What is So Problematic About Indian Media?
Indian democracy is supported by 3 major pillars known as — The Legislative, The Executive, and The Judiciary systems. These three departments have the responsibility of maintaining the law and protecting the constitutional rights of every common citizen. In addition, media is considered the fourth invisible pillar of the Indian democracy.
It is not officially recorded but practically it works. Journalism was a strong tool during India’s fight for freedom against British rule. Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, and Pt. Nehru, all were righting and trying to communicate the revolutionary ideas to aware people of nationalism and basic human rights. Therefore, this profession has been a pious occupation.
But the current scenario has taken a coin flip. The Indian media has been one of the most hated elements of the country in recent times. It has lost its dignity, its value, and reliability. The media houses have become a platform of entertainment instead of being a responsible organization. In a race of becoming the most popular media house, each of them is crossing the virtuous line of journalism. Let’s try to find a few underlining reasons for it. We will try to discuss some of the factors that have led Indian journalism to this pathetic condition.
Advertisement: Since it is a known fact that advertisements are the major source of income for both print and TV media, the media agencies have to rely on others to get money. Consequently, the advertiser gets control over the content of the newspaper or the news shows. The worse happens because of this race mentality. It vanishes away the real essence of journalism.
Social Media: Before the social media boom, newspapers and TV news used to earn through conventional ads. Now, the social media companies control the ad revenue regulation, thus, they have control over the content too. The peer competitors have also changed for media houses.
Now they do not compete with other media houses, but their real competitors have become entertainment platforms. As a result, they are bound to present content that is far from information or awareness and closer to entertainment.
Greed: This is one of the biggest culprits of corruption in any system. The lust for earning in 7 digits or even more and living a lavish grand life have introduced an ocean of problems. To fulfill their personal greed, media houses are ready to tamper with the news too. Instead of raising necessary issues before the government, they are busy flattering. They work as an agent of power and help the government to shut every voice against it.
These unethical practices of media houses have disgraced the country on the world level. The Indian media has failed to match the standards of real journalism.
However, there are several media houses too that are earning ethically and still following the fundamentals of journalism. Instead of spreading hatred or presenting fake news, these media houses are bringing out the real issues of common people.
