Where do media get the information that it uses to expose people? Almost around the same time, News of the World, a tabloid published in London was closed down by its owner. Reason being that charges of illegal telephone tapping by its journalists to get information for their stories. There were also charges of bribing the police for inside information. It is some clue about how journalists operate these days. Earlier, we had our own Nadia Tapes highlighting the nexus between corporate-journalists-politicians.

 

We also witnessed stories of secret dealings in various wrongdoings brought to us by journalists through their spy cameras. We also see TV news anchors holding reports and documents in their hands, which otherwise were secret and would have never been with them. It is a clear indication that today’s journalists leave no effort to access information to create news, whether it is obtained by hook or by crook.

 

The days when journalism was limited to obtaining press briefings and writing a first hand account of happenings in the surrounding world are definitely over. Also over is the simplistic interview journalism where you published question answers from interviews with dignitaries. Your well-researched articles, picking facts and figures from scores of reports, publications, papers etc. is also a done thing now. Unless you are privy to information that others do not have your chances of becoming a successful journalist are poor.

 

There was a time when journalists and media did not indulge in expressing opinions connected with the news stories. They would simply put the facts before the people and let people arrive at their own conclusions. This is true no more. Now apart from bringing breaking news, the media openly engages itself in expressing views and opinions either for or against it. In recent times, it not only exposed various scandals but also made the public to feel strongly about it.

 

Public mobilisation by media built pressure on the government to talk to Anna otherwise poor Anna would have died the death of Swami Nigamananda (who also fasted for a cause but died because media attention was not on him). Even public opinion building by the media was acceptable but now it has crossed over to yet other domain, in finding out to what to extent a given person was guilty of misconduct and the kind of punishment he/she deserved. So, before any law enforcing agency or court of law comes to any decision in a given case, the media is ready with its conclusions.

 

This role of media is pestering many including the government and the other day the prime minister had to say that media was now functioning all in one as accuser, prosecutor and judge.