What kind of world does our news create?
Peaceful world has been the main aim of humanity since time immemorial and one can say this without any doubt whatsoever that media being not only the mirror of the society but also as the leader, guide and somewhat moulder of the society can play this important role to re-establish peace in the world.
Today if we take any morning news-paper in hand and have a look at its columns, we would see that most of the news covered are about events of deviant human behavior, bride burning, oppression of lower caste people by higher cast, railway accidents, floods and fires, scandals, political defections, dacoities, hostility between religious communities and warfare between countries. Is it RIGHT?
Again, presenting news in a tart, saucy, and sensational fashion is another common feature. In reality, it amounts to making people addicted to sensational, hot, nerve-rattling and blood-curdling news as one makes a person addicted to over-spicy curries and excessively hot tea or very strong and lip-burning coffee.
The result is that when there is no news of a big scandal, a horrible murder, a terrific railway accident or a major racket or a calamity in a paper, readers say: “Oh Man! There is no news today; today’s paper is totally tasteless.’ This trend has become so common that, in journalism, it has become a saying that bad news is good news.
After reading such news day after day, the average reader becomes discouraged to see that justice, goodwill, and honesty are conspicuously absent and feels persuaded to adopt the ways of the world around them. The need for value-based journalism is thus being felt and propagated, particularly in the Asian Continent. At its recent conference, the South Asian Journalists Association stressed and advocated self-regulation to uphold values in the media. These values guide us to distinguish between right and wrong, between do’s and don’ts.
We must first realise that the root cause of all kinds of misery and crime lies mainly in unethical thoughts, words, and acts of man. Incidents like robberies, dacoities, embezzlement, adulteration or manufacture of new destructive weapons by some countries, all these spring from what may well be called 'impurity of thought' or, in other words, from violence, hate, greed, etc. in the minds of men. These evils can be reduced or, even up-rooted, by tackling the root-cause itself, viz., pollution of thought, or in other words, by inculcating in people what goes today by the name of moral values, humanism or purity in the mind of man. Hence, such news, articles and features help to solve problems of the individual and the society through purity in thought, word and deed and it will do so by bringing Supreme and soul also in the world of news and views since the world has now become too materialistic and man has moved far away from his beloved Creator. Therefore, every media person should realise that a world full of peace and happiness will not arrive without a positive and constructive role for the media.
The writer is a spiritual teacher and a popular columnist; Views presented are personal.
