By MKPE ABANG
Once upon a time, rumour mongering was a most stupid pastime to engage in; a most condemnable act to be associated with; indeed, an act only the wretched of the earth are counted to be denizens of that class. Even then, they strove with all their might, and relentlessly, to distance themselves from that ignominious lot.
If you were ever associated with or lived near a military barracks – ask General Muhammadu Buhari if you doubt it – rumour mongering within the armed forces can earn you serious corporal punishment, cost you your rank or worst still, you could get dismissed from the army for peddling rumour.
Only yesterday, there was something within the media community called yellow journalism. You didn’t know about it? Then, of course you are just arriving on the social stratosphere. Such ‘journalism’ belonged to the scum of the profession, the never do good; those who were too unserious to look for something serious to report, so they only reported half-truth, imaginary ‘events’ and whatever else they could pick from the streets, beer parlours, bus stops, train stations, village squares and market places, where whoever liked busied themselves in the most unscrupulous conversations – about others, without the littlest shadow of truth as a backup.
It wasn’t therefore difficult for creative people to come up with all manners of plays, theatre works and comic shows around such attitudes, all in concerted efforts to show societies wherever they were, the ills of such condemnable acts. Oh, and you need not look or think any further to remember all the plays and short stories, whether in books or on radio or television, that depict such very cruel abysmal behaviours. And you thought we would learn good lessons from such opprobrious descent to the ludicrous. No; you’re wrong!
Unfortunately those good old days are gone; and, gone for bad (not for good); because these days rumour mongering has become something many are proud of and brag about. Oh yes, many register businesses to actually peddle rumour, impugn others’ reputation and brag about it to boot; and are happy to be earning a living from doing so.
Yes, once upon a time, many people – good thinking and responsible people – chose a profession of disseminating information they call mass communication or journalism. They took it upon themselves to be schooled in the art and act of entertaining, educating and informing the mass of the people with information through such channels as radio, television, newspapers, magazines, etc, on events, persons, happenstances, developments, governments, societies, institutions, name it; as such events unfold. Yes, they called it a profession; and, they were right about it – are still right.
And suddenly, the tsunami bulldozed its way through the rank and file of that careful lot. No, it was not planned; the sociologists call it unplanned change. And, change it was; still is. No thanks to technology; or, all thanks to technology. The internet! That ocean of a bottomless pit, of no end, no beginning, no secrecy, no defence (only attack), no end (only a beginning); yes, the internet came. And, since it became a globalised malaise, the world has never been the same – will never, ever be the same, again. You bet!
What do you get these days? Bloggers and blogging as a profession; and, the fine line of distinction between rumour mongering and professional dissemination of information is being blurred; more so because we are in a society where over 95 per cent of the populace is gullible, ignorant and stupid; damn stupid and mediocre. That’s why for instance, even the so-called very learned can easily be fooled by the most unbelievable con-men! Haven’t thousands been deprived of their hard earned money by conmen, through the most impossible foolery or buffoonery?
If you went to school to study journalism or mass communication, or if you are indeed in school right now studying in this field, you would have been told or are being told, of the age old maxim: you cannot, must not and should not publish (or broadcast) anything one-sided; you must hear from both sides before you publish or broadcast, even if that story has to wait for eternity. After all, quite a number of libel cases arose from hearing from one side and rushing to publish or broadcast, something condemned as a most unprofessional conduct unbecoming of the pen profession.
But not anymore! Today, the internet has thrown up a new and most irresponsible genre of rumour mongers called bloggers. Oh yes, all they need is register a domain name, which costs a penny a domain; and, they are on their way to pulling down whoever or whatever doesn’t add up to their imagination – collateral damage! Too bad, no one can do anything about it now, especially in the developing world where not only are we consumers of every and any technology, we are also at the receiving end of all the idiotic scum in the blogging field; a field populated by the most irresponsible class seeking attention at all costs. I see that the legal profession will get richer and richer; because soon and very soon, the courts will be awash with cases arising from this field. Do you foresee ‘special courts’ to deal with such cases? Wait for it! It won’t be far off.
Which is why one gets worried, very worried indeed, that otherwise serious companies and conglomerates condescend to associate with such communities through advertising their products and services on such blogs. Even if they were to run such adverts for free, any serious company should have its lawyers sue those blogs for running their advertisements and giving the impression they endorse the blogs – unless they do, which is what silence in this case means. It is much the same as having your company’s advertisement run on a pornographic website, or a website supposedly preaching robbery and thievery.
So, while many are blogging and bluffing about it, watch out; the days of special courts to deal with such terrible acts are not far off. After all, in many countries, Nigeria inclusive, cybercrime laws have been inaugurated or are being inaugurated; and, they will soon become commonplace.
Soon, running down people’s names on a website in the name of blogging will be so criminalised that those blogging and bluffing today will end up behind bars. No, their cases will not be like those in other countries whose lives are being sniffed out; that’s the extreme we should not descend to. The law courts are more than enough to let people realise that the freedom for one person to swing his/her hand stops where another person’s eye is. For, if you poke your hand into someone’s eye in the name of freedom to swing your hand, that person will sue for his or her fundamental human right to his or her eye.
It is interesting that just this field of information dissemination is so populated freely by all and sundry, peddling all manners of information (something in the military era quite a number will be cooling their heels in prison without trial); and, to understand just how terrible and harmful it is to society, one only needs to think of everyone setting up a hospital and claiming to have a cure for all ailments, and claiming to be a physician just because he or she can cook a pot of leaves and call it medicine. If we don’t see this as possible, think of what is happening on the religious turf: mount a loudspeaker, and you easily lay claim to being a pastor, a reverend, an imam or a cleric.
So, go ahead blogging and bluffing; it will not be long before your cup is full. And, for those who see blogs as their main source of information because they don’t see the ills of rumour mongering and name calling, go ahead believing and following blogging; the ostrich that buries its head in the sand to evade the coming danger is nearly not as stupid; nor the fly that doesn’t listen to advice nearly as condemnable as it follows the corpse right into the grave.