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”.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.”

Biases, Ansari said, have prompted the media to resort to “sunshine journalism” where the focus is on the glass that is quarter-full rather than that which is three-quarters empty. “When this occurs, the role of the media as a defender and upholder of public interest does get dented and relegated to the background.”

“As we identify and recognise the excellence and contribution of distinguished journalists, we should pause and remind ourselves that the profession, and indeed Indian democracy, has been immensely enriched by this great publisher, Ramnath Goenka, who built The Indian Express as an institutional example of good journalism, with intense passion and vision,” he said.

“Mr Newspaper, as B G Verghese characterised him, came to embody the fight for the fundamental right of freedom of speech and of the press. As a Gandhian and a freedom fighter, a politician and an industrialist, a citizen and an activist, he remains an exceptional personality of his time. He was India’s Pulitzer. The awards instituted in his name to celebrate excellence in journalism, are a fitting tribute to his courage and commitment.”

On journalism, Ansari pointed to three aspects that he finds noteworthy. “First, it has become evident that technology is neither value-neutral nor inherently equity-driven. It takes on the form and structure of the society where it operates. It is only an instrumentality and not a panacea. The hard work of defining and implementing a value system and a vision for an organisation, a society or polity cannot be substituted by technology.”

“The convergence between news media, entertainment and telecom has eroded the demarcation between journalism, public relations, advertising and entertainment. So is the case between business, commerce, philanthropy, politics and profession. It is not clear where public interest ends and private interest begins, where profit ends and the not-for-profit begins, where government ends and the non-government begins, where one’s fist ends and the other’s nose begins. This has significantly enhanced the complexity of our working and personal lives and created new ethical dilemmas that lie at the core of many issues of public debate today.”

“Third, the public purpose of journalism that guided us in an earlier era has changed. Gandhiji was probably the first editor in the history of Indian journalism to have started a newspaper for the express purpose of breaking the law governing the publication of newspapers. He was also one of the first editors to be prosecuted for sedition. It was this public purpose of journalism that had propelled Ramnathji into the newspaper business,” Ansari said.

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