Information and Public Relations Minister K.C. Joseph has called for excluding news channels from within the ambit of the Television Audience Measurement (TAM) rating system.
Claiming that the existing system was inadvisable, Mr. Joseph said the credibility of news channels had taken a hit as they were being driven by parameters laid down on commercial lines. He stressed on the need for an alternative mechanism for assessing programmes telecast by these channels.
He was speaking at a seminar on ‘News in the Channel Age’ organised in connection with the 51st State conference of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) here on Tuesday. Mr. Joseph said there was need for introspection within the visual media to ascertain whether Malayalam news channels were headed in the right direction. He cited recent instances in which, according to him, the visual media made mischief. During the recent siege of the Secretariat by the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the road from Bakery Junction to the Cantonment Gate of the Secretariat was unobstructed to facilitate passage for employees arriving for work. However, the demonstration turned unruly for a short time at Bakery Junction. It was only later that a few leaders had confided that it were certain media persons who had instigated violence for the sake of sensationalism,” he said.
He was also of the opinion that the intense debate triggered by the recent transfer of the solar panel scam cases to new judges of the Kerala High Court was uncalled for. “The fact that it was normal practice to reallocate subjects among judges after each vacation went unnoticed, thereby creating doubts over the credibility of the judiciary. The immense popularity enjoyed by the media should never be employed to misguide the public,” he said.
Thomas Jacob, Editorial Director, Malayala Manorama, presided. Senior journalist K.M. Roy; P.M. Manoj, Associate Editor, Deshabhimani; A. Sajeevan, Executive Editor, Mangalam; Cherukara Sunny Lukose, State committee member, KUWJ; Sreekumar Pallileth and M. Sreejith, office-bearers of the district unit of the KUWJ, spoke.
