Media industry doesn’t serve the vulnerable sections!
Let alone farmers and the rural people!
There is now a new media revolution, so much use of, so-called social media has changed the way people use the media industry consumption.
The 2014 general elections saw the rise and use of social media and let us give the Modi campaigns from the very beginning for the deployment of this powerful tool.
Now, there is a real revolution going on in the communications tool. In the use and misuse of media power the governments and the industry also play roles in educating the people. Unfortunately, just the reverse is also happening. In a democratic society the ruling party, its leader, why its many tools like the concerned ministry with its own divisions like the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Prasar Bharathi, play their roles.
But lately, the world over it is the private channels that set the tone and temper of the public service broadcasting services. Yes, there are still some channels like BBC and even the Qatar-based channel that do a great public service.
We can’t say the same thing about the news media and the broadcasting services. In the USA no one, it seems, to believe the private TV channels.
There is so much competition that in order to capture the share most of the services deteriorated into sheer false propaganda. So too the fake news industry!
So, we seem to live in a chaotic world, the so-called cultural tastes of each major country seem to differ variously. One more late development, especially in India is the monopoly of news channels by big capitalist industrialists.
Why in state like TN we see the media monopoly stretching beyond reasonable limits. One channel established by a cinema-cum political party had created almost a monster. The entire society is corrupt by 27/7 entertainment, TV serials. Coupled with this lowest common denominator rule, the visual media today, in our considered opinion, the standards of communication is highly corrupt.
Indian democracy is not well-served and vulnerable sections excluded!
Today we live at the centre of a democratic revolution. 200 years ago the world population was in around 1750less than one billion people. Urban population in 1850 was almost miniscule. Today, urban population alone is growing faster and is at 4.5 billion! Damming of rivers, 24 thousands of dams in existence. Fertiliser consumption was almost nil in the 1850s.Today it is more than 300million tonnes of nutrients. In 1750sspecies extinction was almost unknown.50 thousands have taken place. Atmosphere ozone depletion even in the 1950s, it was unheard of sixty thousand columns of ozone.
These are some of the destructive impacts made by atmospheric pollution. Today, cities like New Delhi have become unliveable and the citizens and also the government don’t know what to do to save the world and, nay, planet. In this world that is getting hot every day, the temperature hitting up every day, there are dire predictions of natural disasters, psunamis, earth quakes and vanishing lakes and rise in sea levels and what have you. Its more than6 billion people! Around 1900 the use of fresh water, some 50Kilo million pear. Today, the demand for fresh water nearly 400 kilo.
Who can explain and educate the world?
It is the very governments that must play decisive roles.
But see how the big powers are doing things.
What about India’s roles and the media?
In 1985 there was no mobile phone! Today? In 2000 there were 800 mobile phones! And about one billion internet users! The incumbent PM and his predecessor, never for once met the people face to face and conducted the press conference as did Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru!
Mr.Modi conducted, as per reports, only five preconference and the latest one for nearly 90minutes he almost answered his own questions! It was a well prepared much in advance and the interviewer never put a counter question and challenged the PM!
As many editorials questioned, this was no press conference and the much hyped Editor’s Guild took exception for Rahul Gandhi’s criticism but not the interviewer!
With such ignorant bliss, we the people have no option but to lie low. For how long we don’t know!