“The free press is the mother of all liberties, and our

progress under liberty”

( Adlai Satevenson )

Respected Brother Sawant, Shri Pratap Pawar, Shri Sebastian Paul, Shri Hiranmay Karlekar, Shri Ketkar, Shri Kiran Thakur, Vibhaji, ladies & gentlemen. I am indeed very happy to be in this historic city of Pune, that has kept pace with time to emerge as a coveted IT destination and hub of commercial activities. The city is also the home to media houses that have lent strength to the country during the struggle for independence and even to the present day in the stride for development. I believe the topic chosen for discussion is very relevant in the present day media scenario.

Within the rapidly emerging global marketplace, a new transitional media order is assuming shape and form. In this age of global satellite television, digital printing and publishing, news can be transmitted across continents in a matter of minutes. The Internet and digital technology have revolutionised newspaper publishing, making most newspapers and magazines online. In this new era of satellite television and Internet, the impact of the media over the readers cannot be under estimated but needs proper evaluation.

With the emergence of the electronic media – television earlier - and satellite broadcasting more recently, media ethics is being viewed in a newer context and has become more complex as operational compulsions of the new media are different.

The role of media cannot be denied, question to be raised addressed in how ethical this role is. With the media reaching out to an increasing number of people and claiming more of their time, can it be rest assured that people are now better informed about important events?

With the advent of new technology, the press too has undergone a sea change. From hand composing and flatbed printing, the industry moved to the linotype and rotary press. By the late eighties, photo offset laser-printing machines replaced them. And in the sophisticated nineties, one could find anyone between a sub-editor and the printer redundant, as the press room computer would do the work of a proof-reader, layout artist, visualiser, plate-maker, bromide and camera operator – all at one keystroke. Future begets yet unimaginable developments. But while good layouts and vivid colour pictures have started adorning the front pages of even papers coming out from mofussil cities (areas) which may have hardly a print run of 15,000 copies, journalists from the old school, right from the nineties, started lamenting the deterioration in quality, which, they alleged, suffered while making the newspaper an attractive, marketable commodity. And as newspaper turned into a commodity with a market, the focus turned on to trivia, because nothing sells better than frivolous news, which discussed the reader’s immediate neighbourhood, sauced in gossip.

Even in a country like USA where freedom of the press is so persistently emphasised, at least at the surface level, it is possible for the media to present facts in such a distorted way that a large number of people, perhaps even a majority, remain misinformed on some of the most crucial issues.

At the same time, the media has created its own world of glamour, sex and sensation, which have played an important role in distracting attention from the real issues of our times. It is a matters of concern that media has also contributed to the trivialisation of human sensitivities, which makes violence and injustice more acceptable. When media seem to be more interested in promoting consumerism and glamour, to the exclusion of the most essential concerns of the society it is high time for a deep introspection on the justification of this shift.

While efficacy of sting operation in exposing deep and pervasive maladies in public figures holding key position in the administrative set up cannot be under estimated it will be only wise to be aware that very often sting operations try to create a mistaken public impression of a crusading role of media by impinging on private and personal life of an individual. There is no doubt that identification of basic changes are needed before the real potential of the media in effectively tackling the most important issues of our time can be realised.

Going through a transformation syndrome, today news and views are intertwined. Media may not be corrupting but it appears that the modern trend in media is unbalanced interest in commercialism at the cost of its coveted role of being watchdog of the society.

Editorialising in the news columns that renders it difficult to separate fact from opinion, lack of objectivity in tracking and citing sources, failure to follow up stories, selectivity, sensationalism and the arrogance of power that curtails the right of reply are among them. Captions may not always fit the story thus misleading the unwary or casual reader who merely sees the headlines and passes on.

A slant is given to the news to suit particular social, political and economic interests. There is thus an internal censorship in operation all the time that impedes free flow of information. This internal manipulation of information also invites external attacks on the press. Though this is the common trend, there are, however, some media that seems to be doing its job fair enough.

From Bofors to Bihar, from Tehalka to Volcker the media has unearthed and or highlighted the arbitrary acts of the powerful. We need media to aggressively pursue the corrupt. The problem is that increasingly, the media itself appears to be getting tainted by its own aggression.

