Media has to protect democracy, says Peter Hain

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, NOV. 21. Any challenge to democracy must be confronted squarely by the media, using its influence over people to fight attitudes, beliefs and behaviour that weaken freedom, Mr.Peter Hain, U.K. Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said today.

The media was an instrument of democracy, and it should be free in every sense of the word, holding Governments to account and reporting the truth at all costs.

The Minister was addressing students of the Asian College of Journalism here, on ``media in a democracy''.

But would media have the capability to mount such challenges in the present era when powerful companies or corporations wielded global influence, controlling a range of media from print to the Internet, Mr. Hain asked.

The Minister said the world looked different since the cold war, and new power centres, new economies and cultures, personalities and even new media like the Internet had emerged.

If media was more advanced technologically, disseminating information at a speed unthinkable a few years ago, its priorities had also changed human rights and the environment had moved up on its agenda.

The result of the transformation process, Mr. Hain said, was that ``news is no longer news''. It had to be packaged, it would not sell on its own, it had to ``be sold''.

Referring to the TV network coverage of the recent U.S. elections, he wondered whether speed and the rush to judge was doing everyone a disservice.

Mr. Hain, who has been an anti-apartheid campaigner, said he relied on an institution like the BBC World Service to get the unbiased news in that era. Mr. Nelson Mandela, during his 27 years of incarceration, relied on a radio and the BBC.

The Minister expressed happiness at the linkages established by the ACJ with the BBC and the Cardiff University in Wales, which would promote academic exchanges and bring in an international perspective.

A free press could have differing interpretations depending on the social context, but it should be free, in every sense of the word, during good times and bad, in peace and during war.

Answering questions from the students, Mr. Hain said if television was becoming superficial due to ``sound byte'' journalism, it was the result of a ``conspiracy'' between the lazy viewers, advertisers and the politicians, to devalue news. This approach could be very detrimental to democracy and freedom.

Mr.N. Ram, Trustee, MDF highlighted Mr. Hain's campaign against apartheid and the use of non-violent methods in his fight against injustice.

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