused to the spirit of tolerance and co-existence that India is proud of. It is a long way for the wounds to heal and even if it does the scars will remain.
But the liberal English national papers with a more secular mind took a strong moderate stand. They tried to balance the two extremes but unfortunately it’s only the English speaking elite whom these papers reach.
But let me emphasize that it is not the regional language paper per se but the ownership pattern, the target groups to which the paper caters, the broad philosophy of the owner and editor that really determines the role played by a newspaper. The English language newspapers cut across state boundaries but as I mentioned are obviously restricted to a limited elite section of the society and also tend to blur on local issues. The regional language newspapers have to deal with more local issues and have a greater penetration amongst the common people of the country. These newspapers are also therefore more responsive to the local issues and needs and can contribute to more harmonious relation. Their roles during riots and communal disharmony become most significant, more challenging definitely. But fortunately the Indian masses are not carried away by communalism for long, till instigated by the word on the paper or by word of mouth.
The government has changed and so has the direction of the winds that flow in the media barons’ houses. Religious communalism is on gradual decline. Perhaps it is time to look ahead. And for the young journalist to spread the message of hope.
While religion has become often a dividing force in the country, social issues are the ones where the needy unite. Issues related to women, who are yet to be at par with men, like female child infanticide, dowry deaths, domestic violence, girl child illiteracy etc. are also topical. Yes, gradually the number of such cases is reducing. Awareness and education play a major role in this and media has to analyze its role- whether it should just be an informative force that throws light on some dark corners of the society or play an info-reformative role where it covers not just news but features, editorials, letters on such issues? Like waiting at a dark corner with a torch for some more time that illuminates the corner and disperses the darkness.
Being a tribal I may take this opportunity to advocate the cause of my brethren. In today’s India the tribals are the most neglected group. They live in a state of poverty and illiteracy. Many jobless, many working in unorganized sectors where they become a soft subject for exploitation. Child labour too is a burning issue. The church especially the Catholic Church has been the force in spreading education amongst the tribal and uplifting the socio-economic status. But it is time that it also becomes a voice of these voiceless, a force that makes their silent cries heard, by highlighting their situation.
Globalization has also borne its own share of problems. For a multilingual, multicultural and multi religious country like India, it means a threat to its multifaceted identity. Its Indianness. Aping the west, branding people are in vogue. A study made in the year 2002, shows that if we do not have a “checked globalization” 90% of the ethnic language will die within 100 years and the media was labeled as the killing agent.
It is time that print media becomes not a “newsy” kind of media but gave due credit and space to the diversity in India. Because that is what makes India unique – that is what makes India, India.
India also has alternative media i.e. of Christian periodicals and dailies. There are about 300 of them. But unfortunately, this media caters only to the Christian readers and is not so visible elsewhere. The voice of church in the mainstream media is feeble. The reality of religious diversity has become inescapable in the contemporary world. It is time that Christian media, more precisely the catholic media has to be out growing i.e. it has to make an attempt to reach not just the members of catholic family but beyond. For looking just within, creates airtight capsules, unopened to new ideas, changes and to the need of the age.
Especially in the Indian context, it is not high time but past time to come out of the artificial isolation. It is time for catholic journalist to reach the secular, mainstream media and advocate its cause. It is time to be forceful, not only in one’s own magazine but to make ones voice heard far beyond. It is time to be not just reactors to the vicious Hindu propaganda, or incidents of violence but to be movers and actors.
It has been noticed that catholic press becomes active when there is an incident that shakes their belief of well-being. Perhaps we can serve the cause of pluralism simply by showing understanding towards other people’s cultures, social structures, values and faith ( I noticed that we are too ignorant and even critical and judgmental about others ) and at the same time let people know about us not just by setting an example but by the written word. This can enhance tolerance and openness between the various socio-cultural, religious communities and hence diminish fundamentalism and fanaticism. Perhaps it’s also time for the clergy to be more supportive to and about its journalists, to give them more freedom to be true to their callings.
In conclusion, I would like to raise some questions. (Journalists are good in doing that and only that – as the saying goes.) A multi cultural society, like the Indian society where castes, language and religion form such an important aspect of one’s identity and that they are such an integral part everyday life. In this context, there naturally arise questions, rather the challenges regarding the different role that the media should play and the stand they should adopt. Should the media be so distant from local realities that they lose identity, should there be a prescription on what is reported and how? But then again is that possible in a democratic society? Can the media escape the “ethnic” diversity, remain true to country’s problems and concerns and still do justice to different ethnic groups? No media can disassociate itself from its social linkages. However, what media can do is it can give a fair representation to all groups.
And as an afterthought I am trying to do that.
What I had said earlier about India applies to a great extent to the countries of South Asia with of course their own unique problems and challenges. This is certainly not a fair representation to all groups but at least there is a representation.
Most Asian countries are remembered when there is some “bad news”. We often fall at the blind spot of the international or even the Asian media’s eyes. What gets noticed are stories of tragedies, conflicts, and that is what is bizarre, odd. The other Asian affairs remain insignificant. We in Asia know more about U.S. Election but little about the political struggle in the neighbouring Myanmar. We see pictures of Bush or Blair on our T.V. but we can hardly recognize the heads of states of many countries in Asia. Asia is known to the world through channels and news agency based in the U.S. or Europe and the danger with this is that the news comes with interpretations or perceptions that are one sided or biased.
Before I end let me mention a few things I picked up from my fellow journalists I met from the other neighbouring South Asian countries.
Nepal, a country in South Asia, and the only Hindu kingdom in the world, is now a very dangerous place for journalists. Journalists are being threatened by rebel guerilla group who call themselves “Maoists” and the King’s royal army fighting the “Maoists”. Christian can only communicate the word of God by example, by social work, but not by the printed word. Expression of their faith by a “new” religion like Christianity in public is not tolerated in Nepal. The 1% Christian populations and 6% Muslims of Nepal practice their faiths underground.
Bhutan, a Buddhist country has a similar scene. Church and Christian journalist have no “over ground” existence.
Sri Lanka, Pearl of the Indian Ocean is also a multi religious and multi national country with 69.3% of Buddhists, 15.5% of Hindus, 7.6 % of Muslims, 6.9 % of Catholics and 0.7% of other Christians. While South Asian Christian Press Association (SACPA) is active in Sri Lanka, their presence in the nationwide media scenario is negligible. Training of journalists and regular awards are given to encourage the young journalists to play more active parts.
Bangladesh with Christian population of 200,000 (0.2%) has very few catholic journalists. Those who have made their presence felt at the national level had done on an individual basis. Christian communication, like Radio Veritas, a Bangla radio program, started by the joint venture of Bangladesh and Kolkota diocese is heard by the Christian population. The weekly Protibeshi (neighbour) reaches the Catholic as well as a few non Catholic masses. A Muslim dominated country, Bangladesh goes through periods of conflicts and violence as repercussions of events in India, or the Islamic threat that the west perceived. E.g. the demolition of Babri Masjid in India had a negative impact on the minority (the Hindus and Christians.)
Perhaps it is time that we become spokespersons who spreads the beauty of culture and traditions (often a binding force) than give paramount importance to only religion and politics that ends up fragmenting the universal family. Perhaps it is time to see the world as a mosaic of all culture and religions.
I end with a vision, a vision of a society where people live in unity in diversity based on universal/ gospel values of justice, peace and love. Hence it becomes our mission, a challenge for the Christian journalists to become an empowering voice for the poor and marginalized and the ethnic groups in the region for promotion of peaceful, just and equitable society by becoming a more active, participatory and understanding communicators.
Thank you.
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