In a democracy, the role of media should be to educate the masses and help them make informed choices by presenting them with facts. Op-ed pieces have to be clearly identified as such and an effort should be made to present the view as well as the counterview without any over bias towards a particular party or an ideology. At the very least, media should avoid spreading false and defamatory accusations against the political opponents of their masters. Unfortunately mass media today is driven by sleaze, sensationalism and superficiality in a mad rush for TRP ratings. The media has the power to twist facts and project anything in any way they like. It is for citizens to apply judgment and decide whether they are being fed falsehoods in an attempt to influence their decisions.

Indian media, sometimes behaves in a very irresponsible manner as was evident during the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. While the army commandos were trying to mount a operation against the terrorists, journalists were relaying the movements of the soldiers on a minute by minute basis and analyzing strategies by bringing in "experts" thereby depriving the security forces of any element of stealth, which is vital in such operations. During the Gujarat riots, the celebrated novelist Arundathi Roy, in a vitriolic article on Outlook, claimed that during the riots, ex Congress MP Ehsaan Jaffri's daughters were stripped, raped and burnt alive, when in fact Jaffri's only daughter was safe and sound in the US during the riots. When sued by the Gujarat government Ms Roy issued an apology but made even more sensational allegations, including graphic fictional accounts of how foetuses were ripped out of pregant women, which when investigated turned out to be completely bogus. Yet the damage was done and these rumours, repeated often enough in national and international media quickly became the de facto truth. Why would a celebrity like Arundathi Roy and a reputed magazine like Outlook spread such morbid canards is anybody's guess but here we have an example of a biased media misusing its position and trust to vilify and demonize a certain section of people in order to score cheap political brownie points.

If a newspaper decides to act against any individual or party, they can edit the news related to the party such that only negative aspects are highlighted, or even good events are projected negatively. In Goa too we have seen examples of how certain newspapers and journalists vilified Manohar Parrikar. One example was the bogus issue of cancellation of holidays for SFX feast when in fact it was made a restricted holiday which Christians could take, and similarly Shivratri was made a restricted holiday too. While the intention was to improve productivity in government offices, certain sections of the media went on a overdrive and claimed that Parrikar was cancelling Christian holidays. In another instance during the VHP convention at Mardol, there was a hue and cry raised by a local paper about certain objectionable statements made by Mr. Pravin Togadia. To his credit Manohar Parrikar promptly ordered an investigation into the matter and a case was duly filed, but when questioned by the investigating officers, the journalist revealed that Togadia had never made the objectionable statement and the whole case fizzled out. The media however never highlighted the fact that St. Xavier's exposition was organized most efficiently during the Parrikar tenure.

In Goa, much of the print media is owned by the business houses who have extensive stake in the mining industry. As a result, one cannot expect the newspapers to run any investigative piece on the irregularities rampant in the mining sector including illegal mines, pollution caused by dust and mining rejects and the loot of the exchequer by the mining barons in connivance with the government, many of whose ministers have a stake in the mining business themselves. The media, instead of acting as a watchdog acts as if they are the PR agents of their corporate masters. Rather than carry news item that expose corruption and inefficient governance, newspapers are busy publishing paid advertisements disguised as news items to show certain politicians in good light and boost the electoral prospects of aspiring candidates. In return the government distributes largesse to journalists in terms of cash prizes and gifts, thereby creating a serious conflict of interest. It should be ok for the press to edit news. But blatant distortion of facts defeats the ethics of journalism.

While traditional media outlets are getting increasingly compromised and are working against public interest the growth of internet has opened up new opportunities for community activists to raise public awareness and bring issues for into the domain of public consciousness without any interference by vested interests. Recent developments in countries like Egypt and Tunisia have amply demonstrated the power of social networks like facebook and twitter, and inspite of government crackdowns and censorship people have found novel means to spread their message across the world. In India, thanks to youtube, the ugly side of corrupt power brokers like Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi was exposed via the Nira Radia tapes. At the end of the day, our media and the people who run it as corrupt as the society they come from. It would be naive to believe that Goans vote for the same set of corrupt politicians because they are ill informed about the corruption and inefficient governance. We can only try and hope that someday Goans will think about the state as a whole and vote for people who can bring about true development and efficient corruption free governance.