Before reading this, I had no previous knowledge of the media and reporting situation in India right now. In this article, the Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju claims that the journalists of India are mostly all uneducated and not intellectual people. While this accusation made many journalists and non-journalist citizens enraged, it was not completely unfounded. India’s media has been reporting skewed stories for decades, and it is only becoming more obvious. Newspapers and daily magazine writers struggle to meet the simple requirements demanded from reporters. Much of the writing has no sources or concrete research.
In addition to having little factual information, many articles only report a fraction of the whole story due to censorship and bias of the organizations. Newspapers as well as TV have been overtaken by advertisements and popular culture since, as we all know, attractive celebrities and dramatic headlines attract more readership. Once the reader can actually locate the news story being covered, the article sources are ambiguous as to who wrote them or sponsored the writers. This article discusses the argument made that objective reporting can only thrive in non-profit environments. I agree with this since any monetary support will clearly skew the opinion of the writer one way or another.
It is a confusing situation and one that only seems to be spiraling downwards. India’s media and reporting community needs to regain control and start doing what media are supposed to do: deliver factual information and current events to those relying on national publications or television reports. One interesting thing about the media landscape in India is that print and television are on the rise, whereas in other countries they are being outdone by online reporting. Mohan proposes that the path to creating an equal world of Journalism in India is to expand the freedom of the press, not limit it. It may be tempting to further regulate journalism because of the rough patch it has had in India, but according to Mohan, the journalists should be treated like the democracy they are. If one source starts reporting factual information, this will create new standards for competition. The second fix, in my opinion, would be to somehow regulate how many advertisements can be in each publication versus how much coverage.
Interesting story to follow, please comment and post other links about India’s current situation regarding the media and journalism!
source: Wall Street Journal blog
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