Money, Media & Politics: Stenography to Power

Excerpts from lecture of P. Sainath (Editor: Agriculture & Rural Affairs, The Hindu) delivered at Venkatesh Chapalgaonkar Memorial Awards at Symbiosis, Pune on 6th June 2014

(Acknowledgement and thanks to Electronic Media Association, Pune ) 
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Money, Media and Politics: Understanding Stenography to power

By P. Sainath

Indian press is child of freedom struggle of India. Gandhi, Ambedkar, Tilak were great journalist who were use to print newspapers, magazines, journals. Even though number of printed copies or circulation of these publications was merely in thousands, but kind of impact it had on masses, on contemporary peers in media and on imperial government was unparalleled in history. Unfortunately, in today’s times, difference between journalism, public relations and stenography is becoming less and less.

Greatest speech in Indian history is unarguably that of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in Constituent Assembly: “We have given country Political Democracy but have we given country and its citizens the economic and social equality and democracy? If not, the tension is to be created in future because of impending inequality and thus the democracy is going to explode.” 

Media, supposedly fourth estate of democracy--is most undemocratic in its social representations, about transparency regarding its accounts and on its accountability towards the society they belong to. Today’s media is politically free but is imprisoned by profit. Not all media houses are party to this crime but increasing corporatisation, influence of neoliberal transactions within transnational MNCs which are acquiring media houses and the deep running connivance between different power structures are forcing the Americanisation of Indian media—is truly dangerous to Indian democracy.

To understand how media behaves one has to understand how corporates function because media is no longer singular in approach, linear in interests and traditional in its nature of operation. It has become so dynamic, finance driven, politically complicit and morally bankrupt about its role towards society that one cannot imagine how far the naked arrogance of its owners has travelled that they are not in news business but in advertising space. 

Beyond technological convergence, today’s media mark the convergence of elitist morality, indifferent conscience and inequitable economic vision for citizens and country at large. In a way, as Prabhat Patnaik has described “Moral Universe of Media has shifted away from people” and essentially “media seems to be more powerful when sided with powerful.” Normally, it does not like to stand against power. Whatever results come, they come due to individuals who fight risking their lives, reputation and independence.

Revolving doors in corporates, media and governments are creating not only permanent vested interests but also shaping structures nurturing sustainable culture of endless greed in our lives through different products they offer through media industry. Collusion amongst politics, corporates and big media does not care about the issues which really free, independent press needs to address. Today`s media is primarily hostage to Advertisers, Hollywood, Cricket/Celebrities/Corporate for its content and revenue, forcing audiences to chew only that.

Corporatisation of Media is creating new powerful monopolies of media houses not only in print, electronic media but also in digital domain. In fact, issue of monopoly is even more serious in digital world as only seven companies are controlling the internet in one way or another. Concentration of corporate, political interests in media industry is so intrinsically deep rooted that there is now little space for the problems of people to be discussed. In fact, all the major scams exposed recently are either done by constitutional bodies like CAG, ED or by small newspapers-magazines. Mainstream media, as we know it today, is falling behind in terms of raising questions, ensuring follow up of pertinent crucial issues needed to be addressed in real time through investigative journalism.  

Fight against monopoly is not only grave issue in India but also in Europe, USA. In fact, USA has a great tradition of anti-monopoly legislations dating back to 1920s and 1930 when monopoly of Rockefeller brothers and Hollywood was broken to create a competition friendly environment. Increasing insensitivity in media can be gauged from the fact that major or almost all mainstream media houses are slowly relinquishing beats or portfolio from its reporting/editing work related to rural, poverty, labour, and development issues. This is very disturbing trend considering major chunk of population in India is poor, labour driven, working in unorganised sector and struggling to get basic amenities of life they deserve to be getting from government.

So we have arrived at the stage where media is not only becoming conglomerate itself but also is becoming one of the arms of big, bigger MNCs who does not care about spirit of journalism and its role in society like ours. This is primarily because goals today’s corporate media espouses, dreams it instigates and vision it inspires is that of deep inequality in society and not of democratic socialism which our founding forefathers/foremothers have envisioned for us. This was imagined in directive principles of state policy stated in Constitution. It is often said that “We should speak truth to power. Time has come when we should ask ourselves: “Whether it is necessary to speak truth to power or shall we speak truth about power, which is increasingly being suppressed, diverted and abused by people who illegitimately benefit from silence. So, the process through which we can defend our rights, more broadly ‘Bill of Rights’ so as to describe, should be strengthened and this process can be revitalised through democratic protests, organising the voice of dissent and finally by giving voice to people who want their stories to be reported, written, recorded, screened, photographed, printed, aired. Larger people participation in documentation, journalism and broadcasting will ensure this pressure to COMPELL MEDIA TO BEHAVE so as to carry on the legacy of freedom fight and Freedom Press of that era which cared for fundamental issues of human lives, development, dignity and human rights.

