Media Divide and Rule! Planting agents in media and civil society to secure its interest remained the famous strategy of the district administration Poonch 

Media Divide and Rule! Planting agents in media and civil society to secure its interest remained the famous strategy of the district administration Poonch

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: Despite getting thousands of crores of rupees over the last few years alone, the development scenario in the border district of Poonch remained pathetic.

Officers came to Poonch empty-handed and left Poonch with their bags full of different kinds of blessings, because on paper everything was achieved, but nothing was on the ground. Playing clever tactics to hide their frauds, the successive administrations used to adopt a decades-old practice of planting some agents in civil society to secure their self-interest by calling them during important hours to sing songs of praise in front of political and official dignitaries. Likewise, the administration also has its men and machinery in the media who work as agents for the administration by getting various types of indirect favors and running fake narratives in favor of the administration. Although many strong voices in the society and media remained ever ready to raise the concerns of the public, those voices were not given adequate weight by the successive administrations, police, and army. Successive heads of the administration patronized only traditional agents of the administration in civil society and the media. If the Poonch district is still backward despite getting thousands of crores over the years, then the credit for this goes to agents of administration in the civil society setup and in the media who never exposed the tainted officers just for fulfilling their self-interest. Strong voices in the media were never allowed to flourish, but a large chunk of paid men in the media were seen at the beck and call of the officers. The administration always tried its best to divide the media to score its personal interests by selecting some agents in the media to run the agenda of officers in lieu of some money and other favours. The agents of the administration in the media and civil society have played a big role in the backwardness of the district because they are always seen praising the officers of the administration for no reason. Meanwhile, in a recent attempt, the district administration has given a two-room set to the press fraternity with a promise to build a new building for the press fraternity of the district, and it is a welcome step. But behind this, reportedly a clever strategy was adopted by the administration with the help of some agents to control the fourth estate indirectly. The press club is for all, and an appropriate policy is needed to run its smooth functioning, as it should not be controlled by the administration through its agents in the media who have vested interests. But at the same time, giving full press freedom to media doesn’t mean that anti-national forces would be able to carry out their agenda through their agents in media, on the pattern of the case of the YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was booked by the intelligence agencies for spying for Pakistan, and the same needs to be discouraged by all. In the past, some social media people have carried out anti-army and some sensitive stories that ultimately favored the narrative of Pakistan, and if any of the social media persons are involved in such acts, then strict action should be taken against those who, by taking shelter in social media, run the narratives in favor of Pakistan. Meanwhile, in the interest of a flourishing fourth estate, the administration need not play such a cheap tactic to have an indirect control over the media through its agents because all are not chips of the same block. During Operation Sindoor, it was the Poonch media that played a big role and highlighted the concerns of the district by risking their lives, but their contribution during odd hours was not recognized by anybody. A YouTuber from Mumbai was recently given full access by the army in Poonch to carry out a story on Operation Sindoor, but at the same time, Poonch media was ignored on most of the occasions. Only some media people close to the army were invited and favoured time and again without any merit, and this showed that the security officials, in addition to the civil administration, also believe in divide-and-rule culture to get benefits from the selected members of the media fraternity by deliberately ignoring merit. Eyebrows were also raised by the social workers of Rajouri against the Army’s 25 Infantry Division Rajouri for ignoring their contributions during Operation Sindoor. However, no one should overlook the contributions of Poonch media. But the way those holding important positions across the spectrum always played cheap tactics and always gave preference to their agents in the media is a direct blow to the institution of journalism. Agents of the administration in the civil society and media cannot be loyal to anyone because, above all, their self-interest is supreme and nothing else. The administration is trying to control the media through its agents, which is a cause of big concern. The government of the day needs to construct a full-fledged press club building for the press fraternity members of the entire district and let a transparent system of checking the credentials of everyone due to internal security reasons be put in place for its smooth working for the positive future of journalism in the district. Agents close to the administration are the biggest threat to the institution of journalism and development, and they need not be encouraged at all.