Kerala State Planning Board Vice Chairman and economist V.K. Ramachandran has lamented the lack of adequate media coverage of the agrarian sector in the country. He was inaugurating a media workshop organised by the Kerala Media Academy here on Tuesday for the recipients of its research fellowships.
Prof. Ramachandran said that the relevance of agricultural science and technology appeared to have been largely neglected by the media. As a result, such issues were less debated in the country than in China. “Advancements in agricultural technology, including transgenics and hybrid technology, have not entered public discourse. Issues concerning agricultural productivity and the problems of the countryside remained outside media focus, despite 70% of the country’s population being rural,” he said.
He urged the media to work towards obtaining credible information pertaining to agrarian issues through rigorous inquiry and research. Such issues must also be communicated in a manner that enabled all sections to be aware of the issues concerning people in rural areas.
Prof. Ramachandran advocated certain key functions relevant for the press, as had been suggested by The Hindu Group chairman N. Ram in a framework that had been evolved in 1990. The media should uphold its responsibilities of being credible, critical and adversarial, besides communicating effectively to society.
Twenty-two recipients of the media research fellowships of the academy attended.
