Rural Reporting a Need of the Hour

“Rural India is not the priority of mainstream media by a thousand miles. So Gorakhpur is what happens when governments don't have any way to monitor poor governance by local functionaries, and when the mainstream media rarely covers public health — except when 23 children suddenly die”.

                                                                                            Nilesh Misra ( Times of India 20 Aug 2017)

        When other major hospitals in UP bought liquid oxygen directly from manufacturers like INOX or Lende Gas, why was an intermediary, Pushpa Sales, given the BRD contract for years? How was the hospital principal Rajiv Mishra's wife exercising control on his behalf? How were the doctors running a private service and even advertising it on the walls of the government hospital? Why were warnings of oxygen shortage ignored? These are the questions to which, the press needs to seek answers from the government functionaries rather than running after hyped political news that covers more than 50 percent of the print media.Imagine if this is the case from the city which is a Chief Ministers constituency, what could be condition in rural areas where there are no patrons.   This is what concerns us, the very basic sectors  Health, Education and Agriculture need to be given due importance by our press lest it wants to reach a stage of impotence. We need reporters in rural hinterland to compel agencies to  crystal gaze the impending problems of health and education  as a result of poor governance in rural areas through their stories. 

        Journalists are proving to be couch potatoes and reporters from the field are no longer finding satisfaction in their work. Indeed there is no rivalry between the field reporters & those on the desk just because the reporter earns his bread & stays free while reporting from urban beat. Reporters seldom spend nights  in the rural areas just because it isn’t sought for by the news agencies , until & unless it’s a report that leads to propaganda which further leads to increased circulation & TRP. Most of us do know where the city's waste goes, and how it is collected, but is waste collected in a village, and where does it go? Well, nowhere. A filth time bomb is ticking away in rural India because lifestyles are changing there and the same chips packets and water bottles and other urban non-biodegradable waste is choking the landscape. One visit to any rural Govt School or PHC (Primary Health Centre) will give so many stories that the reporter can publish for better governance in the hinterland.

         The issues prevailing in rural India and suggested measures to improve standards of living are never pondered by the journalist since they are focused on the cities and find easy controversies to be reported. Inclusive development to provide urban amenities in rural areas through prompt reporting will help maintain the social structure of the country and reduce migration of rural masses to urban areas in search of better lifestyle. Appropriate rural reporting will improve the standard of living amongst the poor rural population through voluntary campaigns such as community participation and entrepreneurship.

         Shadow reporting of any grant or aid from the Govt or any international NGO to various health agencies working in India has been a challenge & the journalists also don’t find it interesting enough. The press needs to rekindle the faith of all agencies and prove to be a cog in the wheel to success rather than a spoke in the wheel that puts a stop to the success. Isn't it time to shed the mainstream media bias and embrace  watchdog journalism that informs the public about goings-on in institutions and society, especially in circumstances where a significant portion of the public would demand changes in response.

GATLIN the BOO merang ! Are we a Sport ?

Gatlin, 35, clocked 9.92 seconds as he beat second-placed compatriot Christian Coleman and legendary Jamaican Usain Bolt, who was third. Bolt, 30, was unable to secure a 20th global gold in his final individual 100m race before retiring.

Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, was booed before and after Saturday's World Championship final at London Stadium, and when he was presented with his medal. In 2001, when he was still at college, Gatlin was given a two-year suspension for taking a banned amphetamine. He successfully argued this was because of medication he took for attention deficit disorder and was allowed to return to competition after a year. Then, in 2006 - having won the 100m and 200m double at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki - he tested positive again, this time for testosterone. Gatlin was banned for eight years, avoiding a lifetime ban in exchange for his co-operation with doping authorities. This suspension was halved to four years on appeal. But the crowd at London Stadium booed before and after Saturday's World Championship when Gatlin was presented with his medal. Even the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) chief Lord Sebatian Coe aired his views saying  "I'm not eulogistic that someone who has served two bans has walked off with one of our glittering prizes."

It's not Gatlin's fault in any way that he proved his mettle. He played by the rules laid down by WADA [the World Anti-Doping Agency] that allow him to return. The IAAF reinstated him and allowed him to compete. Bolt had no problem with Gatlin competing and later winning the race which was to be the Grand Finale to a glittering career of Usian Bolt; he remains the grand sportsman that he is but the reaction from the crowd & Lord Coe is indeed worth reviewing. Gatlin won the bronze medal at London in 2012 [Olympics] and no-one said a word. It was only when he started to challenge Bolt after 2015 it became an issue. Booing of Gatlin was surely “disrespectful to the sport" as remarked by Gatlin’s father.

The point to ponder is; what drew such reaction from the crowd. Are we not human enough to forgive faults or are we such hero worshippers that we can’t see our hero fading away? Can we forget the un-fateful day on 13 March 96 at Eden Gardens Kolkatta when the fans got unruly and hurled abuses at the Srilankan Cricket team since their heros were at the point of surrender and finally the match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Srilanka. Next day the crowd did apologise and over the next few days, Concern for Calcutta an NGO placed half-page advertisements in newspapers with a single word, “Sorry”, printed in 400-point size across the space.  In an arena where sportspersons display their spirit does the crowd have the right to display their disdain and not allow an athlete to ever prove his/her mettle as if a final verdict has been passed against their participation. Are we sport enough to participate, even as an audience ?