Burning Issues Ignored: Mukhim Questions National Media's Focus on Northeast

At the Conclave 2024, Patricia Mukhim, the editor of Shillong Times, addressed the challenges faced by the Northeast in national media, emphasizing the region's unique struggles and the stereotypes that overshadow its diverse cultures. “We live in a very different stratosphere in the Northeast; we are least understood. Many people will understand Assam partly, but beyond that, we are all stereotyped,” she stated.

Mukhim echoed the sentiments of Manipur MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, saying, “Northeast is seen through schizophrenic eyes.” She pointed out the ongoing turmoil in Manipur, noting that “Manipur has been burning for over a year now, and the country doesn’t care. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn’t care; he goes all around the world trying to make world peace. But internally, the country is burning.”

She highlighted the critical situation in the Northeast, particularly with neighboring Bangladesh facing conflict. “We, the states bordering Bangladesh, are facing the plunge, but who cares? It’s not been discussed in the mainstream media,” Mukhim lamented. She observed that discussions on the region's issues began only after May 3, 2023, when violence erupted in Manipur, calling the lack of ongoing attention “a very serious problem.”

Mukhim criticized the perception of the Northeast as merely “periphery” and an “extension of the country,” questioning the use of terms like “Asthalakshmi” and emphasizing that the region's people are not homogeneous. “We have different cultures, and it is not that important to just romanticize us, romanticize our women, or romanticize the matrilineal society. We have very specific problems in every state,” she asserted.

She pointed out the alarming poverty rates in Meghalaya, stating, “Today, it was pointed out that Meghalaya is just above Bihar in terms of poverty and development. NITI Aayog reported this many years ago; today, if you come to Meghalaya, it will be over 37% of its people living below the poverty line. But again, who really cares?”

Mukhim criticized the central government's lack of accountability regarding the funds allocated to the region. “The central government continues to pump money into that region, but all its politicians, and that’s it. That is governance. But is that really governance? Why is the central government, which is the funding agency, not holding the governments in the Northeast accountable?”

Discussing the media's challenges, Mukhim said, “We don’t have a revenue model in media. We all depend largely on advertisements, and in our region, in Meghalaya, where we don’t have corporate houses or too many companies, we depend on government advertisements. We are punished if we write anything against government stories; we lose advertisements.”

Reflecting on the future of legacy media, she noted, “I was introduced coming from the legacy media; very soon from print media, we will become a once-upon-a-time media as people will forget us because everyone is holding a mobile phone and watching for breaking news. Today, you don’t have to turn on your TV to know what’s going on in Ukraine.”

Mukhim raised concerns about the mental health impacts of constant breaking news on the younger generation, questioning, “Who has tried to assess the mental health problem that this constant breaking news is causing, especially to the younger generation?”

She also criticized the quality of information in digital media: “We from the legacy media have to do a lot of fact-checking. Do the YouTubers do that? Do the digital media do that? No, they are there to create conflicts.”

Lastly, Mukhim acknowledged the media's shortcomings in representing rural voices, admitting, “I really don’t like the word mainstream news. We report only from urban centers of the state; I admit this as being an editor; we haven’t done enough to give voice to the rural areas of this country.”

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