The Make –Believe Face Of Politics

In this world where everything is driven by beliefs. Who shapes our perception? Everything that we know is through the media. So does that make the media more powerful than ever? One bright morning in 2014, I remember reading the newspaper, something in that day's news caught my curiosity. I couldn't but innocently ask my dad what the "Modi wave "was. Those days saw the depiction of the" Modi Wave" in the front pages of the newspapers then. Did all these help Modi in gaining an extra mileage for the elections? Yes, it was proved right when the election results were out. This shows the capability of our media. Our everyday knowledge of the world is shaped by the media. We believe what the media depicts. There are many cases in which media has helped solve many crimes and brought out instances of corruption. In one way we could say that not only did the depiction of Modi help him win the elections but it also poured light into the corruption of the UPA government. In a democracy like India, the media is powerful. But is it the same case in a country like North Korea where freedom of press is less and the channels are mostly state owned? In countries like North Korea, they use the media to let people know what the government want the people to know, this is the make- believe face of politics. Why is the media controlled in these countries? The simple answer is that media has sway over people to the extent that it can even lead to the overturn of a government. The US election is another example of how media is used during election. In the recent times the media has gained power significantly. They can manipulate the news according to their bias thus pointing away from the bitter truth. This is why politics cannot do without media because political leaders wants media by their side to manipulate politics. From elections to scams, they define the politics of today. At the same time the media has also become independent in the sense that they are free to point out the problems and the dirty side of politics. The media is a powerful tool and throughout the history it has helped to give rise to many revolutions and uprising that changed the world.  Hence it is depicted as the fourth pillar of democracy following judiciary, executive and legislature. Media has gained enormous power and hence today politics is increasingly driven with it. At this time when media is holding sway over politics the question we must ask is whether the make-believe face of politics is fading away as the press in modern era is becoming freer or whether the make-believe face of politics is manipulating the media through powerful people who makes the media a business by using it for their vested interest. This is a question worth thinking.

                                 -Prinssa Joby,20153036.

 

 

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