The entire Santosh Madhavan Episode is a big cover up. The main stream media, the police and the government is trying to cover up something big, really really big using the god man Santhosh as the bait. And who is that bait for ? No doubt, us, the public, the age old donkeys.
Just take a look at the events that happened and the focus of our media and the government. Interpol wanted someone who was into arms smuggling, Someone from Kerala who is into arms smuggling. Now what is our police, media and the government doing ?
These three are after a stupid silly god man. And look at the charges against him. Cheating, Wild life protection. And now some masala also. Porn film making, and that too with children. Now this is enough material for the media and the police to celebrate for a month.
Manorama says that his favourite means of worshipping was some form of naked ritual. At the first instance we will know that its a fake news. Its written by some reporter there just for feeding our imagination. Now all the attention is diverted towards all the fraud god men here. Its good, every god man should be jailed. But we are missing the big show here.
While all this media hungama is happening our little arms dealer will clear his tracks and escape. After a month we will forget about the entire issue. Some thing else will come up by then. Ahhh the engineering and the self finance drama, episode 3 is around the corner.
I appreciate the little arms smuggler from Kerala for having got into a very dangerous and wealthy market. I also appreciate him for making all of us fools by feeding us with cooked up news. What a great way keep the public engaged.
As accused by someone, the arms dealer is connected to some of our politicians. There is no other way, he could get away with this Kerala. The police helped him by removing his photo from the interpol website and replaced it with the poor God man here.
Our politicians and the media has grown to international standards. Politicians are into arms smuggling. And the media is doing a wonderful job giving us material to think and worry about daily, and that too semi porn content. Child porn and nude worship for Christs sake !!!!
Noam Chomsky once said – Propaganda is to Democracy what violence is to dictatorship.
it seems media is dictating law. They publish a report and assume that police will arrest whoever they name in the report. I had some opportunity during my previous employment of interact with several media guys. They are too powerful. Politicians and police fear them .
I am more concerned about privacy policies of Indian media. Any local reporter can get hold of your picture and put in the paper saying that you are a crook. Next day our police will be forced to arrest you.
As to the present scandal, it will die out in a weeks time when some thing new(s) come up. Remember the ISRO scandal.
Comment by vu2swx — May 18, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
Perception is more powerful than the Truth – That explains it all…
We have give our media too much power in terms of what they can report on and what they cannot. The bitter competition of keeping the numbers up have made sure that all the news gets cooked into stories.
Just for example – Indians generally hate Pakistanis – cause they are bad guys and vice versa. How many of us have actually met a Pakistani? and we have already judged them as bad people.
That is the power of Media. If the media wants – they can create – stop – continue wars over nothing.
Let me tell you – this is not an isolated case with the media in Kerala – this is happening all over the world with all the countries.
End of the day everything comes down to what we perceive as right or wrong…
Comment by JMJ — May 19, 2008 @ 1:10 pm
I would like to differ from you, Kenney chetta, and the other two commenters, on the point about Media.
But first, let me appreciate your intuitive post
It really seems that the arms dealer has escaped. But the police are on the official statement that the false swami is also the arms dealer (as seen from the amount of money he had).
Now the media. All of your comments about the media are highly amateurish, and without actual meaning. The truth is that media in Kerala is one of the most powerless, spineless, feeble of all media.
They do not publish what they publish because they want to create a hype. Nope. They publish what their readers want to read – and therein lies the problem. The media comes out with what they come out with because everyone wants to read those stuff. There is actually no proper journalism happening – just publishing the trends. There is no out-of-the-way constructive journalism being done. Only different faces of a popular problem.
To prove it, I’ll ask you a simple question. What would you rather read every day for a week – new scandals of a swami, or the police investigation of an arms dealer. Kerala is such a safe and secure place that we cannot imagine foreign, locally unprecedented and nonexistant elements like arms, arms dealers, wars etc. It wont make front page news for more than one day. And not many will want to read about it, and it definitely will not turn into housewife talk. And people will surely not be eager to know more about the issue.
However, consider the swami. Very interesting developments every day. Corruption, sex, and a very intriguing smile. Brilliant elements to create a full fledged campaign! Awesome gossip topics. And since most of these events include people from middle class or lower middle class families (which is the majority population of Kerala is composed of) we all can very much relate to the developments.
Thus, the media is satiating the hunger of its readers/viewers. This is the fault of media in Kerala.
However, The Media is powerful, strong etc etc etc. It can start/stop wars, scandals, reputations and what not! But in Kerala, its avatar is pitiful.
Oh, and one more thing. The media is not responsible, nor was ever a part of, spreading hatred against Pakistanis or anything like that. It seems that you haven’t noticed, but the media do not take sides. Its neutral (atleast its supposed to be, and it is in all cases except political parties).
What the media has done is it reported all the atrocities being done against Indians by Pakistan. WE interpret what we want from what is reported. Some people might think Pakistan is good, most people might think its bad. But the media never suggested, much less forced upon, an impression. And even the Editorials, where the publication actually takes a stand, is not a propaganda – its just a suggestion to think over. Its just an alternative way of looking at thinks. You might take it, you might not – you’re free to take that decisions, and most editorial pieces leave a bit of ambiguity in the end for you to make that choice, and reaffirm that its not the only way to look at things.
