“Is TV a Pied Piper? Yes, it is. We had better be sure where it is leading our children.” When television psychologist Dr. Dorothy H. Cohen warned parents about the adverse effects of television with these words, she had perhaps discounted elders, taking it as given that they can handle themselves.
But as times changed and television too evolved with new and more attractive formats, its seductive powers too grew and with it grew peoples’ addiction with the idiot box. Not only the children, but today a good majority of people of all age-groups spend a handsome portion of their waking hours in front of television. Perhaps it is only the physical portion of peoples’ work regimen carried outside of homes and offices which allow for some break from the television. Otherwise, the way television has found a place in our homes, offices and shops and elsewhere, the moments spent away from it have shrunk considerably.
Irrespective of whether one is paying attention to it or not, the ‘idiot box’ keeps on bombarding us continuously with the sights and sounds that inform us, educate us, and entertain us.
Says Cohen: “Successful media campaigns are, above all else, entertaining. That doesn’t necessarily mean amusing. In fact, some successful media campaigns are disgusting. But whether amusing or disgusting – they are engaging, and that is the key synonym for entertainment in the news (media) business.”
But a simple question one could ask is: how many of the programmes, including the news or the current affairs made by/for, and telecast over the Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar and its ‘Kashir Channel’ are really entertaining, amusing and engaging?
And by the way, has any attempt ever been made to see if these programmes are able to generate even 10 percent of the desired effect for which the government spends whopping millions? What percentage of their budget goes into developing of software and what portion is syphoned off as commissions and kickbacks by the officials, and as undue and unwarranted profits by the makers (producers)? Who are the people making these programmes? What are their qualifications?
And, more importantly, do they have any intellectual acumen to understand the ‘politics of Kashmir’, including of course its international dimensions? Do they have an idea that the contents of their programmes have a bearing on the people’s choices of war and peace, and societal unrest or calm?
Unfortunately, no such study has ever been carried out. This is perhaps why even the business of countering the propaganda from across the borders in a sensitive place like Jammu and Kashmir has been sub-let to semi-professional business-people, for whom making of television software is just like any other kind of business venture – sole aim being to make some easy and quick money. These pseudo-intellectuals and political sycophants who are in the business are anything but media professionals. They are certainly not programmed to think in terms of political impacts and outcomes of television programmes. No wonder, almost 80-90 percent of the content donning the ‘DD Kashir’ today, if at all, does anything besides earning handsome money for their producers, as well as good kickbacks for the bosses in DD right from the Mandi House to DDK Srinagar here, end up insulting viewers’ intellect, and is, therefore, only counter-productive for the basic aims and goals of the Kendra, and is thus responsible for wastage of huge sums of country’s financial resources.
Those who watch the programmes telecast from DDK Srinagar (Kashir Channel) will testify that bulk of the programmes that ride the waves of air from the transmission towers atop Koh-e-Sulaimon (Mount Sulaimon) fits into the description of ‘televised trash’. Those people in cities and towns of Kashmir who have the privilege of Cable TV can, and of course they do, use their remote control devices to put an end to their torment. But in the countryside, where majority of the population lives and where there are no Cable TV facilities, people can’t help but hurl abuses and invectives at the actors, producers as well as the bosses at Doordarshan for allowing air-time to such programmes which bore them to death, besides making the mockery of Kashmir’s culture and tradition as well as its Kashmiri and Urdu languages.
Jerry Mander, one of the writers who have tied together some solid scientific research on the impact of television viewing on the brain waves and memory, writes: “I feel hypnotised, brain-washed, like a vegetable, drugged, spaced out….”
Mind it this is what he writes after watching quality programmes telecast over highly professional channels in the United States. Now if Mr. Mander is forced to watch what people in Kashmir are supposed to tolerate and “appreciate”, one can only wonder what his comments would be like!
“Why do people watch television?” Just ask this question to anybody. And the most likely answer will be: “… because it helps us to forget about our otherwise overloaded, hassled lives.”
