Pen is mightier than Speech

On 21st November 2008, the headlines of the telugu newspaper sakshi was about the feud between Ramoji Rao and his son Suman. Ramoji Rao is the chairman of the Eenadu business empire which consists of the Eenadu newspaper, etv network, margadarsi chitfunds, ushakiron movies, mayuri distrubutors etc

It is a well known fact that Ramoji Rao is a supporter of the Telugu Desam party (the main opposition party), while Sakshi is run by Congress man Jagan, who is son of the current Chief Minister YSR.

This newspaper looks like the media arm of YSR’s government, rather than a private newspaper, as one can see only news that is- pro Congress and anti TDP (rather any other party that speaks against Congress).

It was evident that Sakshi took advantage of the family dispute and printed this right on the front page. There is much more important news that public need to know. Unlike the famous dispute between the Ambanis, which affected the share market, this news had no consequences that affected the general public.

Politicians are using media for their own good. The ethics of journalism are compromised. It has become a fact that politicians have their own media arms to help them influence people. Apart from the usual abuse on opposition through public meetings, this is another way to weaken the opposition. The unspoken rule of the day has become – “Pen is mightier than Speech”