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firstpost .comhttp://www.firstpost.com/india/tejpal-scandal-how-social-media-and-not-mainstream-showed-the-way-1243517.html

Tarun Tejp al. File image.

by R Jagannathan

Tejpal scandal: How social media, and not mainstream, showedthe way

The social media, much criticised by sanctimonious mainstream media (MSM) f or being abusive (f or go odreason), has pro ved its worth repeatedly over the last two years. Even though the est ablishment is t ryingvery hard to co ntrol or emasculate it, the social media (including the digital media) has been aggressive andunrelenting in showing wrongdoers the mirror – and the f inger, one must add.

The news t reatment of Tarun Tejpal’s predatory sexual behaviour with a junior colleague in Goa wasnot hing less than exemplary in newspapers and T V channels, with f ew attempts being made to shield Tejpalf rom getting his just dessert s. Full-blooded discussions o n TV channels, f ront page lead stories and evenf ull pages inside were devoted to discuss ing Tejpal’s culpability – so mething unthinkable a f ew years back. Asquare mile of f ores t cover might be dest royed in discussing the transgress ions o f Tejpal in print –so mething that has never happened bef ore – but it is well worth it. Tejpal is hardly the f irst edito r toconduct himself thus, but which editor in the past has been hauled over the coals f or s uch conduct or worse?

A f ew boorish attempts by Tejpal’s pals –lyricist Javed Akhtar among them – go thooted down in the social media whenthey tried to invest the hero o f st ing opswith some invisible halo. Akhtar, who half -congratulated Tejpal f or apologising like a

man, had to eat crow and beat a hastyretreat. He deleted his tweet on Tejpalwith this st atement: “I didn’t know thegruesome details; thought it was adrunken misbehaviour at a party. I takeback my words and delete the tweet .”Shouldn’t he have checked the crimebefore rushing to def end the allegedcriminal?

None of this would have been possiblewithout the strenuous efforts of vigilantindividuals on the so cial media. From the

Anna Haz are movement to the Delhi gangrape protests to the Mumbai Shakti Mills gang rape to the TehelkaEditor- in-Chief ’s escapades in a hotel elevato r with his f emale victim, it is social media that has bro ughtmainstream media to t oe t he line and fo cus on t he real issues.

The reason why social media has become so import ant, and an object o f f ear to those in power, is simple:over the decades since independence, the mainst ream media has grown so close t o the powers-t hat-bethat it had become eminently manipulable. Dissent in media was reduced to arguments over policies andindividual politicians who were inconvenient to the system – and of ten the result o f media and politicians

scratching each others’ backs, and f eeding of f one another.

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This cosy cartel controlled the dissemination of news and restricted the nation’s agenda to issues t hat thepowerf ul wanted to discuss. It has been shatt ered by the advent of the so cial media, with its unfett eredability to set its own agenda on it s o wn terms. No longer is it poss ible f or mainst ream media to decide whatissues to discuss, and what to brush under the carpet, o n the basis of a wink-and-a-nod f rom theestablishment.

To give the ot her side, it is not as if mainst ream does no t have honest journalism or good edito rs. But itwas extremely vulnerable to action and blackmail by government and business . When newspapers were the

main f orms of mass communication, access to imported newsprint, o f f ers o f special f avours to journalists(cheap land, f ree junkets ) and threats o f action against newspaper owners’ ot her business interests wereenough to keep all of them in check.

The advent o f TV changed the game somewhat, but no t to o much. TV enabled st ing journalism, and this iswhat brought Tehelka its day in the sun. Stings involving defence deals during the NDA regime, and thepett y bribery case involving Bangaru Laxman made st ings really s ting t he high and mighty.

But even TV was amenable to pressure f or t he simple reason that you need neta-babu f avours andf oo tage, including access to t he powers that be, to be visual and viable. It is also a f act that so f ar stingshave stung the Congress establishment less than the opposit ion. The only major st ing mounted againstthe Congress and UPA – the 2008 cash-f or- votes s cam – ended up with some BJP members gett ingarrested, not the of f ending parties. Major UPA def ence deals have ent irely gone under the radar, despitest rong evidence of commissions being paid. Stings seem to succeed when journos are lying in wait f or unsuspecting politicians, but real defence scandals are not being unearthed at all. Even st ings, it seems,are amenable to political pressure.

No such restraint is possible in the digital space. This is why government f ears the social media – and whymainst ream media has to f ollow social media to retain its credibility. A large part of mainst ream’s remainingpower depends on what is discussed in the social and digital media. It can ignore real issues and biasesonly at the cost of its o wn credibility.

This is no t t o say that so cial media is a f orce only fo r good. The north-eastern exodus, the Muzaf f arnagar riots and other kinds o f social trouble can be fanned by using social media platf orms. Abuse is alsosubstantial in the social media.

However, there is ano ther s ide to t he abuse story. Social media language and abuse ref lects what manypeople actually think in private. Social media allows us to use t he same bad language we use when we knownobody is watching us; it enables us t o be sexist , communal, or casteist – just as we of ten are when wethink we are among f riends or “people like us.” Social media’s anonymity enables so ciety to hold a mirror toitself – and the f act that it is s ometimes abusive enables us to learn what we truly are. We can no longer pretend we are so liberal or so coo l when we talk in the so cial media.

The right answer to abuse and boo rish behaviour is self - regulation and blackballing of of f enders by thosewho care about civility. That will take some time to evolve, for the social media revolution in India is s tillyoung and uncontro lled.

A bigger worry abo ut social media and st ing operat ions is no t really being t alked about: if everything we sayor do is going to be in the public domain, who can we ever trus t? A low-t rust so ciety levies high cost s o neverybody.

But that’s a problem to worry about on another day. For now, social and digital media are game-changersf or Indian democracy, more goo d than evil, simply because they show us o ur true colours and keep

collusio n between the powerf ul and the compromised in check.

In this sense at least , so cial media is mainst ream. It is good t hat t he tail is wagging the dog.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-bofors-scam-rs-64-cr-israel-rs-600-cr-1242675