The Graying Shades Of Media A Corrupt Conundrum Media Essay

The Graying Shades Of Media A Corrupt paradox Media EssaySince the days of the expeldom movement Indian media has been recognised as patriotic and nationalist in any(prenominal) casel to provide un virguleed give-and-take and puddle positive worldly concern debates. Mahatma Gandhi, The father of the Indian nation juggled his movement with the virtuous power of active journalism. Today, India with its over a billion population supports almost 70,000 registered intelligencepapers and over 450 Television channels. In the sphere of journalism, there be r argonfied Journalists in the country who argon honoured and accepted as the moral c all in all for in the Indian monastic order. While the wordpapers in Europe and America atomic telephone number 18 losing their readership annually, the Indian print media is still going from strength to strength with vast circulations and great marketing opportunities. The media is still considered to be the fourth important anchor af ter the judiciary, parliament and bureaucratic set-up in democratic India. Media is considered to be a repository of public trust for conveying reading to public honestly. With the advent of technology the new mark of internet has changed the expression the give-and-take charge is overlap and views argon exchanged. The speed of travel of in trackation has gr feature logarithmically and media has snuff it much powerful than whatever time before to shape the minds and genesis of opinions of the destinyes. genial media is developing as a pervasive tool to link up the society laterally which is affecting marketing strategies of the business houses and structuring political influences by the plurality in power or seeking power.Historically media has ever more(prenominal) taken the flak for favoring the more influential sections of society and has as well been satanic to shade the intelligence activity and views to suit the economic viability of the come outing hous es. Political angle of dips and somatic influences on the intelligence activitypaper columns and apportionivity in coverage of news is non hidden from the public but in recent years, malpractices in the Indian media has gone way beyond the turpitude of individual diary keepers and media organizations. Unfortunately the cultivation is planted and views argon on sale for favors received in cash or sorting in institutionalized and organized engineers of corruption. intelligence servicepapers publishers and television channels owners do not shy away from receiving funds for publishing or riddleing data in favor of particular individuals or incorporated entities that is disguised as news. The plague of unethical commercial-grade activities and market interests of media institutions disfigure the role they toy in the shaping of public opinion and in upholding principles and norms of democracy.II fellow feeling authorized terms related to media pay media is the most tra ditional advertise in which a comp all pays for space or for a terzetto party to labor its crossroads. This form is thriving with emergence of more targeted communication channel TV, online-display placement, and different channels options for marketers expanding exponentially .Online video and search marketing is attracting great interest .Paid media has too much of clutter with declining response rates and declining credibility.own Mediaown media, consists of catalogues, web sites, retail stores, alert programs and e-mail notifications of special stands etc on properties or channels owned by the company that uses them for marketing purposes. Owned Media do not offer guarantees and consumers generate limited trust in this media. take in MediaEarned media (or throw in media) refers to affectionate advancement gained done promotional efforts other than advertising, as opposed to paid media, which refers to publicity gained through advertising.1 Earned media often refers specifically to publicity gained through editorial influence, whereas social media refers to publicity gained through grassroots action, particularly on the Internet. The media may include any mass media outlets, such as newspaper, television, radio, and the Internet, and may include a sort of formats, such as news articles or luffs, letters to the editor, editorials, and polls on television and the Internet.1Earned media is an old PR term that essentially meant acquiring your brand into free media rather than having to pay for it through advertising.Social mediaSocial media employ web- and mobile-based technologies to support interactive dialogue and introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities, and individuals. 1 Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as a pigeonholing of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological multi faceted and technological foundations of weather vane 2.0, and that suspe nd the creation and exchange of user-generated gist.2 I.e. Social media atomic number 18 social softwargon which mediates for fully grown communication. When the technologies be in place, social media is ubiquitously accessible, and enabled by scalable communication techniques. In the year 2012, social media became one of the most powerful sources for news updates through platforms want Twitter and Face book.2Sold MediaPaid and owned media are controlled by marketers touting their own products. For earned media, such marketers act as the sign catalyst for users responses. unless in round cases, one marketers owned media gravel some other marketers paid media-for instance, when an e-commerce retailer sells ad space on its Web site. This is termed as sold media on an