Time to focus on reality not image

Unfortunately, this tendency to shoot the messenger is not a character trait that is limited to the political leadership of the country. It is a national characteristic. As a nation we are very sensitive to, and defensive about, anything that could be construed as a negative representation of our country. I cannot even count the number of people I have met since returning to this country eight months ago who have told me how the media have a responsibility not to portray the country in a poor light.

The media is giving the country a bad name abroad is the accusation I hear again and again. I am told that we should consider the reputation of the country before we publish our reports of extortion and child rape and acid attacks. I am told that it is counter-productive to write reports that highlight the country's many iniquities and dysfunctions.

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Now, it is not that I don't understand this impulse. I do. No one likes to hear bad news. It is also true that Bangladesh has traditionally suffered from a poor image abroad, that outside of Bangladesh we are still a by-word for disaster, and that this is not the most flattering of portrayals.

But actually this is not the whole story. Alongside the pieces on cyclones and arsenic and floods and ferry disasters that one has become accustomed to, of late there have also been pieces about micro-credit and the positive role of NGOs etc.

The depiction of Bangladesh in the foreign media has become a little more balanced in recent years, but that simply reflects the fact that there has been slightly more positive news to report than any decision made by editors around the world to cut Bangladesh more slack.

The point is that it is the job of the media to report what the situation in a country is. The Bangladeshi media is not a propaganda organ for any political party or for the country itself, nor should we be.

It is our job to report on the truth of what is going on as best we are able. If what is going on is a crisis in law and order and a breakdown of the political system then that is what we will write about. It will most likely lower the esteem in which we are held abroad, but surely the fault should be placed at the doors of those who commit the crimes or are otherwise responsible for the unfortunate state of affairs that we find ourselves in.

But no.

In Bangladesh, we do not reserve our wrath for those who make life here a living hell, but for those who write about it.

That makes a whole lot of sense. The problem is not that minorities are burned to death or that women are gang-raped or that businessmen are hacked to pieces -- the problem is that the media has the temerity to write about such things and to stir up trouble both at home and abroad.

This has been a constant refrain of the BNP since they came to power in the last election. They have taken a page right out of the George Bush play-book and seem to think that if you are not with them you are against them. The BNP is constantly complaining that the opposition is busy running down the image of the country overseas for its own political gain, and it was only earlier this week that the Prime Minister admonished a media group she was addressing not to print stories and pictures that might harm the country's image.

Interestingly enough, this point of view seems to have been more or less endorsed by World Bank country director Christine Wallich, who in a speech last December blamed the country's poor image overseas on this kind of bad-mouthing of the country.

Dr. Wallich pointed out that the "social indicators" of the country were fairly positive "but the problem lies with the external perception of the country."

Really?

It is true that many of the country's macroeconomic indicators are quite strong, but is it really the case that foreign investors should therefore be in a rush to throw their money to us or that the problem lies in the perception of the country and not the reality?

I'm sure that Dr. Wallich's own personal portfolio is just filled to the brim with Bangladeshi investments. She knows as well as anyone that economic or social indicators are not the only measure of a healthy investment climate and that there is a reason why foreign investment has dried up. Lots of reasons, actually. Crumbling infrastructure, political instability, corruption, crime -- I could go on indefinitely.

Let's get it straight. The problem is not the perception, but the reality.

And, of course, lest we forget, the AL made the same complaints when they were in power.

But it is not just the AL and the BNP that I am concerned about. The fact is that a lot of people in the country share this point of view. They are many people who appear to think that it is more important to touch-up the image of the country than to actually do anything that would merit a positive image.

It is thus that the latest piece about Bangladesh in Time magazine, titled "State of Disgrace," has been received. The consensus is in -- the piece is a shoddy and unfair hatchet-job that will only succeed in further tarnishing our image abroad.

People might wish to take issue with the heading and the second heading of the piece, and argue that we are not a state of disgrace and most dysfunctional country in Asia. Like we are not the most corrupt. Or not the most violent for newsmen. But that is not the point.

The piece is a well-written and well-reported one that concentrates on the crime, corruption, and political turmoil that are tearing the country apart. The piece does a good job of explicating the toll collection system, cataloging the reach of corruption, and capturing the climate of uncertainty and fear that dominates the country.

But already the chorus denouncing the piece has begun. The issue at stake is our national image. It does not matter that the picture of Bangladesh drawn by the piece is depressing -- what is important is that once again Bangladesh has been maligned in the international media, and the suggestion is that it is our duty as proud Bangladeshis to circle the wagons against this affront and to dismiss it out of hand as an unfair and one-sided piece of "parachute journalism."

The impulse is no different from the response to the unrelentingly bad news that we read every day in the local media. The focus is more on the image of the country than on the reality of the situation. In fact, the blame for the unflattering Time magazine piece is even being laid at the feet of the local media. After all, where would Time get the idea to run a piece on Bangladesh's dysfunctions in the first place, if not from the negative reports in the local media?

It is high time for us to stop fretting about the image of the country and to start concentrating on the reality. If we have a poor image abroad, it is because we have done very little to change our reality. If the government does not want bad news to dominate the headlines, then it is up to it to make sure that there is less bad news to report.

It's really quite simple. If the media -- be it local or foreign -- is to print positive stories, then give us something positive to print. Don't shoot the messenger. What hurts our country's image is the fact that we are mired in crime, corruption, and political instability, not that the media impolitely points this out.

Zafar Sobhan is an Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.