My journalism professors used always say with a lot of pride that “media acts as the watchdog of the society, an impartial and unbiased tool which is fair and just, in short a medium that believes in the portrayal of truth at whatever cost necessary”.
Obviously he didn’t stop there, but went on to quote examples and case studies from the pre independence era to the day before, till his stipulated time ran out. Back then sitting in the last row, I used to sneer, laugh & at times doze off during these speeches. But today I think if I were to give the same speech, my so called students would have much stronger reactions than what I had. A rotten egg, a paper plane or a class boycott is some thing that I expect the least.
According to many of us, the responsible media that people talk about in classes has long been buried to make way for the commercial media. Few of us today believe that a news channel or newspaper upholds its original status among the common man. Most of us though, do believe that these channels are a much better advertising medium than anything close to the truth.
Here is my dilemma, “On which side am I?” Sincerely speaking, I do believe news publications and media network still hold a lot of credibility among the masses but a part of me also feels that if it gets too hard for these guys to get credible & interesting news, the launch of a new lingerie wear may soon make their headlines. All in all it’s a game of trying to outsmart the other by being fast, saying more & acting superior at times.
All this said, a fresh batch of students keep flowing out of communication institutes to join the media bandwagon. Directly or indirectly, 90% of the students will get in touch with the news and broadcasting part of the media at some point of time. So there is hope, hope that maybe not all but a selected few of the new lot have what it takes to keep the sanctity of the journalism industry alive. For many it is the beacon of truth, for many a time pass, for many a source of income but for the common man it is a right…right to know the truth…unbiased & unadulterated. Maybe if a small part working for this medium keeps the common man and not the commercial man in mind, we could see the era of journalism where breaking news won’t talk about “the cat fight between two TV vamps in real life”.
In defense of the news mediums, it is true that they have brought about a huge amount of change & are still highlighting things that are to be told. But do they need to add their own twist to the tale & pre determine the news is the big question. Like me, many others would feel the same and we do our bit of scanning & searching for our bits of serious & related news. But in the long run, the question that will haunt us is, “who will watch the watchdog when is turn rabid?”
Obviously he didn’t stop there, but went on to quote examples and case studies from the pre independence era to the day before, till his stipulated time ran out. Back then sitting in the last row, I used to sneer, laugh & at times doze off during these speeches. But today I think if I were to give the same speech, my so called students would have much stronger reactions than what I had. A rotten egg, a paper plane or a class boycott is some thing that I expect the least.
According to many of us, the responsible media that people talk about in classes has long been buried to make way for the commercial media. Few of us today believe that a news channel or newspaper upholds its original status among the common man. Most of us though, do believe that these channels are a much better advertising medium than anything close to the truth.
Here is my dilemma, “On which side am I?” Sincerely speaking, I do believe news publications and media network still hold a lot of credibility among the masses but a part of me also feels that if it gets too hard for these guys to get credible & interesting news, the launch of a new lingerie wear may soon make their headlines. All in all it’s a game of trying to outsmart the other by being fast, saying more & acting superior at times.
All this said, a fresh batch of students keep flowing out of communication institutes to join the media bandwagon. Directly or indirectly, 90% of the students will get in touch with the news and broadcasting part of the media at some point of time. So there is hope, hope that maybe not all but a selected few of the new lot have what it takes to keep the sanctity of the journalism industry alive. For many it is the beacon of truth, for many a time pass, for many a source of income but for the common man it is a right…right to know the truth…unbiased & unadulterated. Maybe if a small part working for this medium keeps the common man and not the commercial man in mind, we could see the era of journalism where breaking news won’t talk about “the cat fight between two TV vamps in real life”.
In defense of the news mediums, it is true that they have brought about a huge amount of change & are still highlighting things that are to be told. But do they need to add their own twist to the tale & pre determine the news is the big question. Like me, many others would feel the same and we do our bit of scanning & searching for our bits of serious & related news. But in the long run, the question that will haunt us is, “who will watch the watchdog when is turn rabid?”
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