We are all victims of media

MG George Muthoot, the chairman of the Muthoot Group since 1993, passed away recently. Aged just above 70, he helmed around 20 businesses. As per Forbes Asia, he was the richest from Kerala and the 26th richest Indian family in 2020. He was a trustee of the Malankara Orthodox Church was a member of the national executive committee of FICCI. A towering figure in Kerala, the news was covered widely by the national and regional media.

But the print media handled the news differently. There was an intentional suppression of the reason for his death in the regional media. Regional media lazily conveyed that he had a fall in his house in Delhi and was brought dead to the hospital. National media was more specific.

The Hindu wrote this,

M.G. George, 72, died on Friday evening after he allegedly fell from the fourth floor of his house in southeast Delhi’s East of Kailash.

A senior police officer said a crime team visited the spot where the incident happened. They have scanned all CCTVs in the house, including the one facing the entry to the terrace which Mr. George was seen entering after leaving the lift cabin.

“Mr. Geroge was captured on the CCTV entering the terrace at 6.30 p.m. They have also found one chair next to the railing. The height of railing is around five feet. The crime and forensic team have taken measurements of the trajectory of the fall to confirm if he fell off the chair. The location in the terrace from where he actually fell was out of CCTV range,” said the officer.

The media at large had an opportunity at hand. His second son Paul Muthoot George was murdered in 2009 and was devoured by the media then. But they looked away this time. Media has always been canny in choosing their prey to hound. If the prey happens to be an advertiser or powerful entity, the media tends to go lenient and soft.

Suicides among children aged between 10 & 18 years are very high in Kerala now, particularly since lockdown. Every suicide of a child is more meticulously detailed by print media than in this incident.

When food safety authorities find spoiled foods, the media treats a small restaurant and big hotel differently by choosing to share their name or not.

Privacy that can be given to a person alleged to have done a crime is the choice of the media.

When the issue of women entering Sabrimala was gaining attention, the media was found conveying messages convenient to their own political inclinations. The enraged readers started switching their newspaper. The same happened in the backdrop of church politics between Orthodox and Jacobite factions.

Media plays its own business and politics very well. They understand their readers very well and operate accordingly. We lost objectivity in reportage long back. They are only interested in what is good for their business. Credibility, trust, truth etc remains only in their tag lines.

Manorama & Mathrubhumi together can capture the collective imagination of the people in Kerala. What we discuss, imagine and act can be guided by their choices. Their huge soft power is a burden for us. You can read two earlier posts on Manorama here and here.

Most of the people reading this may not be reading newspapers these days. For them, it is an Aha! moment, that they left the habit long back. But you need to be more watchful. Your actions are not guided by the choices of Manorama and Mathrubhumi but by the algorithms of Google and Facebook and the forwards of your friends.

Leaving one for another is not the solution. Being aware is.