Media's role as passive EDUCATORS of the world

(This was a mail sent to CNN IBN news channel, about an article Sagarika has written in Hindustan Times, analyzing the result of a youth survey held in India)


Dear Sagarika,

Excellent analysis ! Congrats.

But if Indian Media place a mirror before them,they will see a picture resembling their own world view in general !  

Our youth have learned and internalized a world, priorities and values that the media have projected. Hope you will agree with us that the role of media as passive EDUCATORS of the world is undisputed.

Definitely the breed of poets,rebels,intellectuals,dissenters,freethinkers and adventurers would vanish from the world ! Will media project any icons in the world other than achievers in sports,cinema,politics,or the underworld ? Then how can our youth grow up admiring poets,intellectuals or free thinkers ? 

I was writing to the print media leadership from late 1980s ( electronic media was absent in those days, as you know ) that, if news items like the one that has appeared beneath your article in the HT middle page today - 'Das ist innovation' - by Thomas Matussek, on Indo-German science co- operation, had appeared as' Head line items' on the front page of news papers, shifting the usual political news to the inside pages for about 6 months on trial basis, the world would have internalized a PRIORITY SHIFT in the theme of life. Your priorities are what men in the world, especially its youth, internalize as their priorities in life !

Sagarika, I was practicing free lance hypnotism from my college days. Under hypnosis, even the sense of taste and  smell get altered with the power of SUGGESTIONS ! Media is like a giant black board fitted over head of the world.What ever is displayed on the board gets converted into peoples priorities, likes and dislikes and values. It acts like hypnotic suggestions on peoples mind.

You may say that the number of men who read news papers, and watch TV does not form the majority of our population, but this minority consumers of media's world view are the ones who control the lives of the majority, as bosses at offices and work places, or as teachers at schools and colleges etc. etc. Hence the  effect is complete in society.

Do you remember how Arundhati Roy and her likes were treated by the Media upon her frank utterances over  Kashmir and Naxal issues? How can our youngsters then turn liberal ?

Media is torn between the demands of multiple masters - - -while the moral obligation the professional vows of 'objective reporting of news' act as the first MASTER,the second is the inner pull of their own consciences about the TRUTH VALUE of the 'reported content' of the so called news, and its relevance for people, and the last is that of the demands of the masters of business and politics, with whose money and favour that the Media industry run. The last class can never tolerate liberalism. The first master can never accept the demands of naked TRUTH. Hence, they end up manufacturing this neutral gender world, where nothing better than the generation of youngsters that you have described in the article could come up to occupy the future !

People could reinvent their lives for better only if Media could reinvent their priorities and values ! No other agency could save mankind, because they only could create and spread changes non-violently. 

I know, you will not get time to go though our blog posts that depicts how severely capitalistic values have intruded into the domain of democracy, and how 'sense of reason' perils in our modern day organizations that thrive under capitalistic values. If you can, please visit links : http://influxofcapitalisticvalues.blogspot.com/, http://perilofreason.blogspot.com/

We once again request you to depute a young team under you to study the net essence of our various blogs, and then create a 30 minutes documentary on 'what democracy was intended to be' etc. It will definitely enhance the reach and depth of your channel.

Regards,

Abraham Joseph 

Founder secretary

Conscience of the society- a non-profit for philosophic initiatives into causes of Reason,Fraternity and more centrally, reinventing democracy .

Two basic causes of human violence

Mr.Arnab Goswami

Timesnow TV

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Dear Arnab,

We just finished watching your debate section on 10PM news. (4.3.2010)Subject was Maoist violence, and its support base amongst intellectuals.

You, we are sad to say, acted like a typical rightist loyalist, unable to open up your mind towards anything other than the state's authoritarian ways ! We understand that Media traditionally are expected to be at the side of the establishment.  But Viewers saw you cutting a sorry figure of yourself in front of the non-stopping professors, ( representatives of the intellectual class ) unable to side with the voice of sanity aired by them !

Arnab, there are only two kinds of root violence in the world - - -a powerful man's aggression over the less powerful in order to eliminate him, and attain PEACE for ever, and the other, the counter aggression by the victim, who is less powerful than the aggressor, unable to resist his  cosmic compulsion to safeguard his selfdom, that could be lost forever if he do not retaliate. From the very inception of human history, any violence could be classified and explained into one of these categories. Thus, the phenomenon of human violence could be tackled working on these two simple clues.

