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        When the watchdog itself proves to be the thief, then who will bark? Or put it otherwise, who will blow the whistle on the eternal whistleblowers? It is a question that strident media professionals across the country have to ponder over in the light of the bogus and sinister sting operation that painted a picture of a teacher in Delhi pushing her wards into prostitution. After an angry mob (perhaps orchestrated too) ransacked the school and attacked the teacher, she was also sacked and made to face utter humiliation. Now that it has been revealed that the girl who was shown as being into pushed into the flesh trade by the teacher was actually a reporter of the TV channel that had masterminded the purported sting operation, the clock for the media to begin its introspection has begun.

        To be sure, many media big mouths, from their vantage ivory towers, will bellow that what has happened is a pure one off and will hastily distance themselves from the obvious black deed. But is it really an aberration as media professionals would like to lull themselves into? Far from it, it is increasingly clear that with every passing day, the urge to sensationalise and the (greedy) pressure to 'break stories' (a choking compulsion of the monster called 24-hour news channels) is pushing media houses to transgress norms of decency and dignity. How many times, we, as ordinary but sensitive citizens, blanched at mikes, breaching sacrosanct personal space, being thrust at innocents grieving over some private tragedy like death in an accident? Didn't we all feel very squeamish at the almost wall-to-wall over-the-top coverage of the jail sentences awarded to media dolls like Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt? Or take the case of Sachin Tendulkar's reported retirement plans. He never uttered a word about quitting the game. Yet, the media went to town for two days that he was possibly hanging his boots. And in the aftermath, the media is saying that Tendulkar is not turning his back on the game. The man in the centre of it all, Tendulkar, is however, never heard to say anything at all as he is quietly going about his job of scoring runs.

        The media, mostly the electronic one, can no longer claim to just play the role of fly in the wall. Far from merely holding a mirror to the society, the media, perhaps not happy with the TRP ratings of the image on the mirror, has now got down to 'create' images so that it looks good and compelling on screen. The 'agent provocateur syndrome is taking the media into hitherto proscribed and dangerous areas. So the thinking sections of the country is caught between the Scylla of sensation-seekers and Charybdis of sensation-providers (the media). Who begets whom is a chicken and egg question, and there can be no convincing answer to it.

        Whatever it takes, the media surely needs to be reined in. Not by the government. But through some kind of willing self-regulation. After preaching the world on how to conduct its business, the media would do well to look in and spare a few words to itself. the moral high ground is already slipping. Unless media houses act fast, the stings will start to bite from within.