MEDIA LED BY MARKETS, NOT PEOPLE’S CAUSES: EDITORS

‘Unethical practices overshadowing positives of the industry’

Sensationalising issues, interfering in people’s personal lives, television rating point (TRP) and market influences on mass media, were some of the topics discussed in a session on media on the final day of the four-day Alva’s Vishwa Nudisiri Virasat here on Sunday.

Executive Editor of Prajavani Padmaraja Dandavate, Editor of Kannada Prabha Vishweshwar Bhat, and writer and theatreperson T.N. Seetharam participated in the discussion.

Mr. Dandavate said print and television media were failing in their duty of giving real news to people. “Elders in the field made it a point to draw a line between facts and comments. Now the line has blurred. We are not allowing people to form their own opinions,” he said.

Liberalisation has led to commercialisation of operations in print and television. Unethical means were being adopted to stay ahead in circulation and in TRP. “We are playing with somebody (else’s) life. It’s left to you all to correct us,” he said.

Mr. Seetharam said the media had “auctioned” people’s personal lives. It was working in favour of corporate houses and not for people, and had failed in culturally binding people. It was shocking the way invisible hands were controlling the operations of the media. He said, “There is no place for problems faced by farmers or for empowerment of women.” He said whatever the media was now sensationalising would return to haunt it later.

Mr. Bhat said media could not be isolated from society. Whatever was reported or seen was happening in the society.

He said there were errors as news flow now was faster compared to earlier days. But there were many positives in the way media had raised issues.

He said it was because of media that Anna Hazare’s agitation and the Aam Aadmi Party succeeded.