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Media needs to be tamed!
Written By mayank - 28 June, 2009
Media suggestion standards India Everything else
Gone are the days when the media used to uphold highest standards in reporting and used to consist of people with integrity. Like all other institutions, the media in India has deteriorated to absolutely pathetic levels. Real issues are sidelined and only issues that advance the vested interests of the media and/ or the political friends are showcased. Real issues of hunger and price rise is hardly addressed and instead, the daily routine of people in the world of glamour is flashed along the front pages. Page 3 has come onto page 1 now. Similarly, news and actual happenings are twisted to suit their personal agendas and vested interests. Its high time the people of India tame the media. If India has to progress, we first need to liberate the media from the illness that it is suffering from.
COMMENTS
yes yes, taming is not the word
silkboard - 29 June, 2009 - 02:25
Oh yes, forgot to mention that the original post here is not using the right words - there is nobody to be "tamed" here. Knowing Mayank's own biased opinions etc (from past and moderated posts here), he is thinking curtailed freedom and regulations. Imposing regulations usually means running with an ideologists rule-book.
You and me are on this tangent of making media do more to play the part that is missing in our public space - true public auditing and accounting with broad coverage on the ground.
If someone can write a better worded, and example filled lead post, we can try to restart this discussion.
idontspam - 29 June, 2009 - 12:14
...will not succomb to the 'call of the commerce' at any time in future.
I would prefer a convergence where a newspaper owned Praja as an extension, or the other way around(if SB is rich or has VC friends). There has to be synergies between the two though. Just thinking aloud.
The newspaper media is plain stupid and live in the dark ages. They dont know how to come out of their limitations and the most they do is put their papers up online and a ton of ads in between. This is reactive thinking. They dont understand how to leverage convergence.
silkboard - 28 June, 2009 - 14:28
Most folks who I have met through Praja say similar things.
But how do you remedy this situation - possibly via Praja type entities combined with new generation "locally focused" media (like citizenmatters). But then, two things there:
- is there a real market for 'real' news or analysis, and even if it exists,
- new entities will require capital to grow and serve more people (ex: Praja needs resources to reach out via mobile phones).
Eventually, to sustain, or to grow, you require resources - aka capital. And once you go down that loop, there would be competition. And then, to cope with that, you would see bikini supplements, and semi-nude models on sports pages (I always thought sports was one page where you don't need such stuff, but TOI's marketing managers know us better, but anyway).
How do you come out of this deadlock? Or am I overstating this thing?
Before we go around taming the media etc help me understand
1. What is the objective of news?
2. What is the objective of analysing a story?
3. What is a perspective?
4. What is the differentiator between news channels if they all carry the same story?
srkulhalli - 28 June, 2009 - 15:40
The way out is to vote with your feet, or rather your eyes. Stop watching news on television, stop reading the so called "news"papers and save yourself some precious time every day. And log on to Praja where you can have more interactive and intelligent discussions and spend that time usefully instead :)
If enough of us start doing it, the system will eventually clean itself. You definitely dont need them in ANY way, they however need you to exist.
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