The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : `Blurring of lines between news and advertising eroding journalism'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 08, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

`Blurring of lines between news and advertising eroding journalism'

Staff Reporter

As most journalists chase the same story, originality of stories and ideas are coming down: Sashi Kumar

IN CONVERSATION: Director of the International Institute of Information Technology S. Sadagopan (left) and Chairman of Media Devlopment Sashi Kumar at the Ifra board meeting in Bangalore on Friday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: The influence of Indian media is diminishing as lines between media and marketing or advertising blur, Sashi Kumar, Chairman of the Media Development Foundation, has said. Addressing members of the Board of Directors and Senators of Ifra, an association of publishers and suppliers committed to the development of technology in the media and publishing industry, here on Friday, Mr. Kumar said there had been tremendous growth in the print and broadcast media in the country in the past few years, especially with regard to the language media.

However, he said, the multitude of channels and media networks was not giving more choice to the public as all media houses were chasing the same stories. The quality of journalism was going down as the template of the definition of the word news was being narrowly interpreted, and more market-driven news was finding its way into papers. "As most journalists chase the same story, originality of stories and ideas are coming down," he added. He said the blurring of lines between news and advertising or public relations was eroding journalism and causing disconnect between society and media. Journalists should be put back on centre stage. "After all, if you don't have any news, you won't get any advertisers," he said.

S. Sadagopan, Director of the International Institute of Information Technology, said the IT industry was poised for growth. The IT sector, which was currently contributing around 5 per cent of the gross domestic produce (GDP), would contribute around 15 per cent of the GDP in 10 years. He said IT had brought a new paradigm of business operation to India that allowed even small companies to grow big.

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