AN ‘ETHICS’ controlled media is the need of the hour, especially in countries such as India, which is multi-racial, multi-religious, caste ridden hosting pluralistic societies and 'cultures'. The word 'culture' defies singular explanation, but it is exactly this cultural melting pot, which makes India what it is - an indefinable culture and a glorious relic of the past. Temples, mosques and churches co-exist, so do hills, mountains, plains and valleys. Climates typify polarities and extremities; extreme heat and extreme cold or a salubrious climate in places by the sea.

 

Weather can be atrophied, rivers too but not the edifice of culture built upon history. Commingling of races and artefacts of the past such as varying architecture ranging from mausoleums and domes to enduring temples and quaint mosques and churches.

 

How do we preserve such a history in the wake of ethnic riots or inter community (wrongly, referred to as 'communal') disturbances or for that matter terrorism?

 

Here the media can calm the storm, play pacifist and interventionist roles. It can, without sensationalizing matters cement bonds, highlighting similarities rather than harping on differences. It can bring end to cleavages and wedges by not by playing point counterpoint but by participatory action, and mediation, bringing people and communities; both ethnic and religious together, seal bonds, rather than typify shortcomings and horrendous diatribes, one pitted against the other - the classic example of  'us' and 'them' syndrome. The media has all the resources, physical, intellectual and moral to do this; they can carry people with them to make positive voices heard and emerge.

 

No one can doubt the intrepidity of the Indian media, their gutsiness and ability to do stories in the midst of worst kind of challenges. But exercise caution, restraint and tact they must. It is not for nothing that the Supreme Court in a recent injunction prescribed media guidelines in the Falak episode, bizarre as it is.

 

The media can make or break. Let it make, build and re-build rather than remain automatons in the hands of a sleazy few.