Challenges before the Media in India in the Digital Age
Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee
Professor
and Regional Director,
Indian
Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC),
Eastern
Regional Campus, Dhenkanal, Odisha
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
News-media in India
have faced several challenges since its beginning in 1780 with the publication
of the first newspaper Hicky’s Bengal Gazzete like State repression, poor
investment, weak infrastructure, non-professional leadership and indifferent
management, lack of trained manpower, poor business and revenue generation.
However media survived the challenges and managed to grow- both horizontally
and vertically. The growth accelerated in 1980s thanks mainly to the
technological advancements and more so in 1990s thanks to liberalization,
globalization and further technological advancement in information and
communication technology ICT. Internet was introduced in India in mid 1990s and
gradually digital era dawned. Initially it tremendously contributed to the
growth of media. However, as the technology began to be accessible to almost
everybody with the help of cheap and user friendly devices and everybody
started using social media (the term was coined in 2004) new and unforeseen
challenges began to raise its head before mainstream news media. So much so it
is now seemingly threatening the right practice of Journalism and its very
existence.
The
challenges could be grouped under three heads:
1. Concept of News
2. Authenticity of News
3. Business of Newsmedia
Concept
of News:
In earlier era
journalists used to be the custodians of news. They used to define and mark
what is news. What the readers ought to read and ought to see. They used to be
the gatekeepers. In the digital era, with social media becoming the major
platform to access news- that, gradually is changing. In absence of a
gatekeeper, anything and everything is going by the name of news. Credibility
and accountability- the two hallmark of journalism are being brushed aside.
This in alignment with the post-truth mentality is posing a huge challenge to
the old school journalism.
Authenticity
of News:
With improved
technology for creation and distribution of media content and social media
providing easy platform at a global scale, anybody can create news or what
appears like news. Fake news has become a big menace. As public opinion becomes
more important to determine who rules the country and what should the policies
be- the tools to impact public opinion also has become most sought after. This
precisely is the reason for the proliferation of fake news. It is eroding the
credibility of news and in a queer way public faith on journalists. There is a
need to contain this menace. The challenges pertain to – who will do it, and
how? Will the State do it? Will the companies providing large digital platforms
like Facebook or Google do it? Should they be allowed to ‘dictate’ what is
news? And how will it be done?
Business
of Newsmedia:
Digital technology
has made copying and distributing content easier. This has severely impacted
the business of all media, which rely on monetising the content for its
survival and growth. This has also raised serious questions on issues like
copyright, source credibility and authenticity.
Every
challenge is also an opportunity to explore new ways and possibilities.
Newsmedia in India have had faced and survived numerous challenges. It will
find ways to engage with and surmount the challenges posed by Digital
technology and public scepticism, which I believe stems from over expectation
from newsmedia. This, in a way is a good sign. Over expectation has in it an
element of faith in media’s capacity and capabilities. The major challenge
before newsmedia is to meet the public expectation.
***
Sent for publication in PCI journal, 2017.
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