As the number of news channels grew, the quality of journalism took a hit. Quality v/s quantity debate has been for long and journalism was not left untouched.
Media is considered one of the pillars of democracy and hence the concept of Free Media. Free in the sense that no pressure or censorship from outside. Media is expected to be self-regulated, just like judiciary. However vested interests among media are hell bent to destroy this.
Over the years reporters have put their life on the line. Hence it pains me to write this. Ever since Radia tapes came out and two senior journalists were named, it was sad to see that they were not shamed. They kept their jobs, were not shunned. They prospered even more.
The self-regulation of media was required. Alas! It was not to be. Modi was hounded by media persons for 12 years and rightly so. I applaud media to do so. But now that he is PM and on a foreign tour we should hold our horses. As long as he is abroad, debates should be on his foreign policy and relations with that country. There will be a lot of time to dissect his old doings when he comes back.
A senior media person, to get into fist fight with people in a foreign land, does not bide well for journalism as a whole. In Deepika v/s TimesOfIndia, where it was evident media house was in wrong, the reporters kept coming out with the sleaziest of POV’s that could be.
In this case also the senior reporter was the first to come out with a video, which turned out to be half-truth. When I first saw the video, I was supportive of him and angry at the un-civilized crowd. But after seeing the entire video, I am just speechless. I urge media once again to stand up and make self-regulation counted. But the only response I see from media is, “Mehhh…”.
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