So, as we all may perceive, it makes us believe in the strength and the power of the media that within a few days complete nation was with Anna and the word spread through the entire nation like fire...
But, is this what the truth is, well it is not.. The major sources through which the news travelled, was not media, television and newspapers alone. I believe internet also played one of the major roles in this regard... The emerging influence of internet can be disussed later..
Anyways, the media had to pick up and highlight this movement because it was Anna who did it..
Many of you may not be knowing that Anna has been active in such activities from a long time.. Even if you know now, I bet you may not have been knowing about his activities before this whole movement. But, media was indeed well aware of Anna's past achievements, so they had to pick this up.. (refer http://annajihazare.blogspot.com/)..
And now, have a look at the newspapers, TV channels, it is full of the "Royal Marriage" or somewhere here and there about the developments in the 2G scam. It is difficult to find the developments in this Lokpal issue (though I am not saying that they are not there.), it is not highlighted and slowly and gradually they will be out of news completely (I wish this does not happen considering Anna's past record)...
But, is Anna the only one who fights for issues like this. There may be many many more Annas on hunger strike in some town, in some district, or in some far distant small village. But media is not going to bring news about them. You know why, oh come on, it is simple, they do not qualify you know.. Yes it is like a competition, and here they do not clear the qualifying round itself.
They may not be fighting for a cause as large as Anna's, they may not be fighting in a place as big as Anna's (New Delhi), and the most important part; no one takes you seriously if you do not have a good academic record ie good marks, good cgpa etc etc, isn't it; so in this case, they may not be having an exemplary past record in such activities... So, how can media highlight them ?? But, according to me, media does not need to look upon such factors before realising their true worth... I agree they may not be as good as Anna in so many aspects, but a news regarding these people is definitely much much better than the stupid stuff regarding catching ghosts, analysis of daily saops and what not...
Anyways, I would like to sign off here with this saying...
"There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe... the sun in the heavens and the Associated Press down here."
Mark Twain (1835-1910) U.S. humorist, writer, and lecturer.
Its high time media understood this...
Worth Visiting Once :-
- http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/who-is-anna-hazare-96883
- http://annajihazare.blogspot.com/
- http://half-baked-thoughts-rj.blogspot.com/2011/04/where-mind-is-without-fear-and-pen-is.html
Critics invited... :)
ReplyDeletehmmm. . a very nice thought. A point to note though, even Anna's previous activities were unknown to us before this particular movement, which means he also suffered the ignominy of being unheard and unanswered despite all his efforts. So, one can say, only after years of struggle, just like in bollywood, you are able to become a successful activist. :P
ReplyDeleteOn a serious note, true, that media can get better news to follow than the crap that they sell(refer http://half-baked-thoughts-rj.blogspot.com/2011/04/where-mind-is-without-fear-and-pen-is.html). There are many annas waiting out there, unheard, unnoticed. Hopefully some day they will get more attention than the 'haveli ka bhoot' and 'saas bahu aur saajish'.
I completely agree with that... In fact your article only inspired me to write this one... :)
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