Impartial journalism is going down the drain these days. The recent (in the month of September) circular /the advertisement by Jharkhand government seeking applications from TV and Print media journalists to register with the government for a scheme which will endow a grant up to Rs 15000/to cover the government’s welfare schemes and other initiatives is something which should make journalists sit up and give a serious thought if they want really to protect the values of journalism. It is alarming that the state government wants tailor-made reports in the wake of ensuing elections towards the end of this year. Political parties have of late have become notorious for showing 3D cinema and try to win over the people, by projecting that they are the only ones to have done what no one else could in the past. This attitude is more among regional parties particularly in the last 5years or so.
It looks like, the national parties are now trying to emulate such formulae, perhaps because they feel that all is well in love and war. Till a couple of decades ago, the focus of media used to be on developmental journalism but now it has transformed into sensationalism and political journalism. Over the last couple of decades, new methods are being deployed, more so by ruling parties to keep the media in their pockets.
Any attempt to impose a fascist or totalitarian system of government begins with the regime’s firm control on the country’s media. Its the recent case of a blackout in Kashmir but even in the rest of the country an attempt to subjugate media is being actively carried out by the ruling dispensation and its supporters. Have we not seen a newspaper like The Hindu being abused on social media for its Rafale revelations? The ruling party never condemned such acts. At the end of the day more than the publishers being denied the right to publish, it is the readers who are deprived of their right to know the facts.
Both the willingness of major sections of Indian media to toe the line of the establishment and government ‘s arm-twisting in the form of threats to ban advertisements have been completely exposed. In their scramble to promote the government’s misadventures, new outlets have acted as cheerleaders on various issues -be it Demonetisation or Abrogation of Kashmir’s special status. Instead Of holding the mirror to the establishment, the fourth estate has been trying to press the point that leadership that attempts the “unimaginable, and “unthinkable “is always right.
No wonder some of the veteran journalists lament that journalists are being made to act as “clerical coolies”. With decreasing standards of journalism it is very difficult for common man to know the truth.
It looks like, the national parties are now trying to emulate such formulae, perhaps because they feel that all is well in love and war. Till a couple of decades ago, the focus of media used to be on developmental journalism but now it has transformed into sensationalism and political journalism. Over the last couple of decades, new methods are being deployed, more so by ruling parties to keep the media in their pockets.
Any attempt to impose a fascist or totalitarian system of government begins with the regime’s firm control on the country’s media. Its the recent case of a blackout in Kashmir but even in the rest of the country an attempt to subjugate media is being actively carried out by the ruling dispensation and its supporters. Have we not seen a newspaper like The Hindu being abused on social media for its Rafale revelations? The ruling party never condemned such acts. At the end of the day more than the publishers being denied the right to publish, it is the readers who are deprived of their right to know the facts.
Both the willingness of major sections of Indian media to toe the line of the establishment and government ‘s arm-twisting in the form of threats to ban advertisements have been completely exposed. In their scramble to promote the government’s misadventures, new outlets have acted as cheerleaders on various issues -be it Demonetisation or Abrogation of Kashmir’s special status. Instead Of holding the mirror to the establishment, the fourth estate has been trying to press the point that leadership that attempts the “unimaginable, and “unthinkable “is always right.
No wonder some of the veteran journalists lament that journalists are being made to act as “clerical coolies”. With decreasing standards of journalism it is very difficult for common man to know the truth.
