MEDIA IS FOR MEDIA

The last couple of months have been a defining moment in the history of mankind, the world over because of the pandemic engulfing us, which no one knows from where it originated, how it spread at the pace it did, the nitty gritty of the virus and how to deal with it. The vaccine has its own meandering story. While being the second worst affected nation , we are embroiled in another battle orchestrated by the media, in the name of investigation. It’s venom all over. The media investigators on the run 24 hours pacing up against anybody and everybody they feel like, evincing evidence for whom nobody knows. With three legally mandated agencies performing their mandated task, is there any scope for running a parallel investigation.

Literally anybody and everybody coming their way are challenged. Anybody talking about trial by media is being crushed in a manner that he can never stand up again. TRPs will come and go and also skyrocketing salaries of doyens of the tv channels, called as anchors and not editors, what will be left of the system which has been so meticulously created and operated, the seeds of creation dating back to the debates of the constituent assembly. Not that there are no issues in the system, but this is not way of dealing with it. The self appointed arbiters of everything. The cure is turning out to be worse than the ailment.

Every constituent of democracy has its powers and also its checks and balances. And various pillars of democracy have their power share and Lakshaman Rekha mandated by law and enforced by the judiciary. What about the fourth estate? Has it become uncontrollable, whether it is owned by business interests or not is not in issue now. The rules of the game decides the game itself. With a moving goalpost in their hand, nobody will ever be able to strike a goal. An allegation is a gospel truth. Personal lives don’t matter, as if one case gives you the right to get into every single transaction and every message of one’s life. And that too you are not the investigative agency. Only the other day Delhi High Court noted that the media ”can’t be allowed to run a parallel trial or make unsubstantiated claims.”

Media tries to create doubts regrading the professional competence of the police, investigative agencies, prosecution and the judicial trial. The journalists picks all the expertise of all these agencies, as if they are divinely ordained and can never to commit any mistake. The rule of law is being written differently and so is the Evidence Act. The pious intention of theirs cannot be even discussed when every single act of any democratic agency is dissected threadbare. Narratives can be created on make believe and hearsay. What does media channel run campaigns mean to the Criminal Justice System when the case is being adjudicated?

SUPPOSEDLY RELENTLESS CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE SHOULD NOT BECOME A BLOODLESS COUP.
Sanjay Sahay