Sting Operations: Do they make a difference?

Sting Operations seem to be the flavour of the day. In recent days we have seen a spate of under cover journos exposing the rot that has become inherent in the Indian way of life. All major media houses have been showing politicians, cops and even film stars indulging in corruption or unbecoming beahviour. In fact on most days one feels that a whole bulliten is done by a hidden camera rather than by a regular camera! CNN-IBN last night showed UP politicians getting anything and everything done for a price. Indeed, no one can deny the commendable effort being done by the vigilant fourth estate but one question that pops up is - Do sting operations make a difference?

What the sting operations have done is establish the well held fact that corruption is rampant and exists at every level. But what after that? Have such expose's helped in curbing corruption in any way? Have we as Indians started demanding more transparency after seeing our politicians indulging in corruption? Unfortunately, like it or not, the answer is no. What they have done is make us even more immune and resigned to the existence of corruption. Beyond that, the media house may get a jump in the day's TRP and a minister may resign from his post, but nothing more.

New channels are being launched at regular intervals and without the right “tehelka” their chance of establishing them in the mainstream are slim. In such a scenario, even thick-skinned politicians know that what is news today will be conviniently forgotten tommorow. Also, often in the competition that exists between various media houses, one sting operation is ignored by the other. So the true impact of what a sting can do is lost in the din of competitive chaos.

So while one must condone sting operations and encourage media houses to sniff out the rotten eggs in the system, it has become the collective responsibility of Indian society to make sure that what is exposed must be truly appreciated, understood and we must demand some answers rather than dismiss it cynically. The media houses are doing their job, are we the citizens doing the same or just adding to the rot?