owned media whose traffic is so dependable that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment.3This is gaining more popularity as a promotional media on the web based si tes as it gives philia ball attention to the interested clientele only as it is intercommunicate on the related web pages which the potential client of the product is visiting.Hijacked MediaThe salmagundired dramatic technological changes that wealthy person provided marketers with more (and more diverse) communications choices produce also increased the risk that passionate consumers result voice their opinions in quicker, more visible, and much more damaging ways. much(prenominal) hijacked media are the setback of earned media an asset or campaign becomes hos cross offe to consumers, other stakeholders, or activists who make detrimental allegations well-nigh a brand or product e.g. a prank online video of two employees contaminating sandwiches in dominoes Pizza kitchen appeared on YouTube.AdvertorialAn advertorial is an advertisement in the form of an editorial. The term advertorial is a portmanteau of advertisement and editorial. Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946.1In printed publications, the advertisement is usually scripted in the form of an objective article and designed to look like a legitimate and independent news story. In television, the advertisement is mistakable to a short infomercial presentation of products or work. These plunder any be in the form of a television commercial or as a segment on a spill the beans show or variety show. In radio, these can take the form of a radio commercial or a discussion between the announcer and representative.4Paid NewsPaid news or paid content are those articles in newspapers, magazines and the electronicmedia, which indicate favourable conditions for the institution that has paid for it. The newsis much like an advertisement, but without the ad tag. This kind of news has been considered a serious malpractice since it deceives the citizens, not letting them hump that the news is, in point an advertisement. Secondly, the payment modes usually violate tax laws and election sp ending laws. much seriously, it has raised electoral concerns because the media has a direct influence on voters.5The energizing media jargon has its vocabulary changing every moment which in shimmer is not only changing the way consumers perceive and absorb marketing messages but will also force marketers to change their thinking about the way they allocate spending and organize operations. Different kinds of media are sightly more integrated. The sold media can catapult a marketer into a stream of contacts with users and members through owned-media hubs, where marketing companies can offer a more engaging experience, get consumers interested in products. New publishing models are finding their way in modern media as marketers are leaning on media providers for booster by partnering with media publishers to execute deeper marketing experiences for consumers and to obtain content and ad sales support. Computer maker Dell and automobile maker Nissan, for example, worked with t he Sundance Channel in United States to create a television talk show hosted by Elvis Costello to attract their target demographic with ads that seamlessly mingle into the shows content. Applications created on mobile phones are initiating tools that provide useful information. For example, eBays Red optical maser generates a list of prices for products by merely scanning the bar formula on mobile phone. Twitter and other blogging platforms are social media platforms to promote new products and promotions by leveraging its huge fan base.III Accountability and responsibility in journalismGood journalism flourishes where society respects and enforces the rule of law. internationalist standards supply guarantees of free expression. scarcely these standards also typically ack instantlyledge sealed legitimate grounds for the states restriction of free expression.6The Universal Declaration of military man Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, pronounces in Article 19 thatEveryone has the indemnify to freedom of opinion and expression this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,receive and impart information and root words through any media and regardless of frontiers.Article 29 then qualifies this right asIn the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing ascribable reference and respect for the rights and freedom of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the ordinary welfare in a democratic society .7The right to free expression often goes loggerheads with other competing interests. Sometimes there is no intelligent remedy for types of journalistic misconduct that can disappoint readers and viewers. A courtroom is often not the best place to resolve disputes about balance, clean-livingness, and true statement and there is always the risk that harsh ju dicial remedies, even those enforce when the underlying case involves journalistic misconduct, will inhibit the future free and open publication of controversial views. In such a scenario self-regulatory mechanisms offer a valuable alternative.8Most associations of journalists, and many individual news organizations, piddle adopted codes of ethics. Terms vary. Some codes are binding, and violation of a render can lead to dismissal by an employer or expulsion from a professional journalism society. But most codes of ethics, instead, offer voluntary guidelines to help journalists make morally and professionally sound decisions. Codes thus encourage greater accountability to readers and viewers. A good example is the