Transcribed roughly by Rahul Mane, creativityindian@gmail.com, 09654093359 

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Resources:

a) Summary of Paid News Report:

http://presscouncil.nic.in/OldWebsite/CouncilReport.pdf

b) How original report was suppressed:

http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Paid-News-The-Buried-Report/266542 

c) Original Report comes in full on Press Council of India website

http://presscouncil.nic.in/Content/139_5_Reportsonpaidnews.aspx 

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‘Liberating Structures’—Towards Unseen, Unheard, Unsaid…

 Reflections from Prof. Arvind Singhal`s workshop (February 2014, Ahmedabad)


In many ways, title of this approach bears feeling of oxymoron/paradox. At the first instance, liberating from any structure demands escape velocity. So you can imagine, how far the initiative to start discussion regarding it is challenging. It is a quest of learning in various problem situations of life. How to define problems, how to contextualize them and how to arrive at consensus to start working on it to move towards solution.

It is our common experience that “We are not good at designing conversations or interactions.” In a meaningful conversation, time slows down, doubts are cleared and we feel at home as far as expressing our confusions, problems are concerned. Essentially, in a group what we are trying to do is, to arrive at the same level of understanding (without feeling negating cognitive dissonance about it). So, small details of how interactions are designed—matter.

Abraham Lincoln, when he was on filed-tour during war of Northern and Southern states of USA, met soldiers on one of the front lines. One soldier when taken aback because of Lincoln’s height, asked him, how tall are you? He replied, “My son, my feets are tall enough to reach ground.” So, what this story indicates is—how shedding baggage of power and authority is crucial, if we wish to create connections to listen to each other. There are always lots of parallel conversations happening around. So drawing from the seeds spread around those conversations will help us not only to relate to us, but also learn from those. In liberal conversations, we should always take care to observe what kinds of spaces are created. People, audiences, consumers are comfortable in articulating in safer spaces. These safer spaces are designed in a way to promote and motivate active listening—willingness to listen. 

It is because of these patient, other centered interactions one is able to realize how perception of same thing is similar/dissimilar. How commonalities are reinforced? How different patterns emerging, are observed? In many interactions, “One nature of expression is different than that of other colleague`s nature of expression.” Because of the interactions, which are organized in a way different than traditional, tendency to hold on to our own idea is challenged and gets shattered. We learn to enjoy to add, share and collaborate. We start innovating combination of thoughts and experimenting with adaptations to external ideas, thoughts.  

Traditionally we are hard wired for patterns. We are poor at analyzing because we connect better to emotional self and emotional social. So it is always necessary to be compassionate towards self and towards other, while expressing and listening to others. This gives an emotional/humanistic orientation to dialogue with self and others. So, there always need to have effect to be always present: across activities, across groups, across levels and across functions in listening mode, in observation mode, in learning mode. 

It is after all, struggle of data vs patterns. In many ways, stories are beautiful form of data. Whenever we meet, interact, converse: we need to encourage each other to tell the stories. Stories give us authentic first person and multifaceted perspective about the personality, life and times. Stories expand and inspire our imagination and also allow us to develop emotional connect.

Different ways through which ‘conversations’ are done liberates participation for everyone. Then, after we invite people to repeat their stories, our understanding about reality deepens. Always make sure to invite, appeal others to contribute to stories. Listening, sharing and adding emphasize power of loose connections. We are bound by ‘Occupational Psychosis’. Our mental abilities, skills, vision are constrained by cognitive patterns evolved due to kind of life we lived, nature of struggle of survival we are in and type of work we do for living. For example, “For hammer everything is a nail.” ‘Interjectional structures are ubiquitous’, only thing is that we don’t make use of that. Our worldview about ‘interaction’ can be summarized out of our vision about education. “We never really attain students, we teach them.” 

Managed discussions are dangerous for creativity. Conventional structures stifle inclusion and engagement. Meetings, discussions, classrooms are full of disengaged, dysfunctional groups and wasted ideas. Innovative interventions in conversations may introduce novelty and freshness in ideas; make the process of engaging with stakeholders more reflective and exploratory to scout for new possibilities.  Traditional presentations and conversations need to go beyond ‘over-controlled’, ‘too-uniform’, ‘engaging only few in a group’ and ‘targeted only at formal event’ stereotypes. They need to be more process driven rather than rigid understanding about ‘output’ in a material sense. Open discussions involve, accommodate ‘under-controlled’, are flexible with unstable relationships, provide freedom to enter conversation at any point of time, give liberty to take any direction of thought. 

