The book named MEDIA & TERROR | FACTS & FICTION published by Media Watch Department of SIO Karnataka was released by Dr. Banjagere Jayaprakash, Writer, Bangalore, Prof. V.S. Sridhar, National Law College, Bangalore, Lawyers B.T. Venkatesh Bangalore, A.K. Kukkila, Editor, Sanmarga Weekly, Mangalore, Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui, Journalist, Bangalore were present.
After documenting, compiling and analysing newspaper articles – published in 12 leading English and Kannada dailies – related to the infamous ‘Karnataka Terror Module’, the Media Watch department of Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) Karnataka – along with the help of journalists, activists and researchers – has published a book ‘Media and Terror | Facts and Fiction’ that aims to highlight the language which media houses ubiquitously adopt when it comes to reporting terror cases.
The goal of this book is not to ‘point a finger at’/‘accuse’/‘allege’ any wrongdoings or misreporting by any particular newspaper, but to refer to the general semantic problem of terror reporting by Indian media.
Acknowledging the fact that reporters are expected to develop and cultivate sources, especially if they regularly cover a specific topic/’beat’, the book stresses on the need for use of multiple sources to cross check information.
“Every media organization should have a simple, clear policy on using anonymous sources. Reporters should be required to ask an editor, executive producer or some other manager before using any information from anonymous sources,” the book suggests.
The influence of communal elements – who bank on the common stereotypes plaguing the Muslim community (especially in terror cases) – over the press was also made manifest through the manner in which these media houses arrived at ‘conclusive’ speculations over the involvement of particular groups, long before official reports/statements were issued by the Investigating Officer or the Forensic Team that was looking into the evidence.
Dividing the published newspaper articles into three different sections – ‘Before the Police Commissioner’s meet with journalists’, ‘After the Police Commissioner’s meet with journalists’ and ‘After the filing of charge sheet’, the book highlights media behavior in unregulated, regulated and after release scenarios respectively.
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