Returning to the core values of journalism and maintaining credibility are the only ways to ensure that people keep their faith in the media, said panellists at the session on “Shooting the messenger: Media bashing in today's age.”
Speaking at The Huddle 2017, which kicked off in Bengaluru on Friday, Mahfuz Anam, Editor, The Daily Star of Bangladesh, said the media “partly deserves” the bashing it gets, having shifted from its traditional core values of public service. The present age of shifting tides in journalism needs a dialogue between “journalists who need freedom and owners who need profit”, to bring a fair balance, he said. Journalists also need to have a dialogue with readers and introspect on themselves, he added. The newspaper industry can reinvent itself by analysing and contextualising in the present scenario where news is available instantly on the Internet. In a marketplace where NGOs, business houses and politicians control the media, authentic media will survive, he said.
Question of trust
He was responding to issues raised by N. Ravi, Director, Kasturi & Sons Ltd, who moderated the session and posed questions on issues of “trust and credibility” in the media today. During the conversation, Mr. Ravi also raised issues of accuracy, sensationalism, blurring of lines between news and opinion, loss of objectivity, overdependence on advertising and amplifying a minor issue to make it a full-blown conflict — all of which have affected the media.
Ravindra Kumar, Editor of The Statesman , said media-bashing is neither new nor should it surprise anyone. “By now we should have found a solution to it,” he said. Stating that the subscription numbers do not have anything to do with trust, he said: “We [media] face a serious existential question. We need to look at our future and economics. We need to decide whether we continue to adhere to the ideals that make the institution of press.”
He pointed out that until the 90s readers were paying for much of the content, but the media abandoned it in favour of cross-subsidy by advertisers. “The press took a conscious decision to stop catering to the reader. The moment we invited the advertiser to cross-subsidise the cost for the reader, we allowed the advertiser to take over the editorial content.” He also underlined the need to identify different strands of the media — television, print and internet —and not confuse the strength or credibility of one for the other.
Much ‘delight’
John Yearwood, Executive Board Chairman, International Press Institute, responding to a question by Mr. Ravi on American President Donald Trump calling journalists dishonest, said that many leaders around the world have taken on the media before, but never anyone with “such delight.”
“Our deep concern is that going forward we will see some of his supporters taking out angst against the media, not just on social media but physical attacks. We will be watching it very closely. He [Mr. Trump] is someone who loves disruption, and he will try to disrupt media business.” Mr. Yearwood, however, said that there was a heart-warming trend of more people turning to media to know the truth because of the trust and respect they repose in the media.
