Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Who is worse : The monster or the people who helped in its creation ?


Blame Greg Mortenson or the media ?

I am upset, angry and saddened to learn about Greg Mortenson and the revelation that he has been swindling away money from innocent people all over the world – in the name of building schools for poor Afghani, Pakistani children. While at one level, he is to be blamed entirely for what he did, at a more nuanced level, isn’t the media to be blamed too ? How ? You may ask.
Well, for starters, why did it take all these years for the media to wake up to the reality that the funds were being mis-used. Anyone with basic investigative skills ( in particular those whose job it is to follow and write about non-profits) should have been able to locate the financial statements of the Central Asia Institute and report any irregularities they may have noticed. They could have, and ideally should have done this due-diligence and fact checking. If we do it in cases involving domestic issues, why not with a charity which is claiming to be educating thousands of children. Simple isn’t it ?
Well, it turns out it is not all so simple.
Media, as we know and are seeing on a daily basis, tends to be a victim of groupthink . Iraq war, War in Afghanistan are just two examples of the media falling all over themselves to reproduce every word that came out of the State department. There were exceptions to the rule for sure, but for the most part, media has become a tool of manipulation by those in power. Groupthink dominates discussions at times, and the most dominant idea or meme perpetuates, sometimes without being questioned. It takes someone like 60 minutes to stop, look hard and eventually find out the truth. Until this happens, all the media play along with what is convenient and seems easy to follow - just like sheep.
A victim of its times ?
One of the reasons I chose not to pursue journalism in India, when I had to make a career choice is the direction that the field was ( and is ) taking. There seems to be a huge influence of the corporate sector and the government, in any mature media market. India, USA are but two examples. “Independent media” is a term which has become fashionable. The very word is a contradiction of sorts. Why should they even call a media publication, while by its very nature it is supposed to be independent, non-partisan and free to publish what it wants ? Makes sense ?
Media today is a victim of what I would call the “celebrity syndrome”. The media ( just like all of us are) is desperately searching for heroes. Simply because we live in such cynical times, where most of us cannot think beyond our own selves, when someone like Greg Mortenson comes along, who claims to have climbed hills, survived harsh conditions and shows idealism, we grab him with both hands and don’t let him go.
We want a piece of him, his idealism and all that he stands for – because he represents what is noble, lasting and real in us.
Alas, he seems to have mis-used this trust, and the media seems to have gone overboard in just showing what a hero he claimed to be he is, thus creating a monster.
Can we draw any lessons from this ? Perhaps yes. Here are a few :
1. Media should do some fact-checking and we should also demand this of them, and not just blindly consume information
2. We should all question everything we read in the media and especially if a story is too good to be true
3. Stay away from hyperbole. At least, I am increasingly becoming wary of people who indulge in it.
4. More fact-checking, careful analysis, transparency are needed and also avoiding the tendency to hero worship
5. On a cynical note, I think we should all learn some budgeting and financial analysis – at least we can learn to read financial statements and see who really paid for that private jet flight.

At the same time, there should not be cynicism. This incident or any other should not stop us from giving to worthy causes or individuals. What we can draw from this is the need to be vigilant and caring at the same time.. Being one without the other can be devastating.