Media and Religions in India

The Media and Religions in India

            Secular India actually means a country that respects all the diversities of its culture, as pluralism is its fundamental quality. In this context, the religious faith of the people is relevant to every aspect of Indian life. It is religion that has the greater influence on every private and public institution in India. The media deals with the real life of the people in a society. It cannot ignore whatever is essential to society and whatever interests the people as a community. Though the media and religion are independent of each other, in reality they converge at certain points in which the media appeals to the religious credentials of the people in different conflicts and crises in the society. “The media can use conversations with the people on the essential obligations towards religious values and morals, which in turn will help the people to live up to the message of love and peace of religious founders.”[1]
Every religion can use the media to propagate and communicate with believers and non-believers. This is another point of convergence between the media and religion. Our question is not of this convergence but is about the attitude of a pro-active media in the conflicting situation of religious violence and tensions. Actually as a pioneer of all progressive movements, it was the press that discovered the spirit of unity in diversity in the Indian cultural milieu. The press, from its beginning, tried to promote a national out-look among the people of diverse religions.[2] Of course the national newspapers and almost all the newspapers have columns and pages dedicated to religion in India. But there is a clear majoritarianism. In a context where fundamentalist vandalism questions the very basis of a religiously tolerant nation, the constitutional responsibility of the press is very important.  In our present context the media has to be the conscience keeper of the nation to uphold secularist traditions and values. The media, which is sometimes described as ‘the poor man’s university’ has to enlighten the people about the narrowness of being fanatic about one’s own religion.
The spirit of every religion is of harmony and mutual love. It has to give the right interpretation of religious symbols counteracting the propaganda of the false interpretation of religious symbols by the communal parties and fundamentalist groups. Communalism of any kind, Hindu or Muslim, is anti-democratic and against the principles of a secular Press.[3]  Unfortunately the media often fails to offer such a tolerant language and tone in their reporting. The press has to take a very critical view of every religious fanatic group. The journalists have to report the wordings of the politically motivated persons and of the religious leaders carefully. The standard of reporting should not be up to any majority or minority religion but to the truth that will ultimately serve the peace and harmony of the country. The press has to behave within an expectation of the majority public of India who wishes to live peacefully. No press is supposed to yield itself to sensationalism during any communal riots.[4] The sense of mission of today’s Indian media has to be that of a crusader for secularism, which is fundamental to the Constitution of India.

 

Religion in the Public Discourse

The media is interested no matter what enters into the public discourse. It identifies itself with the public to which it is oriented. In that context the media cannot ignore religion, as it is a voluble element of contemporary life. Since the press penetrates the daily life of individuals and connects them with the powerful institutions of society, religion, having a major influence on every human institution, becomes an inevitable element of its attention. “It interconnects personal life and public activities and shapes our consciousness.”[5] In a context where the interaction of religion and politics is evident, the press engagement in a right way of religion coverage can impart the right moral power to the political institutions. Tocqueville considered religion as an important public discourse.
First, he saw religion as having clear and necessary political implications. The spheres of religion and politics were not separate; instead, religion had a specific value and moral claims that could and should suffuse the political environment. Second, he saw that various religious perspectives had unique claims they could make and that the religious sphere could provide alternative ontology that would enliven and enrich the democratic discourse. Third, he saw that religion could serve as an “intermediate institution” between the people and the state.[6] 
What he meant was that religion gives moral power in a democratic system. Religion can mediate between the individual and the governing system becoming an independent moral voice between them.[7] So the press has the moral responsibility to cover religion genuinely by way of selecting, shaping and bringing out what is important and interesting about religion other than merely reporting religious events.
The coverage on religion is to be motivated from the viewpoint of educating the people on religious values and messages, and also to challenge politics or any system that tries to make use of religious sentiments for their own vested interests. In a pluralistic country like India, a conscientious press has to critically watch the political development in which religion is used as an instrument for political power. In this situation, the press has to point out that the greatness of every religion is basically respecting the human person. It has to bring out the essential spirit of amity and harmony that is found in the life-pattern of the people at the grassroots.[8]
Indian democracy is not that of a small group of influential politicians or of the fanatic religious fundamentalists who are vitiating the political atmosphere with their own degenerated intentions. It is basically that of millions of people who belong to different religious and ethnic groups who are living peacefully, respecting each other’s culture and identity. The press has to favour these millions instead of concentrating on any group, which is detrimental to the religious harmony and integrity of the nation. To be with and to work for the millions of peace-loving Indians, the press has to bring religious values fully to the public discourse as “the basic vocabularies of public life depend upon the fundamental ideas and values rooted in religion.”[9]