All my impressions about the media, are again my own. This might vary from person to person. I might change my opinion after a period time as well! But right now, this is my opinion. I’m a journalist in the making, and a keen media observer
Comment by Mohan — May 20, 2008 @ 12:13 am
@Mohan
Well, finally it seems you also agree to what I said. All I said is that the media is helping the arms dealer escape by not giving enough exposure to that case.
Sex scandals may be popular news. But its not important. There are too many sex scandals around. But arms is something bigger and with a huge impact.
Sex sells, but arms kills. And its very very dangerous if our kerala politicians have started doing it.
Comment by Kenney Jacob — May 20, 2008 @ 7:24 am
[...] Malyali woman Seraf Edwin of Rs 55 lakh. While most bloggers stuck to the standard analysis,Kenny Jacob thinks this whole episiode is one of the biggest media cover ups in Kerala since it all started with the Interpol looking for an arms [...]
Pingback by A Media Cover Up in Kerala? | DesiPundit — May 20, 2008 @ 11:20 am
@ Mohan
It is a nice way to look at things. But…
Wikipedia says – “Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.”
What the media is doing by not covering the news item completely is providing little information with lot of speculation. I think that qualifies as propaganda! I don’t know it they are doing it deliberately or not – but that is the net result.
Coming to the example of Pakistan – How come the media is covering the atrocities that Pakistan is committing on Indians – but not what India is doing to Pakistanis and what the Army did in Kashmir….
What a Journalist is supposed to do is to collect all the facts and figures and present it to his audience for them to decide who is wrong and who is right. But by presenting only one side of the story and leaving an ambitious comment at the end – Propaganda is created.
I agree with you totally on the fact that the media publishes what its audience wants – that is customer service. That might be a reason why Indian movies have less content and lot of masala and color.
This is where I say perception is powerful than truth. But journalism is not about perceptions – it is about the truth – it is not about what the people want to hear – it is about facts and figures.
Quoting Wikipedia again:
The elements of journalism
According to The Elements of Journalism, a book by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosensteil, there are nine elements of journalism [1]. In order for a journalist to fulfill their duty of providing the people with the information they need to be free and self-governing. They must follow these guidelines:
1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to the citizens.
3. Its essence is discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting, and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
Comment by JMJ — May 20, 2008 @ 12:24 pm
I agree with Mohan that the media in Kerala is one of the most powerless, spineless, feeble of all media. And to presume that the police arrest someone only on media allegation is acting like the very media you were lambasting here! You really think the Malayalee will keep quite if he were arrested on false charges? He will drag you through every court in the country if you dare to do that!
Conspiracy theory always gets eyeballs, whether it is media or blogs! Responsible writing is not confined to Media only!
What an irresponsible post! I can’t believe Desipundit has linked this! Their standards seem to be going down after the new people have come on board!
Comment by Jayanthi — May 20, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
@Jayanthi
So you think media is powerless in Kerala. Now it looks like you dont know much about Kerala Media. Kindly refer to the following cases.
ISRO spying allegation
Rajani Suicide
MACFAST student suicide
Mine may be a conspiracy theory. Now take a look at this link
http://cbi.gov.in/rnotice/A-177-2-2003.htm
All that I am asking is, why our media nor the police is not interested in an arms dealer, who is a much larger threat to our country and civilization than a swami watching porn movies and cheating NRIs
Comment by Kenney Jacob — May 20, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
I was wondering what happened to the arms dealer Santosh Madhavan and thought its all the same when the media moved its focus to the god man.
As commented by someone here, sex,pedophiles,drugs,cheating etc is NOTHING when compared to anti national activities. Cheating happens, sex scandals happen…anti social elements do exist.
The arms dealer should have been trapped/focussed. Well, I am sure he played his cards well.
-Nikhil
Comment by Nikhil Narayanan — May 20, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
Guys,
First off, you haven’t really understood what I said. I’ll quote from what I said earlier -
–
Thus, the media is satiating the hunger of its readers/viewers. This is the fault of media in Kerala.
–
THAT is why the media is powerless.
@JMJ – so your point is? And btw, there is no established definition for what media should or should not do. It varies from newspaper to newspaper. The Deccan Chronicle might believe that its duty is to provide maximum sleazy pictures for its readers, whereas the Indian Express might believe that it should deliver only the most neutral news.
I might also add that the first and formost necessity of a media house, being a private entity, is to make profit, in order to prolong its existence. And for this profit, it might compromise on its beliefs, values, and duties. But then, that isnt necessarily a crime, its just unethical.
@Jayanti, @ Kenney chetta – yes, the media in Kerala is quite powerless. Almost all of these cases were not dug up by the media, but was sprung up by interested parties by lobbying senior journalists.
And ofcourse, the people of Kerala WANTED that news! They read it! They enjoyed it! They talked about it!
And coming back to the main point discussed in the post, as I’ve already said, the police believe that Santhosh Madhavan is their guy for all those sleazy cases, as well as the arms thing. They found a lot of unaccounted money (40 crores) in his house, which simply cannot be the profits from selling child porn!!!
