The Hindu Business Line : Mainspring of India’s democracy

India’s media has come of age and into its own. Imagine the combined awesome power of 62,483 registered newspapers, with a claimed circulation approaching 10 crore copies, and 60 news channels in 16 languages watched by persons in 120 million households, half of the country’s total, dispensing information and moulding opinion! This is the best that has happened to India.

Whether it is a matter of creating awareness of burning issues, exposing scandals, building up confidence, or keeping the political and governing classes on their toes, India’s media has carved a niche for itself, and indeed become an object of both respect and fear. It is indeed the one part of the nation’s polity that is going from strength to strength, whereas the rest of the institutions are going downhill, if not actually crumbling. It is the one saving grace that is keeping faith with democracy, and investing it with vigour and vitality.

It is heartwarming to notice that the media, especially, the electronic media, has begun to attract some of the brightest talents and the sharpest brains. Barely in their twenties, they bear themselves with supreme self-confidence and carry the day with the boldness with which they confront heavyweights in interviews. One cannot but be struck by their command over language which they use to telling effect. The best of our media persons can really hold their heads high, and we can really be proud of them.

Those who, by virtue of their education and upbringing, are biased towards English, and who, therefore, are carried away by the fizz and froth of the print and electronic media given to that language, ought to understand that it is the language media that touches the daily lives of the people more intimately, intensely and pervasively than the English media.

As per the data for 2005, the number of newspapers, including periodicals, in languages such as Hindi (4131), Gujarati (775). Urdu (463), Bengali (445) and Marathi (328), was much larger than in English (864); likewise, the number of dailies in English (201) is less than 10 per cent of the number (2130) published in the country as a whole.

Language media

The number of TV news channels in Indian languages also reflects the same trend. In 2007, there has been a 20 per cent increase in the regional language channels. The genre of news and current affairs is the fastest growing on TV, enjoying 31 per cent penetration, with Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu coming close to 80 per cent of the TV market.

I make it a practice now and then of going through publications, and watching channels, in Hindi and Bengali, in addition, of course, to Tamil and English. The quality of interpretation and analysis of happenings and issues by the language media is highly impressive in that it comes up with insights missed out by the English media, and even scores over it in the subjects it takes up for investigations and commentaries.

I am convinced that one cannot understand the heart and mind of India by merely going by what appears in the English media. Conversely, any attempt to influence the people of India with any point of view or to rouse them to any course of action will fail without taking advantage of the pervasive spread of the language media.

If the media has come of age, so have viewers and readers. They are media savvy, with an eye for the finest points of journalism.

Any media establishment that adopts towards them the same indifferent attitude that an average provider of goods and services adopts towards his customers in a sellers’ market is bound to face disaster sooner or later.

B. S. RAGHAVAN

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