The Samikhsya Bureau
New Delhi: Expressing concern over the future of media and journalism and the sanctity of news in the face of disruptive technological advances, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has urged upon all the stakeholders to ensure credible journalism since media is an effective tool of empowerment of people for informed public discourse.
Shri Naidu spoke at length on “Journalism: Past, Present and Future’’ while delivering the M.V. Kamath Memorial Endowment Lecture in virtual mode from Hyderabad on Friday.
The Vice President voiced concern over the implications of the growing ‘instant journalism’ triggered by the emergence of Internet and social media expansion in the form of propagation of fake news and erosion of journalistic norms and ethos.
“The information and reports generated by the print media at substantial cost is being hijacked by the social media giants. This is unfair. Some countries are taking measures to ensure revenue sharing by the social media giants with the print media. We too need to take a serious look at this problem and come out with appropriate revenue sharing models for the survival of traditional media”, he observed.
Welcoming the democratisation and decentralisation of sharing of information and views enabled by rapid expansion of social media, Naidu expressed concern over the downsides of it in the form of news getting devalued amidst information saturation and overabundance of news.
Referring to the role of media in reporting and analysing the socio-political and economic transformation of the country, he urged the media to be consistent in reporting such change instead of using different yardsticks for different periods.
Referring to the ability of media to shape right public perceptions and perspectives, Naidu urged the media to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem since like every citizen, government and other stakeholders, media too have a certain responsibility towards the nation.
Referring to the crisis situation being faced by the media and journalism for various reasons and uncertain future amidst disruptive changes, the Vice President stressed
The Vice President urged the media persons to keep news and views strictly separate without allowing each of them masquerading as the other.
He also stressed the need to stem the decline in journalistic values and ethos. He recalled that late Kamath maintained this distinction between news and views.
Paying rich tributes to the multifarious contributions of the veteran journalist, Naidu said that late Kamath became iconic through his principles and practices during his long career and earned respect both within and outside the country.