Surely, in an era wherein according to Alvin Toffler, people are ragged by “decisional overload”, and particularly in a place like Kashmir which has been at the centre of a bloody turmoil and which is overly politicised to the core, people’s lives are far more hassled and full of tensions than they have ever braved.
So the role of television too has come into the realm wherein it is expected to act as a tranquilliser so that it would calm and soothe nerves and at the same time spare the “patient” from the side-effects of using actual sedatives and other drugs. It has, in the real sense, to educate and inform people about all the politics that is being played with and to them, both from across the border and from within at the behest of the masters across, and around. And for this one doesn’t really have to resort to untrue and false propaganda.
Facts speak for themselves, and truth itself is the most effective and potent weapon against all forms and kinds of falsehood. So a truthful, honest, and rational analyses of the political rhetoric that has for years been used to incite and foment trouble could actually neutralise its harmful effects by educating and informing people about how the selective interpretation of political overtures, and at times even the sacred texts is used to yield political dividends for a select few, within and without. For this one doesn’t need to go overboard, as is the case right now, when packaging of the content is done so poorly that it ends up insulting and infuriating the viewers, not against the ‘enemy’ but against the country.
Programmes like ‘Sarhad Ke Do Rukh’ or ‘Pakistan Reporter’ for instance, or for that matter the third-grade trash produced by the Regional News Unit (RNU) of DDK Srinagar, owing to the creative bankruptcy of its bosses, appear nothing but brazen propaganda. One really wonders what percentage of people actually watch these programmes, and those who do, how many of them believe the content — not because what is said is not true, but also because of the way it is bombarded on their faces!
This is why ‘creative or imaginative bankruptcy’ of the makers is stressed here. Armed with a little bit of imagination and creative packaging, these programmes too could be turned around to make a huge impact, which they are never ever going to make in their current formats.
Although the mushrooming of news channels thanks to Cable TV has given people a lot of choice in terms of television, as mentioned above, the reach of Cable TV is still very limited, particularly in the countryside. Here the people rely mostly on the DDK Srinagar, and its Kashir Channel for their television needs. Even in the city and towns, people would ideally switch over to DDK Srinagar and its Kashmir Channe’ for instance at 7:00 PM for the evening news. But here they are treated to J&K Government’s Information Department’s press releases, which very rarely go beyond the foundation-stone-laying and/or inauguration functions involving senior government functionaries. The so-called news bulletins hardly ever talk about what is ‘NEWS’ by definition!
The reason for this is that these news bulletins too have been turned into a personal public relations firm by the local bosses at the Regional News Unit (RNU), who only use it as a tool of political sycophancy to further their personal political and material interests. No wonder, today a large percentage of people prefer watching even news from other networks rather than DD Kashir’s news. Unlike the Doordarshan, some other channels at least give a reasonable time to daily happenings in and around Kashmir as also talk about the issues and concerns faced by the people here in their day-to-day life.
They also talk about the development needs and issues of the people – like some areas being without proper drinking water, some areas lacking roads, some people protesting against a damaged transformer in the area… This type of coverage, owing to its public-centricity, gives people a reason to relate and identify with it because it is their needs, their problems and their concerns that are highlighted and talked about rather than (as in case of DD news of Kashir Channel) furthering the personal agenda of the bosses at RNU.
For those who fund the programmes for the DDK Srinagar, its Kashir Channel, as also those who scrutinise and commission the proposals of these programmes, this should serve as an important input to contextualise what their audiences want from them and their programmes.
People want the media to talk about them, their needs and issues and concerns. People want the media to talk about their fears and worries, their aims and aspirations – and mind it, for a good majority these are certainly not political in the conventional sense of the term. These issues are, in most cases, developmental and need-oriented and it could be tackled like that.
