By Gregory Shullai
Left out in the Cold Regardless of the manner in which we view one another as being good or evil, friendly or unfriendly, the ultimate truth is that everyone is concerned and focused on a single task; everyone and the media in particular; must do what is good for the people that make up the society. It is not that there is a special feeling of love one for the other among the members that make up a society; but for the plain and simple reason that we all share a common instinct and want to live in harmony with our fellow citizens – with our brethren; and smart media persons know this more than the average person unless it is that they are not really smart at all, because that is what is evident from the way some channels are going about with their reports on the unfortunate death of a tourist in Sohra. The categorical imperative of any community is harmony; sociologists call this a gregarious instinct of a species that has an inborn trait to live together as a herd for the safety of every individual in the group, and this trait more than in any other species on earth, is the essence that defines us as human beings…homo sapiens. It is an altogether different act when we quickly and easily distinguish members within our society with the usual myopia, from a closer range, into useful or harmful, friendly or aloof, good or bad, miserly or generous; but when it comes to a general description of the community over an extended period of time and over a more extensive distribution of the population, we do not rely on these narrow divisions and invariably abandon them for the simple reason that the community is growing, and a community that grows is indicative of the fact that the individuals in that community are in harmony one with the other.
Every aspect of human nature is in reality something that promotes the growth of a community, be it the mischievous delight in the misfortune of others, indulgence in gossip, the instinct to rob others, even the habit of fighting with others and causing grievous injury to our neighbours. All these actions which add up to what is called evil actually belong to the most amazing economy of the preservation of mankind, and without them society would wither away and vanish just as does anything that has no inherent being. Being, is what makes it necessary that that which is good must also have that which is bad. We needn’t deny the truth that in the smaller framework these actions are a high price that we pay and reflect an extreme degree of foolishness as they do take the community a few steps back from every few steps that it may have moved forward and in general such actions squander away the building of the community, still there is enough evidence all around us that in the long run – in the larger picture – they have preserved the community and that the community has become what it is today because of these so called aberrations.
And, my dear fellow journalists and reporters and news anchors, what does all the above have to do with the nature in which you report any event? It has a lot to do with your professional ethics and the nature of who you are. Human nature, as pointed out above has nothing to do with professional ethics…it has everything to do with being human because what is unethical in professionalism may be normal in the nature of being human and that is what I want to highlight in this article so that unnecessary criticisms stemmed from the vanity of a news person, and a desire to appear intelligent rather than sticking to a genuine search for the truth is avoided in the rendition of the news of what is going on in Sohra. Those who are aware of what is going on at ground level (in the death of a tourist at Sohra) considers such news reports as a form of intellectual dishonesty when the person speaking is speaking without thinking and prioritizing ego over accurate reporting. When the attempt of any news person is aimed at criticizing others and painting a bad image of the nature of others, it is a sign of an innate weakness in the reporter, just as it is the nature of strong individuals to not be overly concerned with distracting others from the truth of what they are reporting. Deliberately focusing on one’s opinion of others is basically immoral – period. Still, it is in the nature of being a member of society that reporters that lack intelligence are also a necessity in the overall growth and development of a society with character – even a society with a bad one.
Sometimes I am prone to wonder whether my dear fellow men and women and unneighbourly news persons, are at all capable of living in a way that would improve a community, in other words reasonably, and supportively. We, the target of their so – called professionalism, sometimes just laugh it off wondering how they must be laughing at themselves when they have to face and listen to their lies on TV. To laugh at oneself as one trying to disguise the truth, even the best would lack sufficient ability; and the most gifted would have too little genius for that. Viewed from another angle, there is a selfish element in one who distracts others from the truth. When one feels that one’s profession is everything, and any other person regardless of their profession is nothing, that is the height of vain unprofessionalism, and it is this that has become the cornerstone of journalism these days, and by adopting this way of thinking they have ensconced this unprofessionalism in their profession so much so that that they feel they are liberated from reporting the truth anymore. Irresponsibility has become the new normal for all budding news persons from now till all time to come. Perhaps one day reporting will form an alliance with untruths and only listening for fun – to pass time, will become the new normal.
