The Goan Media There is absolutely no doubt that, today media sells on tragedies and scams, be it the idiot box or be it the print media, the escalation of prime time coverage on TV is always directly proportional to the intensity and the enormity of the tragedy or scam and the same applies to the explosive headlines on the front pages of print media, so while the media thrives and resonates on scams and tragedies and we are fed with an overdose of overt action and synthetic empathy, the media houses laugh their way to the banks. Scams and tragedies do indeed provide a revenue torrent to media biz.
We witnessed the 26/11 tragedy as it unfolded, live and on print, which went on well beyond and after the embers had died down in the chill of the Indian winter. Of late media biz has been overwhelmed and overworked, feasting over scams that have been erupting like poppers at a parties and the Congress has been the most generous contributor to the overdose and to the coffers of the media houses. The BJP too has not lagged behind in their generosity, with the carnival in the Karnataka legislative assembly and the crowning "gory" of the Reddy brothers in acquiring their colossal wealth and ofcourse how can we forget the Ramlila and Anna's fasting jaunts along with the ostensible change in "Moditva" ideologies. On one side the media houses are happy with the overstretched limits of coverage and on the other side, the people who are just waiting to read about and watch, the next disaster or scam unfold and explode, get their daily dose of fix. Except, who is complaining, even as the next scam erupts or the next tragedy occurs on the tail of the previous, both, the people and the media tend to forget the harsh realities of the past incidents and begin feasting on the new. We all do tend to have very short memories, even though we ominously display even short fuses at anything and everything. This embedded culture compels deep introspection about the activities, responsibilities and the responses of both the media as well as the people. Media can be informative as well as educative, media can change situations, emotions and opinions in a its wake, media can make or break movements and persons, media can also expose treachery and hypocrisy and so basically media is an essential tool of our daily lives and it certainly has greater responsibilities towards the masses on what and how, they present the issues and facts with malice or bias towards none and should not resort to irresponsible and morbid presentations. Our media should be worthy of the principles of democracy that we all seek. In Goa's post liberation history, media has always been a major player, be it the Opinion poll, Konkanni movement or the epileptic RP's and SEZ issues, which it helped to gain momentum and turn them into human tsunamis, bringing our politicians to their knees. Peoples power to the fore thanks to the media. Today as we contemplate on the issues plaguing our once beautiful serene land, a lot has been said and written about the mining scam in Goa, which has not just become a national issue but an international one and due credit must be given to the Goan, as well as the national media in helping to expose the conspiracy of illegal mining in Goa, hatched by our very own elected members, the very people who were given a mandate to work for the welfare of our land and our people but failed miserably in the wake of their own primitive and skewed agendas. Even though the media has been overworking in exposing illegal mining in Goa in the past few weeks, I am still skeptical of the media and the part it has played so far, as some major media players in Goa are somehow connected to the mining industry, if not on their payrolls and it is this liaison that could be detrimental to our Goan psyche and our holistic efforts to curb, if not stop illegal mining and that makes me weary of the Goan media. It is said that the elephant has two sets of teeth, one set is for display, while the other is for crunching, I wonder which are the teeth that our Goan media is now showing ? Freddy Agnelo Fernandes ##################################################################################### The content of this electronic communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and any others who are specifically authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or otherwise placing reliance on the contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful in certain legal jurisdictions. If you have received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately by responding to this email and then delete it from your system. #####################################################################################