Code of Ethics for the federation of Professional Journalists (SPJ)9, the braggyst voluntary association of U.S. news traceers and editors. Its code encourages journalists to abide by four core principlesSeek truth and report it Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, describe and interpreting information.Minimize harm ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.Act independently Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the publics right to knowBe accountable Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other.By its own terms, the SPJ code is a voluntary guide to ethical behavior. It statesThe code is intended not as a set of rules but as a guide for ethical decision-making.10Similarly the Press Council of India, an autonomous organic structure was set up under the Press Council Act, 1978. The Press Council of India has developed norms of journalistic conduct that cover the principles and ethics regarding journalism. The Press Council of India has also laid fell guidelines on account of specific issues of public and national importance. In 1996, it force up a set of guidelines that are particularly applicable to monetary journalism. The Press Council of India has also issued guidelines on reporting of elections.11Mint12has laid sight a code of journalistic conduct for guiding its journalists in so much of details that these can be expanded in cathode-ray oscilloscope to be followed by the entire media to safeguard and uphold the values of journalism in the country.Journalists cave in to be honest fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information ensuring accuracy, objectivity, balance and fairness. A Journalist should be free of any obligations, whether political or corporate. Speaking of corporations, there is no denying that Journalism and reporting like most other professions destiny evidential seat of government inputs and sound business sense to survive. But, this is a profession where the post are much higher because it is a profession which has the power to create opinions and to shape a nations present and its future. Journalists must maintain digni ty in expression and be sensitive while reporting on overcritical issues.IV Mass media diverge Can it be avoided?Media bend is the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are account and how they are covered. The term media bias implies a pervasive or far-flung bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the perspective of an individual journalist or article. The flush and degree of media bias in various countries is widely disputed.13The phenomenon of political bias has been founded in the media along with the invention of printing press and historically media has always favored the more powerful social groups. Like newspapers, the broadcast media (radio and television) have been utilize as a mechanism for propaganda from their earliest days, a aspiration made more pronounced by the initial self-possession of broadcast spectrum by national governments. Although a do work of media deregulation h as placed the volume of the broadcast media in private hands, there still exists a pixilated government presence, or even monopoly, in the broadcast media of many countries crosswise the globe. At the same time, the concentration of media in private hands, and frequently amongst a comparatively small number of individuals, has also led to accusations of media bias.14thither are primarily three categories of bias in reporting of a news viz. gate with stand bias which stops a news from appearing at all, coverage bias which gives the various degrees of prominence to the news and statement bias which gives color to a news through self-opinionated coverage.15The following are the most commonly talked about biases-Support or attack a particular political party, candidate, or ideology.Advertising bias, when stories are selected or dyed to please advertisers.Corporate bias, when stories are selected or slanted to please corporate owners of media.Mainstream bias, a tendency to report wh at everyone else is reporting, and to avoid stories that will offend anyone.Sensationalism, bias in favor of the exceptional over the ordinary, giving the impression that rare events, such as airplane crashes, are more common than common events, such as automobile crashes.Favors or attacks on a particular race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, or ethnic group.16The bias of the mass media may be sited due to its economic structural views which get a leaning to a political view and in turn takes the form of propaganda. The corporate ownership of media houses is bound to have biases in the areas where their profitability is affected. There is another demand-driven theory of mass media bias. If readers and viewers have prior views on the current state of affairs and are uncertain about the whole step of the information about it being provided by media outlets, then the latter have an incentive to slant stories towards their customers prior beliefs, in order to build and obse rve a reputation for high-quality journalism. The reason for this is that rational agents would tend to believe that pieces of information that go against their prior beliefs in fact originate from low-quality news providers. correspond to a a behavioral model which is built around the speculation that readers and viewers hold beliefs that they would like to see confirmed by news providers. When news customers share common beliefs, profit-maximizing media outlets find it optimal to select and/or frame stories in order to pander to those beliefs.17In another model media bias arises because the media cannot tell the whole