'Mama Ariyana, uja maliza chai?' asks my house help this morning looking at my unfinished cup of tea. I only had two sips because as is with my morning tradition which is- I wake up, meditate, do a bit of yoga, make Ariyana's breakfast and then have my tea and read the paper. The paper today put me off my food and made me think about how the media influences our lives.
As we know 100 lives were lost in a tragic fire and as usual the victims of any disaster are those who already have a very tough life. This time fuel leaked into a river that passes through a slum, nothing unusual because when this happens the slum residents try and scoop out the fuel as a means of survival. Unfortunately, a lit flame caused an explosion that traveled down into the slum as it followed the fuel. Our news teams rushed to cover the incident, our politicians rushed to the location (after speaking to their PAs who gave them an all clear, it is safe, am sure) and scores of people were rushed to the hospitals.
Someone on Facebook said that they knew the media would devour every inch of this unfortunate incident for ratings. Today's papers feature photographs of charred bodies, once particular photo described as too graphic is that of a skeleton with ash around it - burnt flesh of course.
My Twitter timeline went nuts about how inappropriate that photograph is and how low some media houses can go to get sales and blah blah. I agree. It is wrong for the media to stoop low - I mean, I would not want my daughter to be exposed to such an image. It disturbed me, albeit she is too young to understand but what about those children who are not too young? Surely they could have warned us somehow. But this is an image that will live with us for time to come. Unfortunately it is on the front page. The scandal that surrounds it will generate more awareness of it and the paper will definitely be talked about, have more sales and as one person on Twitter said - probably apologize for it tomorrow.
But a picture does speak more than a thousand words. I was reading The Nation and they have 8 pages on the story today. Some pictures stood out for me - one of our VP treading trough the slums - with his trousers rolled up, mind you - God forbid he get some Slum Mud on his Valentino suit! Another of our president visiting the victims in hospital. His face, according to me, says 'Thank goodness I am not that poor man and even if I do suffer burns thank goodness I can afford the care and the costly medical expenses.' My fellow facebookers also predicted that politicians would use this opportunity to be seen and heard.
Media knows very well - shock, scandal, sex and shit sells! It is a fact. No one wants to turn on the news and see happy people. No one wants to hear about who did good. And this same media is what shapes our society.
I do not watch the news and from today I refuse to read the paper. You may call me ignorant, lazy - whatever. But I choose what I allow to enter my space. What I allow to come into my thoughts becomes my reality. I do not live in denial, however. I am aware of what goes on, but what I concentrate on, what I focus on becomes my reality. If I allow all the negativity that is written or filmed to envelope my world then my reality becomes dim and dull and depressing.
The media has a powerful role and they can make a change. They can mold our people into positive thinkers and bigger thinkers, the achievers can be celebrated for doing good things and be the true role models. Because of their incessant messages, their power, their reach - they can create our reality.
My disclaimer right here is that these are just my thoughts put down on this page. I point no fingers and I blame no one, but I hope someone somewhere takes a moment to just think about how they shape their lives and therefore the lives of others..
My heart goes out to the victims of this tragedy and their families. May God rest their souls in eternal peace. May the ones in hospital receive healing and may the families who have suffered unjustly find strength to deal with the pain the reality of this event brings with it.
