Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Seminar discusses Indian media’s democratic credentials

—Photo: S. Mahinsha

Veteran hands: Veteran journalists Sashi kumar, left, and B.R.P. Bhaskar, centre, and V. Sivankutty, MLA, at a media seminar in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: How free are the media in India, and does it give voice to the democratic aspirations of the people? This question was discussed at length at a seminar organised by the Information and Public Relations Department in connection with the National Media Day here on Friday.

Tracing the development of the media in the country, veteran journalist B.R.P. Bhaskar said the Indian-owned journals before Independence were mostly part of the Freedom Movement, while the newspapers owned by the British stood for furthering the interest of the British Empire. However, the British-owned newspapers were even ahead of their ‘desi’ counterparts in highlighting the agony of the people of the country during times of traumatic developments like the Bengal Famine.

Chairman of Asian College of Journalism in Chennai Sashi Kumar said that the media assumed for themselves a high moral ground while arguing for the freedom of the press, but there was also a paradox in this because of the growing tendency to set aside the responsibilities that went with such an assumption.

However, technological changes taking place in the media held the promise of opening up more space for the citizens’ journalism, especially through the Internet. This change was still in the nascent stage and the question was how soon the emerging opportunity too would be hijacked by the powers that ruled the scene at the moment.

Thiruvananthapuram East MLA V. Sivankutty inaugurated the seminar. General secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists N. Padmanabhan and senior journalist P. Rajan also addressed the seminar.

Director of Information and Public Relations Department P. Venugopal welcomed the gathering and Additional Director P. Abdul Rasheed proposed a vote of thanks.

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