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By Frederick Noronha If Goa's Press was a patient, a doctor called-in would probably diagnose it both deaf and blind. What's worse, it's heart would fail the test; while suffering from acute vertigo our media often loses its sense of balance. Is this too pessimistic a view from someone who has been part of the press in Goa for over two decades? In numerical terms, the press is vibrant. A small state of 1.4 million has three daily newspapers in the English-language, eight in the regional languages (of these one in Devanagari Konkani and the rest in Marathi, including Goa editions of outstation papers). It also has a myriad of other weeklies, just one English-language monthly (Goa Today). Then, there are scores of irregular publications and souvenirs that are quick to make their presence felt -- like seasonal mushrooms -- specially when there's any promise of government largess looming on the horizon in the form of advertising. It's not quality alone that matters. But even in numerical terms itself, the growth of the media in the state can be questioned, depending on how one views it. Daily circulation of all newspapers combined totals around 200,000 copies. For a state of 1.4 million, isn't this a small number? It would indicate that the media in Goa -- with its heavy agenda of surface-level politics, Panjim-centric reporting and a bit of sport -- isn't really touching the lives of the vast majority of this state. Even if half of Goa's households, roughly speaking, get a newspaper at their home, does this call for complacency? It not only means that the other half are left out, but also that most of Goa's people are reading just one point of view and one newspaper. This, of course, can be a fatal decision, given the manner in which the media in the state gets polarised and takes sides over every little issue, whether political or communal or linguistic or educational. Together with politicians, Goa's press is one of the few other forces in the state that is almost continually fanning communalism, even if mostly keeping it on the slow-burner. If the English-language papers have to be a little circumspect in what they put out -- after all, English-reading skills cut across all sections of society -- those at the helm in some language or script that only a section reads normally have a field day. Even the English-language media does manage to send out subliminal messages to one or the other section of a state that has long known communal amity. Take the case of how an attempt to stoke up passions in recent months by damaging two crosses in Ponda is reported. Or the large amount of space devoted for continual hate-speech by spokespersons of communal organisations on a regular basis. NEXUS ACROSS REGIMES Nexus between politicians and journalists, both during the Congress regimes and more so during the BJP times, is still awaiting a deeper analysis. Manohar Parrikar's far larger-than-life public image was largely a successful fallout of smart media manipulation. That probably explains why he had to (in part, unnecessarily) take so much flak after his departure, by a populace that felt short-changed by a god with clay feet. But then, a largely passive readership also enables newspapers to suck up to the politicians in power, by finding just about any reason to praise them. Haven't we seen government after government being bestowed with lavish praise, only to then be quickly criticised when they fall from power? If they are such great performances, then why isn't Goa a paradise? On the other hand, doesn't the media show signs of short-term memory loss, when it comes to recalling all the many promises made by politicians? For ages, the media -- particularly on the English-language side -- has been stagnant in the state. The last major paper to be launched, the Gomantak Times, came over a decade-and-half ago. It is only now that one can see some competition entering the market. With the ownership of the Gomantak Times changing hands to the Maharashtra-based Pawars, differences are visible. A Sujay Gupta-edited Gomantak Times has undeniably made the media -- not just the GT -- more outspoken. Goa's papers are showing some signs of competition, and seem a little less willing to work under the shadow of the Establishment. Yet, not all is fine. One can ask whether the urge to "be outspoken" has not resulted in a trend towards sensationalism, and trials-by-the-media. Just as I write this piece, a friend, who has a never-say-die attitude over the media in Goa, dashed across an email as the clock's hands moved past midnight: "Our Press is showing signs of growing independence. I was pleasantly surprised to see (one paper carry) my letter ... (talking about corruption within the system) ... Why the hell do they change the writers emphasis, and fiddle with concise relevant factual letters written in public interest? TV channel GOA 365 is doing a better job than our local Press." But there is another issue buried here: how long will this "freedom" last? Publication after publication has shown the reality of the media in our state. As long as a newspaper is new, and needs the credibility badly, it is willing to boldly speak out the truth. Once numbers -- and, more critically, ad revenue -- grow, then the situation fast changes. It is then that the clamps come in. MANY ILLS Our media suffers from many ills. Foremost is the problem that few are even willing to acknowledge this. Fortunately, with the Fourth Estate now growing in size -- it is no more the chummy half-a-dozen reporters monopoly of the early 'eighties -- there is a little more self-criticism surfacing. That is a healthy trend. One other severe issue to be faced up to is the closeness to the seat of power -- regardless which government is in power, though the BJP has to be credited with outdoing in four years the one-and-half decade of Congress rule. (A new trend showing up is the way in which some who were close to the earlier regime have managed to speedily build bridges with the new government, and suck-up to it, without missing a step.) In one more comical reflection of this reality, politicians cutting across party lines often confuse the concept of the 'Fourth Estate' with the three arms of government. Just listen to what legislator after legislator has to say while speaking in assembly debates. It's the job of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary to govern. Media are not the fourth arm of government; and shouldn't be treated as such. The term Fourth Estate comes from a totally differing concept, and refers to the press, both in its explicit capacity of advocacy and in its implicit ability to frame political issues. The term goes back at least to Thomas Carlyle. The term Fourth Estate also has more infrequently referred to