NEW DELHI, May 14:
Absence of an “adequate financial model” is a real challenge faced by many media organisations, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley today said, adding that this situation not only affects news content but may even lead to ills like paid news.
“What is the financial model behind the digital medium, it’s still struggling for it… The aberration in the electronic media is that the cost of distribution is more than the cost of content,” Jaitley said.
Speaking further, he said that with cost of distribution being so high, there is an obvious compromise on the cost of content as the quantum of advertising available is almost stagnant or maybe growing marginally.
He said that in this situation, news organisations may begin competing for eyeballs, resulting in hype and “shrillness”. In a shrill debate, he added, the other side of the picture is not known.
He further said that while a large number of organisations will maintain priorities, some others may compromise and that is how the problem of paid news may arise, which particularly during elections seems highly prevalent.
“Is there a way we can check it or the Broadcasting (Content) Complaints Council can check it? I have very serious doubts,” Jaitley said.
He said that a decade-and-a-half ago, Supreme Court in a judgement decided that commercial speech is also free speech.
“So those who market paid news might find this interpretation of the Supreme Court coming to their aid if the Broadcasting Complaints Council were to proceed against paid news because that is commercial speech,” he said, adding that the particular judgement was in the context of advertising.
The minister averred that the viewer or reader can dissect various versions of news and see which is the closest to reality and here was an opportunity for conventionalists to hit back.
The I&B minister was speaking at a seminar organised by the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) on the ‘Establishment of a Communication University’, where BCCC chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and I&B secretary Bimal Julka were also present.
Speaking in the context of the seminar, Jaitley said there was a need for people trained in various forms of reporting in various languages. He, however, added that the best training for a journalist always comes when he is on his feet.
He said when a journalist is on his feet, either he stays grounded completely and sticks to his kind of reporting or he gets swayed that some people are overtaking him and, therefore, he has to outdo them.
“And that kind of training, I don’t know, if a university can probably provide to them. And that’s the training he’s going to get while he is on his feet actually reporting events,” Jaitley said.
He hoped that “probably need for more structured training before you enter the field would also be discussed” during the seminar.
Through the seminar, the I&B ministry intends to get views and feedback on whether there is a need to establish an overarching university in the field of communications.
I&B secretary Julka for his part said that through the consultation process, the training requirements related to the dynamic media sector should be deliberated upon.
He sought suggestions as to what kind of an institution would be best and whether it should be run by the government, the private sector or be a collaboration between the two.
BCCC chief Mudgal spoke for an institution on the lines of IITs and IIMs where students are enrolled right after school. He was for such an institution to be in the government sector.
According to an I&B ministry statement, the seminar sought to explore the possibility of establishing a Communication University in the country by attempting to enlist the views of major stakeholders, including universities and institutions in the government and private sectors, as well as leading practitioners in the field.
While its first session sought to analyse the status of Media and Communication Education in India, the second is to explore the need for introducing new and advanced courses like digital marketing, social media, internet governance, cyber security. The third session will involve discussions on a roadmap for establishment of a Communication University and on evolving a futuristic vision and strategy. (PTI)
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