By virtue of an honest admission by a few police officials (not any of the high ranking ones I personally know) I have come to understand that the Police is afraid of the Media. They are so scared that there are apparently unwritten instructions to them directing them to turn a blind eye when the media misbehaves or crosses the limits of decency and acceptable civil behavior. Also as a corollary the moment media is involved, the police batons come down heavier and faster in support of the press, TV and so on.

So expecting the police to take action against a media crew gone crazy is foolhardy. You only need to drive down KBR Park Road around midnight to understand that the police and the media are hand in hand…if not hand in glove. The amount of TV crews that hang around when the police are checking for inebriated drivers is embarrassing. I mean, we can understand the police drive against drunken driving but surely there is room for discretion and sensitivity. I have heard that channels extract money from individuals (especially celebrities) to stop telecast of some awkward footage.

This brings us to the Rain incident. It’s a glaring example of media misuse, and abuse of the power of communication. But I do hope the media this time, has bitten off more than it can chew. If it needs Justices of the Supreme Court to intervene and speed up legal processes and make the powers that be shiver…then maybe it’s up to lawyers and ‘about to be lawyers’ to put the media cops in their place.

The media has to be sensitized to the fact that there is a world that has evolved…and women in cosmopolitan environments do not stay back at home, nor dress and behave like Sita any more. And an evening dress is not to be misunderstood as an expose. And the police has to be re-energized into reigning in these wielders of the media sword.

But hey, that’s a long process. Perhaps even an impossible one. The police will continue to be afraid of the media. And the media will continue to hire people who are nowhere near journalistically qualified. And the fight for TRPs, for sensationalism will continue unabated for a long time to come.

So what do we, ordinary citizens do about the problem. I think we have no choice but to go to our elected leaders en mass. Go to the closest Government Officials that we can find. Not to complain…not at all. But to request them to come to our aid. And do what they do so well, so naturally.

Let our politicians step up the pace on corruption, on graft, on land grabbing etc. Let our government officials do all of that and more. Make more money. Take more bribes. Sign off some more assets. Fight amongst yourselves. Backstab each other. In short let them do anything that will take the media’s attention away from people who want to have a peaceful drink at the nearby pub and focus it on topics and people who have more interest, more possibilities and more relevance.

Because I have noticed that moral policing starts only when the political climate and the administrative environment cool down to such an extent that there is nothing happening. Then the media is starved of news and the hunt begins. The prey becomes the predator and a simple night out in town becomes an unmitigated disaster. A nightmare.

Of course there is another option. In any case media is becoming nothing but an advertising vehicle and has almost lost all pretences to ethical journalism. So why not increase the number of ads that are allowed onto media. There was a time when the News to Advertising ratio was in the 80:20 region…then it settled down to 60:40…I think now we are lucky if they don’t cross the 50:50 line.

But the programs will become boring and the channels will lose viewership. So I guess the first option is a better bet.

Is it now time for us to launch a ‘Jaago India; Jaago’ campaign for our leaders…remind them that they have been sleeping on the job…not making enough money…not allowing themselves to be caught by hidden cameras…because if we have needed them ever, we need them now.

To distract a media hungry for fodder. To divert the attention of the people to something more relevant and current.

What we need is a Veerappan! A rogue bandit the media can have a long affair with.

Damn…the most qualified scoundrel of all is languishing in jail :-)