Underlining that “watchdog journalism” is “vibrant journalism” in a changed and changing world, Vice President Hamid Ansari today said it stands for rights and freedom and does not “entertain and titillate”.
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Addressing the audience after conferring the Fifth Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism at the Taj Palace Hotel in the capital, Ansari said watchdog journalism “should be the rule and not the exception that it has become”.
He said the media being the fourth estate “should shape perceptions and also the national agenda”. Experience, he said, shows that the best guarantee for safeguarding public interest is to have strong and independent-minded editors — an endangered species today.
“The slow erosion of the institution of the editor in Indian media organisations is a reality. When media space and media products are treated solely in terms of revenue maximisation strategies, editors end up giving way to marketing departments.”
Maintaining that media norms is an issue of public debate, the Vice President said: “We have, as yet, not had an informed debate in the country on the issue of multiple-ownership and cross-ownership nor a cogent national media policy that covers all platforms.” This, he said, was at variance with the practice of other developed democracies.
“The impact of the emergence of a handful of media conglomerates spanning the entire media spectrum in moulding public opinion, generating political debate and safeguarding consumer and public interest is a moot question,” he said.
“Issues of ethics and professionalism of the media appear to invade all aspects of our lives — political, economic and social,” he said, adding “It is for you, the journalist community, to take the initiative and seek to address various concerns regarding the profession.”