A nation which cried wolf: The real problem with Indian media houses

Located near the popular Buddhist site and tourist haven Twang is Luguthang. One of India's most remote and geographically cut-off villages. Residing in this village were ten families who were cut off from nearby Covid vaccination camps. Health officials trekked for more than 9 hours to ensure every last man is protected from the deadly virus. Such remarkable tasks of our administration and political leadership are seldom heard or known to the common folk. The popular media houses –- print, social, online, and TV, in India are obsessed and attracted to covering melancholy and defeats of the government and society. “Breaking News” as we know it.

This issue of negativity is so prevalent that former President APJ Abdul Kalam mentions this as a menace. He notes that in India, one reads mostly about deaths, sicknesses, crimes, and so on. So, the crucial question is, Why are we so attracted to negativity? How does negativity feed our minds with a sense of satisfaction that most optimistic news does not? The following discussion may answer these questions.

Psychologically, humans particularly have a strong inclination towards stories and incidents which are pessimistic. This is known as the ‘Negativity Bias.’ This bias though dominant in governance is evident in most aspects of Indian life. From the road rage, we witness daily to glorifying crime and violence through movies and daily soaps. The aura of negativity remains and grows silently. This appeal then gets multiplied through the fundamental rights (freedom of speech, thought, and action) to create an overall narrative. One of a failed Indian state and society. But how did a civilizational state with a glorious living history of over 5000 years, reach this extent of negativity? History itself provides the best answer to this question.

The 200-odd years of colonial rule was built on the concepts of the ‘White Man’s Burden’ and European superiority. It targeted and impacted us to move away from our rich past to one filled with a sense of inferiority, self-doubt, and defeat mindset. The very nature of colonial rule was oppressive, subjugating, commanding, and brutal. It directed our society to turn hostile towards governance. And in turn, it got embedded into the very crux of social mindsets and attitudes, even today. Even today in a democratic nation, many fear ( on the contrary ) the presence of police authorities. Even when they are in the right - legally, morally, and socially. This shows a strong ‘historical imprint’, still so evident even post-independence.

Over this psycho-historical dimension is the current Western hegemonic mindset, perpetuating the negative perspective at a global level. The Indian success story is not given the praise it deserves and is condemned for issues we are not a cause for. The New York Times cartoon mocking ISRO’s Mangalyaan success or the recent outcry against India buying Russian crude (while the West continued to buy it for its ‘Energy Needs’) is testimony to this continued global antagonistic philosophy towards our government. The technological advancements through social media and their ‘Echo Chambers’ have been increasing this trend of despondency.

Integrated with these factors is the survivability of media networks and the contest to showcase “Exclusivity” in the news. In this search for the first, our overall quality of news availability has reached a point of ‘Spit and Run’ like news articles without good groundwork or research on recent developments. An instance of this is the arrest of a famous Bollywood actor’s son in a drug case with extensive national coverage, but his acquittal got very little attention. Additionally, there exist the perils of political involvement, paid news, and the more significant threat of fake news and infodemic.

Nevertheless, this is not to say that our government has no issues or failures at all. It is equally valid that we have institutionalized corruption at every level of the government; the very nature of Indian politics has turned out to be a ‘Rich’-Man’s Game.’ We do fall behind in providing universal healthcare, education, housing, water, energy, and nutrition to tens of millions today. It is disheartening that a nation of 1.3 billion is unable to produce a competitor to the widespread tech giants. There are many more issues and setbacks which we come across every day. We must be aware of our shortcomings and weaknesses to design them better and address them strategically.

But as stated before, in an attempt to be critical in our evaluation, we have become somewhat cynical and failure oriented. This has reached a tier where the optimistic success stories are literally lost in a sea of defeats. The general public and youth, in particular, feel remorse toward the entire governance machinery. They see a profession in governance as one which is an easy avenue to indulge in corruption, abuse of power, etc., rather than that contributing to nation-building. However, the reality is that governance in India is a triumphant story that sets an example for the world.

Our success is proven by the fact that we remain the ‘ONLY’ fully functional and vibrant democracy from Israel to Japan. In the last 75 years, we have almost doubled our average life expectancy from below 35 years (1947) to 70 (2022) years, lowered poverty levels by nearly five times from 80% below the poverty line in 1947 to 16% BPL (2022), and grown our economy 10x compared to the 1950s. Our victory in recent digital innovation is unprecedented, be it the UPI or Direct Benefit Transfer. While women empowerment is still an ongoing trajectory for our nation, it is equally noteworthy that India has over 1.5 million elected women representatives. Moreover, our governance model has been one that ensures the growth of those who are lagging. The fact that we were one of the only nations to export covid vaccines even when those with more resources in the West had stopped proves our mindset as a morally solid nation. Culturally, we remain the only surviving civilization for over 5000 years of continuous history which the administration even today nourishes and propagates; Intl Day for Yoga is the most significant proof.

Amongst all the issues, the need of the hour is to transform and move away from our intrinsically influenced bias to one that questions the information presented to us. Because, in the end, we are what we consume. More so mentally.

-Shishir Nagraj