An ode to 60 years of Indian journalism

The traditional concept of journalism in our country can never lose its touch, even though we are getting modern in our approach day by day. But the press should still keep itself engaged in real journalism.

CJ: Amy Mookerji

Fri, Aug 15, 2008 18:30:29 IST

DURING THESE 61 years of Independence, every citizen of India may not have celebrated the Independence Day with a jingoistic patriotism - a dangerously overrated virtue, but with contentment. The contentment of seeing India marching to reach the goal of becoming a developed nation. In turn having the satisfaction that ‘yes, we are growing’ and able to get ourselves pampered with all the Western stuff and technology.

However, this growth and development is only secluded to have increase in the national income. Leave the growth of ‘real India’, its state is the same as ever, the rich becoming richer and the poor poorer. There has been no remarkable change at the grass root level. Poverty seems to rise day by day, no strong literacy programmes, immigration to urban cities at high levels in turn creating problems for the city and its people, health and hygiene of our people always in question, endless economic and social problems of the people, crimes of frustration and need etc - the list’s is endless. Then how can we say we are developing? Even if on the one side we are growing, thanks to the foreign investment, these basic problems of our country pulls us somehow back and we are not able to grow holistically. Human development Index (HDI), the correct measurement of development and growth, is not able to increase of our country.

But far from all these, our Indian journalism has not left any stone unturned to highlight the real issues of India. Be it the regional or small-scaled newspapers or our daily national broadsheets. This Independence owes a positive look towards our print medium. However, in today’s world the scenario is somewhat different, due to all the profit making thinking of the owners and to survive in the existing competitions. To quote an example, one such newspaper would be ’The Hindu’.

In all these years the media and press of our country is fighting a constant parallel war with the existing scenario. The mighty pen always on the work to highlight and bring things into account of our people and the people who manage our country. The nation has won freedom, and gone on into a totally new era of development. Momentous changes have taken place in the fields of economy, politics, social life, culture and scientific and intellectual development, which had their impact on the general condition of the people. The rapid advance of science and technology, in particular, has opened up bright prospects for making the earth a better place to live in and raising the quality of life of the people.

The world of communication has been revolutionised, leading to speedier, more accurate, more sophisticated and, on the whole, better methods of processing and disseminating information about nature and society. These transformations have brought about enormous and yet-to-be fully comprehended changes in the scope, approach and technique of journalism. The public confidence and integrity is what has made this fourth pillar stand firm all these years. It has become clearer to us than ever before that it is the happy and stable relationship between the newspaper and the public – reflected in the large and enthusiastic response to this occasion – that is the real guarantee of its future. Such a relationship with society is guided by the desire to put the criterion of public purpose at the centre of our practice of journalism.

After Independence, the press had to function in a greatly transformed situation, with new perspectives and tasks. One of the key changes in its role has been professionalism. In the early days, those who came to serve this newspaper entered a vocation and an opportunity to make their own contribution to the fight for freedom. Today, it is part of a well-established profession where journalistic and technical competence has to be matched, in ways better than we know today, by new kinds of commitment to the public interest. Practice over many a long and significant decade has made the Indian press conscious that public purpose encompasses a broad based approach. The national responsibility has come to mean to help safeguard the independence and integrity of the nation.

So somewhere the traditional journalism has never and can never lose its touch of excellence and acceptance. No matter how modern we become in our thinking and conceptualising, people still want the meritorious journalists to be grounded and down to earth in their writing. The people want that the media of our nation should grow in a positive way. They should write and put forward the real problems and issues of our country and its people. Also giving coverage to the states and sections of society, which are never covered, or their problems put forward.

The states of north east, the tribal of Andaman and Nicobar islands, news related to women, children, old and youth of our country. How to change their thinking and to develop them through the writing. This will, in turn, make these sections to burst from their cocoons and to come in the forefront and do something for their nation. This will only be possible if they will see themselves being covered and worried about. They will try to grow and support India to develop. Other than just blindly following the Western concept of consumerism, our country needs more of hardcore serious news and views in our papers than the lifestyle, potpourri, page3, fashion and technology and stuff like that. Shaking hands with the futuristic modern approach but keeping its base strong; the base of grounded and real journalism, which can only be found in the traditional approach. Therefore, the need of the hour is to accept the new concepts into the journalism world, this in order to be updated. But not forget the real motive of the press in our country. First, to be socially responsible and not being biased. Secondly, engage in hardcore investigative and interpretative journalism.

All this is only possible if the citizens of our country puts forward their views as to what it really wants to read, in turn setting agenda for the media to write about. Not let media always set agenda for them. They can do this by being good citizen journalists and write on our country’s issues and also to various media and press organisations. Adding to this requires the full support of our Indian government. Only then can Indian journalism’s legacy be preserved and given the respect it always had.

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