I have copied your blog because it represents the content related to the ethics in media.
Television news is a case in point. There are 115 news channels in India, the largest anywhere in the world. As competition increases, some amount of tabloidisation is normal, even good because it makes news more relevant. But competition has also stretched resources. There aren’t enough trained people to handle this growth — on the business or the content side.
The result is evident on air. If a reporter is the sort who cries loudly when someone dies, she assumes that a mother who is dry-eyed while talking about her murdered daughter is faking it. And she says that, on air, with a halo of moral superiority.
For long, media critics have blamed entertainment television of being regressive, but watch half an hour of Hindi news on some of the most popular channels to see truly regressive opinions being spouted freely on air. The whole context of right and wrong, on how women should behave or families should operate comes from an orthodox, regressive mindset. So a doctor couple that is friends with other couples is surely into “wife swapping”, and a teenage girl who has “sleepovers” is basically having it off with someone, by implication.
Most TV reporters are imposing their half-baked moral judgements on the audience because editors are allowing them to. Editors and publishers simply don’t have the time, energy or money, or all three, to take them through the ropes.
The result: In a market where the context of news was set by some really good brands, the drop in standards has been nauseatingly dizzy.
Most of it shows in the numbers. News viewership has actually fallen by one whole percentage point over the last two years, ad revenues are stagnant at about Rs 1,500 crore and some channels go for as little as Rs 300 per ten seconds. Margins are in a free fall because costs, especially those of distribution, have gone through the roof. You could argue that this shows a market ripe for consolidation. That, however, will not solve the problem of falling standards. So, a market solution is out for now.
On the policy front, three things could help. One, pushing digitisation so that pay revenues become a reality and channels can invest it in content. Two, tightening licensing norms, which is already happening. Three, making the content code applicable to anyone launching a channel, not mandatory currently.
These, however, will only facilitate a better news-gathering environment. A more practical solution, arguably, lies in setting a benchmark that is above the market — commercially and content-wise.
The BBC, a high-quality and popular news channel, is funded by the British taxpayer. As a result, it has pushed up standards of programming, forcing private stations to do the same if they want audiences.
Maybe it is time for Doordarshan (DD) to do the same thing. That can happen if it is given real autonomy but with all the taxpayer money and legislative support it already gets. If audiences flock to DD or any other good broadcaster which has the luxury of ignoring competitive pressures, private broadcasters too will up the ante on content quality. And those who can’t compete on it will move out. -Vanita Kohli.
Television news is a case in point. There are 115 news channels in India, the largest anywhere in the world. As competition increases, some amount of tabloidisation is normal, even good because it makes news more relevant. But competition has also stretched resources. There aren’t enough trained people to handle this growth — on the business or the content side.
The result is evident on air. If a reporter is the sort who cries loudly when someone dies, she assumes that a mother who is dry-eyed while talking about her murdered daughter is faking it. And she says that, on air, with a halo of moral superiority.
For long, media critics have blamed entertainment television of being regressive, but watch half an hour of Hindi news on some of the most popular channels to see truly regressive opinions being spouted freely on air. The whole context of right and wrong, on how women should behave or families should operate comes from an orthodox, regressive mindset. So a doctor couple that is friends with other couples is surely into “wife swapping”, and a teenage girl who has “sleepovers” is basically having it off with someone, by implication.
Most TV reporters are imposing their half-baked moral judgements on the audience because editors are allowing them to. Editors and publishers simply don’t have the time, energy or money, or all three, to take them through the ropes.
The result: In a market where the context of news was set by some really good brands, the drop in standards has been nauseatingly dizzy.
Most of it shows in the numbers. News viewership has actually fallen by one whole percentage point over the last two years, ad revenues are stagnant at about Rs 1,500 crore and some channels go for as little as Rs 300 per ten seconds. Margins are in a free fall because costs, especially those of distribution, have gone through the roof. You could argue that this shows a market ripe for consolidation. That, however, will not solve the problem of falling standards. So, a market solution is out for now.
On the policy front, three things could help. One, pushing digitisation so that pay revenues become a reality and channels can invest it in content. Two, tightening licensing norms, which is already happening. Three, making the content code applicable to anyone launching a channel, not mandatory currently.
These, however, will only facilitate a better news-gathering environment. A more practical solution, arguably, lies in setting a benchmark that is above the market — commercially and content-wise.
The BBC, a high-quality and popular news channel, is funded by the British taxpayer. As a result, it has pushed up standards of programming, forcing private stations to do the same if they want audiences.
Maybe it is time for Doordarshan (DD) to do the same thing. That can happen if it is given real autonomy but with all the taxpayer money and legislative support it already gets. If audiences flock to DD or any other good broadcaster which has the luxury of ignoring competitive pressures, private broadcasters too will up the ante on content quality. And those who can’t compete on it will move out. -Vanita Kohli.
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