Media institutions have become part of the problem instead of trying to be part of initiatives ensuring social justice in the country, veteran journalist Sashi Kumar has said.
He was addressing the valedictory function of the three-day conference on ‘Social justice, communal harmony and new education’ held at the Dayapuram educational complex here on Sunday.
Mr. Sashi Kumar pointed out that the media had a big role in changing the concept of social justice into just a cliché to be used by political parties to create vote banks. There were television anchors in the country who ridiculed the term ‘government subsidy’. The media also played a major role in creating a value system in accordance with the market interests.
Criminal role
The media also had a criminal role in creating a citizen who was only concerned about his consumerist interests. The media do not highlight the sorrows of casteism and poverty and had lost its right to represent the people. The same media then demand a special space for the fourth estate in democracy. Journalists’ space in society was not granted by the Constitution, but they had acquired it by their own worthy efforts. Today’s journalists should not destroy that space, he said.
The work of media institutions that create a fear among people and polarise them was not very different from that of the ‘divide and rule’ policy of the British. Mediapersons were trying to appease those in power by obeying their orders instead of creating an atmosphere that was conducive for questioning the authorities who dictate terms on what one should wear and what one should eat and how to be a good nationalist. When Gauri Lankesh was shot dead, the Malayalam media was running juicy stories on the actor assault case.
TRP ratings
If the media ran behind increasing TRP ratings and profits without understanding their status and responsibilities, they too would be part of the ongoing attack on the Constitution and the country, Mr. Sashi Kumar added.
The discussion was moderated by K.J. Jacob, executive editor, Deccan Chronicle .
