Life of A Bubble

In journalism, facts are always sacrosanct, but the facts alone never rise up to a conclusive truth, both are different. When facts come from various heterogeneous sources, the validation, analysis, and inferences drawn on them all depend upon the intellectual mettle of the editorial team of a media house. The editor is the judge who always balances between the outcome of facts and rational conclusion. In no circumstances, a precariously inferred editorial judgment can be contested with the veracity of facts because if that could have been so the media could have turned into a soap opera house where skepticism and conjecture rule the roost. Of course, some media houses do believe in this kind of tabloid journalism to increase their readership or viewership.

In the post-Independent period, if any media report has gone formidably wrong is the report "The January night Raisina Hill was spooked: Two key Army units moved towards Delhi without notifying Govt" published in the Indian Express on April 4. The report not only reflects the collective penurious judgment of the editorial team of this newspaper, but also it dangerously reveals the low institutionalized IQ that the tribe called journalists possess and often use it for creating jitters among readers. Well, this is another media gimmick to perpetuate sensational reports for acquire more eyeballs when the newspaper internalizes the fact that it's ABC rank is moving southward.

Well, let's get down to brass-tacks. There are two theories that influence the genesis of this story. First, what prompted Sekhar Gupta to put him in the shoes of a reporter and push such a stinky, unintellectual, hyperbolic story on the front page is an indication of the plummeted readership of Indian Express in all these years. Second, in the nexus between arms lobby and bureaucracy, media has turned out to become a harlot in displaying all wrong innuendos to attract customers (read readers/viewers). In a democracy, the role of media can't be enfeebled, but the growing instances of pulverizing truth and promoting sensation have put a question mark on the probity of media. Fewer facts and a blunt ego of understanding the facts from the pith of real issue, without even having deep domain competency, are a dangerous outcome of free press.

The myopic “coup” story is just the menacing tip of the iceberg called investigative journalism a specialized domain in media studies that prompts all and sundry to tread on the slippery slope of truth seeking, but that aspect of human endeavor is neither a child's play. And investigation is rational when all sides of the story have been scrutinized threadbare and the analysis is done based on considering all possible parameters that have a stake in shaping the singular, incontrovertible judgment. Mr Gupta, are you listening? Take a snap before the bubble goes burst.  

The cost of invading privacy

In his entire life period Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul of the world, couldn't have imagined that someday he would be grilled by a bunch of politicians, who he otherwise thought objects of buying and selling, for his empire's journalistic excesses that once he thought were the critical strengths of his media business in drawing more readers and audiences. July 19 was however an altogether different day in his life, a day that exposed his dirty tricks, unethical journalistic practices, and monopolistic business objectives. Amongst serious public scrutiny for scandals running thick around NOTW's telephone hacking practices, an internal committee of British Parliament came heavily on Murdoch's close coterie and to the surprise of world viewers the event was telecast for over three hours. At the beginning of this unprecedented media bashing, a member of an NGO could able to throw a plate of foam cake on Murdoch, which many doubt was a fabulous stage-managed orchestration by Murdoch to garner huge public sympathy at least from those viewers who still believe in scoops, sex scandals, and salacious news.

Though Murdoch started with a humble pitch by calling the day as “the most humble day of his life” he was quite sure as what he wanted to prescribe to the world audience at large. The subtext was quite understandable – irrespective of scandals embroiling News Corp Murdoch is still the emperor of world media and he will continue with that humility although many such NOTW incidents may happen in future and all those without his knowledge as he suggests to the parliamentary committee. Every time he would prefer to slap the charges on his front soldiers and explain to the world that he is ignorant of those facts, as he suggested this time that he was completely unaware of the phone hacking scandals and some senior officials kept him in blank, the fact which he knew thoroughly that nothing in News Cork does happen without his knowledge or approval.

However, the grilling experience took a dramatic mode when Murdoch dragged British PM into the soup by exposing the fact that he was told to enter through the back door. This was too serious a charge against Cameron for which he had to face internal committee for hobnobbing with scandal-hit Murdoch and his media honchos. Moreover, Cameron's decision to appoint Andy Coulson, an ex-editor of NOTW, as communication chief despite Opposition's strong disapproval dragged Cameron into serious public scrutiny. And it seems the days ahead for Cameron could be tougher.

Back to the testimony of Rebekah Brooks, the close aide of Ruper Murdoch, she presumably was quite confident about the state of affairs at NOTW during her editorship while most of these scandals erupted. She chose to admit to the mistakes committed by NOTW journalists because there was no more leg room for her to play further tricks, as Scotland Yard had enough evidences for phone hacking and bribing some section of police. Nonetheless, she tried her best to jump the charges of bribing to police by simply putting the gun on somebody else's shoulder because she knew that the gravity of charges of this kind could be more disastrous for New Corp.

Well, what if the editors at NOTW hadn't believed in such yellow journalism? Certainly, NOTW could have been a more powerful newspaper and News Corp could have acquired the BSkyB deal easily without any political opposition, and Murdoch a more powerful man than what's he today. It seems Murdoch was far from the big picture of future and this NOTW episode is a reminder of his glaring blunder in comparing media business with fast-food chain. Truth has a different meaning and probably Murdoch has learned it.

