Two leading regional personalities of the country's top communications giants that are intensely competing for dominance have been, for years now, slugging it out for top share of listenership. To me, their dynamic, even aggressive, competition is good for the industry. I was saddened though when an observer friend of mine told me that there was a time that they literally up the ante with each airing personal, rather than professional diatribes against the other. Up to the present, I refuse to believe that ugly bit of information but my source insists that it is a matter of fact.
This competition for air supremacy is, to an ordinary mortal, like me, innocent. But to a genius, it is a fodder of a thought. It can be exploited to achieve a remotely distinguishable objective by someone who is not anywhere near to the parties involved like a politician who is in constant search for a continuous exposure. I have someone in mind. A political demigod who is aware that his future political adversary is a daily news commodity must try to find ways to level the field. To avoid being forgotten by his followers, the political animal needs to be always in public eye. But, he also knows the economics of the communications industry. It is expensive. While he is perceived to have saved tremendously from real estate transactions mostly of a government asset, to him, spending huge in such a non-revenue generating activity should be minimized, if not skirted. He sees in the serious competition and resultant conflict between the two powerful personalities a way to enjoy continuing availability of free air time.
Part of the process to being elected to office is called campaigning. A successful campaign hinges on the ability of a person to inform his prospective constituency of his qualification to lead and his vision for his people. Media exposure is essential. When newsmen talk about the capabilities of a leader and print his ideas of how to govern, they help the voters decide whom to elect.
Paying one's way to media exposure is, as I said earlier, costly, unless of course, one is a media practitioner himself. That should explain why some politicians try to carve a niche in radio, print media, and television. The politician I have in mind does not want to become a mediaman and perhaps, neither can he qualify. Instead, he employs a different scheme. The strategy is radical and brilliant. In order to get unlimited access to news coverage, he hails to court one of the two competing regional personalities. The immediate public perception is that he has declared war against this personality - his added benefit is that he has blunted the venom of the personality's criticism.
Many people recognize the obvious - that the politician tries to put to prison this personality on some legal cause of action. What I see is far more devious. This politician does not just earn the enmity of one popular personality. More importantly, he gains the patronage of the other.
When the other personality sees the thrust of the politician, he immediately recognizes its impact. The legal harm that may be caused by the action will affect the credibility of his competitor. He imagines that with the supposed credibility of his contender being cast in doubt, his own ratings will soar. And so he reciprocates the unsolicited help.
He features the politician in an incredible frequency in his field of operation. Unfortunately for him, he does not know that he is simply falling into a well-laid out strategy. The net effect is that the politician is being highlighted in his operational area program without having to pay the usual cost of such huge exposure.
I forecast that the legal action, akin to a similar incident in the not so distant past, will be settled amicably. It can come before the next polls. The accuser will attempt to show to the world that he is arrogant no more because he has in fact, forgiven the person who wronged him. Even if that is done, the regional competitor can snatch a feather of achievement in the claim that he, not the other, is more believable. Ah such a strategy!