(S.S.Dogra)
Email: ssdogra@journalist.com
“The patriot, Dedicated leader, Teacher, Scholar, Artist, Sportsperson & Journalist are very important pillars of any nation or civilization. Because the past, present and future of any country moves on the axis of them only, their contribution remain the asset forever for the whole society.”This is my personal quota about whole society as a whole. Media is also very important of society.
As you know that Media is the 4 pillars of Democracy after Executive (Government), Legislature (Parliament & State Assemblies, etc), Judiciary (Supreme Court, High Court & Other Judicial centres). This 4th pillar’s contribution is very important for the smooth functioning of a democratic country.
No doubt, Media is really powerful any where & everywhere. Actually, Media has the capability to influence opinions, behaviors, believes, attitudes and values among the mass. Media is the only bridge which can connect friends & communicate people or community with other. We all are surrounded by it in our routine life. It means Media is omnipresent.
Nowadays, Media has created greater impact on the whole society. Media is able to influence our opinion, action, reaction, perceptions about the world around us. Our thought process is very much influenced & shaped by Media only. It means that our perception about any political party, social activity, corporate world, product, culture, public issue, local, national, international know how, art, culture, sports, public agenda etc. are all created by the Media.
Now, the question is, whether Media is really playing good role in India? Very sensitive question. But before analyzing or going into depth about it, we should understand that how many media practitioner are Media literate. What is Media Literacy, National Association for Media Literacy Education, NJ, USA Defines Media Literacy as
“Media literacy empowers people to be both critical thinkers and creative producers of an increasingly wide range of messages using image, language, and sound. It is the skillful application of literacy skills to media and technology messages.”
As a citizen & media practitioners it is essential for us to understand the basic ethics & aspects of Media like ownership, agenda and interest so that we are able to serve it with transparently, honestly, neutral & justify manner. This awareness of media is called Media Literacy.
In United States of America, the largest democratic country of the world, celebrates Media Literacy week. Why they celebrate it just because to highlight the power of media literacy education its essential role in education today. We can also follow them to educate our society about the Media & upgrade the mass accordingly.
Another important thing about Media, is, Media Studies. It is the study of what the media is composed of and how it affects the people. It comprises vast study of communication, history, politics, design, information, economics, sociology, literature, film, photography, philosophy etc.
Media audiences- who are targeted,Media Technology-process of production,Media Agencies/Ownership-Producer, Media language-how to convey in different domain, Media Categories-(print, radio, TV, Films, internet etc., Media representation-How to showcase with different media options.
But with the invention & implantation of INTERNET (virtual world), the authenticity & credibility of an individual or organization has become doubtful. There is no proper watch dog to restrict or control the misuse of the internet world: For example; creating fake website, email id, Facebook/ Linkedin/ twitters/ What’s Up Accounts/Group in the form of posting the filthy/intolerable photos & comments . The uses of Internet & IT has increased tremendously in India but at the same time, with the increasing number of miss users, it has become a threaten & challenge for the common person & even from security point of view. Some serious steps towards such problems should be taken immediately for the sake of the entire society.
Registrar for Newspaper in India (RNI) has taken very positive step in this direction, now the registration for new publication (Newspaper/Magazine) will be allotted to those individual having Diploma/Degree in Mass Communication & a fee is also imposed. Earlier there was no registration to fee for registering a publication & no academic parameter. It’s a surprising fact Delhi itself has got 15,696 newspapers registered with RNI & 90% owners of these newspapers have no Journalism background. They are misusing media impact and running their newspapers/magazines just for the sake of blackmailing and showing influence to en cash the corporate, administration, political & society at large.
This initiative should be appreciated because Media is a very sensitive part of the society. Therefore, its ownership should not be offered to unqualified individual who are not able serve or represent this noble profession as the Head of any Media house without academic & practical media background. It is the need of the hour that Media ownership should be offered to the qualified & experienced Media person only to serve the society meaningfully.