Religion Reporting and Religious Identity

In the Indian context secularism means equal respect for all religions. So the national press, which is trying to be a secularist media, has the tendency to distance itself from religions. But this distance is not that healthy as the majority of India lacks a correct understanding of the religion of one’s own neighbour.
In a study conducted from the year 1849 to 1860 in the United States of America, where there were different religions and religious denominations, Kenneth Nordin proved that a generalised and standard form of religion reporting helped the nation to maintain an American consensus.[10] Right information about religion helps the people to dispel the false notion of other religions. This knowledge enables them to respect other communities and avoid unnecessary religious violence. After all, religions offer a moral power to the society. All kinds of ethics have, in fact, their basis in the religious concept of human beings. They offer traditional, personal and family values. One of the ways of religion reporting taking form is by writing about the transgression of traditional family values. The newspapers write against abortion, homosexuality and other modern vices of society. But they speak on such subjects from the viewpoint of religions.[11]
Out of the fear of being stamped as unsecular, Indian journalists keep a distance from religions. But this idea would have no basis, had the national newspapers considered writing about each and every religion for a real religious dialogue. Religion has to be treated like any other kind of news content. To put it in the words of A.J Philip, former senior Editor of The Indian Express: “India is a multi-religious country. In such a country every newspaper has to go on a secular path. That makes the paper keep equally distant from all the religions. It does not mean anti-religion but it is to be fair to all religions.”[12] At the outbreak of any conflict and social confusion, the moral values of a true religion can inspire the people to respect and love one’s fellow human being. In anything that involves human dignity, the element of religion comes to the forefront.
The topos of religion need not be restricted to every religion but any other themes which really bring a person to reflect on his proper being, which is ultimately open to a Supreme being. So like any other topos, which requires the accepted standards of fairness and objectivity, religion should be considered in our newspapers.[13] If religion is a very important theme in the daily life of the people, and if the newspapers cannot wink at its influence in its public, religion reporting becomes a necessity. In a multi-religious context a wrong word or a misconception of a religion can fire up controversy and then conflict, therefore, journalists should be trained to make a proper study of each religion. The media needs journalists who are well equipped to report on religions. For a fair reporting on religion without error and ignorance they need to study the religions.[14] Ours is a significant time where religion really matters in various forms, and terrorism in the name of religion is increasing on an alarming scale. In this context specialization in religion reporting will help the press to educate the people to overcome the complex of religious violence.
Regarding religion reporting there is no special policy on the part either of the government or of the newspapers. In the context of communal violence major newspapers in all languages especially in the English language try to safeguard the secular nature of our country as far as possible. Ajit Bhattacharja, President of the Press Institute of India says:
“The newspapers in India are trying to give space for all news of a secular nature. Sometimes they suppress the news, which, they think, will spark out communal violence in different parts of the country. As regards religion reporting, almost all the major newspapers give ample space for spiritual reflections, which will help the reader to come out of modern stress and troubles.”[15]
By nature Indians are very sensitive about their religion. The name, the way of dressing, even the language will betray the religious identity of a person in India. As for any ordinary Indian, caste and religion have a powerful influence on journalists too.[16] Like any one he will have his prejudices about other religions. This prejudice may affect his reporting and writings. If he wants to avoid this prejudice to be a responsible journalist in Indian pluralism, he has to make personal effort to learn about other religions.
The real aim of the media journalists should be truth, which is the basic virtue of all religions. Journalists have to be seekers of truth. The secular sense of the Indian press is so high that sometimes at the fear of being unsecular they keep away from the truth. The Hindu, Muslim and Christian identity of the Indian newspapers sometimes becomes a hindrance in producing an objective journalism in India
So it is not the religious identity of the media or the journalists that has to be taken into account in the social mission but the affiliation of the press and of the journalists to the truth, which permeates every difference but looks only at that truth which will fortify Indian citizens to live in peace and inspire them to fight for human rights. Since religion is not a trivial subject, there is a need for a serious dialogue between the religions and the press in India.
The initiative for this dialogue can be on the part of religious leaders. In the background of a religious conflict, the religious leaders have to find means to reach out to the media to clarify the religious significance and relevance of a particular event or issue at the proper time. Such dialogue may help the press to avoid some factual errors in their reporting of events of a religious nature. Religions need to have a dialogue with the press so that the media may distance itself from sensationalism in the name of religion, on the other hand, the media can undertake journalism with its responsibility towards Indian pluralism.

