Public RelationsCrime and punishment
Business Standard / New Delhi January 06, 2010, 0:08 IST
The bad guys in the news these days almost look like characters out of a B-grade film. With his painted moustache all twirled up and a smirk that immediately angered the viewer, former Haryana Director General of Police SPS Rathore was destined to get punished once the media went for him. Not only has he lost his police medal, the Haryana government has also filed an FIR charging him with abetting Ruchika Girotra’s suicide. The relentless media exposure finally did to this police officer what the entire law and order system failed to do all these years. It is likely all of us in the media will chalk it up as another victory for campaign journalism. Add to this other media victories like reversing the Jessica Lal verdict, the Priyadarshini Mattoo case, the Nitish Katara trial, and a host more, and it is obvious the fourth estate is stepping in to reform the law and order system where the executive and the judiciary are failing to deliver. All these are excellent examples of the media forcing the government to discipline what are clearly “rogue” elements in the police force. Certainly the victories need to be celebrated, but the media needs to do a lot more before it can declare victory. For one, it is clear the stories being pursued, with the ones on television undoubtedly having more impact, are those where a clear victim can be seen — a Ruchika, a Jessica, a Priyadarshini. What about the stories where the victim is not so obvious? In the Madhu Koda case, for instance, the media never pursued the story beyond the obvious handout from the investigating authorities on the details of his properties — one reason could be that selling a story of a teenager committing suicide after a police officer molested her is far easier than one explaining the state of Jharkhand had been more than molested.
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Indeed, few in the media, and this newspaper is also guilty on that account, went and scrutinised the mining leases Koda handed out, to highlight who the companies that had got the licences were, and then talked around to see what the problems with their applications were. Two, it is rare to see a full-blown corporate scandal either being unearthed or followed up with the same passion exhibited in the Ruchika/Jessica/Priyadarshini cases. Satyam was an exception, not the rule. While it is true that more often than not a media “scoop” is in fact a “leak” and, therefore, many stories run dry after the initial leak has run its course, there is the larger issue of going beyond the visible malcontents to exposing the elements that are responsible for the ills of the system. For every rogue police officer misusing his authority there is a system of rewards and punishment that does not do enough to discipline the malcontents and reward the good performers. Having ensured the delivery of justice in a few high profile cases, the media must also step in to push for police reform.