Media Misworks

Anchors love extreme statements in their shows.. Good TRP.

Congress demands evidence from journalist Tavleen Singh on her statement against Manmohan Singh  https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/congress-demands-evidence-from-journalist-tavleen-singh-on-her-statement/article66036049.ece
The Hindu BureauNEW DELHIOCTOBER 20, 2022  At a debate hosted by Rajdeep Sardesai on India today on the topic “Is Mallikarjun Kharge a stop-gap chief”, Ms. Singh said, “Don’t forget we are dealing with a lady who could make the Prime Minister of India break the Official Secrets Act….she was no one in the government, to send her secret files.”  Congress leader Praveen Chakravarti, who was on the panel, objected to Ms. Singh’s comments asking for evidence to back her statement. “Somebody on your show, just now, charged the former PM of violating Official Secrets Act, either they provide evidence for it or they face consequences. That cannot go uncontested.”

Chidambaram’s denial
Mr. Sardesai announced that Mr. Chidambaram, who was watching the show, in a text message to him said, no such files were sent to Ms. Gandhi. When Ms. Singh was asked for her response, she said, “I don’t need to prove it, just go back to that time, there was a big controversy about it.”

Congress Rushes To Retort As Tavleen Singh Claims 'Sonia Gandhi Was De Facto PM' During UPA Era https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taJjUrOaLXA 

P Chidambaram Interview With Rajdeep Sardesai: Can Kharge Bring Real Change? Chidambaram Responds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cz1cPk585A 
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge is set to become the new party chief after his opponent Shashi Tharoor conceded defeat. The party workers went to the polls on October 17 with around 9,900 delegates voting to choose the first non-Gandhi president in more than 24 years. Tharoor's campaign was titled “ThinkTomorrowThinkTharoor” and the official theme of Kharge’s campaign was #KarykartaKharge. 

The Supreme Court Wednesday criticised the manner in which television channels conduct debates, observing that a methodology should be laid down for such discussions to ensure that they do not fuel hate speech. “If the anchor is going to take a lion’s share of the time of the debate, if the question of the anchor is so longish and time given to the person responding is short and even in that short period, all the time he is run down, made some kind of a rogue, is not fair. You have to be fair to everyone. It all has to be done fairly,” said Justice Joseph, emphasising that a system should be put in place so that there is “real freedom of the press” as well as that of the “listener” so that the latter does not go astray. https://theprint.in/judiciary/govt-a-mute-witness-to-hate-speech-problem-says-sc-suggests-vishaka-like-code-for-tv-debates/1137477/ SC Says Regulatory Mechanism Needed to Curb Hate Speech on TV, Social Media
"Where is our nation headed? If it is hate speech on which we are feeding on, where is our nation headed?" asked Justice K.M. Joseph. https://thewire.in/law/supreme-court-regulatory-mechanism-curb-hate-speech-tv-social-media 

When counsel for the National Broadcasting Association (NBA) informed the bench that it had a system to penalise violators, the judges remarked: “But the problem still persists. You may have given 4,000 orders, but what is the effect of such orders?”

The court added that political parties will “come and go”, but institutions like the media are there to stay. “Without a totally free press, no nation can go forward. Therefore, we should have true freedom for the press,” the court remarked.

Justice K. M. Joseph during the hearing made an observation regarding the Television Channels - "The role of the anchor is very important. Hate speech either it takes place in the mainstream television or it takes place in the social media. Social Media is largely unregulated….As far as mainstream television channel is concerned, we still hold sway, there the role of anchor is very critical because the moment you see somebody going into hate speech, it's the duty of the anchor to immediately see that he doesn't allow that person to say anything further. Unfortunately, many a times somebody wants to say something he is muted, person is not given proper time, he is not even treated courteously"

"Freedom of expression of the press, we don't have it separately unlike the US….there should be free debate no doubt about it but, you should also know where to draw the line because there is a huge influence particularly with the visual media….they produce a very serious effect on your brain. The freedom is for the listener. The freedom of speech is actually for the benefit of the listener. How would the listener ever make up his mind after listening to a debate where it is just a babble of voice, you cannot even make out what is happening", he added

Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde stated that, "the industry is unregulated and there are no sanctions" to which Ashwini Upadhyay replied, "Until hate speech is defined this will go on."

for the Judges comment on gOVT BEING A MUTE WITNESS see https://www.emeets.lnwr.in/2969 

Prime Time With Ravish Kumar | नफरती Debate को लेकर चैनलों को कब तक पड़ती रहेगी डांट https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqwDCOT372Y 
Sep 21, 2022 Prime Time With Ravish Kumar - September 21, 2022: गोदी मीडिया ने हिन्दू मुस्लिम डिबेट के ज़रिए न सिर्फ समाज में ज़हर फैलाया है बल्कि राजनीति और पत्रकारिता दोनों के आंगन को गंदा और भद्दा कर दिया है. आज पहला मौका नहीं है जब सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने हिन्दू मुस्लिम नफरती डिबेट पर सख्त टिप्पणी की है.

Supreme Court holds ‘TV debates’ responsible for rising hate speech in India | Oneindia News *News  Sep 22, 2022 The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday said that the visual media is the chief medium of hate speech in the country. It also questioned the central government as to why it was just a mute witness in the whole situation.

https://thewire.in/media/backstory-the-toxic-news-studio-enables-hate-mongers-like-nupur-sharma 

the studio news chat show and the studio news show model cannot be understood without some inkling into why news television is so important to the media industry although it accounts for a modest share of total television viewing and total revenue. In his 2015 book, Behind A Billion Screens, Nalin Mehta argues that news television may make little or no money but it brings access to enormous power.

Put simply, it is this patronage that feeds the content of most news television. A senior television manager whom Mehta interviewed had put it like this to him: “A news channel is a useful asset. It brings influence and access, and opens doors in politics and in government.” Large corporate entities are essentially looking for the same dividends when they make news media acquisitions, but this of course is at an infinitesimally larger scale.

In 2014, the acquisition of news television entities Eenadu-Network 18, with their pan-Indian presence, allowed Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), to influence policy making within the government and consolidate its hold on the media market. Today RIL owns over 72 media channels with a user base of 800 million and the news channels among them are faithful to the interests of the ruling party.

The news studio chat show came to be emblematic of this exercise of power and patronage. But for politics and its patrons to find acceptance with audiences, it also needed an anchor to play a role of the God in the Machine. When Bennett Coleman and Company was seeking an entry into the news television business in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, the model that drove Vineet Jain as its owner was Fox News.

For Times Now it was about creating the illusion of “breaking news” without too much emphasis on the real investigation and fact-finding that goes behind real news breaking; it was about talking heads chosen to play their assigned adversarial roles arguing at each other with no real interest in furthering public discourse in ways that benefit the country.

Pamela Philipose

18/06/2022

read more

The recent effort to indirectly acquire NDTV by Adani enterprises is an effort in the direction of creating another Godi media. Much of the mainstream national media is already a ‘Godi media’ and perhaps it is believed that this will put an end to independent media in the mainstream media space. Godi media can perhaps be described as an extension of ‘bhakt nationalism’ as displayed in mainstream news space.

https://countercurrents.org/2022/09/godi-media-5g-high-speed-pathway-to-misinformation-and-spreading-hate/ 

It is important to decipher as to how the godi media has become high speed pathway to misinformation and spreading hate and the role it plays in contemporary times. A 5G approach of how it has emerged as provider of misinformation and contributes to polarizing can help in assessing the same.

by T Navin

02/09/2022

read more