By Ranjona Banerji
There is no water across large parts of India. Although the monsoon has made touchdown, it is a long way away from full subcontinental coverage. The result is desperation and death. You would not really know this from tracking the Indian media. You might see a story here, catch a short report there, “Chennai’s taps running dry” on CNNNews18, or “With no drinking water, UP family asks PM’s permission to end life” in some editions of The Times of India.
What this sporadic and random coverage reflects is not just ineffective tokenism. It underlines once again how the media will not or cannot take itself seriously. Take a look back at what has made consistent headlines and non-stop coverage over the past week. An attack on junior doctors at a Kolkata hospital and a subsequent strike, a cricket match between India and Pakistan and a proposal for the Delhi Metro to allow women to travel free. Add to that the unbelievable excitement of the start of the new Parliament and MPs being sworn in.
Since every bit of news that is put out there is a choice and a judgment call, the water crisis facing India has definitely lost the battle for news space. This story has no drama unless there are multiple casualties and therefore, insufficient political capital. Besides, it requires legwork and solid reporting. It requires space. And it is, for the average newsdesk, it is excruciatingly boring stuff: villages, for one. No film stars, cricketers, BJP politicians to glorify or Rahul Gandhi to mock for the other. This is a distressing version of real life that happens out there. Chennai’s taps have a sort of urban feel, but Chennai is very far away from Delhi and is therefore marginal to the larger picture of trying to bring down Arvind Kejriwal.
Does all this sound grossly unfair? Can everyone put together the number of water-related stories they have done in recent times and find a comprehensive compilation which has had front page, top bulletin consistent coverage? Obviously, both you and I are laughing.
Many people on Twitter took recourse to reposting this New York Times article on India’s water shortages because it ticked more boxes and was given more prominence than whatever has appeared in the Indian media so far. And this story covers only a tiny fraction of the enormity of the problem.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/17/world/asia/shimla-india-drought-water.html
We ignore this at our own peril, but the world is going to end anyway, right? So…
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The lack of perspective and the need for sensationalism were both on display in the coverage of the doctors’ agitation and subsequent strike in Bengal. The initial coverage left everyone confused and scrambling for more information or at least a few basic facts. Instead, what we got was communal propaganda and outrageous claims doing the usual social media rounds. The few newspapers, like The Telegraph or The Indian Express, which bothered to actually to speak to “both sides” and attempt to work out a timeline of events got drowned in the television cacophony of political opportunism and the attempt to enflame a possible communal situation.
At the end of it all, after patients suffered, the strike spread, the deaths of 126 children in Bihar from encephalitis got short shrift, the family of the man who died and thus started the “violence” could not mourn his passing, lies were told and shared, much outrage happened on social media, the striking doctors met Mamata Banerjee, got charmed by her and thus the whole matter has ended.
Obviously, the issues – of safety for doctors and adequate patient care in government hospitals – will remain untouched. Unless, umm, the media keeps at it. Hmm.
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Meanwhile, NDTV appears to have paid the price for being the one TV channel that practices more conventional journalism than its competitors. An old case, of doubtful origin and track record, has led to SEBI barring the channel’s owners Dr Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy from holding management posts at NDTV.
This is their statement:
https://www.ndtv.com/communication/statement-from-radhika-and-prannoy-roy-on-sebi-order-2053470
The statement for the media remains dire: question the government and pay the price.
So, bend or crawl or walk? Who’s making which choice?
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. Her views here are personal