Amir Khan blasts journos and media in Tehelka

"The media is meant to be the watchdog of society, not its lap dog!"

‘THE MEDIA HAS BECOME A MONSTER' CANDID. OUTSPOKEN. UNPRECEDENTED. ICONIC ACTOR AAMIR KHAN SPEAKS OUT ON THE MAINSTREAM INDIAN MEDIA

Hindi film superstar Aamir Khan has lashed out at the media in India, saying it is a parody of what it should be. Declaring that “news reporting is a matter of national concern”, Aamir broke several months of silence that began when the media panned his film Mangal Pandey. In a deeply thoughtful interview, Aamir spoke exclusively to Tehelka on the state of the Indian media, the first time any influential mainstream personality has dared to do so. Aamir says he let Rang de Basanti ride on its inherent strengths to become a blockbuster, as he reflected on his sense of outrage and utter violation at the attitude of the print and visual media. In an extensive interview with Shoma Chaudhury, features editor, Tehelka, he says that despite the expected media interaction that Rang de's release demanded of him, he couldn't bring himself to deal with ‘this kind of people’, “this monster that the media had become".

Citing stories from a wide range of channels and newspapers -- The Times of India, The Asian Age, Hindustan Times, NDTV, Channel 7, CNN-IBN, and India TV – Aamir, known as the thinking man's actor, dwells on the debasement of the medium and its message. He says it isn't just the cynical decimation of the professional or the intrusion into the deeply personal (his marriage) that irks him, but the misplaced emphasis on the sensational that's cause for worry. “Because they want more ads, they are destroying what is a very important part of society, and that's news reporting. It's wasting important national space that should be used in a more productive manner.” Aamir feels that as a public person he should voice his opinion because news reporting is a “matter of national concern.”

Aamir says a general and growing disillusionment with the newfound priorities of the mainstream Fourth Estate has provoked him to start keeping the media off-limits. The superstar says the state of affairs calls at least for the Press Council to sit up and take notice, if not go in for legislative intervention. Countering the media's defence that readership and viewership tastes are paramount, Aamir says that great responsibility is invested in the press. The media has to exercise more restraint and discretion than filmmakers if it claims to be a serious purveyor of news. “The media is meant to be the watchdog of society, not its lap dog! Some restraint you have to show, boss. Yes, human beings have all kinds of needs. I can name another 10 you can cater to -- you want to do that? Are you a newspaper? Or stop calling yourself a newspaper. Stop calling yourself a news channel. Call yourself something else,” he says. Unfortunately, media barons and top executives are too fixated on short-term dividends to square up to the larger picture, he says.

Aamir says he shunned the tinsel press even when he was just starting out. “At that time, the mainline newspapers never reported films, there were no hundred channels, only Doordarshan, so effectively you were cutting yourself off from fans if you didn't speak to film magazines. I understood that but I chose to do what is right.” Today, Aamir feels the same about the mainline press. The core principle of journalism, that of being a watchdog, is being violated, he says. In a remarkably candid interview Aamir states that sting operations are admissible if they are governed by public interest. But the non-stop ‘absurdity’ of mainstream media content - be it the Salman-Aishwarya tapes in Hindustan Times and The Asian Age, and Channel 7's faux interviews with Aamir himself, the India TV sting on Shakti Kapoor, alarmist file footage of the Mumbai floods for the second round of monsoons that hit the city, or poaching on an ailing Amitabh Bachchan - has forced him to stop reading and watching most papers and channels, Aamir says.

In a surprising admission, he declares that because of this, he watches Doordarshan. At least one is spared the theatrics, deep sighs, wiping of tears and background music, he says. Aamir finds the Hindi and the English media guilty of overkill. “Some news channel has to get up and say I'm not indulging in this. (It) might lose viewership for the first month or so, but (it) will establish that (it) is not indulging in all of this, and I am sure people will come around.” This is where even channels like NDTV and CNN-IBN who set themselves up to be different have not made the mark, he says. Aamir says he fears for journalists because the environment is such it's difficult to resist getting corrupted.

It's a fine line, balancing commercial viability with purity, that the method Khan has managed to tread in his career, and he feels the media has to endeavour to do the same. Trivialisation or degrading of news is something he won't take. He thinks in something as sacrosanct as news reporting, commercial priorities must necessarily take abackseat. That's where the BBC raises the bar. Aamir applauds the Indian media for its stellar coverage of the Gujarat riots and its resilience in demanding justice for Jessica Lall, but rues the fact that it's more in the breach. Too often, it comes up short. The media should dig deeper, and not take official attributions for dastardly acts, like the recent Varanasi blasts, at face value. In urging the media to hold up the truth and expose people in power, in goading it to be more intrusive and take the lead in stories where it should do so, Aamir voices a national concern. FOR THE FULL TEXT OF THE INTERVIEW READ THE APRIL 1ISSUE OF TEHELKA OR LOG ONTO WWW.TEHELKA.COM March 23 , 2006 posted by editindia @ 10:30 AM 3 comments