Our college batch mailing list
Very well put... I dont think that the article tries to blame the rape on the media... that
act was definitely the consequence of the sick pervert's behaviour...
And no one can take away the right and freedom from the people to live the way they want....
people at both the ends of the spectrum have the right to live the life they want to live...
But nevertheless, the article has a point... media is traditionally considered to reflect
public opinion and educate the nation.... with the amount of power and freedom they enjoy I
guess they cannot wash their hands off the content they carry... they cannot shy away from the
responsibility that comes to them with the freedom and power they are bestowed upon...
At least I personally expect certain moral ideals from the media which sadly most of the
newspapers are lacking today... I realised the ruckus that the something like ToI has created
in the market when I started reading the Indian Express.... and that is what I call a
newspaper... complete and always keeping the govt. on its toes...
Sad, but true... Economics has started to define media content... which over time slowly but
surely changes the societal moral structures... something which is very dangerous... Media is
usually considered as the hallmark of a good democracy... it is saddening to see it
degenerating...
I just hope that the Indian media does not go the US media way... Have a look at this
article... It is from world famous environmentalist Sunita Narain...
Also, I dont agree that the conservative Indian society is dead... perhaps, we do not see it
in the media today... but it is still thriving... and I may again want to attribute it to
Economics entering and trying to control the information dissipation mechanisms that we have
today...
-Mohit
The Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education mailing list
Hi All,
Today while browsing through the internet, I came across an interesting article on the media and the ideological trajectory it seems to be taking ( http://www.organiser.org /dynamic/modules.php?name =Content&pa=showpage&pid=78 &page=36 )
This really made me sit up and take notice of the fact that these days, when economics is beginning to control the information dissemination structures that we have set up in this democratic setup, it becomes all the more important that there are centres which spread information and educate the public towards real issues that confront the society today. News is not about entertainment, it should inform and if possible educate the person reading it on the issue it seeks to address. Sadly, that is not the case today. When a tabloid like the Bombay Mirror is marketed as a "youth newspaper", it becomes crystal clear that something is terribly wrong with either the way the media considers its responsibility or with the attitudes of the youth at being taken in by such balderdash! The need for activism was probably never greater than what it is today... the media is degenerating and the youth is confused about its identity and role.... the future of the nation is at stake!
The direction in which the media is going, I am afraid some years down the line it may be impossible to see any socially relevant news stories in any newspaper. And it is in times like these that the role of organisations like us that becomes important... in giving people what they are deprived of through the daily news stories, in informing them about issues much larger than the excreta of a film actor's dog (yes, this is precisely one story carried by the "youth newspaper" Bombay Mirror as a friend of mine told me)!
All this has really made my resolve stronger... we will continue to strive and work towards information dissemination... we will keep working despite the constraints and obstacles we face... we dream of a Utopian society, strive for a just society and demand a society wherein everyone can walk with their heads held high without any fear or shame... a society in which the educational institutions are indeed the temples of learning...
thanks and regards
Mohit Garg
Our college newsgroups
I dont think the article below or even Saamna ever intended to say that the particular
incident of any rape incident for that matter happens because of the way the victim was
dressed. Of course, the immediate cause is the momentary act of perversion of the
perpretrator.... there cannot be _any_ excuses for him on _any_ grounds. Rape is outrageous
and condemnable to the core.... no justifications can ever be given.
What these articles wanted to bring out (in my personal view) is the larger question of
_crimes_ against women in the society... or maybe even the much more broader question of
_attitudes_ towards women...
We all talk about morality when we see such incidents and attitudes being propagated... the
way in which women are treated/talked_about (forget about outside, I can give you 100s of
examples of IIT students). We all tend to think that everyone should follow morals... but some
questions immediately crop up...
- Who defines morals? The answer is clear -- the society. It cannot be you or me since our
morals affect the whole society as such.
- What mechanism does the society use to define the morals? How does a child find out what
moral standards are to be followed/adopted by him/her? Through education, through parental
guidance... and a big portion of this learning comes from the environment around you... the
public forums of which the media is a very important part.
And this is what the article tries to address. Definitions of what is acceptable to the
society etc. are usually picked up from what we see in the media... and when we see soft-porn
almost everywhere on TV and print media somehow somewhere it subliminally attacks the morals
we have.
And slowly over time it may bring about a distortion in what we perceive as what the society
thinks right and what the society actually thinks is right! The message that these so called "youth newspapers" (Yes! Bombay Mirror -- a tabloid -- is marketed as a "youth newspaper!)
tend to spread is that soft-porn is acceptable....
And that is where people who are at the border-line of committing crimes tend to get the
courage and conviction to cross the line... it pushes their threshold just a wee-bit... which
at times may be enough to result in a crime....
Freedom comes packaged in responsibility... but we throw away the packing and enjoy the
contents... And it is precisely due to the power that the media enjoys, they MUST be more
responsible.
-Mohit
I would love to hear and discuss your views on this issue. You can
contact me at m o h r a h i t @ y a h o o . c o m
