DailyPost 157
THE MEDIA BUBBLE
Justice should be done and it should also be seen to be done. The punishment should be commensurate to the offence or the mistake committed. There should not be any instance of double jeopardy; a person cannot be punished for the same offence twice. The right to privacy and confidentiality should be adhered to whatever might be the situation. By the same logic the publicity to an incident / issue / person should be in tune with gravity of the issue and the real public cause it caters to and for no other reason. In reality today, the direction it takes is generally tangential if not diametrically opposite.
All forms of media is creating a bubble out of incidents. Social media bubble is known phrase now where a person is fed with the line of thinking and information to support till he or she starts believing that’s the fact or the only reality. Individuals in a cumulative manner can create a reality or create disproportionate importance for any topic of their liking or concentrate only one of the issues of importance.
The electronic media given its 24/7 nature has also jumped on the same bandwagon, creating an media furore which is one of its kind. The mere repetition with opinions of the talk and mighty can create an one of its kind reality; this is the parallel of the social media bubble. The synthesis and integration of the similar processes in the social and electronic media can be immensely damaging.
This has the capability of creating a narrative which can be radically different from reality, unwarranted importance and can take disproportionate media time and as a direct corollary the time and imagination of the nation . Small issues can also take the national centre stage for long durations of time.
Sense of proportion and public interest can be the guiding principles.
MEDIA BUBBLE HAS THE POTENTIAL OF DERAILING REAL PUBLIC ISSUES.
Sanjay Sahay