Need for an Internal Control Mechanism for the Media

Role of Media

The power of media has never been in question.
It can influence the key policy makers by swaying the public opinion on various national and international issues.
It has the ability to play a significant role in spreading awareness about various developmental issues.
It also highlights the various ills plaguing our society.
In India, barring a few brief spells, media has largely had a free run. This freedom is all the more evident today with the advent of a multitude of newspapers, Private TV channels Radio Stations and Internet.
Too much of this freedom is now causing some serious concerns.

Where things are going wrong

Technology has outpaced journalism. Television has become the Raw News, because of live reporting and in an effort to be the First with the News; exaggerated, unanalyzed facts are often reported.
No discretion is exercised in reporting of Disaster news. Graphic descriptions and photographs of hanging, suicide, accident victims etc are prominently splashed. Watching too much disaster coverage is adversely affecting the viewer. Similarly juicy photographs, videos and clippings are unleashed without restriction on unsuspecting children.
There are two sides to any event - two ways to interpret it: one positive and the other negative. Newspapers and journalists seem to specialize in negative reporting.
Intruding into the privacy of any citizen has become a norm. No restraint is exercised in publishing the most private details of an individual. Competition creates the need to produce something with shock value, something that will be remembered, something chat-pata (sizzling) so that people are back for more.
In a country with tremendous inequality, indifferent or poor governance, and worrying societal trends there is a whole range of reporting that simply does not get done, because it means harder work, more news gathering expenses, and more reporters on beats. The problems run deep- digging them up and exposing them for action is a thankless task.
In a bid to have more advertising pages, miscellaneous bits of information is served up to inform, satisfy curiosity and meet the small town hunger for both sensational and neighborhood news. Media does not connect events with processes.
Another major issue today is ethics of what the media devotes space to, and how it allocates its manpower. There are beats for restaurants and fashion, there are no beats in most newspapers for agriculture, labor, education, infrastructure, or health and whatever little exists caters to up-market urban class.
Media has started another new concept of Trial by Media. A person is investigated by media, found guilty and sentenced without waiting for a legal investigation or trial.

Question of accountability of the Media

Today the Media is all too powerful.
Accountability is anathema to media.
There is fierce opposition to any watchdog body.
No dispute resolution mechanisms are operative.
Newspapers have not appointed an ombudsman to receive complaints from the public on the newspaper's functioning.
They do not have codes of conduct which are actively implemented.
They do not have a firm corrections policy, to dictate fair display for the corrections that newspapers should carry after they have damaged somebody's reputation.
There are hardly any debates in the media about the performance of media.
An irresponsible government can be brought down through a no-confidence motion in Parliament. But the there is no mechanism for the readers to discipline an irresponsible press.
The Media holds all rights to publish or not to publish. Readers cannot get even a denial or a rejoinder published as a matter of right.

Control mechanisms

Suddenly there is significant media presence. But there are no financial or intellectual resources to monitor what the media does on an ongoing basis. In a free and democratic society everything must have reasonable controls.
Censorship has been the most misused and regressive type of control. It defeats the very purpose of having a Media. This has never been successful in achieving any thing meaningful and does not merit any further discussion.
Press Councils India enshrines the noble concept of having press councils to ensure that the reader is not short-changed by unscrupulous or shoddy journalistic practices. They provide a platform to ventilate grievances against biased, inaccurate or inadequate reporting on matters of legitimate public interest.


However experience has shown that they are largely ineffective. Petitions drag on before the inquiry committee, for several years. They have little or no legal teeth to punish the guilty. At the end of the day they are not delivering enough to be effective and trusted.
Peer reviews of what the media is doing are few and far between. Little or no mechanism exists for this kind of monitoring.
In India we don’t have the concept of a press ombudsman.
There are no codified media ethics in place.
There are no statutory media audits on the reporting and coverage by a newspaper or a Television channel.
Monitoring websites There are perhaps only a few websites like The Hoot and India Together which regularly publish articles on the aberrations in media coverage and failings of the media.

Self Regulation

The more developed countries are much more evolved in the area of media ethics. Our media is still young, our regulations still in the pipeline. Until then it is better to have internal mechanisms in place rather than those enforced from outside. In my considered opinion the best form of regulation is voluntary and self imposed.
Self regulation has none of the complications of law - but still provides a system in which publications are committed to the highest possible ethical standards.
As a part of this mechanism the Newspapers, TV channels and websites can
Spell out guidelines for Advertorials , Government orders and advertisements, Health and medical matters Opinion polls, Photographs, use of Religious and casteist terms, Selection of newsworthy stories, privacy of individuals, Suicide reporting, Suppression of names of sources, Witness payments etc.
Invite complaints through phone, email or mail by stating so in the media.
Create a voluntary forum of representatives from the public, industry, government, media and judiciary but independent from the editorial and management to speedily look into the matter and deliver a verdict in 7 days.
Publish the complaint and the decision verbatim.
Take action against the errant journalists and in case of bogus complaints highlight the same.
This mechanism would be effective only if it has the ability to take action. This would bring about accountability for the newspaper and ensure transparency for public

Conclusion

Definitely, the media has the potential to unleash all the positive energies that are held together by 'we-the-people'. They must create commonality of interests between themselves and the readers. They must deliver to the audience information that empowers and is not guided merely by commercial interests.
They have also to understand their ever increasing responsibility.
Responsibility of being honest, impartial and fair.
Responsibility of exercising restraint and discretion.
Responsibility of protecting privacy and innocence.
And all this must come from within and not reach a stage when this has to be enforced externally. -

Contributed by:Dr Harmeet Singh MBA(Birmingham)

Part of Dream Weave Walk