In many ways, approach towards ‘liberating structures’ is shaped in a distributed control through diverse yet interdependent relationships. Here, direction of conversation is shaped by participants themselves. This empowers and enables ordinary people to express what they have found better (or even extraordinary) solutions to existing problems—against all odds—without access to any extra resources. This process also thus respects and adheres to ‘Collective Wisdom’ to solve problems. It delivers better outcomes by recognizing outliers. Thus emerges ‘positive deviance’, perfected over a time though accumulation of small-incremental outlier acts. 

Example: COffice Hours-- Students can guide each other at open session organized by teachers at cafeteria-canteen. They maintain cohort relationships—that is a major resource. They also recruit each other. They reciprocate each other. Thus, creating conditions to connect through informal venues crucial by talking to people you don’t know.

So, creating conditions for help is important. This is new kind of empathetic-sympathetic-compassionate culture. Traditionally, we are not good at asking for help and also not good at helping each others. Thus, these kinds of interactions also induce transformations into self. This gives comfort-belief that yes; there is somebody to help. Communication is mostly non-verbal. It helps us to know what we perceive to be a problem, is not exactly that felt by us. It also makes it easier to live by knowing that we are not only one who has problems. Usually problems are never what they seemed to be. In this kind of interaction, an individual goes through 'listener-clarifier-adviser' mode giving ‘value addition of being stranger’ to a person seeking help. What is newly being suggested is practical, easy to follow and with absolutely least cost with certain empathy. Tolerance with some genuine urge to help coming out with responsibility—which is founding principle of this relationship. In short, whatever the problem—there is always a better, alternate solution dispersed in prospective conversations, we normally fail to explore. What we need, just to look around—see, listen, ask, interact, discuss—in a way different than we use to do, different than traditionally rigid way.

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"Grass in the Air"…Breeze from STUDIO 7

                                             "Grass in the Air…"

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“God respects me when I work, 

but God loves me when I sing--- Tagore”

I recalled above lines by legendary artist, when I started to realize what music, and especially one other than film music can do to me. Even though, I was only, like an illiterate person cravingly absorbed whatever coming at my way; it was an experience making me feel like an hungry-thirsty traveler wandering or lost in desert or in hills or in deep inside forest; greedily swallowing what is being thrown at it`s way through notes, scores, compositions, lyrics and vibrant frequencies.

What happened to our folk music? Where are the songs I used to listen to in my childhood in my mother tongue?  Where are the classic-classical songs I used to enjoy on Vividhbharti? Where are the rare records which I could not collect or preserve or get access to? Where are the insights which I need to have, whenever I am listening to particular genre? I am grappling with all these questions always and also get overwhelmed by whirlwind of this feeling which exhausts me when I don’t understand any beats, let alone Beatles, Metals, Led....Pink…Blues…Green...Black...  But, then someday, I become restless to search for answers to these questions once ambassadors of music inspire me to listen to music I have not listened uptill now. These ambassadors are Studio 7.

Thus, as I start my journey to enjoy songs and music, I don`t really know when I am enlightened by it and when I am completely seduced by it to forget myself to immerse completely in it; I don’t know. Because, I am completely indifferent to many types of music I am listening to. Many ways of songs; in terms of language, meanings; in form—western, classical, rock, blues, jazz, country, folk, Hindustani, Karnataki, street music, tribal music, pop, fusion, rap, hip-hop etc; In speed—slow, medium, fast, hypersonic, subtle, crazy-zigzag, tricky hide-and-seek scores, spiritually encircling to catch hold of our mind, exploding our bodies with radioactive energy and rhythmic-harmonious prayer entering my mind to make me more calm, authentically reflective and honestly sincere in trying to understand what after all is being played.

I don’t know what is happening to me but it is not less than what I feel like I am transformed into a bundle of grass in air after I am exposed here to music by all of you and by Studio7.

Grass—humble enough to withstand in the flood of arrogance, complacency and claim of expertise.

Grass—with same equanimity—‘coming back to life’ in green color--in every season, either spring, winter and monsoon.

Grass in the air—delicate, vulnerable, dwarf—but equally determined to devote, surrender and burn itself to give joy to everyone around through its fragrance, through its wise innocence, through its dedicated entanglement with soil—it helps to keep myself connected to ethos of history which inspired psychological undercurrents in people—who discovered different religion of music altogether—leaving all others like us to enjoy, marvel at, to become mad for it, to melt our lives to understand it and to dive deep in the seconds/minutes/hours for grasping true nature of it.

That makes me live this life, again and again. And nothing else, trust me!!!

“….singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.” 

                                                                                       (----Blackbird)  

Studio 7: Rock on, March on!!!

regards

rahul mane, (an ignorant fan !)

