The foreign ministry’s recent decision to hire columnists capable of refuting criticisms about Bangladeshi incumbents abroad exposes a graver reality than the objective of the scheme indicates.
Clearly the authorities have lost confidence in reports, articles, and eulogies and whatever gets published these days. They have apprehensions towards organized campaigns in the next one and a half years that may affect “the country’s image.”
Who loves an objective story or fair analytical piece that goes against his/her interest? And who doesn't when s/he needs to uphold truth as the ultimate defense? The average leader wishes to live in an imagined world free from pieces of information that are “hazardous” to them as well. It’s become a global trend to try to create and sustain a system of disseminating “favourable information” after all.
Such a monopolistic situation, however, discourages people to rely on newspapers and television channels, particularly the ones subservient to the establishment, for meeting public needs and curiosity.
The erosion of trust in the media results in a decline in its circulation/viewership and revenue but also directly impacts jobs and professional integrity of all those hired in such organizations. A few media managers’ attempts to exercise self-serving independence attract some readers and viewers, but these houses too can’t escape the wrath of the powerful groups despite their loyalty and attempts at self-censorship.
“SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) have become a leading threat to journalists and press freedom worldwide, and have stifled critical reporting on organized crime and political corruption, a growing transnational threat,” says a recent Columbia Journalism Review analysis A Nefarious and Hidden Threat to Journalists Rises.
In Bangladesh, as elsewhere, newsmen are struggling to draw the attention of readers and viewers while the media management and entrepreneurs desperately look for viable business models that remain elusive. Often forgotten is the axiom that the media’s credibility loss leads to its inevitable business loss.
In most countries, trust is more often perceived to have decreased over the last five years than has increased, according to a 2019 essay “The impact of declining trust in the media” produced by French market research and consulting firm Ipsos. Around a third of people across the globe (34%) reportedly trust newspapers and magazines, less than they did five years ago.
“Media corporations are therefore operating in a particularly challenging climate, where they need to understand and work hard to overcome concerns about the sources communicating about them,” the essay has argued.
In such a state of affairs, the search for “good” columnists confirms the shortage of quality writers, perhaps among the loyal groups, and the incapacity of the cadre diplomats to offer narratives countering the dissenting voices heard worldwide.
It’s yet to be known whether journalists and writers of any conscience are interested in serving certain elements for lucrative remuneration that would ultimately come from the tax-payer’s pockets. The scheme may obviously promote the interests of the protagonists.
Only the fear of truth prompts many to show a liking for fake news and narratives that say what they want to hear. There are complaints about reporting and writing, but it is social media that unleashes a mess of information putting the media's overall credibility at risk.
Now, those who hate objectivity in news coverage question the right to raise questions about governance and ethics of celebrities. Donald Trump is someone who made tens of thousands of false and fabricated statements in the four years of his presidency, but named his platform Truth Social. His friend, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, pledged he won’t attack Ukraine only to prove his critics’ predictions to be true and still there are reports justifying his invasion of a sovereign country.
Politicians, bureaucrats, corporate bosses, and others admire a vibrant media if it serves their interests well and doesn’t embarrass them in any way. Otherwise, newspapers, television channels, and online portals are dubbed bad, ugly, and even fake.
It’s not difficult to manipulate individual journalists and their organizations when the media loses its inherent strength to do its own business: Upholding truth and just causes of society.
Khawaza Main Uddin, pursuing journalism in Bangladesh for about 28 years, is the winner of UN MDG Award, DAJA Award, and WFP Award.
