It’s been a while since a
good number of good study reports have come out on the state of affairs of the
private media where the plight of private media and the professionals working
in it have been listed and highlighted ever so loud and clearly. However, the
much needed follow-up developments, as in ‘measures to mend the broken’ are not
correspondingly visible in the distant.
The media in the country
was ushered in with great promises and… enter it did, with a lot of fanfare, a
lot of sound and fury. The institution was awarded the title and respect of
being the fourth estate of the nation.
The advent of private
media preceded the establishment of a constitutional democratic government in
the country and in that time frame it showed promise and presented hope for the
yet to enter democratic system of governance.
While the culture of
democratic governance has satisfactorily grown to become the very young but
promising six-year old, the media arm of the setup is looking a sidelined ramshackle
house.
The institution of media
so to say, is not entirely ignored by the state and times have been witness to governmental
support in varied forms of trainings, workshops etc. It has received discussion
time at the highest level of discussion platform at the parliamentary sessions.
The importance of media
cannot be however, only stressed at high law-making and deliberation forums and
then let to float in a space of delay and uncertainty.
In a democratic setup,
media plays the role of that much needed bridge in a strong, dependable and
‘open’ sort of manner. It relays from the level of high intellect down to the
common man on the street or in the village farms, the basic but very important
information of how the government is doing, what it is doing for its electorate
who voted them placing high trust and confidence.
The presence of a healthy
media in a country also sends positive vibes outside to other nations,
signaling smooth functioning of governance machinery and of course depicting
peace and harmony enjoyed by its citizenry.
The state of affairs in
which a media operates also results in improving a country’s ranking globally
and, that is not at all a bad thing to happen. It inspires confidence among
potential aid-providing countries while re-assuring those partners who are
already linked to the nation as such.
If the atmosphere of
operation is secure and promising as opposed to unsteady, unsure and
‘unattractive’ (a catch phrase highlighted in one media study report), the
agents of operation in the industry are bound to work free of negative
influence (corruption in relaying the truth, misinforming the public). With
confirmation of such elements, positive in always, theirs would be a job that
has the highest amount of pride (of keeping people informed, keeping
governments in check) tagged to it while there remains no such factor that can
sway them from performing any other way.
However, when it comes to
basics of proposing solutions when asked for one, it cannot be entirely said
that all stakeholders have unanimously and honestly laid their cards out. Media
as a business entity is handled differently and therefore ‘solutions’ that do
come its way doesn’t match the checklist of those arguing and agreeing at the
table.
In that way and in a
manner of speaking, the private media houses have also at times, been unable to
say ‘what exactly it wants,’ when presented with a blank question. Keeping any
and every elements of complications aside, it is high time that every side involved,
swallow what bile is generated by prevailing situations and land an acceptably
swift decision.
The decision of course is
in the best interest of the nation!
Published as Business Bhutan Editorial on February 7, 2015
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