NEW DELHI, Feb 27: Voicing concern over the practise of “paid news” by some publications to mop up revenue, President Pranab Mukherjee today said there was a need for a “self-correcting mechanism” to check such aberrations.
Describing media as a “crystal ball” being gazed by millions of Indians, he said, “The nation faces critical challenges that go well beyond the pressure of ‘Breaking News’ and immediate headlines.”
In his inaugural speech at a function to mark platinum jubilee celebration of Indian Newspaper Society (INS), Mukherjee minced no words in expressing his displeasure over paid news.
“Let me point out in this regard that it is distressing to note that some publications have resorted to ‘paid news’ and other such marketing strategies to drive their revenues.
“There is need for self-correcting mechanisms to check such aberrations. The temptation to ‘dumb down’ news should also be resisted….While you must continue to be effective raconteurs, you must also be visionary nation builders,” the President said.
He said it was the responsibility and “bounden duty” of media to ensure that ideas are debated dispassionately and thoughts articulated without fear or favour so that opinion is always well informed.
Mukherjee said the INS can be proud that it helped create and nurture institutions like the Press Trust of India (PTI) and the Audit Bureau of Circulation.
“INS members have played a vital role in nurturing a free Press which is a critical component of our democracy,” he said.
The President said media, the fourth estate, has an important role to play in cleansing public life but it should refrain from sensationalism as it could never substitute truthful reporting.
While cleansing, the media should maintain highest standards of ethics and should always keep in mind that “ends and means are both important”.
“Sensationalism should never become a substitute for objective assessment and truthful reporting. Gossip and speculation should not replace hard facts. Every effort should be made to ensure that political or commercial interests are not passed off as legitimate and independent opinion,” he said.
Being the mediator between the public and public servants, the press is a “watchdog of public interest” which gives voice to the downtrodden and dispossessed.
“But, gloom and dark alone should not dominate news coverage. A conscious effort must be made to highlight the positive and inspire change for the better. The power of the media should be used to engage in a nation-wide endeavour to reset our moral compass,” he said.
Asserting that newspapers must be conscience keepers of the country, Mukherjee said media has an important role to play in cleansing public life.
“Journalists must bring to public notice the array of ills and deprivations that continue to beset large numbers of our people– be it malnourishment, continuance of discriminatory practices against Dalits, or the burdens and tragic consequences of indebtedness.
“They must shape and influence public opinion even as they provide objective and balanced coverage of news,” the President said.
Mukherjee lauded the role played by media in informing people.
“The press in India evolved, not through the aegis of the Government but due to the commitment of individuals who used it as a tool to fight enforced opinions and create platform for social reform movements across the country…
“Our vast, varied and vibrant media is a national asset. The media as a whole not only keeps people informed but also performs a very crucial function of presenting ideas and alternatives in the domain of policy formulation and implementation,” he said.
Mukherjee said it is “extremely important” that media reaches out to the inaccessible areas and the under-served population of this country.
“It is critical that the media provides an enabling environment for the spirit of inclusive growth to be ushered in and that the varied tools of communication are able to disseminate the ‘India Story’ in a positive, accurate and focused perspective,” the President said.
The market for Indian newspapers, with over 90 million copies in circulation, is expected to grow at a double-digit compounded annual growth rate of 10 per cent and emerge as the world’s sixth-largest newspaper market by 2017.
According to industry sources, print media has a combined market penetration of only 14 per cent. There is considerable potential, therefore, to expand readership across the national canvas, he said.
The function was attended by leading publishers, editors, advertisers and senior officials.
Representatives of seven founder members of INS, K Hormusji N Cama (Bombay Chronicle), K Balaji (The Hindu), Rajeev Verma (The Hindustan Times), Chandan Mitra (The Pioneer), Ravindra Kumar (The Statesman), Mohit Jain (The Times of India) and Vinay Verma (The Tribune) were felicitated by the President.
In his speech on the occasion, INS President Ravindra Kumar said the platinum jubilee was “being celebrated even as the newspaper industry faces an existential crisis, one whose contours have not quite been appreciated by various stake holders — including Government and newspaper employees”.
In an obvious reference to a Supreme Court judgement on wageboard for newspaper and news agency employees, Kumar said, “A recent judgement of Supreme Court, upholding the validity of an Act that ought to have been circumscribed or even repealed by the legislature for its lack of relevance to 21st century India, threatens to drive many of us to closure and it may do so after it has taken severe toll on the industrial peace we have so carefully nurtured”.
Referring to the challenges faced by newspapers, the INS President said the health of newspapers was undermined by the presence of other media, by “occasionally intrusive policies of the Government” rising costs and advertisement policies of the Centre and State Governments.
He said the health of newspaper was also “undermined by the actions of some of us, especially by a phenomenon such as paid news that strikes at the very roots of an independent press”.
Kumar emphasised that INS was a responsible body of newspapers and periodicals capable of dealing with challenges, provided it is allowed to do so.
“The fact that we are 75 underlines our maturity; it ought not to give rise to the belief that we either need assisted living or judicially-directed euthanasia,” the INS president said. (PTI)
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