TELEVISION MEDIA BEARS BRUNT IN MCC DISCUSSION

“Public outrage justified, T.V Channels not helping” say panellists in ‘Naming and Shaming: Sexual Violence and Media’ - an informative & slightly provocative discussion on media’s role in the recent anomalous events of rape which was hosted by Mt Carmel College. The event was presented by Media Watch Bengaluru and was held in the Mt Carmel Auditorium on August 1, 2014. The discussion panel included Ravi Hegde, Group Editor, Udayavani; Bansy Kalappa, Journalist, News 9; Ashok Murthy, Managing Partner, CorLit Legal; ML Madhuraveena, SP, CID and Shaibya Saldanha, counsellor and Co-founder, Enfold India. The event was moderated by Media Watch’s very own Ammu Joseph who is also an author and a journalist.

Ms Joseph kicked off the discussion by trying to explain the consequences of sensationalizing incidents related to rape. “News channels obviously want higher TRPs and hence they sensationalize everything” she said. She did agree that news channels could not do much about it because their success is directly proportional to their TRPs.  Ms Saldanha, although critical of T.V, heaped praises on all forms of media for creating awareness about the present situation. She was also of the opinion that the victims be called ‘survivors’ and not ‘victims’ as it looks at things in a positive light.

Mr Murthy, a lawyer, spoke about why the identity of the victim and/or the accused is kept secretive at least until the court has provided a judgement. He said it challenges the mere existence of the victim and that the families will not be spared either. Ms Madhuraveena confirmed that there will be no disclosure of the identity while the case was being investigated. She provided us with a little inside information so-to-speak about how every policeman has to undergo a ‘Gender Sensitization workshop’ which aims at training the police to treat genders in a different manner under different circumstances. She also suggested a spokesperson for the police, who can inform the media about the progress of the case. “This would definitely help to settle media unrest while the case is being investigated” she said.

Mr Hegde, a journalist of print media, had some harsh words for T.V channels and spoke about channels fighting for TRPs and thereby diluting the news. He said print media is much more sensitive when it comes to disclosure of information. He agreed that this is because T.V is real-time and print is not. He also pointed out the fact that the courts are now functioning quicker due to the monumental hype surrounding sexual violence.

Ms Saldanha had a very valid point about online news regarding the recent rape of a 6 year-old in Bangalore. She said the news will remain forever on the internet. “One can only imagine how the 6 year-old will feel 20 years from now when her kids read this news” she said. Ms Madhuraveena also brought up the topic of keeping track of convicted sex offenders in every neighbourhood. She said “India has to adopt the model of U.S.A when it comes to the disclosure of sex offenders in every neighbourhood”. Every panellist agreed with Ms Madhuraveena on this and said this should be made a high priority demand from the public.

When the Q&A session started, Gaurav, a Mass Communication student from Jain University questioned the motives of the recent ‘bundh’ in Bangalore citing lack of public participation. Mr. Murthy responded by saying that this was a start and that the awareness will gradually spread. Shweta, another Mass Communication student from Jain University asked if privatization of radio news has come at the right time. Mr Hegde responded by saying that the privatization of radio news did indeed come at a bad time. He said that the word ‘chaos’ wouldn’t be enough to describe the situation in an already chaotic society if the privatization was successful.

Ms Vasanthi Hariprakash, a very famous journalist who was present at the discussion disagreed with Mr Hegde and said that the privatization would definitely be good for the media as a whole. She said radio has always been the ‘forgotten media’ and is much more than just an item song on a warm Sunday afternoon.

Mr Kalappa who had been unusually silent throughout the discussion, offered his opinion on the matter of pornography being one of the major causes for sexual violence. All the panellists agreed and Mr Hegde pointed out that ‘sexuality education’ needs to be taught from school level. “Sexuality Education is not Sex Education. It is a form of education which instils respect for women and men equally. Kids need to know why it is wrong to do such things so that they can use their better judgement in later years of their lives” he said.

It was very clear that the panellists were open about their opinions. There was no diplomacy whatsoever and points were being made with an open mind and a clear conscious. The crowd was very warming to the people who were brave enough to question the panellists. They also reacted well to the opinions of the panellists. A few people in the crowd may disagree with certain points and opinions but I am sure that nobody will disagree when I say that this event was a grand success, not only in educating the masses but also in inducing passion to fight against sexual violence.