The Jakarta Globe reported on the media's role in fighting corruption and how they are failing the people.
The Press Council chairman complained that "News reports on corruption were still mainly focused on law-enforcement aspects, such as the prosecution of perpetrators, rather than on the preventive aspects of the campaign, and thus failed to provide much of a deterrent for would-be offenders."
This is a difficult issue. There is no question that the media is a key tool in fighting corruption. Yet we must understand that most outlets are driven by sales. We cannot ask them to focus on something other than maximum consumption, specifically because the media is only effective if people consume it.
So what sells? I'm not sure, but I'd love to hear a bunch of news editors debate this.
Okay, you HAVE to see Peepli Live! Distortion and grandstanding by the media is at the heart of this film, an ironic look at the intersection of media and politics. At the heart of the film are the victims: the lower caste system whose dependence on agriculture has led them into a Kafkaesque nightmare. What is the root of such corruption?; does the blame-game make sense in this context? How can it be addressed? As you point out, the media survives on being consumed? When one plays to the crowd, the truth (actually, "truth" depends on the lens through which one is siting "it") seems not to matter any longer.
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