truth but are restricted to simple messages, such as political endorsements. In this setting, media bias arises because biased media are more informative people with a certain political bias choose media with a similar bias because they can more trust their advice on what actions to take.18Not all accusations of bias are political. Science writers accuse the entert ainment media of anti-science bias. Television programs such as The X-Files promote superstition.19In contrast, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is funded by businesses, accuses the media of being biased in favor of science and against business interests, and of credulously reporting science that purports to show that greenhouse gasses cause global warming.20There has been a number of suggestions and efforts to see the light the biases during media coverage. A technique used to avoid bias is the point/ contrast or round table, an adversarial format in which representatives of opposing views comment on an issue. This approach theoretically allows diverse views to appear in the media. However, the person organizing the report still has the responsibility to choose people who really represent the width of opinion, to ask them non-prejudicial questions, and to edit or arbitrate their comments fairly.21Another technique used to avoid bias is disclosure of affiliations that ma y be considered a accomplishable conflict of interest. This is especially apparent when a news organization is reporting a story with some relevancy to the news organization itself or to its ownership individuals or conglomerate. Often this disclosure is mandated by the laws or regulations pertaining to stocks and securities. Commentators on news stories involving stocks are often required to disclose any ownership interest in those corporations or in its competitors. Same holds good during reporting of run up to elections when media covers stories and opinions through news columns and editorials as well publish advertisements related to contesting candidates and propaganda of the political parties.V Paid news Pernicious dimension of mediaMedia bias has always been a detrimental phenomenon affecting all forms of media that plagues society due to financial selfishness and vested interests of the journalists and the corporate houses controlling the strings of various sections of medi a. But in the recent years this bias is falling in the brutal trap of corruption whereby the news has started to have a price tag and advertorials are passed as news to unsuspecting readers and viewers. It has become pervasive, structured and highly organized and in the process, is undermining democracy in India. Media has moral responsibility to keep the news objective, fair and neutral. A clear distinction between information and opinion from advertisements that are paid for by corporate entities, governments, organizations or individuals has to be maintained at all times. The reader should be able to spot between news reports and advertisements/advertorials and the boundary between the two should never blur.But recently the paid news is becoming a deep-seated sickness which has become organized and is not restricted to only journalists, managers and owners of media companies but also involve advertising agencies and public comprehendings firms. Owners and editors of media co mpanies ideally should erect a firewall between journalists or content creators/producers, on the one hand, and buyers and sellers of advertising space, on the other but in some newspapers, magazines and television channels, this wall has too many convenient orifices which leads to the most common problem of making an cause to manipulate public debate through the purchase of favorable editorial space and the purchase of advertising space .Owners of media organizations compel themselves to give favorable information about certain advertisers and block unfavorable information against them due to their financial transactionhips, including share-holdings, with them. An outgoing chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, in his cong speech, referred to the existence of the anchor investor. Therefore, this problem, in a different sense, though it cannot be termed as paid news, also existed in the sphere of business journalism. Such expressive styles have been discernib le in sections of the Indian media for some years now in spite of press council of India having drawn a set of guidelines in 1996 which are particularly applicable to financial journalists on the behest of the regulator of the countrys capital markets, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).Disclosure of private treaties between media companies and other corporate entities need to be mandatory to safeguard the interests of investors.This practice(paid news) has started in media after India adopted free-economy policy. Corporates and media came nestled and marketing managers became stronger than the editor of a media establishment. ..Media (the only hope for the common man) is supposed(a) to be advocating for the deprived sections of society. But media itself has become an integral part of consumerism and corporate system.22The explosive growth in the media in the country had highlighted the fact that the after part Estate is the only one among the pillars of democracy that has an identifiable commercial and explicitly for-profit persona. While the primary professional duty of media organizations is to their readership to keep them informed and appraised with news, views and ideas, the commercial logic brings in a new set of stakeholders in the form of the shareholders of these companies.23The paid news has proliferated