The world of untruths

We are living in a dangerous world, partly because the “manufactured uncertainty” by the high and might people of our society constantly threatens the very existence of a balanced social fabric; furthermore, if someone aspires to bring the truth to the fore, either the person is forced to keep silence or in extreme situation, if the sinister design of the power monger doesn't allow the expose, the person in all probability kisses the dust, and this conspiracy of power tussle what we experience in our daily life is the handiwork of those people who have mastered the jugglery of deception. A deception that's often painted as social reality wherein the truth that we see, hear, or speak is a concoction of grand design exclusively portrayed by the barons of power.

The surreal scenarios in our society seem more intriguing that the most astounding fictional plots. If we look at the events happening around us, only one conclusive though pops up in our mind – whether there is any amount of truth in the final verdict. Perhaps, we are not sure about that. That has been the tug-of-war among the rulers and the subjects across the world since civilization took its wing.

From politics to business to media, every center of power house has its own design to rule this world. In that lies the undecipherable mystery code that constantly endeavors to clone the diabolic program to marginalize the larger truth. On surface what it always seems a visually appealing frame capturing the most feel-good moments of human excellence, which turns out to be the most sought-after human desire for majority of the world population, is undoubtedly a spurious portrait of half-truth, the rest being a calculative transformation of lies. For a moment we forget the fact that all that shines isn't gold, it's gilding of base metals. Perhaps, this aspect of human perception becomes a perpetual key for the tyrants of society to embark upon a sinister design as how to rule the subjects in an incessant manner.

Let's have a look at the terrains of global terrorism. Leaders of all hues and shades condemn it in the toughest possible way forgetting the fact that the state of terrorism today is a handiwork of some yesteryear's leaders who during post cold war era impregnated the theory of “calculative political destabilization” in enemy countries by introducing some dreaded rouge elements of society, in that they gave birth to a dangerous Frankenstein that has been haunting this world every now and then. Over the period the hobnobbing of power circle with these rouge elements became an underlying syndrome that hardly the public could able to gauge, but at every turning point these innocent people became the victims of somebody's mistake.

Without any apprehension, the series of events starting from 1993 Mumbai blasts to 9/11 (WTC terror strike) to 26/11 (Mumbai terror strike) to the most recent 13/7 terror strike in Mumbai narrates the dangerous cocktail of ruling class and rouge elements whether they are terrorists, maoists, or small-time criminal. A spurious cocktail in which either the so called villains as portrayed by the rulers of our society or the tortured subjects who take on arms to establish their age-old angst against the ruling class has eventually intoxicated the entire society. So what's the real truth behind this dangerous game? Does anybody attempt to delve deeper into the complex aspects of this problem? The truth is we don't want this world to be free of problems because what these power mongers would do then in future. We all are living in a world of serious denial, an inherent human attribute that proposes more dangers than safe and security.

Oh yes, when we struggling here to find out the exact meaning of the truth, the global media baron Murdoch who once proclaimed bringing truth to the public domain is the ultimate gimmick of media is now facing the music for his ultimate truth seeking shenanigans that he deployed to unearth anything and everything at the cost of ethics. For him truth has an altogether different definition that understands the logic of business expansion by not exposing the truth, but by twisting the truth to such a proportion that can attract more readers and audiences to his media products.

Back home, the scandal-tainted government is pushing hard to subvert the truth by restricting public access to information in the pretext that right to information for certain domains of governance could jeopardize the security of nation. In that move lies the vested interest of political class that always desires to be above law irrespective of all wrong reasons. The noose tightens against the truth.

Next is what, Mr Murdoch?

After the logical demise of the News of the World (NOTW), the scandals of phone-hacking that once tapped the private conversations of the most powerful figures of Britain, including the royal families and former prime minister Gordon Brown, have again erupted fresh tremors in the political circle of Britain. Regardless of Rupert Murdoch's fire-fighting damage control exercise, the British press has started attacking the modus operandi of NOTW journalists that how these shoddy reporters could able to hack into phones of all and sundry without the knowledge of law and enforcement agencies. Although the last editorial of the tabloid that candidly expressed the concerns of public: "Phones were hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry... There is no justification for this appalling wrong-doing. No justification for the pain caused to victims, nor for the deep stain it has left on a great history," the ghost of reporters' wrong-doings is haunting Murdoch's media empire.

What's more damaging to the current turbulent situation that Scotland Yards, the premier intelligence agency of UK, has come out with fresh allegations that some unidentified people were deliberately trying to sabotage its huge investigation process by plotting distracting reports in the press. Now the big question of the moment is whether Murdoch could be able to manage the crisis and instill confidence in the British government to realize his biggest ever dream – taking full control of British Sky Broadcasting from a 39% stake? Even British prime minister David Cameron, a pro-Murdoch, has openly demanded the resignation of Rebekah Brooks, the CEO of News International. If this happens, it could be a huge blow to Murdoch's ego. As the Sunday Telegraph reports, Rebekah, who is a protegee of Murdoch, could know about the illegal hacking and bribing to police since she was the editor of the tabloid from 2000 to 2003, it could be a difficult proposition for Murdoch to have the cake and eat it too.

As British media have vociferously started exposing NOTW's scams, the Opposition Leader Ed Miliband has demanded that the government's decision on the News Corporation's proposal to take full control of BSkyB to be referred to the Competition Commission. This will seriously affect Murdoch's BSkyB expansion plan.