We need a regulated media in India

Whenever the government has tried to regulate the media, a lot of hue and cry is raised. The news
and entertainment channels have always talked about self regulation, but that self regulation is just
an eye wash and has never worked.

WE, ONE of the largest democracies, the second most populated country and one of the fastest
growing economies and the leader of developing nations, need a responsible and regulated media.
It’s because having the above mentioned features, we are very much vulnerable, as we try to adopt
each and everything without discriminating what is good or bad for us.

The present time is very crucial for our society’s transformation, and media, which have now
become an integral part of our lives, need to be more responsible, which I feel it is not.

Without naming any particular channel or program, I feel that the quality of programme is on a
decline; nowadays it has become a fashion that some kind of unwanted controversies are created to
keep the TRPs soaring. News channels are becoming soap-opera channels; interesting one-liners
are flashed to create curiosity, when the content of that particular news has nothing to offer. All
these are done for the sake of becoming the fastest news channel, though wrong or
unauthenticated news is communicated.

I really don’t have any idea why a news channel shows what is happening in a particular serial.

Whenever the government has tried to regulate the media, a lot of hue and cry is raised. The news
and entertainment channels have always talked about self regulation, but that self regulation is just
an eye wash and has never worked.

Free press and media are very important but unregulated media is lethal, when it has great impact
on society.

Now, when media is covering each and every news (information), whether it’s a suicide attempt by
someone, or two celebrities stupid fight over an entertainment channel, we need regulation to
regulate them when the media is unable to judge what it should show without caring about
itsimpact on society. Media can be a boon, at the same time it can be a bane also, and the latter
seems more appropriate seeing the present scenario.

As we need our parents at our initial age to guide us what is good and bad for us, in the same way
we need regulation for our baby the media, which is maturing to tell them this is their limit within
which they have to remain.

Regulated media is need of the hour, ignoring it might prove fatal.

HE best way to maintain a proper relationship between a free Press and democratic society in
which the rights of the former are balanced against its obligations to the latter is media self-
regulation aided by an effective regulatory mechanism.
Delivering the keynote address at an editors’ conclave organised by the CR Irani Foundation in
association with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung at Vedic Village on the outskirts of the city today, the
Press Council of India chairman, Mr Justice GN Ray, said an ethical foundation was what gave the
media stature and strength for a societal role where credibility was the principle criterion that
distinguished right from wrong.
The maxim “vox populi vox dei” formed the crux of ethics for journalism, the PCI chairman said.
Ideally, all print and electronic media must act as the mouthpiece of democracy and cater
information for the masses to create healthy public opinion and engender debate. Recalling the
preamble to the Code of Ethics adopted by the Society of Professional Journalists, USA, which
said “public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy,” Mr
Justice Ray said evolution of the code of ethics of journalism comprised aspects like objective
reporting, accuracy, self-regulation, impartiality, fairness and public accountability.
“By objectivity,” Mr Justice Ray said: “I mean that reporting of facts should be free from any
distortion or exaggeration. Very often facts are distorted to suit a particular form of opinion or
sometimes the facts are blown out of proportion. There should be distinct separation between
news and views. The reporter must avoid conflicts of interest and the competing points of views
should be balanced and fairly characterised.” Reporting the truth was not libel and in the normal
course of an assignment, a reporter was free to go about gathering facts and details, conducting
interviews, doing research, background checks, taking photos, video taping, and recording sound,
the PCI chairman said.
The importance of introspection about its functioning by media cannot be underestimated but in
reality and practice, self-introspection had not been found to be a sufficient check in erosion or
violation of media ethics, he added. The need for a regulatory body, be it voluntary or statutory, to
monitor media functioning was an accepted proposition all over the world, he said. Mr Justice
Ray, however, said the regulatory body must be fully insulated from being influenced either by the
media or by the government or by the public. It would be appropriate if an independent
regulatory body like the Press Council of India undertook the monitoring and kept effective watch
over the functioning of the media. Such a body, when properly constituted and vested with
appropriate authority and power to enforce its decisions and guidelines on media ethics, would be
capable of maintaining consistent standards desired in media and in dealing with complaints, the
PCI chairman said. As it is constituted now, it lacked "teeth", he said.
Mr Justice Ray regretted the "extreme" commercial pursuit and the trivialising of content by
media and said the PCI had, on the basis of its adjudications and pronouncements over a period
of time, built up a code of journalistic practice to lead and guide journalists along the path of
ethical rectitude. There is an urgent need to amend the Press Council of India Act, he said.
Quoting from Dr Abdul Kalam’s address at the National Press Day seminar organised by the PCI
in 2006 when the former President said: "Journalism is truth expressed in intelligible language
for information and education of readers. True journalism vitalises the nation. There is no room
for sensationalism in it even if in the short run it might sell. It will be sacrilege. True journalism is
courageous, truthful, inspiring and exalting”, Mr Justice Ray said Indian journalism had a
glorious past and appealed to the media to make efforts to restore its status.

