Ansari blames erosion of lines between news, PR and entertainment

New Delhi, Nov 4 : Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari today said the explosive growth in the media sector has seen the rapid erosion of the demarcation between professional journalistic output, public relations, advertising and entertainment.

Referring to the amazing growth witnessed in the media industry in recent times, Mr Ansari said, ''We have seen huge investments and the emergence of media conglomerates. New technologies and products such as IPTV, mobile TV and community radio have emerged alongside new media genres such as reality TV and advertorials.'' The phenomenon of convergence between news media, entertainment and telecom had eroded the lines between professional journalism, public relations, advertising and entertainment and was the price being paid for the sector's rapid growth, he said while inaugurating a workshop on 'Parliament and Media' here, the first organised by the Media Advisory Committee.

Mr Ansari said the growth witnessed in the sector highlighted that the Fourth Estate was the only one among the pillars of democracy that had an identifiable commercial and explicitly for-profit persona.

Though the primary professional duty of media houses was to keep their readership informed and appraised with news, views and ideas, the commercial logic had brought in a new set of stakeholders in the form of the shareholders of these companies, Mr Ansari noted.

Calling for a public debate on the issue, he decried the new considerations that guided professional media decisions. ''Today, the demands of professional journalists are carefully balanced with the interests of owners and stakeholders of media companies and their cross media interests. The interplay of these conflicting demands is evident,'' he added.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
Unauthorised publication of any content from NewKerala.Com is prohibited