The example of the famous and highly successful Radio opera – the ‘Zoon Dab’, broadcast over Radio Kashmir Srinagar in the mornings for years, can be cited to buttress the point. ‘Zoon Dab’ was a breakfast show which had a family – Father (Aga Saheb), Mother (AgaBai), and children (Nazir Lala, and Nana Koor) besides a couple of domestic helps (Maama and Ismala), and this family would get a guest or two every morning, who would come and share their concerns about contemporary issues, or talk about specific developmental problems of their areas. Such a success was this show that it ran for decades and no household in Kashmir would miss it.
The performers (artistes) of this show, which was perhaps the first soap opera on Indian Radio, were catapulted to such legendary figures that their opinion and take on the issues became the deciding factor for audiences’ choices in so many different spheres. ‘Zoon Dab’, as all those people who have been associated with the show, as also those who have listened to it for years would testify, was not a political show, yet it wielded such power that it could easily influence people’s political choices.
Couple of years back, Pakistan’s ‘Geo TV’, ran an interesting show named ‘Khabar Nak’ — which was a sort of parody on both ‘news’ (‘Khabar’), and the title was conceived so that it sounded ‘dangerous’ (‘Khatarnak’). This was a humorous show with razor-sharp spontaneous wit, some real good information-laden anchoring and lots of Indian music. The show would analyse the issues and concerns of Pakistan, which as anybody would know, are no mean and ordinary by any standard yardstick, in such a humorous way that even the most-touchy issues would be discussed without anybody raising a brow.
Why can’t we have such shows here? What is wrong in having shows that discuss and dissect local politics without actually deploring it just for the sake of it? For instance, the kind of politics of secessionism or separatism that has been on display here, and the misfortunes it has brought to the people and the place, could easily be discussed in an open and honest manner. Why make a particular brand of politics and politicians “untouchables” for this mainstream TV channel when the known political aim of the country is to mainstream these very people?
Of course, doing such shows will require very careful and deft handling. But then there certainly are people capable of doing such shows in a highly professional and ‘statesmanly’ manner. They may not be there among the current breed of broadcasters, producers and directors, who are neither trained nor qualified for handling political content although for years now they have been minting money like anything!
Moreover, instead of being Pakistan-focused, it’s prudent to be Kashmir-centred in our approach to TV, for the TV programmes here may (read can) not change anything in Pakistan, but they can certainly impact the choices of people here.
For instance, we have not been successful in convincing tobacco companies that they should stop manufacturing cigarettes; however, the campaigns aimed at educating people about the harms of smoking have yielded encouraging results. We are living in the fourth-wave era where knowledge and information are the most potent and effective levers of power. If employed effectively, knowledge and information can play a vital role in controlling and curbing the incidence of civil strife and political unrest.
Like international wars, civil wars too start as propaganda wars wherein the enemy is demonised and consent is manufactured for violent action. We have seen this happen in Rwanda where Hutu radio broadcasts demonized Tutsis and paved the way for their genocide. We have seen it happening in former Yugoslavia where the media was used to propagate the hyper-emotional rhetoric of ethnic and religious superiority to fuel ethnic and religious hatreds, which led to the civil war. We have seen it happen in Kashmir in the wake of 2008 Amarnath Land row, drowning of two Shopian girls in 2009, and in the summer of 2010 and 2016 when social media were used to stoke trouble.
Both in Rwanda as well as in the Balkans, the international community failed terribly in harnessing the power of the media to counter the hate propaganda. In Kashmir, the government reacted by snapping mobile internet on several occasions in order to crack down on this social media abuse for stoking trouble, but such measures have had its own side-effects as well. Such failures must serve both as an eye-opener and a challenge for us so that effective ways and means of employing media for anti-war purposes are devised and employed here.
When a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl testified before the Congress (in USA) during the first Gulf War to the effect that Iraqi troops in Kuwait were killing premature babies and stealing the incubators to take them back to Iraq, she twanged many a heartstring. The world was not told that she was actually the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador and a member of the royal family, and that her appearance was stage-managed by the Hill & Knowlton public relations firm on behalf of the Kuwaitis!