Comment by Mohan — May 20, 2008 @ 9:25 pm
@ Mohan
What you are telling me is that it is ok to do anything for the sake of Profit. If that is true then we are wasting our time discussing this topic.
I believe this is the saying: “With Power and Freedom comes Responsibility”
If that means anything – then what the Media is doing in Kerala and throughout the world is wrong. For the sake of profit they are adding their own masala to make the news spicier.
Comment by JMJ — May 21, 2008 @ 4:52 pm
@JMJ – ABSOLUTELY NOT! I’m not saying that its ok to do anything for profit. But thats the current scenario.
As a viewer, its up to you – you want spiced up news, or do you want no news at all?
As the media, we don’t have a choice. Its either show spicy news, or be kicked out of the market.
And no, not all media does it. Only emerging media. Once they have a stand, they dont have to do it anymore. Take Hindustan Times for example. Or BBC.
And no, I wouldnt go completely with that saying. For one, I disagree that power and freedom are major requirements for responsibility. You should be responsible, however powerless you are, or however un-free you are.
Comment by Mohan — May 21, 2008 @ 11:28 pm
Hi everybody – this looks like a conversation between me and Mohan. Sorry if we are boring you – but hope we are making some sense to all you guys out there.
@Mohan
What you say is true – give what your customer whats – otherwise he goes to the next shop.
But by doing that – the media is de-meaning its own value. Moreover it is the people who have to understand and value. Otherwise more wars will be fought on cartoon WMD’s that the Pentagon wants to show…
Comment by JMJ — May 22, 2008 @ 12:28 pm
@JMJ – now you’re reiterating my words
Glad to know that you finally got what I meant 
What you’ve just mentioned, is the problem with Kerala media today. But it can’t pop out just like that and solve the problem. It’ll take time, and lots of competition. The competition will begin by the end of 2008, with ToI, Hindustan Times, Deccan Chronicle, and many other startup media firms setting up shop. Also, in early 2009, the television media will be forced to evolve, with CNN IBN starting a Malayalam news channel, and entering the Kerala market.
Comment by Mohan — May 22, 2008 @ 2:11 pm
@ Mohan
It is not the question of understanding the business side of it – it is just that I am worried about the amount of damage it will do the coming generations.
The true passion of Journalism will be lost – and masala will become the new recipe…
It is a sad situation – But how can we come up with a solution whereby it causes minimum damage to the people in general…
Comment by JMJ — May 22, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
Well, dont worry about the coming generations JMJ. This trend wont last for more than 3-4 years. It may end even sooner.
The spirit of true journalism will never be lost. If the present organisations degrade beyond recovery, there’ll be some people in those places who are disgusted by the change, who will break away, and start new firms. Such is the spirit of journalism.
Comment by Mohan — May 22, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
good post..I am waiting for ur thread on Abhaya case and d Sabha’s cover up.
Comment by VJ — January 13, 2009 @ 4:23 am
The media in kerala is obsessed with sex, fights inside political parties and such news that they dont have time for an issue of national importance..
But compared to the masala addiction in the national media, this is nothing..
loved Mohan’s comments too
Comment by Praveen — May 20, 2009 @ 3:03 pm
A very interesting post!
@mohan When you say ‘Kerala is such a safe and secure place that we cannot imagine foreign, locally unprecedented and nonexistent elements like arms, arms dealers, wars etc’. I won’t agree. To give you an example. You can take the Malayalam Film Industry. Do you think the stories behind the movies are made up and not inspired by real life happenings? I completely agree with Kenney when he says that a smaller fish has been caught and the bigger fish have escaped. It has happened in the past and will continue to happen till Corruption exists.
Comment by Harish Krishnan — May 21, 2009 @ 11:38 am
In fact I agree with both the views. It is neither the media controlling collective psyche nor the other way round alone. I would say we are are all controlling each other. The Media is contributing a big part in shaping up the collective psyche (or the ‘market’ form the perspective of the Media) and at the same time the market decides what media should show it.
To get out of this vicious cycle is not that easy, the only solution is gradually evolving out of it, and can be done only by being aware of the direction we need to move.
In short blaming each other will not help any of us. The media is a part of the society and both (media and society) needs to complement each other.Let us make more people aware of it and speed up the process of evolving.
Comment by febin — May 21, 2009 @ 11:55 am
Hi Kenny,I dont think a man with a high criminal records is a justification for someone with minimal criminal acheivements.Santhosh Madhavan is a criminal,nobody can deny that now.The cases proved against him may be just the tip of an iceberg.Who in the world knows what other criminal activities he was into other than cheating people and molesting girls.Your article seems to give an aura of innocence to this so called god man.He is a criminal and he should be hunted for his crimes.As you said the media in Kerala is one with minimum professional standards and ethics.What they can do now is do some investigation about the political ties this man has.As a believer and supporter of democracy and the judicial system of our country I have strong conviction that our infamous arms dealer will one day pay for his acts.
Comment by Shaiju Janardhanan — May 21, 2009 @ 4:44 pm
[...] Biggest Media Cover Up In Kerala [...]
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