The
media as an institution has come to stay as an integral part of a variety of
social institutions. Nothing is left untouched. Individual lives, families, social
institutions like schools, hospitals, workplaces, political and military
systems, even religions, and their real and virtual assemblies, all have got
its glare, and more so, are more than willing to face the glare. The age old
cliché! - ‘Publicity is not good or bad, it is just publicity’ is happening to
be the prima-donna. So publicity is replaceable with propaganda now. Hyping a
story is has become so routine that ‘take it easy’ catchphrase is advised to
survive the absurdity.
Is
it safe to say so? It is skewed but is debatable.
Media shape the ways; ways of news gathering and transmission, advertising,
political processes and campaigns, wars, diplomacy, education, entertainment,
and socialization. The pervasive effect of media can be seen in every walk of
life.
But
media is not the only gatekeeper. Indeed, we are living in a set-up with layers
of gatekeepers, tightly gripping the information dissemination process. Media
is not the lone player in this blame game now.
What
else would you say when every six months the debate on legalities concerning
how the freedom of expression is screwed gets renewed?
Can
we rule out State and Corporate imprint in this blame game?
Cultivating
the mood, or to say more technically Priming, is not something that media can
do alone. There needs to be more than one pillar of a democracy working hands
in glove to set the hallucinating tapestry in motion.
Priming is more rampant than ever. Agenda setting is more in vogue than ever.
The partnership is getting more and more reciprocating. Several ‘Truman Shows’
of different colours but almost similar hues are the most talked about buzz
words.
But
where is the debate?
The air waves come at a price. The aerial pipeline has to be filled with the
stuff that could convert this modicum into a sustainable medium. Survival
instinct pushes any venture to fight alone first. Failing here then compels to
look for partners who can be a party and certainly the partying has its own
menu and cocktail. Here the air waves create the duet of priming and agenda
setting to balance the balance sheet. Soon the duet attracts the chorus. Soon
the chorus attracts the audience.
Hype dominates. Sensationalism Culminates.
Did
you say something of quality and democratic responsibility?
Priorities
are skewed, priorities are revisited.
Sometimes
they make, other times they break.
But
something remarkable is happening that is rewriting the rulebook of priming and
agenda-setting.
The
time is ripe to come out of the academic cocoon. It’s the harvest season. The dots
are falling into the place by a wave that is affecting every existing pattern.
What
is that?