But in today’s world such brazen propaganda is not possible — for the various internet-based real-time media have so advanced and proliferated that anybody indulging in such an exercise will be doing it at its own peril.
Propaganda need not be false. Atrocity stories are important, but they need not necessarily be untrue. There is enough material available which if presented properly and without going for any hyperbolic inflation will yield desired results. Similarly, instead of relying on mind-wrenches of demonization and/or dehumanisation of the opponent, one could tactfully de-mask them to show their real faces to the people and leave it for the audiences’ wisdom to draw proper inferences.
Polarisation – ‘those who are not with us are against us’- is not always true. Politics is, after all, not just black and white. Much of life occurs in the shades of grey, and this is where the hope of/for life lies. If the adversary is laying the claim to divine sanction, draping aggression in religious garb, the media can rationally and tactfully refer to the same divine sanction, same sacred texts to decree that the kind of politics which hurts people is anything but religiously legitimate.
Actually proper research methodology arms one with the kind of intellectual inputs that any false interpretation or propaganda could easily be shredded apart in full public view. From propaganda, one has to elevate to meta-propaganda — which is particularly potent because instead of challenging the veracity of a single claim or story, it calls into question everything that comes from the enemy. Its aim is to produce wholesale, as distinct from retail, disbelief.
Each of the suggestions listed above is designed to exploit the mass media including the official DDK Srinagar and Kashir Channel to sway mass emotion in mass society like Kashmir. But the question is: do we really agree that this is a potential area that is in need of a serious intellectual and creative input; and that it could bring about a massive turnaround in the Kashmir’s political and social landscape by laying bare every kind of brazen political mischief which have over the years turned this place into a cesspool of popular frustrations and hate?
That Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar was only the third production centre in the country after Delhi and Bombay (Mumbai) stations was not without reason. Jammu and Kashmir being a sensitive border state had to be brought into the mainstream politico-developmental discourse. So this Kendra, commissioned in 1973, remained a priority all along for every political and administrative dispensation.
In return, Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar also held up the trust and expectations of its bosses in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, and Doordarshan’s Central Directorate, but more importantly, was able to generate enough goodwill and appreciation of its local audiences in J&K. This is why the Kendra has had so many firsts (in the country) to its credit in terms of innovative content generation.
But as they say, all good things come to an end. Today the situation is such that Kendra does not have even an officer – versed with local politico-social sensitivities and cultural ethos — to head or oversee the content that is generated here. Having fallen to the falling ranks in the absence of any local recruitments for a long time, now the situation has reached such a passé that even the head of programmes (HOP) come from outside – and for whom Kashmir is nothing more than a “holiday destination which is so badly infested with terrorism!” This lack of understanding and appreciation for the local nuance is visibly evident in the programmes that are put out from this Kendra to ride the waves of air.
References
https://kashmirobserver.net/2019/01/09/scam-ridden-dd-kashmir%c2%92s-popularity-nosedives/
https://kashmirlife.net/a-dirty-picture-6442/
https://www.kashmirindepth.com/dd-kashir-witnessing-free-fall-due-to-malpractices/
https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/ddk-director-ex-director-among-24-issued-show-cause-notices/
https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/dd-kashir-belies-high-hopes-2/
https://www.greaterkashmir.com/gk-magazine/from-where-to-where-2
https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/cook-turns-producer-for-dd/story-uWHziTlWZsBU7PJ3mhb7IM.html
https://kashmirglacier.com/2018/12/27/dd-kashir-a-saga-of-broken-promises/
https://kashmirobserver.net/2020/12/03/artistic-lament-over-dd-kashir-at-zero-bridge/
https://freepresskashmir.news/2017/09/12/centre-to-revamp-dd-kashir-to-woo-kashmiris/
http://asu.thehoot.org/media-watch/regional-media/dd-loses-to-ptv-in-jammu-and-kashmir-2299
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