Role of Media in Achieving Social Justice

Role of Media in Achieving Social Justice

A nation is composed of citizens- men and women belonging to numerous races, colours, religions, castes, financial classes and age groups. It has both- the highly educated and the illiterate and everyone in between. The nation equally belongs to each one of them- without favour or prejudice. Its resources, its opportunities, its rights, freedoms and privileges belong to everyone without any discrimination whatsoever, and ensuring their equitable distribution among all society members is essentially ‘social justice’. The responsibility of delivering social justice rests with the Government and the Media plays a pivotal role in achieving it.

To understand the role of the media in this context, we need to first understand the scope and purpose of media.

A.   Link all sections of society

The name itself suggests that it is a link between two or more entities. Today’s media is a means by which the Government and other authorities can communicate with the masses, the masses can put forth their grievances and ideas before the authorities and the citizens of the country (and indeed the world) can interact with each other. All this has been made convenient by means of newspapers, magazines, leaflets, TV shows, radio, films, plays and a host of internet-aided social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube, blogs etc.

 Thus, any lax in the provision of social justice is immediately reported and can thus be acted upon. Let’s take a recent example of violation of social justice and the course taken:

       i.            Hundreds of poor, debt-ridden famished farmers from Vidarbha are ending their lives because they are unable to make ends meet.

     ii.            Local people get in touch with media establishments and ask them to cover it. In no time, journalists arrive there and prepare a news report.

   iii.            We citizens, sitting in our homes, are acquainted of the farmers’ plight by the media.

   iv.            Activists protest against the sorry condition of the farmers and raise this issue using the same media platforms.

     v.            TV debates are held, articles are written in newspapers and news magazines and the social media network is flooded with stories and images of the poor farmers.

   vi.            The Government authorities are compelled to take notice of the situation.

 vii.            The media highlights the action taken by the Government (or the lack thereof).

viii.            NGOs and philanthropists step in and provide aid to the farmers. The media highlights their relief work. More NGOs and philanthropists are inspired to help the farmers and provide monetary aid to these NGOs.

   ix.            Research is carried out by scholars on the issue all over the country wherein the causes leading to the problem are analyzed and tangible solutions put forward.

     x.            Petitions are filed in the courts and the Government is further pressurized to take corrective action.

In this above example, the role of the media cannot be overemphasized. Media creates awareness of social issues, drives people and authorities into action and thus facilitates the solution to the problem and helps achieve the much sought after social justice. Complementary social awareness campaigns related to the environment, education, health and sanitation, public safety, religious and racial harmony also require active involvement of the media, which acts as the catalyst without which the reaction cannot take place.

B.    Making the authorities accountable before the people

Widely known as the fourth pillar of democracy, media keeps a watch over the functioning of the other three pillars as well- legislature, executive and judiciary. This ensures transparency in governance and curbs exploitation. A check and balance system is created at the grassroots level that extends to the pinnacle of the country’s administrative structure. This is how the media influences each ‘pillar’ in the pursuit of social justice….

·        Legislature:

The Government cannot frame laws without the public knowing about them. Any law that would harm the social fabric or be discriminatory against any particular community would never be passed, out of the plain realization that the public would know about it in no time.

·        Executive:

The police and administrative departments are also under the radar of the media. Any undue act of commission or omission is quickly reported. The Arushi Talwar and Nirbhaya cases are good examples of media pressure on law enforcing agencies. Nowadays, pictures of unscrupulous government servants are uploaded on social media sites and circulated among netizens shaming them and forcing them to make amends.

·        Judiciary:

Judges, no matter how discreet or discerning, are also influenced by the media like any other person. You may recollect the ban on the film ‘Black Friday’ in the run up to the Bombay Bomb Blast judgment. The court did not want the film’s narrative to influence its decision- whether actual or perceived. These days, judgments are also passed to ‘quell the collective conscience of society’, but that is another topic, for another day.

C.    Shaping and Moulding Public Opinion

It would not be an exaggeration if we claim that almost all our stands on social issues are dictated by the media. At a subconscious level, the media is feeding our minds with ‘its’ version of the incident, giving us all coloured lenses to look through. Let’s take an example. Quite recently, the nation was divided on the JNU row- a deep ideological rift being created depending on which media version of the entire episode the people on either side of the fence chose to believe. While a group of media houses accused the protesting students of being anti-national, certain other media houses empathized with the students. Another example in the social (in)justice perspective is Islamophobia. Certain media houses of Zionist and Fascist leanings are exerting all their resources to brand Islam a terrorist cult. The counter narrative put forth in this case is scarce and lacking, leading many many people to actually believe that Islam is something evil. Once public opinion is cultivated against Islam and Muslims, the same cascade follows that we have discussed earlier in the farmer suicide case, only this time yielding negative results instead of positive ones.

Taming the Media

Media has turned highly judgmental and has the power to make you believe what it would have you believe and make you act upon it in a preplanned direction. Allegations of paid news, prejudiced TV debates and fake videos have tarnished the image of contemporary media. Moreover, TRP hungry media jurists waste no time in (falsely) pronouncing an accused as a convict even before the case enters the courtrooms. Such ignominious acts by certain deceitful media houses upset the process of social justice and create disorder and chaos in society. The only way to tackle this is to infuse morality and a sense of divine accountability in the media personnel. Let us see what God instructs us in this regard:

Admonishing against spreading news irresponsibly, God says in the Qur’an, “And when there comes to them something (i.e. information) about (public) security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger or to those of authority among them, then the ones who (can) draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it….” (Surah anNisa ayat 83)

With regards to the relay of unverified news, God says, “O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and thereafter repent at what you have done.” (Surah alHujurat ayat 6)

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has taught us that uttering hearsay is sufficient for a person to be a liar. (As narrated by Abu Hurairah and recorded in Saheeh Muslim).

Conclusion

Media is a double edged sword- a boon in the hands of a social activist and a curse in the hands of a despot. Its role in achieving social justice largely depends upon the person holding its reins. In essence, media can support Social Justice and help the state achieve it if it so desires and also derail Social Justice if it so desires. Only a pious media establishment adhering to divine guidelines as enshrined in the Qur’an and the Sunnah can prove to be the backbone of social justice in our society; as opposed to a media dictated exclusively by materialistic and political concerns which will only ruin the existing social fabric.

-Dr. Parvez Mandviwala