The job of the electronic media should be to make people aware, but due to TRP, news channels nowadays prefer to present any news in a sensational way and this is a worrying situation. Looking at the news circulating in Indian newspapers and electronic channels, it is not difficult to understand that now the main concern for the information media in this country is political upheaval and advertisement of the glory and fame of a few politicians. Except for Corona, everything is in vain and if there is an epidemic, it is necessary to report it. Or the recent suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput. During the election season, the leader is applauded on the channels. And nothing but cricket. Inflation, unemployment, law and order are no longer news.
It is also true that the way in which the electronic media is facing a crisis of credibility these days has made this medium of journalism hollow. The news channels should understand this as soon as possible, otherwise their existence could be jeopardized if it is delayed. The growing power of social media, the credibility of print media and the power of web journalism has diminished the relevance and credibility of this medium. It is the responsibility of the media to bring out the truth, but who will pay the price for that truth? Print media is more powerful than electronic media. The print media provides news by careful study and understanding, while the electronic media provides momentary news. Newspapers have played an important role in creating awareness in the society. This role is not limited to any one country or region, no one can deny the important role of newspapers in all the progressive thinking countries of the world.
The media, especially the print media, has an amazing power to create public opinion. Newspapers work to know the public opinion in policy making and to reach out to the policy makers. If we call ourselves a democracy, then we must also realize that no nation can be a complete democracy unless its citizens have the full opportunity to exercise their rights in life. The media becomes our representative to convey the voice of the society to the government. But nowadays the trend is reversing and there is no news left in India except Modi and his party and government. All other Sensex, IPL. I.e. financial news and business. Now the question is, are newspapers really the voice of the people? After all, who do those people trust? For them, raising the voice of the oppressed is very important.
Are the questions of the common man bigger or the personal life of the celebrity? Today’s journalism is going through such a phase and its commitment is being questioned. The nature and purpose of the media has changed a lot over time. Now there is less space in the media for serious topics. The front page of the newspaper usually focuses on the rhetoric of politicians, their praise, cricket matches or market fluctuations. The most serious problems are taken on the inner leaves and are sometimes completely missing. Many issues get a place in the news, but there is a lack of time or pages for serious discussion. Newspapers are in such a state that their worries and feelings about Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bangalore, Goa, Patna and Srinagar are almost dead.
Much of the news in the newspapers here deals with political and economic issues, and again, the two pages of the game are dominated by cricket and the rest by film entertainment. Therefore, the media is creating a hollow picture of India. And what is left is so trivial, insignificant and unfit for publication that only intellectual editors, journalists and writers in this country consider it appropriate not to publish anything. Health, education, agriculture and the environment do not get much space. Farmer suicides are no longer news. His movements are now out of the news. Newspapers in Indian languages usually do not read much about the changes taking place in North India and South India.
Newspapers do not care that the problems of Indian society, poverty, health inequality and education, which are plagued by rural problems and social evils, are beyond the reach of the common man and the army of the unemployed is quadrupling day by day. The writers who write on these issues go unnoticed, as we have seen in the last few years, the role of the media in human rights is almost neutral. With the exception of Kashmir and Shaheen Bagh, we can see examples of Irom Sharmila and Salwa Judum in the past. Both cases are examples of human rights violations, but there has been little serious discussion in the media.
There is a huge chain of atrocities against women and dalits, there have been many intoxicating incidents in UP, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka recently. Sometimes there is a commotion and then everything is as it is. The media is often silent on the issue of political freedom being violated. Media neutrality is extremely dangerous for a healthy democracy. Democracy does not and should not have the concept of treason. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; If the arbitrariness of the state considers the freedom of expression of the individual as treason, then the very existence of democracy will be endangered.
India’s so-called mainstream news media is becoming out of context. Maybe now only the factories of politics and commissions are left. The shops of politics for personal gain and making money have become the medium, the schools of corrupt politics, the mafia bases of political criminals. Most of these have connections with the media and media people. That is why the arrogance of the editor and the anchor is behaving as if they are the savior of the common man and people are fed up with this arrogance. The funny thing is that the people in the media who claim to be away from politics and openly comment on politics seem to be buried in the mire of politics. We have many examples of this.
Vikas Parasram Meshram
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