We have been witness in recent years to rapid, & unprecedented, changes in our society, economy & polity. These have also transformed the Indian mass media system. The growth in its scale, reach & influence, however, has not been matched by corresponding sensitivity towards non-commercial & non-market dimensions.
This aspect is of relevance because the media is the fourth estate in a democracy. It plays a major role in informing the public & thereby shape perceptions & through it the national agenda. Its centrality is enhanced manifold by increased literacy levels & by the technological revolution of the last two decades & its impact on the generation, processing, dissemination, & consumption of news.
Two other consequences of the change need to be mentioned :
* Media platforms & devices for consumption today vary between traditional, non-conventional, & the experimental. They span traditional print, audio-visual, & digital modes. Convergence between news media, entertainment & telecom has meant that the demarcation between journalism, public relations, advertising & entertainment has been eroded.
* Increase in per-capita income, discretionary spending capability, attractiveness of India as a market & as a destination of foreign investment, have all reinforced the centrality of the Indian mass media system.
As a result, media outlets assume importance not only for marketing & advertisement but also for the 'soft power' aspects of businesses, organizations, & even nations. Media entrepreneurship today is a necessary condition for any growing business enterprise, a political party, & even individuals seeking to leverage public influence for private gain
Furthermore, the towards globalization has empowered individual citizens through increased movement of goods, capital, services & ideas. Economic liberalisation & spread of digital technologies have aided it. New media have brought forth new means of individual empowerment, allowing the expression of individual ideas, opinions & identities.
The necessity for media to function effectively as the watchdog of public interest was recognised in the freedom struggle.The founding fathers of the republic realised the need to balance the freedom of expression of the press with a sense of responsibility while such freedom is exercised.
Gandhi ji, a journalist himself, cautioned that "an uncontrolled pen serves but to destroy." Jawaharlal Nehru warned: "if there is no responsibility & no obligations attached to it, freedom gradually withers away. This is true of a nation's freedom & it applies as much to the press as to any other group, organization or individual."
ISSUE OF REGULATION
It is no exaggeration to say that media represent the sector of the economy that is the envy of others because of the extremely buoyant growth rate witnessed over the last two decades, in an environment characterized by minimal or no regulation. The sole statutory, quasi-judicial body set up for media regulation in the country is the Press Council of India. While it aims to preserve the freedom of the press & maintain & improve the standards of press in India, it has no way of imposing punishments or enforcing its directions for professional or ethical violations.
In the absence of any other government regulator, the focus has shifted to self-regulation by the media organizations, individually or collectively. Collective self-regulation has failed because it is neither universal nor enforceable. Individual self-regulation has also failed due to personal predilections & the prevailing of personal interest.
It is relevant to note that, to an extent, the most effective de-facto media regulator happens to be the advertisers & sponsors who determine the bulk of the revenue stream of our media industry. Their aims & desired outcomes, however, might not align with public policy goals of the government or markers of public interests & may, instead, stand in opposition to them.
The common citizen, who is a consumer of media products, is thus faced with a piquant situation.
There are various reasons to have a concern over the media regulation :
First, the objective of regulation in democratic societies such as the USA, France & others is to enhance diversity, competition, & localism among media outlets & to promote public interest with a focus on upholding constitutional values, protecting minors, & limiting advertising. Intrusive content regulation is minimised because those who are aggrieved can resort to legal means in the knowledge that the justice delivery system will address their grievances in a reasonable time period.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about our justice delivery system. The time taken to settle court cases deters individual citizens, & even corporate entities, from seeking legal options & forcing the search for alternative tools of administrative justice & facilitation for grievance redressal.
Second, the issue of multiple ownership & cross-ownership is a riddle in our country. In most developed countries, rules on cross-ownership & multiple-ownership are intended to prevent the emergence of monopolies. Many states in India have a few media groups dominating both the print & electronic media. At the national level, we have seen the emergence of a handful of media conglomerates spanning the entire media spectrum. Its impact on moulding public opinion, generating political debate, & safeguarding consumer & public interest is a moot question.
Third, India is among the few democracies without active media watch groups. For an industry that has over fifty thousand newspapers & hundreds of television channels, systematic media criticism is non-existent.
Fourth, the structural biases of the development process have favoured urban areas over rural ones, metropolitan areas over other urban areas, English-speaking over those speaking other Indian languages, the middle & upper classes over the others who constitute the vast majority of our citizens, & the service sectors over other areas such as agriculture.
These biases have prompted the media industry to resort to "sunshine journalism" where the focus is on the glass that is quarter-full rather than that which is three-quarter empty!
It is for the journalistic community to take the initiative & seek to address the various concerns regarding the profession. At the same time, all categories of regulation or binding guide lines must be strengthened with a view to securing & defending the public good - by the government, the media organizations & the industry, civil society, advertisers & sponsors, & the audience & readership of the media.
We should not forget that vibrant journalism in a democracy is watchdog journalism that monitors the exercise of power in the state, stands for the rights & freedoms of citizens, & informs & empowers citizens rather than entertains & titillates them. Vibrant journalism always springs from the bedrock of professional ethics. Our media & democracy, are fortunate that we have shining examples of journalists who not only embody the ethical dimension, but sadly, also laid down their life for the same.
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