media war

CONCLUSION

Since Independence the press in India has vastly grown in size and circulation. But now it suffers from many ills, it has yet to identify its true post independence role. It is said, “ In Gandhian era newspaper were working for a mission and now for commission”. Now press has become a tool in the hands of big business houses, and they are using it like a revenue generating machine. They are even not looking at the decline of credibility of the news. Most of the papers today (mainly English) are just providing entertainment (food, fashion and film) news. Though regional language newspapers are giving the better news (local news) than English, and it was the main reason, why regional language newspapers took over English in recent years. Due to increasing number of edition there is a tough competition among newspapers for circulation. The big industrialists are financing huge amounts, and in result they expects more than 10 times profit.

In an interview Kumar Ketkar, Editor Loksatta said, “Journalism today is less concerned about making readers aware of critical global issues, and market forces had instrumentalised a de-education process”. Today there is a war for advertisements instead for news.

There is a couplet of Urfi Shirazi, a renowned Philosopher and Persian poet:

KHOOK BASHI, KHAK BASHI YA SAGE MURDAAR BASH,
HAR CHE BASHI, BASH URFI ANDKI ZARDAAR BASH.

(Either be a pig, lie down in the garbage or be a dead dog. Do anything, be anything but Urfi anyhow earn Money.)

The same is the thinking of Indian media owners earn money anyhow. The amount they are investing on advertising and marketing campaigns are very high, instead of investing on campaigns if they use it for charity, they can play a major role in countries development and war against poverty. Which in result will give them more readers than campaigns. The reason behind the success of Dainik Bhaskar is their local level social campaigns i.e. Pani Roko Abhiyan. They were raising common man’s voice for scarcity of water, thus People supported them. While English newspapers doesn’t played that much active role in social campaigns, to which they were expected.

In recent years 2 national level newspapers launched their Mumbai edition - the commercial capital of India. Hindustan Times, And Dainik Bhaskar launched its English daily DNA. As they came to Mumbai Times Group launched its tabloid (Mumbai Mirror) to restrict its customers. There was tough competition for capturing the market. Every day there was a marketing guy standing at the door, and the common man was fade up of all these surveys as it was disturbing his Personal life.

The only good thing with increasing number of newspaper is that they are providing employment to millions of people.

The role of press in India needs not to be that of adversary of blind support to the government. The press should be watchdog and act as a catalytic agent to hasten the process of social and economic change and thus secure people participation and involvement in the countries development.

The press today is too much obsessed with politics. The country today, needs creative reporting particularly on non-political themes such as unemployment, malnutrition, population growth etc. The emphasis shouldn’t be on what ‘wants’ but should be on what it ‘needs’. The reporting should provide adequate local coverage and human-interest story.
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