useful links

http://www.globalissues.org/article/278/mainstream-media-introduction

Newspaper as a public trust

Date:29/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/29/stories/2006012900841400.htm Back National  Newspapers as a Public Trust B.G. Verghese As we observe Newspaper Day today, there is much for the Indian press to celebrate. Much more to ponder. There has been a dumbing down of serious reportage and analysis Editors have declined as market savvy proprietors Television is in some ways a shallow medium Print media too carried away by sound byte journalism Tabloidisation will remain the preserve of pop journalism India's first newspaper, Hicky's Gazette, more formally titled the Bengal Gazette, appeared in Calcutta on January 29, 1780, an occasion now fittingly celebrated nationally as Newspaper Day. The weekly enjoyed a short but tempestuous life, reflecting the rumbustious nature of its publisher, James Augustus Hicky. However, the event gave birth to the modern Indian press. The transformation in the India media scene in the intervening 225 years, in keeping with the changes in the country as a whole, has been enormous. Yet the importance of an independent press remains greater than ever before to enhance democracy, civil liberties, empowerment and good governance. Independence saw the end of expatriate media ownership in fairly quick measure, the process being completed with the Statesman passing into Indian hands by the mid-1960s. Low literacy and income levels, newsprint and foreign exchange controls and a modest though growing economic base, made for a limited readership that was largely urban and elite. It was an age of class more than mass newspapers and the style and content of the press reflected that bias, with the Indian language papers being clearly positioned in the junior league. All this has changed over the past 20-30 years. The Emergency was a landmark, with censorship becoming the primary instrument of coercion and control. The end of that dark period in 1977 brought home the distinction between independence and freedom. The communications revolution, television, economic liberalisation and an expanding social base ushered in a new phase of media growth, both horizontal and vertical. The market era and rising advertising budgets saw media demand and supply expand exponentially. Indian language papers have exhibited the fastest growth with multiple editions and technological innovation, though still struggling to match the knowledge-power and intellectual reach of the rapidly globalising English language media. This too will change over the next 20 years. Yes, the newspaper industry has expanded and there is much to celebrate on the occasion of Newspaper Day. The media today wields immense power, shaping the national agenda by what it writes or portrays, linking ever-growing communities in the continuing process of nation building and serving as a watchdog. Thanks to emerging technology, we live in a global village and an instant world, in a Knowledge Society and an Information Age as opposed to the traditional society and Iron Age of Hicky's time. But beyond these roseate hues there also lies another worrying reality. The market has become more pervasive than government. India remains desperately poor with millions hovering just above or below or the poverty line despite peaks of affluence. The marginalised citizen is in daily contention with the consumer with his accoutrement of power and pelf. Numerically the former represents the larger part of the sovereign "We", the people. Who better to give them voice, promote their empowerment and enable them to understand their entitlements and uphold their rights than the media. Without that, we may well lament with Oliver Goldsmith of a land where wealth accumulates and men decay. That is the way to revolution. The spread of Naxalism over an estimated 175 districts is cautionary. From small beginnings this has too long been treated as a purely law and order problem whereas it is essentially rooted in feudal and caste oppression and the usurpation of the land and forest rights of dalit and tribal communities in a bid to preserve an iniquitous established order. However, the media and government, having ignored the growing malaise over the years, tend to focus excessively on the law and order aspect and the admitted need to put down violence which has come to attract a coalition of malcontents, adventurers and subversive elements. In the competition for circulation/ratings and a larger share in the consumer rupee through advertising, there has been a dumbing down of serious reportage and analysis, a trivialisation of news and events, sensationalism and prurient coverage, invasion of privacy, trial by the press, resort to rumour, gossip and innuendo without verification, and disregard for fair and balanced reporting or prompt correction when in error and the right of reply. While there are admittedly fine journalists and some excellent writing, there is a lot of editorialising in the news, conjecture in place of fact and lazy journalism marked by shallow writing, inadequate research or patent ignorance of background and context. Two trends merit attention. Editors have declined as market savvy proprietors and managers have taken over. Overall, editors have yielded to page editors even as entertainment, lifestyle, food and other sections jostle for space with serious news and analysis. Not that the former is unwelcome or unwholesome; but the balance could be different. The sports and commerce sections have improved and deservedly get more space though the same breathlessness that pervades news reporting in general has permeated these sections with the focus on personalities. Many chief editors spend a lot of time outside the office and have become brand managers. Rise of television The other factor has been the rise of television, especially 24-hour channels. While television is indeed a powerful medium and seeks to portray visual reality, it is in some ways a shallow medium. No picture, no news! Some events get overexposure because the visuals are brilliant whereas other more relevant and newsworthy events may be underplayed, as they are not caught on camera. Visuals dominate or "make" news. Since