Indeed, it has. With the coming of competition in the media sector, the media has started losing its aim. It has started to
sensationalize matters which are to be ignored. Also, the media is ALWAYS negative. It is very rare to see
the media highlighting things positively. Switch on your television or read your newspaper. You'll find stories of destruction,
murder and all the bad things that can possibly happen. And themedia is what influences public opinion. The public gets a
wrong image of India. They are forced to believe that our country has gone to the dogs because that is what the media shows.

The media fails to report the other side of the story. The good sides of things. The media is bogged down by competition. It has
been forced to be biased and one-sided. It tries to make the most trivial matters also controversial.

Therefore yes, the media has lost its main aim.

Media has a very key role to play in a democratic society. It is called as the watchdog of the Legislature, Executive and

Judiciary and report the news to the common man without taking any sides or being favor to any particular side.

Yes I do support with the statement that Media has lost its main aim which is to report what has happened but the sad thing is

that todayMedia is making news for its own good. There has to be competition among the media players within the industry but

the competition shouldnot be in such a way that to gain the extra attention of the customers they themselves start making

news which never happened in first place.

The way the media especially the Television media functions today in India has been brilliantly shown in the movie "Peepli

Live" how a poor farmer is tortured by the reporters to get more TRP ratings for their channel.

Strong laws should be passed to control how the media should function within a democracy. We have the SEBI to control the

Stock Exchanges in the country and the Election Commission to conduct free and fair polls in the country. Similarly a separate

body should be formed under the control of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to regulate the functioning of

the Media in the country.

“ROLE OF MEDIA IN NATION BUILDING”“One picture is worth more than thousand

words”. Media has existed since the time of Aristotle. And since then it has played the role of
an eye opener. All news channels, television programmes, movies, newspapers & weekly
magazines have brought the world together in a significant manner. Indian Media has played
several roles at one time. Sometimes it acted as the advocate for common Indian citizen,
when their interests were overlooked. Priyadarshini Mattu case, Jessica Lal case & Nitish
Katara’s case are just a few examples. Media has also played a significant role in cultural
awakening. It has represented the idea of a joint family in the age of Nuclear Families and
has enriched the Indian culture by exposing various features of our heritage. Many times our
media has opened the eyes of young India citizens through movies like Rang De Basanti.
Our newspapers which have been there in the country before electronic media are always
successful in giving us up to date information & current statistics related to different issues.
In totality media has given us freedom in the actual sense by vocalizing public opinion.1.
Hype and media-: It is true that Indian media has progressed with time and continues to work
for the welfare of this nation and it’s people. But all these facts are overshadowed by just one
factor. This factor has brought out a negative aspect of this positive medium. One of the
biggest problems faced by the Indian media is its questionable and controversial character
popular among viewers due to the hype created by it. Every channel, every newspaper and
every magazine is ready to make a headline out of tit-bits. The recent case of Prince, a child
who fell into a 60 feet pit and was there for 50 hours, was over exaggerated. When
conditions were worst in Lebanon, PRINCE drew our sympathy. Not only News Channels but
also even television programmes are representing the Indian culture in a wrong manner.
Never ending television soaps have raised a question mark on the character of Indian
Women and the relationships in a joint family. Movies passed by the censor board are not
studied with responsibility, in fact the censor board just hands over ‘A Certificate’ to adult
movies in spite of knowing that our general masses who go to cinema halls do not act
sensibly after watching such movies, as a result there is an increase in the number of rape
cases and cases of eve teasing. Sting operations are conducted irresponsibly and the
interference of media in personal lives of celebrities is the edge of this problem. All these
factors are not promoting the development of our country and hampering the process of
nation building. 2. Should Media be censored?:- No, Media should not be censored.
Censorship is not a solution to these problems. The answer to this situation is the realization
of responsibility on the part of the society as well as on the part of media. Citizens know what
is wrong and what is right for them. As educated people negativity must not influence us.
And for the uneducated people, I think it is time for us as students of the next generation to
work for them. We can conduct discussions, conferences and awareness campaign at our
level to educate the uneducated about the prevailing conditions and how to look upon media
as a mode of information. Media will become a vague mode of information if we censor it.
Criminals and negative agents will then use this censorship for pursuing their own interest as
the scope of media will be reduced and restricted to general news only. Even television
programmes should be taken as a medium of entertainment. To adopt things or characters
from such programmes will be a big mistake. Interest in Movies and film stars should be kept
to a certain level. Remember by getting influenced we may never become what stars are in
fact we will destroy our personality too. What we need to adopt from today’s media is
knowledge. Gaining informationand making us a better person from our learning should be
our main aim.

