"Today's TV viewer or reader is only in search of crime and cricket which eventually affects the credibility of the journalists," said Padmashree Rajdeep Sardesai. He added that the media at times seems week due to a corrupt society.
Sardesai was speaking 'On the role of media in today's society,' at a function organised by the Bhaskar Group as part of its Knowledge Series at Rajpath Club on Saturday.
He talked about commercialisation, political party intervention, advertising and media ethics in the current scenario, while addressing a mixed audience of common people, journalists and students of journalism where he touched on almost all subjects which affect these segments of society.
He said that people are more interested in programmes connected with crime, cinema and cricket, which eventually forces journalists to shape their news/views to meet these expectations. Citing an example of news on an extra-marital affair of a professor, he said that this programme managed to get a place in the top ten programmes of the week in the Television Rating Points (TRP), while other serious news did not get such a rating.
He said that instead of becoming the watchdog of democracy, the media had become the lapdogs of corrupt bureaucrats and politicians. He also said that during the past decade, 'glamour' had entered the media, which was not a bad thing.
He also expressed the view that today's media is too obsessed with the metros and entertainment and sometimes important news is missed out. "At times, we take our viewers for granted."
Talking about media ethics, he said that the journalists should learn to say 'No'. "I will not do it," is the ability which a journalist should develop.
Talking about ethics in today's journalism, he said that the media follows the rule of 'guilty till proven innocent,' instead of 'innocent till proven guilty.' He further said that it is the journalist's responsibility not to be influenced by people like Nira Radia.
"It's her work to influence the media to help the corporates and the journalist must decide whether to be influenced or not," he said.
