A Slimy Nexus That Threatens Fourth Estate

For someone whose job is to talk about others, he is easily the most talked about man in town. Known for the power he wields and the fear he instils, people are in awe at his aura and clout — some respect him, some fear him and some oblige for want of an option. He has got his ‘team’ prowling the streets and threatening both the commoner and elite alike with brash authority. He’s got top politicians and policemen on his speed-dial and the who’s who makes it a point to attend his kitty parties. Politicians use him and he needs them — it’s a slimy symbiotic coexistence. He has decimated others in the business and ‘rules’ the town. His detractors are either threatened or their silence is bought. Then, one fine day, a greenhorn musters the courage to speak against the man and blows his cover. As always it just takes one small charge to start a domino effect. Soon the once feared, once praised ‘entrepreneur’ is an outcaste. Politicians, who until then were singing encomiums, make a beeline to attest the fact that such people are a bad influence on the society. The tables have turned and the man is neck deep in the goo he once threw at others.
While this might be the storyline of many potboilers we have sat through, this is the gist of the crisis that is rocking the Western media. The phone hacking scandal, which started with News of the World hacking into the voicemail of 13-year-old Milly Dowler after she was reported missing, has grown into a monster that is rocking the House of Commons and has reverberations in the US and Australia. The means adopted by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation-owed newspaper for that extra edge over rival papers has put criminal syndicates to shame. From employing known criminals to gather information (to get information about Gordon Brown’s son’s cystic fibrosis) to being in cahoots with the police and political class, they have done everything that’s not in the book. The ongoing hearing by the Commons Media Committee, which Murdoch, son James and former editor of NOTW Rebekah Brooks will appear, should reveal more details on how the operations were conducted.
What should concern us in India are the repercussions a similar scandal would have on the media here. The media in India is out of its infancy and is growing at an alarming pace, especially considering the fact that globally media (especially newspapers) are in the red. And it would be unfortunate if this promising growth is threatened. The government, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has its task cut out to ensure that while the thin line between freedom of press and invasion of privacy is maintained, it is not crossed. The media houses, in their mission to increase visibility and TRPs, would do well to keep in mind this distinction. They will have to act in a responsible manner. The failure to do so will prompt the government to intervene — something that can lead to undesired results.
While the argument over ‘what is news?’ is an old debate that is done to death with no avail, it is the means adopted to achieve that ‘exclusive’ ‘breaking’ story that needs focus. Investigative journalism and sting operations have brought to light many incidence and the media is only richer, thanks to such bold endeavours. The moment the means is overlooked to justify the end, the foundation of the fourth estate is threatened.
Replace the man mentioned in the beginning with Rupert Murdoch and the picture becomes clear with the potential for a Hollywood blockbuster. But, unlike as in our movies, Sean Hoare, the person who brought to light the dubious deeds in NOTW, was found dead in his apartment on Monday. It is too early to arrive at conclusions, but one cannot be faulted for smelling a rat.

(This has appeared in The New Indian Express on Wednesday 20, July 2011. Link: http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/op-ed/a-slimy-nexus-that-threatens-fourth-estate/295862.html)