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WHAT AILS JOURNALISM TODAY?. Presentation by Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director, The New Indian Express Group Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore May 2, 2011. PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE PONTIFICATING UPON THIS ISSUE. IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM IS EASY. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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WHAT AILS JOURNALISM TODAY?
Presentation by Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director, The New Indian Express Group
Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, BangaloreMay 2, 2011
PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE PONTIFICATING UPON THIS ISSUE
IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM IS EASY
The problem with journalism today is a mix of
Ignorance & Negligence
WHY IGNORANCE?BECAUSE JOURNALISTS TODAY HAVE:
• Shoddy training, poor or no mentoring• Huge demand vis-a-vis limited supply of
manpower, thanks to over 500 channels and 5,000 publications • To keep advertisers in mind while reporting
and writing articles
WHY NEGLIGENCE?BECAUSE JOURNALISTS TODAY HAVE:
• Greed for money and instant fame• No accountability• Too much at stake: Fear of losing contacts,
glamour and wealth
• No curiosity, no hunger for news
BUT THEY ARE JUST PUPPETS
The battle for bottomlines has bust the credibility of bylines
Paid news, private treaties, advertorials are all creations and consequence of a broken business model
EVERYONE IS CHASING NUMBERS
• Advertisers have contributed to the mess• Is Quantity, numerical reach the only
parameter?• What about quality, credibility?• Quality costs money.
AND DEMANDS RESPECT
• Journalists have forgotten to ask simple but tough questions
• They have also forgotten that their job is to report violations, not commit them
• They have started acting like a super cop-judge-hangman
JOURNALISTS ARE ALSO TO BLAME
Enron collapsed when somebody finally asked a simple question:
“How do you make money?”
Satyam’s Raju got exposed when he was asked:
“How did you value Maytas?”
Call it the ‘Double A’ Approach
For journalism to thrive, we need a
supportive institutional atmosphere
and individual attitude
But for that, everyone has to act
• Are you ready to liberate media from the clutches for the advertiser?
• Are you ready to pay for what you read/see/hear?
Some questions for you, as consumer
• Fact is Indians pay Rs 12 for a cup of coffee at an Udipi but want 40 pages of content for free
• In Mumbai you get 730 days paper for Rs 299. That is less than 50 paise per day
• Readers also have the option of going on the net and not paying anything at all
Think about this..
• At least 50% cost must come from cover price
• Channels and newspapers must charge
It is both an editorial and business challenge
Bring realism into the picture
Editorial credibility is also a function of political buoyancy
• Ramnath Goenka could create a coalition of rag tag players like Hegde, Devi Lal and NTR and take on Bofors
• Today the Opposition cannot project even one leader who can be backed
• But there is hope. Civil Society is crystallising into an Opposition
• Participative democracy can revive both journalism and democracy
IF ALL THE PLAYERS ARE ON THE SAME PAGE….
...the road ahead gets easier
FEAR NONE FAVOUR NONE
JOURNALISTS NEED TO FOLLOW THE GOLDEN RULES
EXPOSE THE CORRUPT PROMOTE THE HONEST
Join journalism as a mission and not just for money
Ask questions.
Story begins with the source. It doesn't end there.
THE END
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