As I was following the news on the current scarcity of fertilizers in Karnataka, the above question arose in my mind. It was just twenty one days before B S Yediurappa took is oath as CM of Karnataka after the people of Karnataka gave BJP a clear mandate to form the government along with the independents. Although Yediurappa became the first CM to take oath in the name of the farmer, the recent scarcity of fertilizers for farmers in Karnataka has become a serious problem which is facing Yediurappa’s government.
After the JD(S) – BJP coalition government fell, the governor’s rule was brought in Karnataka. During this tenure only 11% of required fertilizer stock was sent to Karnataka [click here]. This scarcity of fertilizers did hit the farmers of the state as soon as the new government took its office. It started of with agitation by farmers in various districts of Karnataka. The issue became more serious when a farmer was shot dead at Haveri. The government sent a request letter to send more stocks of fertilizers to the state to solve the problem [click here].
Meanwhile the media has been printing headlines everyday about the death of farmers through out Karnataka. Well although 1 or 2 died because they had to pay huge amounts for the banks where they had borrowed loans (because of lack of considerable returns in their agriculture), the other farmers had died to family issues. The media in spite of knowing these reasons behind the death are projecting these deaths as an act of mismanagement by the state government. This seems to be an act by the media to create a bad image for the new government just to show that this government is inefficient to govern the state.
Media being a responsible medium to uphold the democracy of the country has to carefully analyze the issues and effects of the information they present. They should not indulge in writing articles that will disturb peace. They should also be neutral in their approach of presenting information rather than being biased towards political parties just for the sake of publicity or money. Although this is not the only time the media has misguided people but there are many such scenarios where media has indulged in such activity.
Some of the newspapers like Kesari and Maratha started by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (July 23, 1856 - August 1, 1920), who was an Indian nationalist, social reformer and independence fighter, should be a inspiration for the present media. Their editorials gave a vivid picture of the people's sufferings and of actual happenings. Tilak used to say to his colleagues that the media should imagine that they are talking to a villager and not to a university student. They should be sure of each and every fact. He used to expect each word to be clear as day light. He made his newspaper a medium to make his dream of “Swaraj India” a reality.
Probably the present media should rethink about their role in the society and should work hard in making Vision-2020 possible rather than concentrating towards making their media a business just to make name and fame.
After the JD(S) – BJP coalition government fell, the governor’s rule was brought in Karnataka. During this tenure only 11% of required fertilizer stock was sent to Karnataka [click here]. This scarcity of fertilizers did hit the farmers of the state as soon as the new government took its office. It started of with agitation by farmers in various districts of Karnataka. The issue became more serious when a farmer was shot dead at Haveri. The government sent a request letter to send more stocks of fertilizers to the state to solve the problem [click here].
Meanwhile the media has been printing headlines everyday about the death of farmers through out Karnataka. Well although 1 or 2 died because they had to pay huge amounts for the banks where they had borrowed loans (because of lack of considerable returns in their agriculture), the other farmers had died to family issues. The media in spite of knowing these reasons behind the death are projecting these deaths as an act of mismanagement by the state government. This seems to be an act by the media to create a bad image for the new government just to show that this government is inefficient to govern the state.
Media being a responsible medium to uphold the democracy of the country has to carefully analyze the issues and effects of the information they present. They should not indulge in writing articles that will disturb peace. They should also be neutral in their approach of presenting information rather than being biased towards political parties just for the sake of publicity or money. Although this is not the only time the media has misguided people but there are many such scenarios where media has indulged in such activity.
Some of the newspapers like Kesari and Maratha started by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (July 23, 1856 - August 1, 1920), who was an Indian nationalist, social reformer and independence fighter, should be a inspiration for the present media. Their editorials gave a vivid picture of the people's sufferings and of actual happenings. Tilak used to say to his colleagues that the media should imagine that they are talking to a villager and not to a university student. They should be sure of each and every fact. He used to expect each word to be clear as day light. He made his newspaper a medium to make his dream of “Swaraj India” a reality.
Probably the present media should rethink about their role in the society and should work hard in making Vision-2020 possible rather than concentrating towards making their media a business just to make name and fame.
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