Dont ape Indian media, says Pak regulator

For long, Indian media, particularly the TV channels ave been under fire for sensational coverage and debates. Pakistan guests appearing on channels have also been having bitter experience and complaining that they do not get proper chance to speak.

Now look at this advisory issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority which is self explanatory.

Many doubted if tjhis note is genuine. It is. I checked on PRNA site - http://www.pemra.gov.pk/
- Editor

Spoof! Newstainment with a Twist!

Have the news channels become entertainment channels?.

I am not the only person to ask that.

 In fact, TV News anchor Rajdeep Sardesai himself told us at our Mumbai conclave in February 2014 that one could turn to News Channels for entertainment!

 The news channels seem to be losing their seriousness. In fact, BJP boycotted NDTV during the poll campaign on the pretext that the channel was not fair to them. Today, we hear some spokespersons threatening Times Now that they will not come to the channel as they are not allowed to speak.

 Even a student of mass communication feels that the news channels are not doing the right thing.

 My daughter, then doing her masters in mass communication, had this experience during a guest talk by Rajdeep. At the end of the talk and the Q & A, she musters enough courage and ask Rajdeep: Sir, why do some of you anchors do not allow your panelists to respond.

Rajdeep passes this question to Sagarika.

My daughter says: She is even worse!

Let me narrate another anecdote.

We had this interesting debate during the Press Club Mumbai’s Red Ink Awards for excellence in journalism last year.

Arnab, Rajdeep, Kumar Ketkar were the panelists and Piyush Pande, Chairman of Ogilvy, and Uday Shankar, Star TV CEO, were the moderators or anchors.

Uday began by saying: Arnab, Rajdeep and Kumar. The rules of this debate are: I will ask you a question. I will not allow you to answer and I will ask you more questions.

Arnab: Uday, you have begun it well. But you forgot one more rule of the game. You will ask a question. Answer it yourself. And ask more questions….

The topic was: ‘Elections 2014: Were We Fair, Or Did We Stoke the NaMo Wave?’

While Arnab and Rajdeep went about discussing the media’s role on propelling the wave, Piyush interrupted ….you may remember that it was Piyush’s Ogilvy that coined the catch phrase: Achhay Din Aanay Walay Hain.

Piyush said: Arnab and Rajdeep, please don’t credit yourselves for the wave. None of us created or stoked it. WE JUST RODE THE WAVE!

So much for credit snatchers and those who claim the highest TRPs.

It was interesting to see that all channels were claiming the Number 1 viewership position after the election results.

It is equally interesting to watch anchors like Rajdeep Sardesai attacking the race for TRPs among news channels?

We have called them the noise channels long ago.

Here is how it will look if we have a debate among news anchors and political party spokespersons.

Let me present an imaginary debate and let me start with a disclaimer: This debate that I am going to narrate is purely imaginary and fictitious and not to be taken seriously at all.

Don’t blame me if you find it real!

Now, the debate begins something like this.

Rajdeep: My son does not watch news channels.

Arnab Goswami: The nation wants to know why!

Barkha Dutt: It is quite sad. Don’t you feel terrible about it? It must be really disturbing.

Rajdeep: In this race for TRPs, we seem to be losing out. We are losing sense in sensationalizing the news.

Print journalist Kumar Ketkar: For you, everything is breaking news.

Rajdeep: Yes, Arvind Kejriwal leaves home…breaking news….Kejriwal reaches Jantar Mantar….breaking news

Arnab: I will not take this. You cannot pass judgement against me on my channel. My viewers know me well.

Barkha: We have different standards. But we can’t live in isolation.

Rajdeep: Breaking news is breaking down.

Karan Thapar: It is particularly disturbing to see all kinds of nonsense. You must explain.

Prannoy Roy: We have spent 25 years in reporting the news…they say the dot makes all the difference….Now let me ask my young friends on what they think of the news.

Rajdeep: My so does not watch news channels.

Arnab: Never ever. Never. Ever. Never Ever. Say such things. My viewers know me well. Now, let me open up this debate and….let me take this call from Chikamagalur.

Manish Tewari: With regards to your call, how many people watch English news channels? My information is that people in places like Eluru or Chakimagalur or Jumri Talayya do not even get to see English or Hindi news channels.

Rajdeep: Yes, regional media is exploding. But does this TRP race is spreading among them as well.

Barkha: I was in Kashmir. I could freely speak in English.

Arnab: Everyone on my channel speaks English. My Hindi isn’t all that good.

Mayank Gandhi (of AAP): The nation need not know this.

Karan Thapar (tightening his teeth): But, but….dont you think it is highly irresponsible on part of some viewers not to watch TV channels?

Arnab: This is undemocratic. The nation wants to know why this selective black out is happening.

Prannoy (holding his chin with his right palm): Let them have the freedom to chose what they want.

Rajdeep: Only in my newsroom, do we watch 20 news channels. And we have some 483 channels airing the news 24x7.

Subramaniam Swamy: Don’t say it so loud. Some parties will give multiple TV sets as freebies during the poll campaign.

Raghav Behl: That will be good for the economy. The FMCG industry may see growth. Dalal Street will look up.

