Dileep Padgaonkar ... on the state of the media in India today Panjim, Goa, on March 9, 2014. Debates issues of media ownership, "remarks" by "political leaders" on the media, archaic laws which "date from the middle of the 19th century" and still govern the media in India (at least four such laws), his starting days with the 'Poona Herald' when he was paid Rs 50 a month, the need for an internal critique of the media, the 'paid news' phenomenon, media corruption, to build a consensus on what constitutes 'professional rectitude', etc. Padgaonkar makes a call for the media to be "completely transparent" about its ownership. Shaky video, sorry! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AUzYOQ7mVY
Sanjeev Latkar, on the media in India today (Marathi) Sanjeev Latkar, journalist and media researcher from Maharashtra, speaks at the March 9, 2014, session on 'Conscientious Journalism' held in Goa, India. In a speech in Marathi, interspersed with English, he points to the precarious situation of the media in India, how the newspapers are hard-pressed to earn their printing costs (because of the depressed cover prices for newspapers, brought on by the market leaders), and the harsh realities of keeping the media afloat today. Government fixes the scales for newspaper employees in India today, but takes on no responsibility in the paying of the same. There's also a difficulty in finding suitable staff for the media, as we're creating unemployables as the education system gets politicised. Media power comes from its ability to represent the masses, and that needs to be treated as sacrosant, Latkar suggests. The loss of the reading hability and the ability to tune into serious debate is also raised here. Without talent, how is the media to survive, asks Latkar. There are challenges from the New Media and the social media too. He stresses the need for finding solutions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1xAvThyfnE Adv Ujjwal Nikam, speaking in Goa on the Kasab case, the media, law and related issues... Ujjwal Nikam (born 30 March 1953) is an Indian Public Prosecutor against criminal, popular for being in various cases like 1993 Bombay blasts, Gulshan Kumar murder case and Pramod Mahajan murder trial. He was also the Public Prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks wherein the main accused Ajmal Kasab was held guilty and sentenced to death.Ujjwal Nikam is also the Special Public Prosecutor(SPP) in 2013 Mumbai gang rape.[Source: Wikipedia] Here, he says the media plays a "very vital" role in a democracy, formulates a medium of the commonman. He calls for "introspection" on media functioning, with specific cases, specially that dealing with the Kasab case. While publishing news, the media should ask if the accused is being prejudiced, he says. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TJcNZABrbA Patricia J Sethi, former UN Bureau chief, Newsweek magazine Patricia J Sethi, former UN Bureau chief, Newsweek magazine, voices her comparison between working abroad and the journalism scene in India. She called the media here "vibrant, alive, effervescent" and suggests values for the current-day journalist. But she also sees "a lack of consistency, no continuation of a story, no follow-up". It hits the news, and b-h-a-m, it's gone. There's media hysteria for a day or week and then kaput, gone with the wind. Thus, she points out, no one knows, she points out, what has happened to the heads of the scandal-hit Satyam, or the IAS couple who siphoned off hundred crores from where they served, or the Pune-based millionaire with huge Swiss bank accounts. Sethi also blasted "embarrassingly poor copy". "We have an obligation to be correct and precise in whatever language we're writing in," Sethi added. She said "paid news" was very disturbing in a democracy. "Corporate ownership of the media creates a great potential for misuse," she warned. The issue was how to balance off objectivity and owner's self-interest! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aebITXUOqyo Of watermelons, saris and scribes' functions... Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar speaks at an "exceptionally interesting" seminar (the organiser's description) on "conscientious journalism" organised by the Goa Union of Journalists in association with 'One World'. Oddly enough, the context is that sections of the media here in GOa were recently upset over comments reportedly made by the CM about them. http://www.firstpost.com/politics/journalists-oppn-demands-apology-from-parrikar-on-media-taunt-1407223.html He first takes the audience through a long detour -- dealing with regrowing traditional watermelons in his native village, sari functions, topsy-turvy priorities in today's India, his power-naps at some programmes, his study of genetics as a hobby, the art of generating larger water-melons, the lack of co-relationship between education and wisdom, his critique of Kapil Sibal's RTE policy, his lessons from the IIT (and how that probably helped save "at least three hundred crores" for Goa), why he respects the IITs, which fish is tastier where in Goa... His take-home message? "If you don't provide the best for your generation, 250 years down the line, you're gone...." He also had some criticism about delays in getting justice in some court cases in India. Then his request for the media to take the criticism in the right way.... and some words of advice for them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBHuGKhT7kk AUDIO REPORT of the entire function: https://archive.org/details/con-journ -- FN Phone +91-832-2409490 Mobile +91-9822122436 Blog: http://goabooks.wordpress.com