Shekhar Kapur thinks it's about time that advertisements , specially the ones targeted at kids,
were more closely censored. "We talk about censorship in films, but not about censoring ads that
damage impressionable minds," he says.

Cinema censorship is, according to Shekhar, nothing but humbug. "At one time, Meena Kumari
showing her ankles scandalized the censors. But they've always barked up the wrong tree. What
the ads do is far more damaging. When you're older, you can tell you're being taken for a ride.
But what about that seven-year old who's told by his icon to drink colas? Would that star allow his
own child to drink this product? No! And yet you're encouraging young people in the country to
drink this product."

Shekhar has no solution to offer. "It's about the conscience. Stars should take a personal decision
not to endorse harmful products," he says.

Shekhar admits he was himself guilty of endorsing a cigarette brand. "But then I was very young
and I didn't know better. Today, I'd never endorse cigarettes, even if I were offered a fortune for it.
Do our stars take responsibility for the products that they endorse? Do they realize how bad chips
and colas are for their own kids? How many stars who endorse colas would actually allow their
children to drink the beverage? Stars and cricketers are icons. They need to be socially
responsible. They claim they are. Unfortunately, the money involved overrides their social
responsibility."

Shekhar thinks the young need to be led more carefully into doing the right thing. "I wouldn't drink
something just because a star is seen recommending it. But I've a 10-year old daughter and I
wonder how she reacts to such recommendations. I saw an ad for a health drink where they told
the kids they'd grow taller if they drink their beverage. There's no scientific proof of this."

Shekhar visited an ayurvedic institute last week. "There, we were discussing what effect the very
high salt content in chips and other junk food would have on the growth of our future generations.
A cola brand is facing issues in many parts of India, Kerala being the prime example. They (the
cola company) are extracting ground water from our natural resources, thereby drying up the
paddy and other farms. The farmers are up in arms," he says.

He's carrying this campaign against the beverages and colas to another level. "Unless we all take
collective responsibility for the plunder of the environment, we'll soon be in more serious trouble."

Shekhar is working with Greenpeace , World Bank and other eco-friendly organisations.
However, he has no plans of urging stars to join him. "If the stars don't want to respond to their
conscience it's their problem," is his firm stance.
Shekhar has been researching the limited water resources of our country as preparation for his
next film, "Paani". Says the director, "Yes, that's how the awareness of acute water shortage
came to me. There's a slum called Nehru Nagar right in front of one of poshest housing colonies
in Mumbai. In Nehru Nagar, they don't get water more than three times a week. Across the road
in the bungalows, stars can shower all day long. The riots will start any time now."