Media Distortion

Shakespeare described the function of art as:

"To hold, as t'were, the mirror up to nature."

But what if that mirror turned out to be a carnival fun-house mirror, so that the reflection was so distorted as to be unrecognizable? And what if it wasn't art we were talking about but, rather, the mainstream media and journalism? And what if this hypothetical scenario was based in reality? Surely, that would be truly scary.

The noted (and notorious) American painter and filmmaker, Andy Warhol, once observed, somewhat prophetically, that the day would soon arrive when:

"Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes."

What he neglected to prophesy or mention, however, was that one's 15 minutes of fame could potentially turn into 15 years of relentless distortions, misrepresentations, insinuations, innuendo and even outright lies, all fueled by an out-of-control media for whom nothing is sacred, nothing is off-limits or out of bounds and anything goes.

Irresponsible journalism is nothing new, dating back, at least, to the days of the hugely influential rival newspaper magnates William Randoph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. Hearst, of course, was the inspiration behind Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane and his news war with Pulitzer brought about the phenomenon of "yellow journalism."

More recently, with the advent of 24 hour news networks, the propensity to sensationalize news stories to panic-inducing, hysterical levels has almost become something of a national pastime. Indeed, it has reached laughable levels, as parodied by news satirist Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and its offshoot, The Colbert Report. Recently, in fact, Jon Stewart's deliberately contrived, publicity-seeking confrontation with CNBC financial analyst Jim Cramer even made the news—a hilarious turn of self-parodying events, where the deliberate parody of sensationalistic distortions by the mainstream media itself becomes newsworthy, as deemed by that same mainstream media.

The truth is that we live in an unfortunate society in which media distortions are so prevalent and widespread that it is possible for interested, even malicious, parties to take a few innocent words, misquoted and out of context, then subject them to such profound distortion, misrepresentation, exaggeration and hyperbole as to render innocent parties as somehow profoundly sinister or demoniacal. The media thrives on panic, sensationalism and mass hysteria because there is no surer means of selling newsprint or gaining ad revenue.

But besides the obvious mercenary interests, there are, sometimes, other factors at work to undermine the credibility of the mainstream media: subtle agents that do not escape even the most credible and well-respected of news sources and the best trained of journalists. These are factors like cultural bias or an unspoken socio-political agenda, equally affecting both left-wing and right-wing news sources, so much so that true journalistic objectivity seems to be almost impossible to achieve. Having grown up in India, I am only too often aware of the subtle distortions and misrepresentations in the media, especially pertaining to international news coverage of events in India. A classic example is the recent media coverage of the terrorist attacks in the city of Mumbai—the impression created by news footage and the commentary of journalists appears to be that the nation of India as a whole is an unstable, violent part of the world, prone to unpredictable outbreaks of violence and terror. The reality, however, is that the city of Mumbai is a stable, progressive, urban metropolis that was unfortunately subjected to an isolated traumatic experience provoked by foreign extremist and terrorist elements and the nation of India, as a whole, is a developing society that has made tremendous progress in socio-economic reform in recent times.

Another example of an unfortunately distorted misrepresentation of the metropolitan city of Mumbai, India in recent popular culture is the Academy Award winning film, Slumdog Millionaire. While this film is true to a certain segment of Indian society, it pretty much ignores the large segment of the city of Mumbai that is, on the whole, urbane, progressive, respectable and well-educated. Focussing on the seamy underbelly of the city in a directorial style that is seemingly inspired by Terry Gilliam, with its innovative use of camera angles and perspective-distorting shots, it creates the false impression that the city of Mumbai is a massive garbage dump, largely omitting and neglecting any representation of the vibrant arts and cultural scene, the scenic landmarks and pretty much every respectable, attractive region of the city (with a few exceptions). It would be much like making a film in New York or Los Angeles shot exclusively in the most run-down, poverty-stricken neighborhoods of these thriving metropolises, so as to create the false impression that these neighborhoods or segments of society characterize the city as a whole. Not that this approach is invalid in the arts, but this is typical of the kind of distortion that the mainstream media engages in almost casually and only too often.

One of the reasons I started Horizon Cybermedia and the film series Exploration with Uday Gunjikar was to present the other side of the picture or story—the often overlooked and neglected facts—the honest truth and reality, as seen by me and as captured by my lens and presentation skills. Hopefully, Horizon Cybermedia will contribute to presenting a more complete, honest, accurate picture of the world at large, as opposed to the sensationalistic distorted image rendered by giant mainstream media conglomerates. Please feel free to check out the latest episodes in the ongoing film series at the website http://www.explorationtheseries.com and stay tuned for more engaging, honest and truthful media content to come.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.