The things that once harmed India most have come to an end – a new danger is staring India in the face – unprofessional reporting. To a nation, unprofessional reporting is as crippling as a war. It is obvious that these tragedies promote the interest of the Media, even though they may believe that they are promoting the interest of the nation or work as the nation’s emissaries. And it does make me wonder as to how they would pursue their profession to the best or their worst desires if they were reporting on what we have gone through in the 60s and 70s because at the end of it all their fraternity would still probably consider them as benefactors and promoters of the nation and therefore entitle them to their eulogies; perhaps even from their detractors because it is not in anyone to wholly mock others at the end of it all, and instead bring home their limitless and boundless courage and professionalism in the way they went along doing that which they dedicated themselves to.
Coming to the present, and the sad report of the death of a tourist in Sohra, things are no different from what I’ve stated above. For the present, the consciousness of what is in existence at site has not become conscious to the viewers at home and even the tragedy of what has happened has taken a back bench as news persons are more inclined to paint a picture on the community, as if they alone have the repository of the truth. This is totally unprofessional and cannot be condoned. The truth is that tourists flock to Sohra like bees to a honeycomb, not only for its weather but for the inhospitable and dangerous precipices and the rare landscape every which way one turns, and which in a way challenges the human soul. And not only now, but for as long as I can remember. I have said it before and I will say it again, anything beautiful is dangerous – anything extremely beautiful is extremely dangerous. It is human nature to be absorbed in the beauty and the danger of nature and it is also human nature that in such places the indigenous people are more than friendly…they open their doors and share a meal with anyone who visits them knowing that it may take the stranger many hours before he can find another hearth. And it is this nature of the people, more than anything else, that speaks volumes about the area. The friendliness and the ever ready smile on the faces of the peace-loving nature of the people of the area is as attractive as the rugged terrain.
What has happened in Sohra, if preliminary reports that we are getting on social media are true, is something that has never happened before…and that’s the truth. The sad news of the missing tourists (one confirmed dead) from Sohra has hogged the news on unheard of news channels in the past – especially in the heartland. The language used by some news anchors appears to be driven by a motive to criticize the people of the place rather than to inform the viewers of the facts as they are emerging, and this is absolutely unnecessary. What is the meaning of this ever-new appearance of reporting and hateful journalism? Are the instigators more concerned with the difference that the people of the area have with the visitors? The diversity in the Indian demography and the richness in the differences of the people of this great country is perhaps what is antagonistic to the way of thinking and life of these new breed of news men and women. It was once our pride. What is the meaning of the kind of news that they are trying to broadcast? Aren’t the real heroes the people of the area who have gone all out in search of victims despite the dangers that this beautiful place poses to everyone? ask anyone who has been to the Khasi Hills and especially to the tourist destinations and they will, with one accord, all talk of the hospitality and peace-loving nature of the people in these hills. The entire truth of this sad incident is yet to unfold but the media has already, “tried and judged and condemned” the people as if the media is the repository of what is true and untrue. Yes, the State Police Department has played a pivotal role just as the drones and the volunteers from the West Jaintia Hills District have because without them, we would still be hypothesizing. The truth will inevitably surface.
It is altogether another tragedy that the Government is not updating the public on what is the latest position with regard to the whereabouts of the wife who has also gone missing. Everyone is praying that wherever she is, she is safe and sound despite these very sad circumstances. Whoever is behind the death of the man is equally behind her disappearance. Under no stretch of the imagination should anyone think otherwise. Everyone wants to get to the bottom of this sad affair and hopefully the authorities will get there soon and we will know the truth bcoz right now it appears that the priority of some reporters is to appear intelligent by stirring up misunderstandings. It would be good if the government released an hourly report on the findings in the matter instead of us having to listen to these unnecessary reports that stem from vain reports of anchors more intent on appearing intelligent rather than reporting the truth.
Dishonest reporting will only make a sad situation worse.
