The rise of the Media-As-Opposition

SAGARIKA GHOSE
The Indian Express: Wednesday, January 01, 2003

In the new year, a rough beast will slouch its way towards Parliament to take a seat in the backbenches. Who is this beast? The media, of course. The hottest new political trend noticed in the US and the UK is the death of the Opposition and the rise of the Media-As-Opposition. Most noticeably in India where national security plus Hindutva plus patriotism plus regional coalitions are ranged against the descendants of Nehru, what can the Opposition do but quietly die?

Sing a sad song for Nehru’s aulad and turn instead to the TV channels and the newspapers because it is the media which now provides at least the semblance of any opposition. In the ‘Us’ versus ‘Them’ mentality of this government, the media is seen to be on the side of the ‘English-speaking’‘convent educated’ ‘Macaulayists’ whom the sangh hates almost as much as it hates Muslims.

A democratic Opposition in the true sense of the term, which should interrogate the government, hold it to account, expose its failures and question its motives, is gone. The golden years of the Indian Opposition when Jayaprakash Narayan galvanised citizens against the Emergency, is over. The Opposition space has been filled with 24-hour news channels, mega multi-edition newspapers and high profile magazines. Which institution is just as sexy as Hindutva? The media. The stars of the media are almost as much in the public eye as the stars of Hindutva. An important reason for the rise of the Media-As-Opposition has to do with the decline of Parliament.

• 35.6 percent of MPs in the first Lok Sabha were lawyers.
• By the 11th Lok Sabha, 52 per cent of the House were farmers.
• Widening democracy brought in exciting new sons-of-the-soil who were strongly popular but badly behaved. The Cambridge-educated Indrajit Gupta once lamented long and loud after the Yadav brotherhood had stormed the well for the nth time.
• Younger MPs today privately admit that Parliament is either dreary or violent.
• In the recently concluded winter session, for example, there were only 28 MPs present during the debate on disinvestment.
• During the debate on drought, the government was hard pressed to find the numbers required to meet the quorum. Besides, when was the last time you heard a really interesting speech from an MP?

There is another reason why the media has stepped in as Opposition. This is because government and Opposition are Siamese twins on corruption. When corruption in defence deals came to light, did we once again turn to Opposition MPs? No, we turned to a website. The Opposition is dead. But the media is alive and kicking where it hurts.