Feature

No News Like Bad News!

As a secular, democratic country, India’s media functions free of the fetters one unfortunately encounters in many modern societies. Yet, the word 'secular' is often equated with a complete absence of discussion on religion, despite the fact that religion plays a central role in the lives of most Indians. While almost all newspapers and television channels have reporters covering crime, health or various political parties, there are very few focusing solely on religion. The subject of religion usually comes up in the context of explosive topics such as conversions or communal violence; even then, most coverage focuses on the immediate event, without exploring the background stories.

Two Opposing Views

Through the lopsided prism with which the Indian media views religion, only dramatic – the word melodramatic is more appropriate here – events make news. As a result, one sees self-professed ‘god-men’ conducting prayers on live television to decimate another human being, or live updates on an astrologer who has predicted his own death. This is most commonly seen in the regional language media in India. Channels in India’s national language, Hindi, more often than not devote air time to acrobatics by so-called ‘gurus’, which might include repeated shots of the said gurus apparently walking on water or performing some such similarly contrived, and idiotic, acts.

One of the top people at a news channel with both English and Hindi streams went so far as to suggest that a focus on superstitions was essential for Hindi news channels to maintain their ratings. In the English media, on the other hand, one hardly ever sees space or airtime being given to such obviously concocted stories. The newspapers give a modest nod to religion in a few columns devoted to spirituality but this coverage tends to be of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ variety.

The columns are usually about issues that might resonate with the urban reader – the target group of English newspapers – and dispense advice about peace of mind, positive thinking or dealing with stress.

The regional language press, on the other hand, often tends to cover religion in an alarmist, screechy and offensive manner. They do not t shy away from painting stereotypes about various communities, and portray events from the view of the majority Hindu community, often with disastrous consequences, as one sees when incidents of communal violence occur in India.

The regional language press played a key role in fuelling the violence, inciting the Hindu community against the minority Muslims, through its unsubstantiated and biased coverage of the incidents before and during the riots. Several reports on the subject have since come out, indicting Gujarati papers for their role in perpetrating the violence.

The Press Council of India censured two Gujarati newspapers, Gujarat Samachar and Sandesh, for their coverage of the riots. An inflammatory report carried by one of the papers falsely suggested that women from the Hindu community had been sexually assaulted. The sole purpose of articles such as these was to incite mob fury in an already volatile situation.  

The Gujarat violence is only one case in point. Many regional language papers carry articles or columns that denigrate minority communities in India, particularly Muslims and Christians. These papers support right-wing parties and while their politics can revolve around factors other than religion – some targets migrants from other states, for instance – they traditionally put forth views that they feel will appeal to their larger audience (the majority Hindu community or that particular region’s indigenous population).

The English media, with some ignoble exceptions, has been largely sympathetic to the concerns of India’s minority communities. Yet, intentionally or otherwise, stereotypes do seep in. As in Western nations, when links are drawn between the Muslim community and terrorism, official statements on the involvement of Muslims are sometimes reported without questions and independent verification.

In the absence of reporters dedicatedly covering religion, when communities – particularly minority communities – come into focus, it is often in a negative context. It does not help that the Indian newsroom lacks diversity. Consider the fact that most news organizations have very few Muslims on their rolls. Had there been a more proportionate representation of various communities in the newsroom, reflecting the diversity of the Indian society, reports related to religion would have likely been less distorted.

It also has to be stated that in recent times, there have been a few attempts to break the mould. One national daily, for instance, focused on success stories of "new" Muslims in India, tracking "a community in transition". However, such concerted efforts to report on communities without a news peg – usually in the form of violence or hate speech – are few and far between.

As of now, religion reporting in India does not exist even on paper. The few columns on spirituality that are carried in newspapers usually offer quick-fix solutions to the urban reader’s mental dilemmas; there are no insights into the complex world of religion.

Considering India has people from many different faiths, this gap in reportage is particularly galling. That there is a focus on religion only when it is used to justify violence makes the picture even more skewed. It is important to ensure that the reportage on faith goes beyond covering inflammatory speeches and superstitions.

Religion is an integral part of the lives of most Indians, and various aspects of Indian culture are derived from the spectrum of religions that its citizens follow. This multicultural environment can be depicted accurately only if an attempt is made to understand religion and what faith entails for believers. 

Deepa A is a freelance journalist currently based in London. She can be reached via artculture@iolteam.com