- Valson Thampu
Resorting to opium denotes a desire, a need, to keep reality at bay. In respect of real-life, as against reel-life, there are only two options. First, engage with it in truth and work towards improving the status quo with the intent of safeguarding the health and wholeness of our society and country. The second is to serve as buffer zone between the people and the realities that hurt them.Currently, we are the guineapigs of post-truth politics. The opposite of truth, in the political context, is not untruth. It is opinion. There is a reason why truth loses out to opinions. Truth needs to be sought and found. Opinions need only to be consumed; for they are manufactured and supplied. We become passive imbibers of its ever-gurgling supply. The purpose in supplying opinions is not to make the truth of any issue or situation available to the public, or to enlighten anyone.
The routinised airing of opinions serves mainly the following purposes: (a) The psychological kick for those who are engaged in this undertaking, derived from the feeling that they are able to keep the multitudes pecking from their palms. Public opinions are manufactured secretly by an inscrutable set of people, who are hired for the purpose by those who thrive therefrom. (b) As regards the consumers of the produce, it serves a dual purpose. It spares them the trouble of having to think for themselves.
The thing to note here is that such an arrangement -of which our Prime-Time spirited TV discussions are a familiar example- is not meant to impact or improve the reality. Nor does it aim at raising public awareness in any way, or to any extent. No viewer emerges from these prolonged, often ill-tempered, discussions better informed on the realities of his life-world. Arguments are bandied back and forth with the sort of vehemence and earnestness. The focus is entirely on securing rhetorical victories over opponents – overwhelming them by hook or crook- unbridled by commitment to truth or to the welfare of the people. Not surprisingly, every media discussion amounts to no more than the familiar thrust and counter-thrust of strident whataboutery.
This might seem an innocuous exercise. It is not! It is seriously harmful. The harm it does is all the more sinister for being insidious and subliminal. If you expose yourself to seemingly earnest discussions on ‘issues’ for an hour, you develop an ever-deepening feeling that nothing can change. A debilitating sense of futility invades and enfeebles your will to act or to resist. It erodes your hope and nudges you closer and closer to the slough of despondency, which is the covert purpose underlying the exercise.
The designated function of journalism in a democratic society is to educate public opinion so that citizens may make informed choices, which is the seed of good governance. True journalism has a prophetic character. As the cliché goes, it speaks truth to power. When journalists degenerate into courtiers, they embrace the luring option of queuing up for a place in the Epstein files of crorepati journalism. This counterfeit thing has a domesticated name, ‘godi media’. The worst that can happen to a society is that those who are mandated to proclaim the truth prostitute their professional integrity, selling their soul, as Marlowe’s Faustus did, for a metaphoric ‘shoulder of mutton’. Gen. V. K. Sing, who was a member of Modi’s first cabinet called them, ‘presstitutes’- a terminological hybrid of ‘press’ and ‘prostitutes’.
But, then, is it fair to damn journalists alone for being the pimps of the System? For not upholding the truth heroically? There is a difference between ethics-mongering as an armchair exercise, and upholding ethical values in practice. In the latter case, there is a price to be paid. Upholding values and ideals is a costly thing. Today, who among us believes that it is a feasible thing to stay steadfast in this regard, unmindful of consequences? And who doesn’t know that the consequences are assuredly scary?
The consequences are unthinkable not only because they are brutal, but also because the spirit of moral heroism has evaporated from our midst. The demon of cynicism has filled the vacuum. So, no one dares to step out of the line. Outcomes are pre-judged. This encourages the wielders of power to be crueller and more ruthless. And the more this happens, the more formidable the odds against ethical heroism seem to be. Fear rules the roost, and everyone opts to play safe, with predictable consequences.
The pathetic deformation of our mainstream media points to the terminal ill-health of our democracy. The fraternity stands alienated from the people and sniffing around the centre of power. Who doesn’t know that today we have only media workers who, much like sex workers, sell their souls for money: a great deal of money. But they are poorer for being wealthier, and uglier for being painted in privilege. It reminds us of the paradox that Jesus enunciated: He who saves his life shall lose it.
