Modi govt needs a media strategy

Government should deal with the media, not blame it

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attending a workshop for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s parliamentarians, was presumably supposed to focus on the meeting’s ostensible topic: the government’s “pro-poor” agenda. That this was the focus of a workshop suggests that some of the barbs being launched at the government by the opposition, especially in connection with the land acquisition Act amendments, have hit home. Nobody likes being on the back foot, and the BJP-led government seems to be no exception. Unfortunately, Mr Modi decided to make a mistake: he blamed the messenger. The problem, he implied, was that the media was ignoring the good work being done by the BJP government: “Some people have decided not to hear anything good, not to say anything good and not to see anything good. We should not waste our time on them, but focus on those who want to listen.”

The prime minister went as far as to, in the context of the media, praise his junior foreign minister, the retired general V K Singh — who had, in the course of a spat with the media, declared that they were “presstitutes”. The prime minister himself has, of course, spoken of “news traders” and so on in the past. Mr Modi is entitled to his view of the current state of media ethics — certainly, it is shared by many others. But the anger is nevertheless puzzling. By and large, the media has not only been fair to Mr Modi in the months that he has been in power, it has been downright favourable. This reflects the vast hopes that he carries, especially after the listless and frustrating last years of the United Progressive Alliance. If Mr Modi feels that his government’s good plans – he named the universal housing scheme in particular, as benefiting the poor, but being under-covered – are not drowning out uncertainty or negative reports, he should perhaps consider that more needs to be done, and then the coverage will take care of itself.

What is particularly odd about this blame-the-media campaign is that the National Democratic Alliance government had seemed to suggest that it had no need for the conventional media — that its message could go out through social media and press releases. In effect, if the government feels it is not getting enough good media, has it not brought the problem on itself? Where is its own communication? Where is its media strategy? There is no media advisor; there are no structured press conferences with the prime minister. Even ministers have been silenced, and some of them have even been told not to talk. So how could the government expect its side of the story to completely dominate the airwaves? It should extrapolate from some of its successes in communication. Consider the coal auctions — which, in spite of very real questions about their methods and outcomes, were nevertheless declared a success throughout the media. Why? Because of a sustained strategy, and a minister and officials who were eager to make their case. It will be far more important for the government to deal with the media, instead of just blaming it. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who headed the BJP-led government at the Centre from 1998 to 2004, had a relaxed approach to media coverage. That is an example Mr Modi should consider emulating.