As the elections are coming closer, the main stream media (MSM) appears to be toeing the official government line. News articles are reporting the achievements of the UPA government and highlighting the fringe elements in the opposition parties to belittle their qualifications to rule the country. The press has been emphasizing the age factor of NDA Prime Ministerial candidate, Mr. L.K. Advani, while ignoring his experience. On the other hand, articles on Rahul Gandhi show his youth in positive light, downplaying his nepotistic rise and relatively little experience. Of late there have been many articles emphasizing the in-fighting in BJP and lack of strong National Leaders in the party.
India has also been affected by the global recession that has hit the Western countries severely. It has been predicted that Indian economy will severely slowdown and there are bound to be many layoffs leading to increased unemployment. But very voter will notice how the word “Recession” is seriously avoided in the MSM sites. There are daily articles quoting the President, PM, FM, Congress President and assorted government sources on how we should be in recovery and growing pretty soon. The Indian electorate is smart enough to understand that the economic recession is not of Congress’ making. It is a direct result of the global economic crisis. So let us not insult their intelligence by pretending that it is a temporary “downturn” which will be resolved in a few months. It is not everyday that the US President contemplates a stimulus package of over a Trillion dollars and so the global recession is a serious crisis facing us.
This isn’t the first time that the media has been swayed by the government’s propaganda and trashed the opposition. In the previous Lok Sabha elections as well, it went overboard emphasizing the “India Shining ” slogan of the then-ruling NDA government. So high was the hype that majority of the Indians were made to believe that the election of Mr. Vajpayee as the next PM of India was a mere formality. Similar questions were asked in the media then about “Where was Sonia Gandhi” and she and the Congress were all but written off her. Other parties like BSP, SP and the left parties were regarded as too insignificant to even be mentioned beyond a footnote.
For sure after the election results, the media suddenly woke up to the fact of 400 million poor in Shining India who had voted against the NDA and for the ‘pro-poor’ parties. After a 180 degree turn, the Media began hailing the victors of the last elections as the leaders who had truly felt the true pulse of the nation and snatched victory from certain defeat.
It is high time the fourth estate took a balanced view of all the political parties and not play favorites. Else they will reduce themselves to being merely a propaganda material for the political party they are promoting. The responsibility of the media is to make the electorate aware of all their options so that they can take a informed decision when electing the next government.
February 17th, 2009 | Tags: Main Stream Media, NDA/BJP, Opinion, UPA government, UPA/Congress | Category: Communist Parties, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Elections, India Shining, Indian Politics, L K Advani, NDA/BJP, Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party, Sonia Gandhi, UPA/Congress | Leave a comment
While the Congress has “officially” denied that Rahul Gandhi will be their PM candidate instead of Mr. Manmohan Singh, the sound bites have been the opposite in the past few days. Top Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi and PM Manmohan Singh himself, have made statements promoting Rahul Gandhi as the future PM.