Though democracy took birth in human society with the sole intention of giving man his ever elusive dignified self identity and equality of status, and end this phase of violence, the purpose stands unaccomplished even today. Democracy has degenerated and disfigured into a clandestine struggle among the power aspirants, to occupy those seats of state authority once abandoned by late Kings and Foreign rulers. Real rule of the free will, and the collective wisdom of the people is still a dream to be achieved in the world.

Hence the first kind of violence is rampant here. So, the 2nd kind of violence happens routinely everywhere, as a natural reaction. The so called Maoists are a mentally troubled lot, like any victim under crippling kind of authority. Authority cripples, we repeat, just cripple the entities under it. Like an atom with its nucleus removed gets into an agitated state, the self deprived individual under any crippling authority acts like this abnormal atom. Then, they are not under the control of their sense of Reason.

You rightly stood for the cause of the state as we too would have done from a public platform, but as you belong  to the  most enlightened strata in the society- the media- it was your duty towards mankind to realize the gravity of the above human condition, and expose all the aspects of this central human problem to the world, so that its Reason seek suitable remedies. 

Media must represent the collective sense of Reason of mankind,in a collective act of redefining of its role and priorities in the world ! 

You and your class only can do it, not we, or the professors, or the Maoists! No one else has the kind of weapon that media possess, something that could change the world in few months once they undertake the redefining act mentioned above.

As an institution, media can rethink on their role in society, as no other strata exists in the world today to look into these vital aspects of the human condition.

Fact is that, those professors were  simply trying to tell you the above truth. But you wanted them to stand with you, or against you, the only two options understood by the rightist society. For you, those who do not stand with you were your enemies ! Truth is that those poor professors were sympathizers of the said human condition, not Maoist sympathisers as you had pressurised  them to agree !

Lasting peace on earth would be feasible only when the state, or the ideal of democracy become the true agents of Human Reason and wisdom, instead of carriers of the old state weapons of coercion, fear and authority.

Kindly read our blog 'a different story on origin of establishment' to know more about the true background principles of today's world.

Help democracy to emerge as a pure managerial exercise to run the state

Letter to media leaders-9 (Democracy as a managerial exercise, ending its tenure as political drama)

Why should our enlightened age carry on democracy as a political drama instead of utilizing it as a plain tool for managing man’s collective affairs?  Why can not we get rid of its rhetoric and  propagandist deceptions ? Why can’t we bring an end its image as a fight among political parties for government formation? All the rest priorities of nation  falling secondary to the above prime subject matter!

We have a well documented policy document to run the country in the form of our constitution. What are the philosophical, political, psychological and historical needs of a people also stand well documented in the constitution.

What we need is a team to run the country with the best of managerial expertise like  corporate houses run its business, or like constructing a building according to its blue-print plan.  Targets for achievement of each ministry should be prepared with the help of organizations like FICCI or CII, or any of the top management schools in the country. Inexperienced ministers could be trained in the art of delegating responsibilities to his subordinates and bureaucrats. Thus every bureaucrat and minister will have his/her well documented, transparent target for each year. His/her performance could be assessed by the same agencies and monetary incentives could be provided for achievers and punishments for losers.

When administration of the state becomes a managerial exercise, with its responsibilities and pains, its existing glamour quotient will naturally come down. Media persons must stop following them day and night with cameras. This media act was chiefly instrumental in converting country administration into the glamour business of politics. It also has converted these purely managerial  occupations of country governance into a fantastic, parallel world of glitz and glamour, which was  totally unmatched to democratic values  and traditions.

At the end of the term of a government, people will be able to judge the better performers easily when their votes are asked for selecting the new team.

Media also will be able to concentrate more on meaningful social themes when they get free from the routine act of following leaders day and night. Media’s absence will itself distract many leaders from  running after political career. Thus, the wasteful exercise of politics could be slowly eliminated from the scene of country administration.    

Such a shift of priorities will get democracy reinvented into a rational, no non-sense managerial exercise, the sacred purpose for which it was intended for.