The issue is of matching the method with the nature of the audience being targeted

Civil society is supposed to be run by an executive which implements the regulations; the legislature which drafts the regulations and the judiciary which adjudicates in matters of controversy. The structural versions of the three can vary from one form of governance to another or from one entity to another. In case of kingship it is one form of executive; in case of the presidential form of governance, it is another form of executive; in case of parliamentary form of governance, it is yet another form of executive. In course of time, in the evolution of French history, there came the recognition that beyond the three forms of institutions of executive, legislature and judiciary there was a need to recognise a fourth set. This came to be termed as the fourth estate. It was the press. It meant that public opinion if expressed and channelised in a sufficiently identified form it could be an impact making stream. Gradually, this so-calledfourth estate acquired power enough to receive sufficient attention from the executive, the legislature and judiciary.Its power gradually increased as the electronic media became popular than print. The growing influence of digitisation also extended the range and influence of the electronic media. Today, the power of the electronic media is immense. Like all situations of power manipulation, it has also become a sought-after part of the scene. The slant of news can be manipulated to create the necessary impact on governance. The manipulation takes the slant of the political orientation and at times of the political institutions. Awareness of this is necessary for the strengthening of a responsible and healthy governance system. An interesting case in point is the media representation of the movie, The Kashmir Files. It would be easy to recognise that the reported treatment, experiences and fate of many Hindus in the Kashmir valley, through parts of the 1990s, was most unfortunate,and perhaps verged on the barbaric. The skill of the so-called left, which has a track record of whipping up mass sentiments in matters big and small, subject to their political convenience, is widely recognised. They have reaped the harvest of such interventions from a period going back, at least, to the Vietnam war. The so-called rightists have also attempted to do the same, but often their reach, methodology and impact have been less powerful than that of the leftists. The result is there for all to see. The purpose of elaborating the above is to show how the selection of the content, the language of the presentation and the extent of repetition is central to the extent of impact the effort makes. The issue is of matching the method with the nature of the audience being targeted. Today,the media has various incarnations, even within the print and the electronics media. In print, the language becomes critical. The English print goes a distance and so does what is printed in Indian languages. The segmentation of the English-reading public or the public which reads one or the other of Indian languages could be significant. Each constituency has to be handled in a different manner and each constituency has its own political value.In the electronic medium, the social media has acquired progressively a more impactful position. At times entire movements have been influenced.The skill formation in manipulating this as of now is in-sufficiently institutionalised. It appears to be handled by acts of association and personal contact. This is an understandable phase in any stream of specialisation.Schools of journalism need to develop a more strengthened research wing to look into these issues.

(The writer is a management consultant. The views  expressed are personal.)