The loud "silence" of the Media

Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition or media, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.

Freedom of speech is the right to articulate one's opinions and ideas without fear of government retaliation or censorship, or societal sanction. Freedom of speech is a constitutional right in a democracy. People whether in the form of opposition parties or media have the right to stop the government from doing what is harmful to the democracy or the public at large.

If the media is highlighting any wrongdoings by the government, it is for creating awareness among the public. In a democracy, this is its right and the government cannot stop it.

However, during a national emergency, the government can stop the media to keep useful intelligence from the enemy. The media should also understand the stand of the government as many times, the surprise element is important, especially in crucial times (the media had been glaringly inefficient during the Mumbai attacks on the Taj since they actually showed the complete military operation which could have severely back-fired if the militants had access to the media).

Adolf Hitler too had a similar mindset of exercising his power. It was his own idea of doing good as whatever he felt was right for his country. He had a strong authoritarian stand and didn't allow any opposing thoughts to dilute their supremacy. It starts with a small idea of creating a common enemy and focusing the entire resources on the same.

The view of people including journalists, academians and lawyers are undermined stating that they are a part of rebels. Thus giving them support to create an image of being righteous even while taking repressive measures and terrorizing such individuals.

Fear is a strong emotion and it stops people from expressing their thoughts further giving fuel to the fire of such government. This may lead to the government losing the balance of how to effectively manage the economy and look into the national issues of their areas. It may start spending heavily on the military if their enemies are external or on implementing strong police to control their masses.

Issues like corruption, mafia, emigration become common and only those who side with the government are seen getting benefits. But in a modern-day world where we are digitally connected there is a scope of hope, by bringing issues to the international level and calling for help.