news falls intermittently, every subsequent bulletin repeats the same litany but struggles to be different from the earlier newscast and that from rival stables by adding gloss and spin, fatuous detail and supposedly learned commentary from whomsoever is at hand. Anything new, however routine, is billed "breaking news" and even when the matter is of some substance the absence of footage, relevant background or informed comment can lead to a lot of tittle-tattle and trivialisation of the event. What matters is not what is said but the sound and air, sound bytes and photo-opportunity. Unfortunately, the print media too has been carried away by sound byte journalism where inconsequential statements take over substance and meaning. Spokespersons, even public figures and sundry commentators, are impelled to speak rather than appear to have nothing to say, which would itself gift a point to the opposition. So ill-considered, off-the-cuff remarks make "news" while more "news" is made by clarifying, contradicting and dissecting the earlier statement. This would be entertainment but for the regrettable consequences of such chatter in the understanding and analysis of things that matter. Disservice to democracy Such journalism, with honourable exceptions, does a disservice both to the media and democracy. Therefore, despite initial gains in garnering "mind share" — a phrase that exemplifies an insidious market influence on the news "product" — serious journalism must remain part of the democratic dharma. A true democracy is inseparable from an informed people exposed to diverse views and ideas. It is here that the serious daily newspaper with its 24-hour rather than 24-minute news cycle scores over the 24-hour news channel, bringing the reader a well considered menu of news, analyses, readers' views and comments. In India, a large developing society, new papers will continue to emerge, especially at the local level and circulations may continue to increase as the literacy base expands and incomes rise. The diversity of the population will also sustain a range of journals catering to special interests and cultural groups. The penetration of local and community papers into rural areas and small towns is a more recent development that should grow and flourish. This trend has been encouraged by the new communications technology, which has disaggregated and miniaturised the newspaper business enabling almost anybody to produce a modest newsletter. Internet has opened up online possibilities and while newspapers can increasingly be read by anyone, anywhere, bloggers can speak and advertise goods and services to each other and to the world in similar fashion, bypassing established news channels. This could tell on newspaper circulations and advertising revenues but, again, serious newspapers are more likely to survive as bloggers are too atomised and their chatter too diverse and scattered to impact on public opinion and the decision-making process in the manner of regular newspapers. Formats will change but tabloidisation will remain the preserve of pop journalism, largely geared to sensation and entertainment. Grave danger It would be untrue to suggest that little is right with the Indian press. The peaks are higher than before. There is greater specialisation. Women have added lustre to the profession. Investigative reporting and crusading journalism have exposed scandals and helped promote causes but some of this has also been partisan and self-serving. Disinformation and plants abound and much brashness of the publish-and-be-damned variety, sometimes with pretensions to playing God. Some journalists and journals have come to scorn objectivity and balance as a value. None other than the Prime Minister recently complained of hit-and-run journalism. There is certainly grave danger when the reporter turns partisan or activist; if the observer becomes a participant, what results is pamphleteering, not journalism. Journalistic values too have perhaps suffered the same erosion as larger social values. Publishing has changed from being a mission to a business — and sometimes a business concerned with peddling influence and power. Of course commercial viability matters for survival and quality, but the ultimate goal has to be public service, not profit and market dominance. At the end of the day, the media remains a public trust, which alone justifies its characterisation as the Fourth Estate. Its prime asset is credibility. The maintenance of professional standards of fairness, balance and public interest is critical to its place in society. The press professes to be and is indeed a watchdog; but who shall watch the watchdog should it go wrong? The Press Council is a court of honour, not of law, and is made up largely of press peers who adjudicate on standards and taste. It can censure but not punish. Many critics complain that it lacks teeth. However, were the Council to be vested with penal powers it would subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the superior courts and become just another court of law in the judicial hierarchy. This is not its true purpose. Two correctives suggest themselves to make the Council a more credible body. First, its membership, not composition, could be improved by more careful selection. Secondly, recalcitrant newspapers, which do not care to respond to the Council's summons or publish its rulings if they themselves are censured, should be liable to contempt. Readers' Editor Beyond that, the best answer is self-regulation by editors and publishers as well as by professional associations, media watch commentators and websites likewww.thehoot.org. Newspaper ombudsmen are new to India but it is good news that The Hindu has announced its intention to establish an independent Readers' Editor following the Times of India's short-lived and somewhat tentative experiment with an ombudsman some years ago. As we observe Newspaper Day today, there is much for the Indian press to celebrate. Much more to ponder. (B.G. Verghese is a columnist and a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner. He is currently Visiting Professor at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.) © Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu