The idea of the "national mood" is one that increasingly pushes out the children of a lesser god from the media frame. Christians believe Islamic terror is a more sensational story; that is why their ongoing troubles are not getting due coverage. Delhi Catholic church spokesman father Dominic Emmanuel says, "the channels don’t cover us when there is a story like terrorism, cricket or the birthday of a film star." As for the poor Indian, he only gets into the picture when he is run down under the wheels of a rich man’s car.
The media was once intended to be a watchdog. But when stories operate within the framework of national prejudice or communal and class perceptions, the media broadly appears to play to the majority view. Many TV channels whip up jingoistic hysteria under the guise of giving news. Anchors mouth nationalistic jargon. Communal stereotypes abound. Urdu editor Shahid Siddiqui says that "TV channels hunt down communal maulvis with beards in order to browbeat them. They do not want sane liberal voices because they do not make for such sensational news." In fact, there have been instances when sections of the media have gone to the religious men and extracted fatwas on Sania Mirza’s clothes and other pressing issues.
Media analyst Sevanti Ninan says that "the problem is that today there are two types of violence going on. But the media uses an entirely different language for suspected Muslim terrorists. These stories are sourced through the police and there is no hesitation at giving identities of the alleged terrorists. But when it comes to the violence on Christians by Bajrang Dal activists, we are given no information about the perpetrators."
A senior intelligence officer goes so far as to say that the ham-handed manner in which police investigations are run is now largely due to media hysteria. "Very often police officers rush through investigations to win points in the media. Their actions are now determined by what they think will make them popular with the public. The fact that this misfires has not yet registered with most policemen. This explains the increasing number of officers appearing on TV," he says.
Former CJI J.S. Verma has recently accepted responsibility of heading a regulatory authority set up by TV channels. He says he has refused an honorarium, but is doing so only because there is a desperate public need to monitor a rapidly-proliferating media. "It is determining the national agenda yet the media is getting corrupted and will soon lose credibility," he says.