the proletariat in opposition to the three recognized estates (kings, lords and commons) of the French Ancien RĂ©gime. If we want to find a way out, we need to ask: where do the problems stem from? Newpaper managements, for the most, tend to lack vision and prefer to cosy up to those in power. Their other failings are a clear lack of vision, and a tendency to copy others. One of Goa's biggest woes as of now is that local papers are hardly local. Take a look at the English-language newspapers, and see the amount of space devoted to local issues. It's insignificant. Resultantly, much of Goa remains unconvered by the media. It has been this writer's long-held view that, inspite of Goa's supposed affluence, we remain an state covered in information-poverty. Goa's Marathi and Konkani papers tend to be marginally better. They mostly ignore global issues, but their coverage of Goa remains scanty, covered as it is largely with small, breaking-news-oriented stories. Together goes a diet of heavy coverage of the political world, and sometimes with a close partisan stand. It is not surprising that a handful of journalists have themselves tried their hand at becoming politicians. Mostly unsucessfully, fortunately. 'NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS' Local newspapers like to imagine that they are Goa editions of "national" newspapers. There are a number of arguments being put forward to justify such a position. Some focus on the changing demography of the reader in Goa, and the need to 'think broader'. Maybe the local newspaper proprietors' policy of favouring bringing in editors from out-of-state implies that most, the rare exception apart, is unlikely to understand Goa in a hurry. So, while we may be doing a third rate job of covering the rest of the country, we're failing in our basic agenda -- covering Goa itself. Both editors and journalists have only ourselves to blame; in some cases, it's a systemic failing. Stagnancy has long been rife in Goa's newspapers; for that you can blame both a lack of opportunity, going side-by-side with fairly enhanced salaries which tempt you to stay on (in some, not all, publications). Clearly, the media has failed in its social responsibility of agenda-setting in a manner that helps Goa go ahead, rather than just tail-along behind lobbies and politicians, or play divisive games merely with an eye on boosting circulation. Journalists in Goa have thrived on government largess, both at the individual level and collectively, failing to acknowledge that there is no such thing as a free meal. One section of Goa's media have long been steadfastly -- pro-government whichever the government in power. They have been willing to accept the official word for it, to project each successive government as god's gift to Goa (if that's the case, why do we still have so many problems to grapple with?) and pretend as if grandious statements from officialdom or the political class equals actual achievement. On the other hand, there is also a skeptical section within the media, but they are far smaller and their voice has been muted through a number of different ways. Ask the many who have chosen to function like journalists-in-exile.... At our starkly modest but yet independent unofficial press club -- Cafe Prakash in the heart of Panjim, where journos meet up each evening, thank goodness we don't have to depend on officialdom for this too -- there was some angst while introspection over where we err. One middle-aged journo quoted a senior as saying Goa's journalism is mostly pressnote-centric and press conference-based. True. We are all to blame for what's going wrong. What about readers who don't challenge or question media's abuse of the faith placed in them? For a start, we need to understand what are the areas of concern in Goa's media. Besides not having enough space for Goa, the papers here are unresponsive to the needs of the citizen. Pro status quoist journalism doesn't serve Goa, nor help to find a solution to the many trials its citizens face in their daily lives. In a world where advertising dominates, and cover prices have not kept up with rising costs, the reader can be taken even further for granted. Facing severe competition from the outstation press, including market-leaders dumped at incredibly low prices, the media in Goa finds it tough to fight back. This is not a justification for the state of affairs; it is merely a description of what goes. There's not enough space in newspapers to echo either the diversity of Goa, or specialist opinion from people who have something to say on issues ranging from education to health, sports, agriculture, music or culture. In October 2003, around a score of journalists wrote 20 essays on the state of the media in Goa. Those in the field had their own interesting stories to tell. From how journalism worked in the 'sixties, to a senior outstation journalist's view of journalism. There were chapters on the promising papers that failed -- the West Coast Times and Novem Goem, in particular. From then to the 'eighties, when the Herald came on the scene, amidst tales of intrigue, potential and failed promises. One chapter looked at the step-motherly treatment Goa's media gives to rural Goa. When viewed from down-up, as one proof reader's story recorded it, the media also have their own visible warts and serious short comings. Free-sheeters -- the ad-supported newspapers distributed free of cost, which some see as tending to be PR (public relations) oriented, have opened up a new ball game in Goa, and these get described too. How do journalists from outside look at the media in Goa? Has Konkani journalism failed its readers? Does Romi Konkani hold out a promise still? What ails police reporting? What are the strengths and weaknesses of sports journalism? How does it feel to transition from journalist to publisher, and what are the perils involved? These issues and more are discussed in this book, which is available for download from Project Gutenberg on the Internet. See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11523 Over recent months, we've seen growing competition in the English-language media. (Marathi has had this coming for some time now, including the arrival of plush new publications whose source of funding and political links remain a barely-hidden secret.) Will this improve quality, or will we just be seeing more of the same? Goa's reader deserves better. -- The writer has been in journalism since 1983, and can be contacted via email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] GOANET READER welcomes contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the Goanet family of mailing lists. Please do send in your feedback to the writer. Our writers share their writing pro bono. Goanet Reader welcomes your feedback at goanet@goanet.org