Okay, the title is a cheesy rip-off from the 1929 war classic “All Quiet on the western front” by Erich Maria Remarque. But the similarities couldn’t be starker. The protagonist by the end of the novel discovers the pointlessness of war and loses his zeal for life. Did our journalists discover the inherent injustice of international trade mechanism to give the recently held World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit the royal ignore?

Some facts first:

1. The WTO conference was about rules-based fair trade system globally. It was also the only development summit of 2015 with binding outcomes, a regulatory body and penalty mechanisms. Compared to the compliance requirement of WTO conference, rest of the conferences could be termed pious words
2. On the table was the agenda of finding a permanent settlement of agriculture-agreement which is frozen at 1986-88 base price and subsidy mechanisms, which makes almost all subsidies from the developing world to its own farmers, illegal.
3. Also at stake, was the need to find a permanent solution to the public stock-holding which is necessary for countries like India with severe hunger and under-nutrition problem (and runaway food inflation too) to feed its own population without the fear of transgressing WTO rules
4. The fate of the Doha Development Round was at stake, which is a framework for finding equitable and just trade mechanisms in a spirit of international solidarity, beyond petty mercantilism and beyond dumping desires of the rich manufacturing countries/bodies
5. On WTO’s remit is trade, which includes Make in India, agriculture, patents and pharmaceuticals, new body of agreements like those on services (water, sanitation, healthcare and education) and public procurement (especially in the era of Public-Private-Partnerships and public/government tendering being the biggest business).

Exactly what could be more important than coverage of such a summit in a country with 53% agrarian population, unprecedented agrarian crisis, a spate of farmers’ suicide and the highest burden of child malnutrition?

Especially when Indian delegation didn’t exactly score a victory i.e. the pressure on agriculture subsidy phase-out is even more intense, the permanent solution on stocking is yet to be addressed, danger of dumping of food produced in the United States and European Union to under-cut Indian farmers is more real than ever. And the flavour-of-the-season emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) had much to be ashamed of too. Especially Brazil, China and India who got into the green room to do secretive, back-alley negotiations with the powerful US and EU blocks to the complete chagrin of the African host nation and the continent of 54 countries. In a single stroke, they also alienated the Asian and Latina countries. The outcome was pro-US-EU and anti-emerging economies, anti-developing countries and worst, anti-farmers in developing countries.

The Nairobi conference, the first in Africa, was on from 15 December-19 December, 2015. The final deal was out on 20 December. Amid much drama, intense pressure from the developed rich countries, the deal was signed, where the Indian delegation expressed its disappointment multiple times but also copped out finally.

But prime-time TV channels chose to run the Delhi and District Cricket Association controversy on a loop, channels after channels. The same channels which had done a very good job of reporting on the climate summit the week before. The Aam Aadmi Party and BJP stand-off continued to regale us and we got collectively insular and dumber in our living rooms via TV.

The two channels, which did do a curtain-raiser pre-WTO summit with panel discussions and studio interview with Nirmala Sitharaman (India’s Commerce Minister and WTO delegation lead), were Rajya Sabha TV on its weekly debate Sarokaar and Bloomberg TV in the run up to the summit.

Bloomberg TV did a series of during-conference reportage too and post-summit wrap up. Rajya Sabha TV did a post-summit special report in the week following the summit but it was constantly interrupted. For some inscrutable reason, they decided to play it mostly during house adjournments and never fully played the report. And I found it difficult to even locate the link to that report on the Rajya Sabha TV website while writing this article. Zee Business did reportage, but mostly from the wire feeds of the Press Trust of India. ET Now and CNBC – well less said the better. Seems their economic reportage is now mostly limited to Dalal Street and stocks trading.

In case of broadsheets and digital media, The Economic Times, Hindu, Business Standard, The Wire and Scroll offered redemption. But there was a crucial difference though, most of the write-ups were not deconstructed reportage, but opinion pieces by activists and experts. The Economic Times and Business Standard did provide platform to differing worldviews too. The silence amongst the Indian 24X7 news channels blaring in our living rooms was more ubiquitous because not only the issues are very important politically and economically but also, India did cop out. Copping out on trade issues by a wannabe permanent member of United Nations’ security council takes some special talent. Especially when there was historical precedence of even Indian ministers Murasoli Maran and Kamal Nath stalling the talks for the larger interests – Indian agriculture and manufacturing – and walking out. We are proud to have dedicated two shows of hour plus duration to the topic amidst such silence.

Unsurprisingly, the reportage in western media was mostly celebratory, considering the victory the US scored and the territory that the EU and US gained. Financial Times gave the Op-ed space to the US Chief negotiator Michael Froman, BBC called it historic farming subsidy deal. And CNN in keeping with its trademark inaccuracy declared a deal a good 48 hours before it was actually inked.

Coverage of WTO negotiations and summits is essential because it deconstructs the issues, builds and shapes public opinion (currently our farmers need all of that and more) and provides spine to our politicians to exercise some of it globally. The way mainstream electronic media forced passing of the Juvenile Justice Bill is an apt demonstration of impact of electronic media’s hyperventilation. Perhaps media houses could and should use their might for better reasons and what could be a better reason than our farmers and agriculture.

The fact that negotiations done in sunshine under public scrutiny tend to be much fairer was a case amply demonstrated in the Paris climate summit. But in case of WTO negotiations, not only Indian negotiating positions and negotiators’ selection was happening in secrecy, but against every principle of multi-lateralism. The outcome was predictably unfair, anti-poor and unjust.

The insistence on sunshine, transparency in international development processes is as much about claiming journalists’ right to report as about ensuring justice in such processes and their outcomes. The quietude on shenanigans of the western front actually silenced the southern solidarity.

An opportunity obviously lost and this time only politicians can’t be blamed.