Journalism for Peace Option an Alternative to the Political instrumentalization of Religion

In every corner of our world there is communal tension and violence. The same message of peace, left by the great religious founders, is being misinterpreted by a few to direct the people into war in the name of God. The greatest contradiction of our history is that the religion, which is to cure violence and conflicts, itself becomes the base of violence and terrorism among the people.[17] It is not religion that is to be blamed for this violence but certain groups of narrow-minded people who use religion as a powerful instrument to achieve their unreligious and sometimes inhuman motives.
Mostly all forms of religious violence are product of the unholy handling of religious adherence for political power. Political parties take religion not in its spiritual sense but as a weapon to be used for power. Peace can be achieved only through a reduction in religious violence and through the acknowledgement of religion’s power to give moral and spiritual values to public life. In other words, the cure of religious violence lies in a renewed appreciation of religion itself.[18] Who has to uphold this message of peace and the renewed spirit of religions in our community but the media and the media, which reach everyday into our hands and homes? The media should refrain from exaggerating and restraining news, views and comments while publishing incidents of communal and religious disputes or clashes. News should be published after proper verification of facts and presented with due caution so as to create peace. At the same time, sensational, provocative and alarming headlines are to be avoided.[19] The real solution during a conflict is not classification of the victims and enemies, and sympathising with the victims while demonising the enemies. Journalism for peace is much more than this. There is no alternative to peace. The only way of practising religion in a pluralistic society is to cling to the peace process between different communities. Peace in pluralism means simply a respect for human person and universal human rights.
In the path of peace process in today’s context, there is a new way of doing peace or conflict journalism. Peace journalists may use the situation of conflicts to transform the society by focusing on all the sides of the conflicts without being partial to any party. They have to consider the situation for human progress and orient themselves to the proactive role to prevent such conflicts in the future. This peace journalism can be done in four dimensions: Peace/Conflict oriented with a general win/win orientation, Truth-oriented, People-oriented, Solution-oriented: Peace is a crossing of non-violence and creativity. Here the peace initiatives are given importance to prevent future violence and conflict. The characteristics of the structure of a peaceful society are described. Ultimately peace journalism focuses on resolution, reconstruction and reconciliation.[20]
 Peace journalists seek to save the news from clutches of power to speak for the powerless in society. In the Indian context this type of peace journalism is all the more the need of the time since the cynical political leaders tries to use the media, distorting the religious symbols in their arguments to create enmity amidst different communities. Journalists have to distance themselves from the conscious attempt of the politicians to instrumentalize religions for their parties. They have to provide matters for the public to discuss the real significance of every religion in the proper culture.
The media has to avoid all kinds of sensationalism regarding the religions but has to provide enough materials to educate the people on the values of love, peace, mercy and justice which are really related to every known religion in the world. Peace journalism is to be rooted in the truth. The media should not hurt any religious sentiments but being truthful does not mean hurting the sentiments of any one group. The media has to honestly pursue its task of a fact finder. Peace journalism is journalism biased in favour of truth. It is a social commitment of the journalists for a better world of religious harmony. It mobilises the people against any political corruption and any fundamentalism. It provides matters for discussion both to the government and to the public for the peace and prosperity of the country.[21]
Conclusion
As all the founders of religions are the mediators between heaven and the Earth, and the media is the connecting link between the people of different cultures and nations. Media has a greater power and participation in modern society. Marshal McLuhan says that it is the Central nervous system of our Society. If so, it has to be the watchdog of the society for unity, peace and co-existence, the basic values of a pluralistic society. It is the best instrument to inculcate a culture of love in these days of a culture of death.

