Decoding the Media Silence Over the Meerut Rape Case

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Dhanya Rajendran | The News Minute | August 5, 2014 | 2.16 pm IST

(Comment)

On Monday, the Hindustan Times and several local newspapers in Meerut carried reports about tension gripping the city over the alleged abduction and gangrape of a madrassa teacher. She was reported to be a teacher at the madarassa in Meerut’s Sarawa village. Her complaint stated that she was forcibly converted to Islam, gang-raped at a madarasa in neighboring Haour village, then taken to yet another madarasa in Muzaffarnagar where she was kept in confinement and gang-raped.

By Monday afternoon, social media was abuzz about the case. The right wing twitterati and many others questioned the mainstream media, especially English news channels and their silence on the issue. #Meerutgangrape was trending on Twitter and expectedly the discourse soon turned vitriolic, transformed into communal slanging and thus, dangerous to peace and sense of security.

People, on the extreme sides of the spectrum and those stuck in between questioned the English media’s silence, which was seen as hypocrisy. Was the media scared to cover the case as a Madarasa was involved was the main question.

By evening, many media outlets that had so far not reported on the Meerut case had hastily put together copies on their web portal, but the social media outrage was not easily assuaged.

Several neutral observers monitoring the debate wondered whether the outrage over the Meerut rape case was more about the issue of perpetrators forcibly converting the victim to their religion or about the atrocities suffered by the victim. Several others justified their silence and lack of support for the victim as a more prudent course of action for maintaining communal peace and not flaring up an already restive atmosphere.

The News Minute spoke to reporters working with national channels in Uttar Pradesh bureaus and to news editors in Delhi to gauge if there was indeed a blackout on the news item. One reporter with an English news channel said, “There was initially lack of factual clarity - confusion with the date the kidnapping happened. There was also no clarity on rumours that other girls were present at the Madarsa. Moreover, the survivor had not given statement to police or gone for a medical test. There were two versions floating. One that she was not co-operating and second that she was not well. I informed my Delhi office, rest was their call.”

This was a reason cited by other reporters on the ground- the facts were hazy. In the last few weeks, many cases of rape in Uttar Pradesh have been reported by the national media, and in many of these cases, the facts were hazy.

In the Meerut case, a national newspaper like the Hindustan Times had an elaborate report.

“The reason for being cautious about the story, in spite of Hindustan Times and others reporting is that it can flare up communal tensions. We need to exercise restraint and cannot fall into the trap of BJP and RSS leaders who want to whip up communal tension,” another reporter told The News Minute.

Journalists often exchange information and therefore, it is baffling that the news channels who wanted to play safe didn't quote the HT report to talk about the alleged abduction and gangrape. Given the sensitivity of the case, waiting until clarity emerged about the facts of the case was a good judgment call. However, the behavior of the media in reporting on other cases, such as the Maharashtra Sadan case involving the Shiv Sena recently, has people asking if a double standard is not being applied.

Secularism seemed to have won the round over standing up for a woman demanding justice.

But is this where the media is getting it all wrong? On Monday, most English news channels did not even devote a ticker to the Meerut gangrape, on Tuesday it dominated their headlines. In the time they were silent, social media was on a full gallop. Passions had been whipped up on social media and the targets included were the mainstream media and their hypocritical silence.

Can mainstream media afford to watch from the sidelines and ignore certain reports which it believes can whip up communal tensions? It appears that here too media chooses their stories to ignore. The logic of silence is baffling as the Shiv Sena roti feeding episode was played up thoroughly, that too during the Ramzan season. So what is the yardstick to decide which story will flare communal tension?

“The Meerut story could have been reported just as any other crime. But newsrooms decided to stay silent on the story as there was a madarasa involved, issue of conversion and also the discrepancies in the case details,” a news Editor of a Hindi news channel told The News Minute. If there were concerns about the act of conversion, perhaps the Meerut story could have been reported as a crime under violence against women. The blackout on the other hand has led to the snowballing of the issue with a stated communal hue.

Sources in three different channels told The News Minute said that the factual discrepancies did deter them, but the main reason for the non reportage was the communal sensitivities involved.

What is worrying for a journalist like me is that the reasons many news channels to have not touched the story may reflect genuine intent, but the anger that it has evoked has resulted in further misunderstanding and a flaring of passions. In these times of social media activism, any lapse on the part of mainstream media is pounced upon by social media enthusiasts.

The problem the media faces is perhaps of their own doing - the often disproportionate sensationalism that they create around these cases. Today bulletins through the day are generally a build up towards the evening prime time slots, where star anchors can bombard people with questions. The Badaun rape case or the child rape in Bangalore were convenient to report about as the outrage was directed against police and government. Even on the evening discussions, the targets would have been the police and government.

If the Meerut case had been covered by the national media the way the Badaun and Bangalore cases had been covered, who or what would have been the target of panelists on evening prime-time shows?

The national media has maneuvered itself into a corner, by following a format of evening shows in which someone or something has to be placed before the firing squad. Given this set of affairs, it was impossible to cover this particular sexual offence the way it had covered similar cases in the past. This has also made it vulnerable to criticism of a double standard.

This is perhaps where there needs to be a common yardstick. Some crimes are not bigger than the other, one state government’s responsibility is not lesser than the other’s. There appears to be a dangerous fatigue setting in around reporting of crimes. With increased reporting of cases, unless a rape or molestation case is gorier than the ones previously reported, there is little interest in pursuing the various facets of the story. At a time when public faith in the media is fast eroding, news organizations need to apply the highest ethical and professional standards urgently.

The cynicism and jadedness are two pitfalls media must be wary of. With the social media snapping at their heels, often dictating how an event is covered or the proportion of coverage allotted to it, mainstream media will have to review how they cover stories and perhaps shun selective silence or be damned for taking sides.