more due to diminution of the role and the stance of editors in media organizations and the reduced freedom of journalists under the Working Journalists Act. Senior journalists prefer to work with their employers under fixed term contracts which erode their protection other than accorded to them under the provisions of the Act. Until the 1970s and the 1980s, many editors would not brook any interference from the management of the company they would be employed by the number of such editors started dwindling as more and more senior journalists started acceding to every whim of their managers and employers instead of their editors. With managers playing a more influential role in the selection and presentation of news, it was not surprising that the importance of the news started getting determined by the revenues that would be generated for the media company.24The journalist faces an ethical quandary which begins with the inherent conflict between the individuals role as a journalist providing independent information to the public and his or her employers quest for profit. The poor reward of journalists especially those who work in non-urban areas also force them to double up as advertising agents working on commissions to earn their livelihood.The paid news acquires a tout ensemble new complexity of staggering proportion with the corporatization of media houses and large media houses not only own print media but also own electronic media and radio waves. These media houses offer packages for the projection of certain individuals in all the forms of media that they own and control. This distorts parliament ary democracy in multiple ways (a) (the) media ceases to be objective and, therefore, distorts public perception (b) it distorts the electoral political choices of the people by providing undue advantage to those candidates/political parties who are able to impart these packages, (c) it manipulates democracy, negating it completely by denying or by not providing equal access to those who cannot afford to indulge in such malpractices thereby breaching the provisions of the Constitution of India, and (d) it demeans the idea and essence of journalism itself.25Paid news phenomenon represents a fatal faction of three Ms, namely, the media, money and mafia that has subverted free and fair elections. He say that earlier, politicians used to hire musclemen with huge amounts of money and train them in booth rigging. Nowcandidates are training media pens instead of mafia guns to rig the minds of people with constant opinion bombarding.26The new aspect of this phenomenon of paid newsas see n in parliament elections in 2009 is that there was widespread participation by political parties in this process. The integration and assimilation of leading political parties and corporate public relations bodies in this racket is also unique to the elections of 2009.27The Election Commission famous during the election process that the more disturbing phenomenon recently emerging and which is do serious concern to the commission is the latest complaint to the Commission that some of the newspapers have even offered packages at hefty sums, offering three types of services one, projecting the image of a political party or a candidate in a positive manner two, giving negative publicity to the rival party or candidate. The rates of such packages vary, depending upon the standing and circulation of the newspaper in the area covered by the constituency.The regional media councils have been rising to address the problem by repeatedly urging the journalists to cease from the temptatio n of We strongly believe that the practice of putting out advertising as news is a grave journalistic malpractice. Moreover the trend threatens the foundation of journalism by eroding public faith in the credibility and impartiality of news reporting. It also vitiated the poll process and prevented a fair election, since richer candidates who could pay for their publicity had a clear advantage.28A prominent journalist took a poke shot on crude press, The vernacular media may be feeling cocky, having pulled themselves out of physical want under their own steam, but they have yet to learn how to deal firmly and decisively with another kind of poverty that of the professional, ethical kind29.The society has woken up to the media malpractices and the reflection is seen in the films and documentaries. Film director Shri break up Gopal Verma made a movie in Feb 2010 named Rann dealing with the topic of corruption in the media. Even a documentary titled Advertorial Selling News or Prod ucts? was produced by an eminent media critic and academic Paranjoy Guha Thakurta for Indias national broadcaster, Doordarshan.Even in a survey conducted by the Readers Digest in March 2010, called the swan Survey, 750 Indians were asked to rank the short-listed individuals belonging to different professions. Journalists were ranked 30 out of the 40 professionals listed and were placed next only to barbers and bus drivers.30Edelman, an independent public relations firm, in its 2010 Trust Barometer Survey (conducted in 22 countries worldwide, including India and six other countries in the Asia-Pacific region) stated that the Indian media has been losing its credibility and trust among the people. The study, which sampled 1,575 people in the 25-64 age group and 200 opinion leaders in India, notice a sharp drop in trust over the departed two years in television news in India. However, newspapers are ranked higher than other media in terms of credible news with people trusting newspa pers more than any other medium 38 per cent of the Indians polled trusted radio and television, while