Arnab, Barkha, Karan and Rajdeep try to say something and all that we could hear is noise. Swamy, Tewari and Gandhi just smile away.

-BNK

Future shock for media! Social Media overtaking fast

Narendra None

Introducing a column by S. Narendra* ((Former PIO and ex-adviser to Govt. of Karnataka)

Who's there? I, so and so (with a given name), that's how we identify ourselves all our life. .But in the next decade, the world's virtual population will exceed the population of the Earth. People's multiple virtual identities will overlap their physical identities, such as given names. At another level, where we get our information and what (information and news) sources we trust will have a profound impact on our future identities. What's in store for news on Internet is known and the battles over information monetization strategies and content syndication will continue. But as entry barriers for new information and news providers and their aggregators get lower, how will it affect the media landscape?

It is clear that mainstream media, such as news channels, newspapers and news agencies, will always be a step behind in reporting news. The world's breaking news will continually come from platforms like Twitter, and its competitors: open networks that facilitate information sharing instantly, widely and in accessible packages.

As more and more people use data enabled devices, who breaks the news is a matter of chance. Unknowingly, a civilian live tweeted the killing of Osama bin Laden from Abbotabad.

The lag time before the mainstream media can get the story will alter the nature of audiences and their loyalty, as they seek more immediate methods of information delivery. Every generation will be able to produce and consume more information than the previous generation. This will lead to splitting of loyalty between new platforms for breaking news and the established organisation for the rest of the story.

News organizations will remain an important and integral part of society but many outlets will not survive in their current form. The effect of having so many new actors involved in news reporting through a range of online platforms into the great, diffuse media system, is that major outlets will report less and validate more.

Reporting duties will become more widely distributed, while expanding the scope of coverage but probably reduce the quality on a net level. The role of mainstream media will primarily be one of a credibility filter. But competition for being first with breaking news is diluting the role of filters. So also the wide presence of hand held devices enables thousand of sources to contribute to the pile of breaking news. Here, particularly for the elite - validation and cogent analysis will be important. The strength of open, unregulated information sharing platforms is their responsiveness, not their insight or depth.

Mainstream media will have to find ways to integrate all of the new global voices they can reach, a challenging but necessary task. The business of Journalism will become less extractive and more collaborative. Of course, chances of errors may also rise.

Global connectivity will introduce entirely new contributors to the supply chain. One new subcategory to emerge will be a network of local technical encryption specialists who deal exclusively in encryption keys. They will provide the necessary confidentiality mechanism between parties. In the Middle East, several VPNs or virtual private networks have come up and accessed by locals and international news outlets. Stringers serve such networks. 

As part of cost cutting, mainstream media reduced their staff for foreign news coverage and began to rely more on stringers. In New Delhi, for example, most foreign correspondents working for newspapers and other outlets are stringers, who are paid a retainer plus a payment on contribution basis. Another type of stringers had emerged in India during the height of militancy and violence in Punjab and J&K.Foreign agencies paid stringers for tipping them off about violence, including barbaric killings by militants in remote rural areas. 

The Author: S Narendra

Sometimes even militants themselves had turned stringers to gain international coverage for their acts. Mostly they were using the then latest technology, STD. For increasing coverage of hinterland, AIR uses dozens of stringers.

In the same way, a new type of Stringers will emerge. The latter risk their lives and offer digital content and online sources of news. But media outlets will have to exercise greater caution and seek validation for their news from such sources.

When people find the mainstream media failing to cover conflicts or other such developments, celebrities or even ordinary people, may start their own online portals.  Mainstream media will find such new serious competitors in the future. Many will still favour and support the established media outlets out of loyalty and trust in institutions and the serious work of journalism. There will always be demand for not so serious tabloid variety of content.

Just as they do today, with charities and business (even governments) ventures, celebrities will look to starting their own media outlets as a logical extension of their 'brand'. Not only technology is enabling this but also it does not involve much investment. Loyalties are fickle when it comes to media. That trend will get exacerbated when the field is crowded. If errors in content occur, that will further erode the audience loyalty.

Expanded connectivity promises more than just challenges for media outlets. It offers new possibilities for the role of media particularly in countries where the media is not free. Connectivity helps upend control over media by corrupt regimes, especially where local encryption facilities crop up and NGOs become active. Assisted by NGOs outside the country, the local ones find their voices. This kind of disaggregated, mutually anonymous news gathering system would not be difficult to build. Two new trends are-""safer reporting backed by encryptiop" and a wider readership, 

international, due to gains in connectivity ' would challenge oppressive or corrupt regimes. Green activists (even non-five star ones) have used the new information platforms very effectively to network and challenge administrations and businesses that ignore environmental and health safety considerations). *(Based on New Digital Age by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen)

=======================================================================

About the author

S Narendra has been Information adviser to the PM, Principal Information Officer to Govt Of India and Government Spokesperson. Has worked in both public and private sectors in the fields of Advertising, PR, Journalism, Communication Research.

Now, heads own Communication Consultancy. Has been associated with Communication projects of UNICEF, UNAIDS, World Bank, Gates Foundation, UNFPA, EU etc.,