Does our media hate Kerala?

Much of the world sees Kerala as a model state with excellent records in multiple fields. Yet, for many Malayalis and their media, Kerala symbolises everything wrong. Negativity bias is inherent not just to Malayali media but to news media everywhere, as it follows the dictum, “No good news is news”. Yet, many feel Malayalam media surpasses others in “gloom and doom journalism” to ignore even their state's significant achievements. Critics call this the media’s “scary world syndrome”, which would create a skewed perception of reality, leading audiences to believe that bad news is more prevalent than it actually is. Human beings are known for their inherent negativity bias, a cognitive tendency to give more importance to negative than positive or neutral experiences. The media, driven by commercial considerations, exploit audiences' fear and anxiety to keep them engaged. Emotions sell more than facts and drive readership numbers, TV ratings and clicks. 

A constant question now heard everywhere is: Why is the media always full of dark and depressing news? Whether in a newspaper, TV, or social media, one is deluged with a cascade of calamity, corruption, crime, apathy, or hate.  Is there nothing happening around us that is good or that kindles hope? 

Undoubtedly, many terrible things are happening around us, and the media only reflects them. Moreover, responsible media has to relentlessly report them to alert society and hold the authorities accountable. Media is democracy’s fourth estate and should often take the role of opposition to check abuse of power. Without the media’s persistence, governments would have ignored many problems faced, particularly by the marginalised sections. Look at how our media pressurised authorities to intensify the search for the sanitary worker Joy, who drowned in the Amayizhanchan canal, or the initially lethargic Karnataka government to look for the truck driver Arjun, who went missing in a landslide.  

There is yet another matter Kerala media should be proud of. Even when most of the Indian media has been severely criticised for abdicating its role as watchdogs to become rulers’ lapdogs (“Godimedia”), Kerala’s media, despite its warts, has largely remained different. Many even see this as an extension of the public’s pressure on authorities to adhere to probity and performance. Wasn’t it Amartya Sen who credited Kerala’s “public pressure” for its remarkable achievements? 

However, it's true that the media’s “No good news is news” policy often leads to ignore even exceptional achievements. Look at the media’s gross neglect of Kerala’s three remarkable national feats announced within a fortnight.  Kerala is chosen for the fourth time in a row as the best state by the latest (2023-24) NITI Aayog in its annual Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Index, with an even higher grade than last year. The Index scores the states and union territories on their progress in achieving the 17 SDG goals targeted for 2030 by the United Nations in 2015 and adopted by 195 countries. In the latest survey, Kerala has emerged first in three goals- Zero hunger, Quality education and Clean and Affordable energy. The recognition of education is significant as there have been growing fears about Kerala’s falling standards. However, the study relates only to school-level education, not higher education, which is affected more by low quality. Kerala’s most remarkable achievement in SDG this year is its emergence as the third-best state (front runner) in Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, a sector not usually considered among the state strengths. Gender equality and Climate action are the other goals in which Kerala emerged third.  

Not to be missed are the fields in which Kerala’s performance has been poor. They are Responsible Consumption and Production (Rank 27), Clean Water and Sanitation (17), Decent Work & Economic Growth (13), and Sustainable Cities & Communities (12). These dismal performances underscore Kerala's much-talked-about weaknesses. 

The second significant achievement, which our media didn’t find worthy to celebrate, was revealed by the National Survey on Household Consumption: 2022-23. It showed that Kerala again topped the country in monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) for rural households at Rs 5924, as against the national average of Rs 3773. Kerala came fourth in urban MCPE with Rs 7078, whereas Haryana topped with Rs 7911. The urban-rural difference in MPCE is the lowest in Kerala, although variations among different social groups are the highest in the state, indicating a high incidence of inequality.  

However, the survey’s biggest surprise is that Kerala’s Scheduled Tribes surpassed all other social categories in urban MCPE at Rs 9373, much higher than the general category and state average! Another big surprise is that Kerala’s spending on liquor and tobacco has fallen, which is the second lowest in the country. On the other hand, the most disturbing finding is that Kerala’s rural and urban households spend the highest in the country (from their own pocket) on medical and hospitalisation expenses at Rs 645, which is 10.8% of their MCPE.    

The third remarkable recognition is Kerala's emergence for the seventh time in a row as the best state to implement the centrally sponsored National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM). Kerala’s Kudumbashree, as the NULM’s nodal agency, won the SPARK (Systematic Progressive Analytics Real-Time Ranking) ranking. Kudumbasree Accounting and Auditing Service Society (KAASS) won second place in the Best Development Partner category.   

Why has Kerala media chosen to ignore these feats? Besides the inherent negativity bias, it may also be because these achievements are not new to Kerala. But is it trivial that Kerala has led the country on human development indices (HDI) for more than half a century now? Even the high-growth states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka continue to lag behind Kerala in many critical indicators. Kerala's achievements assume more significance when there is an increasing tendency to run down the ways the state followed to make these gains possible. The HDI is now seen as a true indicator of social progress than economic growth by even bodies like the World Bank. Another reason for the media’s lack of enthusiasm for these achievements could be its current anti-government mood.    

It's not just Kerala that suffers due to the media’s obsession with the dark and dismal. It has severe consequences also for democracy.  A recent study by Princeton University conducted in 17 countries, including India, shows that it leads to a distrust in democratic institutions due to incorrect and inadequate political knowledge, citizen apathy and disengagement. A 2024 study shows that exposure to negative, problem-focused news engenders negative emotions, leaving the public feeling depressed, disengaged and disempowered. The study called the media obsession with the negative the “scary world syndrome”. Though news media’s negativity bias is nothing new, it has recently increased manifold since the emergence and dominance of social media. As the mainstream media is in a fast-losing battle for attention with social media today, the former desperately apes the latter to stay alive. 

Recent studies have also shown another phenomenon. Until now, the media’s pandering to negative emotions has been cited as commercially driven because it has attracted more audiences. This appears to have hit a plateau, and a reverse flow has begun. Studies indicate that audiences worldwide tend to avoid news media just because it is too depressing and sad. According to the recent Reuters Institute's annual Digital News Reports, globally, about 36% of respondents reported avoiding news. In India, the figure is 39%, which is 3% more than last year.

There are other interesting findings. 

• - News avoiders are likelier to say they are interested in positive or solutions-based journalism.
• - News avoiders are less interested in the big stories of the day.
• - Fewer people are now participating in online news than in the past.
• - Aggregated across markets, only around a fifth (22%) are now active participants, with around half (47%) not participating in news at all.
• - The proportion of active participants has fallen by more than ten percentage points in the UK and United States since 2016.
• - The group that participates in news tends to be male, better educated, and more partisan in their political views.

It’s clear now. The media’s negativity bias threatens democracy and also its own survival. This adds to other severe challenges, like low economic returns, the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, the young generation’s apathy, and political hostility, making the prospects bleak for the media and democracy.