WHAT AILS JOURNALISM TODAY?

Presentation by Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director, The New Indian Express Group

Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, BangaloreMay 2, 2011

PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE PONTIFICATING UPON THIS ISSUE

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM IS EASY

The problem with journalism today is a mix of

Ignorance & Negligence

WHY IGNORANCE?BECAUSE JOURNALISTS TODAY HAVE:

• Shoddy training, poor or no mentoring• Huge demand vis-a-vis limited supply of

manpower, thanks to over 500 channels and 5,000 publications • To keep advertisers in mind while reporting

and writing articles

WHY NEGLIGENCE?BECAUSE JOURNALISTS TODAY HAVE:

• Greed for money and instant fame• No accountability• Too much at stake: Fear of losing contacts,

glamour and wealth

• No curiosity, no hunger for news

BUT THEY ARE JUST PUPPETS

The battle for bottomlines has bust the credibility of bylines

Paid news, private treaties, advertorials are all creations and consequence of a broken business model

EVERYONE IS CHASING NUMBERS

• Advertisers have contributed to the mess• Is Quantity, numerical reach the only

parameter?• What about quality, credibility?• Quality costs money.

AND DEMANDS RESPECT

• Journalists have forgotten to ask simple but tough questions

• They have also forgotten that their job is to report violations, not commit them

• They have started acting like a super cop-judge-hangman

JOURNALISTS ARE ALSO TO BLAME

Enron collapsed when somebody finally asked a simple question:

“How do you make money?”

Satyam’s Raju got exposed when he was asked:

“How did you value Maytas?”

Call it the ‘Double A’ Approach

For journalism to thrive, we need a

supportive institutional atmosphere

and individual attitude

But for that, everyone has to act

• Are you ready to liberate media from the clutches for the advertiser?

• Are you ready to pay for what you read/see/hear?

Some questions for you, as consumer

• Fact is Indians pay Rs 12 for a cup of coffee at an Udipi but want 40 pages of content for free

• In Mumbai you get 730 days paper for Rs 299. That is less than 50 paise per day

• Readers also have the option of going on the net and not paying anything at all

Think about this..

• At least 50% cost must come from cover price

• Channels and newspapers must charge

It is both an editorial and business challenge

Bring realism into the picture

Editorial credibility is also a function of political buoyancy

• Ramnath Goenka could create a coalition of rag tag players like Hegde, Devi Lal and NTR and take on Bofors

• Today the Opposition cannot project even one leader who can be backed

• But there is hope. Civil Society is crystallising into an Opposition

• Participative democracy can revive both journalism and democracy

IF ALL THE PLAYERS ARE ON THE SAME PAGE….

...the road ahead gets easier

FEAR NONE FAVOUR NONE

JOURNALISTS NEED TO FOLLOW THE GOLDEN RULES

EXPOSE THE CORRUPT PROMOTE THE HONEST

Join journalism as a mission and not just for money

Ask questions.

Story begins with the source. It doesn't end there.

THE END