27 April 2011

The Hindu Media Forum was formally launched at the “Arohanui ki te Tangata” (Goodwill to all men) Marae, Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt in the backdrop of the Second Wellington Region Hindu Conference.

The Forum aims at fostering inter-ethnic harmony by promoting balanced analysis and coverage of community events and developments. One of its key roles is to help engage the New Zealand media with the Hindu community to curb stereotyping and eliminate factual errors, which have seen a spike recently, with certain misinformed “leaders” from the Indian community feeding to a few sensation seeking journalists in order to gain publicity.

The Hindu Media Forum will be an umbrella organisation for foraying into internet, print, television, radio and other media.

The Forum will be coordinated by Mr Rakesh Krishnan Simha, Features Writer, Fairfax Media New Zealand. The current volunteers include Mr Ranjit Singh Thakur, Head of Sanatan Media Watch, Ms Pritika Sharma, Joint General Secretary of Hindu Council, Mr Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Writer and media professional, and Dr Rajiv Chaturvedi, Media and Public Relations Officer of Hindu Council.

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The media plays a very important role in our lives. Because of the media not only are we all aware of what is happening around us, it provides a voice to the voiceless. It is because of the media that any kind of information is just one click away. In that respect, it bridges the gap between people and places.

However, sometimes the media can slip up because it may not have the right facts before it or because it speaks to commentators who are not quite qualified to speak on the issue at hand, or is motivated by ideologies. In such cases, the media ends up widening the divide, either unwittingly, or while following some ideological agenda.

“There is an urgent need for factual dissemination of information about the Hindu community, especially in New Zealand which has been rather lazy in its understanding of Indian communities,” said Mr Rakesh Krishnan Simha, coordinator of Hindu Media Forum.

“India in general and Hindus in particular remain largely in New Zealanders' blind spot,” said Mr Simha. “Because of wrong and self-serving motivated stereotypes created during the colonial era, there is a lot of misunderstanding of Indian culture, religion and practices. Sometimes, these stereotypes penetrate even individuals from Indian communities, who then take perverse pleasure in self-flagellation or expect rewards from their perceived benefactors in publicly voicing their misguided theories. A better understanding of these will help the media while reporting on our community.”

Also present during the launch was Ms Ann Dysart of the Ministry of Social Development. According to Ms Dysart, stereotyping of communities was indeed a matter of concern because it was detrimental to social harmony. She stressed on a non-judgmental approach while reporting community issues.

In New Zealand today, there are some news channels and publications that give more coverage to unnecessary “news” to boost their ratings, but thankfully they constitute only a small part of a much larger media corps.

At the same time, there are people who take a keen interest in watching sensationalised news where ethnic minorities are stereotyped. So essentially, there is demand for – and supply of – negative coverage.

While there is a media regulator in the form of the New Zealand Press Association, it cannot keep tabs on everything. Also, it does not act unilaterally; someone has to point out instances of biased, negative or factually wrong reporting to it. This is precisely why a media forum is needed.

It may be recalled that the Hindu Media Forum played a significant role in combating negative and factually erroneous coverage of the Ranjeeta Sharma murder earlier this year. Because of the Forum’s actions, so-called experts who gave malicious statements about Hindu Dharma and Indian surnames to the mainstream media retracted their statements later.

Newspapers, TV channels, blogs and websites are not just mere reporters of news events. They also interpret current events in the social environment, evaluating and analysing the impact of contemporary events. By that yardstick they are recording history. It is, therefore, important the Hindu Media Forum helps them get the picture right.

While the Hindu Media Forum does not aim to be a watchdog, any media outfit or particular journalists repeatedly conducting negative coverage can be reported to the New Zealand Press Association.

For more information on Hindu Media Forum, please contact: nz.hindumedia@gmail.com

ENDS

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