They say that all battles are in the mind. If you have won over the thinking of people, you will win the war.
This is applicable in all the fields of life but more so for the Services, who are today struggling to establish their honour in the minds of the people against a concerted effort by a section of the society which is trying to make us lose the perception battle.
The method used by the politician and the inimical Babu is the 'always ready for sale' 'Media'. But fortunately for us, the Social media is not under their control. If you have been noticing, the mainstream media does not cover most of the events related to the Services. The Services have had to insert advertisements through the DAVP just to inform the world about the award of medals to our personnel on the republic/the independence days. The media, however, gives extensive cover to the policemen getting their medals on the same days.
Today, the Social media is proving to be the nemesis of the mainstream media(MSM) and they have started a new movement to discredit the Social Media. The exclusive hold of the MSM over all the news sources has been broken by the advent of Twitter, the Facebook, the Hike & the internet in general. A few journalists who took it as their entitled right to be the first ones to know are getting relegated to the ranks and this is not acceptable to them. They are also losing their prominence, where they were able to set the agenda of the social and the political discourse.
The Services have, in this turmoil, become rank outsiders and the MSM, which is fighting a do or die perception battle of its own, has no time to project the good work of the Services and its personnel. The policy of the Services to keep completely off the Social media, therefore, needs to be reconsidered.
Today, we have a limited number of ex-servicemen who are parroting the dictated lines in so many panel discussions. The articles appearing in the print, written by self-styled 'defence specialists/analysts' once again are possibly towing the lines of the arms lobby or an unfriendly political dispensation. There is no truth anywhere and lies are put forward under the garb of 'personal opinions' with an intention to misguide and misinform the gullible among us.
This is where the Services need to become proactive. The Min of Defence does have a PRO but his reports are more clinical and 'as if uninvolved' in nature. The Services also have their own PROs and the Social Media is available for free.
We have so far failed to harness the potential of the social media and it is high time we get awakened about the need to win the battles of perception.
Social media & its usage can do wonders for us.
Veteran Wg Cdr Dinesh Bharat
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