Rev. Dr. Kuriakose Mundadan


[1] Upendra Vajpeyi (2000): ‘Media and Religion: Convergence and Distinctions’ in Hussain Zahid, Ray Vanita (eds) (2000): Media Communications in the Third World. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, pp.121-124.
[2] Subir Ghosh (2000): ‘Media and Religion: A post-Ayodhya Analysis’ in Hussain Zahid & Ray Vanita (eds) (2000): Media Communications in the Third World. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, pp.125-136.
[3] Ghosh : Media and Religion, op. cit., p.134.
[4] Rahim, Abdul (1993): ‘Vested Interest’,  in AMIC (1993): Role of the Media in a National Crisis. Singapore: Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre, pp.27-33.
[5] Michael R. Real (1989): Super Media: A Cultural Studies Approach. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, p.15.
[6] Stewart M. Hoover (1998): Religion in the News. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, p.11.
[7] Stephen Carter (1993): The Culture of Disbelief. New York: Basic Books, p.36.
[8] Ghosh: ‘Media and Religion: A Post-Ayodhya Analysis’, op. cit, p.135.
[9] Hoover, Stewart M. (1998): Religion in the News.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, p.211.
[10] Mark Silk (1995): Unsecular Media Making News of Religion in America. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, p.29.
[11] Ibid.,pp.141-149
[12]  Interview with A. J Philip, senior editor of The Indian Express, New Delhi.
[13] Judith M. Buddenbaum (1998): Reporting News about Religion. Ames: Iowa State University Press, p.92.
[14] Gaitano Norberto Gonzales (2001): ‘Evangelizzazione con i mass media in Studi Cattolici, Roma, pp.404-412.
[15] Interview with Ajit Bhattacharjya, the Director of the Press Council of India, New Delhi, March 25, 2001.
[16] Singh, S. Nihal: ‘Painful Splits’ in AMIC, op. cit., p.25.
“We look at the event or issues from all the angles possible and try to present the facts for the readers to judge. When the issue is concerned with RSS or of any other communal groups we do our best to get into the pulse of the event but it is not always easy. The reporter is always biased by his own personality and to be detached from the fact of his/her religion, cultural background and to be neutral is not that easy.” Interview with Jose Kavi, Editor for India of UCAN (Union of Catholic Asian News), New Delhi, April 3, 2000.
[17] Mark Juergensmeyer (2000): Terror in the Mind of God. Berkeley: University of California Press, p.236.
[18] Ibid., p.243.
[19] Jayaswal Sudhanshu (1997): ‘Press Council new Guidelines Masses’ in Vidura, Press Institute of India’s Mass Media Magazine, vol.34, no.4, Oct-Dec 1997, pp.29-30.
[20] http//www.themediachannel-file\pjotext.htm
[21] Andrew Belsey, & Ruth Chadwick, (1992): Ethical Issues in Journalism and Media. London: Routledge, p.3.
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