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Community Radios: Inspiring Models of Globalisation + Localisation

World Radio Day was recently celebrated by UNESCO (13th February) and this time they have come up with (guess what ::)) a toolkit for radio producers working with children and youth.

UNESCO has also launched a campaign "EMPOWERING LOCAL RADIOs with ICTs"
 
Lines of Action
http://en.unesco.org/radioict/lines-action

RadioICT:
http://en.unesco.org/radioict/local-radios
 
http://en.unesco.org/radioict/icts  (especially please check this one)


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Emerging Citizens: In Politics and Social Media !!!

How landscape of social media and media is emerging up in India in the context of upcoming Lok Sabha elections? How first time voters are going to behave in this election? How polarized is the social media or for that matter electronic and print media in India in contemporary times? What are the historical contexts in which Indian media evolved and how we should understand the political-social-economic reality and diversity in India in terms of how they are expressing themselves in online-offline media and also how they are consuming the political content through different sources? How political equations are changing and how they are affecting the popular discourse in mainstream media and also how discussions on media platforms are shaping our understanding of what politics we are witnessing? These were all questions debated in an interactive session with Dr. Maya Ranganathan (http://tinyurl.com/kdablt4) here in MICA, Ahmedabad. 

The core question which was discussed was: is media ‘neutral’? Was it ever so? What are the manifestations of its supposedly prejudiced / biased orientations? Media historically is a political tool. Politics always uses agency of media for propagation of ideology, ways to forge a consensus and also elements of discourse which are further used for political appropriation, silencing dissent and also to build own propaganda narratives through ever emerging material reality in evolving dynamism of media.

Is media independent? Can it ever be? No. Is it part of larger political machinery in democracy? Yes. Sometimes it is a part of Little Tradition; sometimes it is part of Great Tradition. In little tradition, there are always some biased motives behind the dissemination of information or opinions. Regional/vernacular media in India and across are always driven by some agendas from time to time because of some historical compulsions. These compulsions can be of freedom struggle in historical conditions, propagate religious/community spirit, spreading regional affiliation or work vociferously for social reform. But these realities are changing and changing fast before we can gauge the impact of all these transformations arrived at because of technological innovation, economic globalization and penetration of social media in youths. The Great Tradition, largely inspired from English press inside/outside India, largely claims to be guardian of Objectivity, Neutrality and Non-biasedness. Barring very few rare exceptions worldwide, this is something even Black Swan claim (exceptions like The Guardian, BBC, The Hindu, Der Spiegel, The New York Times, and Washington Post). Each case of media is unique in a way to interpret the underlying currents or layers of power connections which influence the operation of media on a day to day basis. 

Diversity of opinions in public sphere is greatly influenced by ability of representation it gets in social media and electronic-print media. Claiming that Indian political landscape is only dominated by BJP, Congress and AAP is as much as rational ignorance as expressing the rosy imagination of powerful third front which can take shape in any prospective post-poll scenario. Normalization of political-social diversity is dangerous for the health of democracy and the kind of analysis which is emerging largely underestimates this very diversity. This goes along with bandwagon of supposedly happening polarization in Indian public sphere represented by various media platforms is antithetic to the process of arguments, disagreements and dialectics which are necessary to co-exist along with the possibility of free spaces for discussions to be happened in accessible public sphere, in this case various types of media platforms. 

So, what lies ahead as far as impact of media on individual preferences in voting, expressing, behaving, and participating in political activity? Is sharing something on social media synonymous to supporting to ideology or subscribing to any political vision or being sympathetic to any kind of political opinion. In this context, certain political forces are being successful in high-jacking the discourses in social media/new media sphere. In the competition between social media and electronic-print media, where each one is chasing other in the quest of adopting content, or finding ways to create content, jumping in the content-churning; they are influencing each other. This influence is not linear, not innocent and not at all oblivious from external political interventions which are deeply aligned with changing economic-neoliberal policy-structures within India and outside India. The people, especially youth and teenager have greater role to play considering their number of subscribers but there is a doubt about their political sensitivity and their commitment to contemporary public discourse. 

The people who are traditionally proactive ‘political citizens’ are normally not taking part vigorously in media discourses and also in latest avatar of social media. Of course, they are catching up; but claim of complete representation for that is far from credible. The people who are hooked to social media, of course, have their own genuine opinions but there are many views about how they are being expressed. Some say, they are becoming more and more prejudiced and thus stereotypical paving the way for further polarization (religious, parochial, racial and rationalistic). Another stand point says that, it is too ambitious to claim that there are only few blanket categories which represent this huge discourse. Marking the boundary lines of these categories is biggest challenge in contemporary times. Also, while analyzing these discourses on online/offline media, there needs to be a greater nuanced understanding and analysis about the kind of political citizens and engagements of users in social media are emerging.

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