In order to counter these trends that the Editors Guild of India in 1986 listed Seven Deadly Sins that are the enemy of good journalism.

These were defined as:

· Indulgence in yellow journalism and character assassination:

· Sensationalism in any form, especially when dealing with sensitive issues and in times and situations when passion are or could be aroused;

· Invasion of privacy and personal grief when this is not warranted by any real reason of public interest;

· Falling into the trap of stereotypes which could result in labelling whole groups of people or communities in a manner that is unfair or offensive;

· Trial by the press or condemning a person before he is fairly tried in court and has an opportunity to defend himself; and giving currency without due investigation and qualification to unverified allegations;

· Delay or denial of the right of reply or legitimate correction;

· Mixing comment with fact in a manner that makes it difficult for the reader to distinguish one from the other.

Similarly the Press Council has through its adjudication process identified several areas where the journalists are found to have faulted or found wanting. The principles drawn from these adjudications have been built up as a code of conduct.

The changing role of the media to hype, sensationalise more so the new found obsession - the desire to do it first - all force us to believe that the media has somehow begun to become the show itself. The medium must remain the medium, it cannot become the message.

Insensitivity to the content and focus on trivia is rampant today with media focussing more and more on illness and accidents of the famous at the cost of developmental issues. The coverage of personal life of celebrities more than needed only leaves the message that nothing else was happing in the country, which deserves its place in the coverage of news. Yet it is worth noting that young viewers polled by Mid-Day, agreed that the Volcker Committee report was more important. This indicates the divide between what people want and what the media thinks that people want. They would do well to recognize the pulse of the people.

Criticising trivialisation and sensationalisation of news recently Shri Jaipal Reddy pointed out that Media scene in the country had undergone not only a “dramatic” change but also a ‘traumatic’ one. Page 3 People are increasingly trying to get into page one by joining politics. Further he emphasised that entertainment should be distinct from information. Instead of discussing the dressing sense or appeal, the media should focus on their work. He advised media to do “collective and cool introspection” besides building up its credibility and urged print media not to compete with electronic media in glamorisation. The comments of Reddyji deserve a serious thought.

In the new media today there is growing practice of masquerading paid publicity as genuine news. In this era of economic opening up, lobbyist or even foreign powers, can fill news columns with inspired stories if they settle for the right PR/advertisement firm. A large amount of media’s contemporary problems flow from the greed of a section of it. Surprisingly, the established ones with decisive market domination often indulge in this pernicious practice of selling news columns.

The colour pictures supplements with “pages 3” meet the requirements of both the patrons and clients. Exaggerated pressures from the television and satellite news are used as a pretext for further trivialisation of news columns which, in turn, promotes more commercialisation.

If the present trend catches on, there will be no way to stop it. We need to be alive to the danger before it is too late.

The threat has to be met, not by trivialisation, but by more indepth and public interest stories and background on which the print media is on a stronger wicket. Market surveys create cherished myths like the ‘Generation Now’ is disinterested in serious political and economic news and everyone is casual glancer of colour advertisements. But the popularity of the “competition’ pages, intelligent quiz programmes tell a different story.

It is not the free market competition but competitive marketisation of the media that creates a generation of false notions. Mindless marketisation by interested sections could be countered only by better understanding of what the public wants. Media should not forget that its main aim is to provide information to create a sound citizenry.

Realising how important and powerful the media, whether print or electronic, have become today, its responsibilities towards society have also increased manifold. The Preamble of the constitution proclaims the resolve of the people of India to secure:

Justice, social economic and political;

Liberty of thought, expression;

Belief, faith and worship; and

Equality of status and of opportunity;

And to promote among them all

Fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual

And the unity and integrity of the Nation.

Media can play a significant role in achieving the aim, which the founders of the Constitution have set. The journalists are urged to recollect the glorious role media had played during the freedom struggle and set higher standards for themselves.

Imitation of western media without appreciating the context of Indian Society is not going to help the nation, or the press fraternity. Delicate balancing of news and views should be the concern of the media with orientation for Bahujana Hitaya and Bahujana Sukhaya.

I would like to end by quoting Rabindra Nath Tagore:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action----

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

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