The reality is that large media conglomerates control and manipulate narratives to fit their agendas. No more than mouthpieces of political and capitalist structures, these media outlets dictate an invisible diktat. Surprisingly, they have recently begun expressing ressentiment tendencies despite being drivers of Judeo-Christian narratives for much of the previous century.

Given this situation, why bother discussing it at all?

The Western, or Judeo-Christian mainstream media narrative has been a constant staple for almost the entire 20th century. It is a narrative born of war victors in both World Wars and a carry-over from the colonial era. Banking, commerce, law, entertainment, and modernist culture are all part of this narrative.

When newspapers in paper form were in vogue, the West was portrayed as civilized, technologically advanced, and culturally sophisticated. In contrast, news from elsewhere, especially from the Global South, was mired in natural disasters, economic mismanagement, and regional wars.

Even deep into the internet and dot-com era, Western narratives remained the mainstay. Web-based tools came primarily from the West, with the United States as its epicenter. With its stranglehold on technology, it seemed that this hegemony had no end and was, in fact, growing stronger by the day. These skewed narratives were not only bothersome but now disseminated instantaneously on a global scale upon publication.

Then three things happened from the 1990s: mobile phones, social media, and the economic rise of Asia. Mobile phones, later smartphones, and social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and later TikTok enabled media content generation and consumption at individual and group levels. These platforms no longer required vast investments in distribution infrastructure.

In the early stages of these technologies, it was predicted that the Western narrative would have an even stronger hegemonic stranglehold. The assumption was that these skewed, ubiquitous, Western-tainted narratives would now easily flow directly to these multitudes of individuals. The continuity of narrative control seemed imminent.

However, as income from the largest consumption markets in the world rose, so too did the use of these gadgets and platforms. One thing was different, though: Asia was multilingual, multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and had civilizations dating back thousands of years. Asian civilizations were once wealthy and rich in philosophy and belief systems.

With wealth and economic prominence regained, its multitude began to produce their own narratives, which are more practically aligned with their immediate neighborhood. This meant that the very things that made the West strong - banking, commerce, law, entertainment, and culture - were now held in their own stead, the Asian way.

Beginning with East Asia, then Southeast Asia and South Asia, the region saw the fastest rise in prosperity in human history. What differs from the West is that this region still has its living, ancient civilizations intact. Its values, traditions, culture, language, and religions still hold sway despite the intrusion of Abrahamic faiths.

But what does it mean to have an "Asian narrative"?

Swami Gurumurthy, in his keynote address, mentions the dichotomy between philosophy and ideology, between the inclusive nature that encompasses Asian thought systems and the "either-or" tendencies of the Western approach. He speaks of the terrible damage Western civilization has wrought on the world through colonialism and its endless wars for the last millennium, despite its contributions to education, legal systems, finance, and trade.

He says that the Asian narrative must embrace this inclusivity, which begets spirited initiatives to form fruitful communication that is pragmatic, individually enriching, and environmentally sustainable.

Prashant Sharma, Director of the Dharma Alliance based in Geneva, Switzerland, clarifies this in detail through his advocacy of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with Dharma Traditions. His emphasis is on promoting "dharmic language," rooted in mindfulness and compassion, ensuring that "a balance between inward thinking and outward communication" can be attained.

Perhaps the Director General of the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), Abhijit Haldar, best encapsulates what mindful communication is all about when he said, "the media must be mindful of the content it feeds, and the consumers must be equally mindful about what they consume."

What this all boils down to is that 21st century Asia must power this Asian driven "mindful communication" narrative through tools and values that its rich civilizations have bestowed upon them. There is no lack of innovation and creativity to enable this approach to work, as the Malaysian initiative NORBU (https://norbu-ai.org) has proven. A custom GPT, adequately trained with a mindful communication knowledge base, can spearhead this development to empower all journalists with the right mindset and attitude.

In conclusion, is mindful communication in a media setting workable and practical? It all boils down to our motivation and intention. If we have human interest in our hearts, our minds can produce healing words and calming voices. Buddhist True Network (BTN) of South Korea, have ably demonstrated this power through its mindful reporting of the Itaewon stampede incident.

If we sincerely believe that what we pen can have the power to bring people together, bonding with loving-kindness and compassion, wouldn't this be a better alternative than settling disputes with bullets and bombs?

Why not then, make this the only choice?

------------

The 2nd Buddhist Media Conclave was organized by the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) at the Vivekananda International Foundation auditorium in New Delhi, India, on 11 September 2024. About 100 media participants from 20 countries attended the meeting.