The media industry is going through a paradigm shift. An ideological war is on where some are saying that the time for plain vanilla journalism is over; on the other hand, the opposition is critical of opinion journalism. The panel at women economic forum 2017, consisting of eminent speakers from all over the world discussed the changing dynamics of journalism and their impact on the viewers.
Seema Goswami, renowned journalist, columnist and author of the book “Women On Top” said, “These days it’s more about feel and less about facts. It’s becoming more about opinions than news.” She further emphasised that the newsroom scenario is now reduced to screaming and shouting on the people. TRP is the criterion of success in journalism and in a country like India; there is not much viewership for news on issues related to women and environment.
Journalism is now a play of people in power and owners of media houses behind the screens, journalists are mere puppets of the system. Goswami made viewers responsible for making the loud content trending. She added that the viewers are complacent enough to switch to the right. It is difficult for the audience to see through the agendas and to interpret what they are made to consume.
Vikram Chandra, Consulting editor of NDTV said that good TV is being driven out for bad, as media houses are dependent on advertisement revenues. Stories are decided by the traffic they generate to lure the advertisers to come on board and this cycle continues further narrowing down the space for relevant issues.
Erika Mikaelsson, CEO and producer of NORDIC LIGHT MEDIA and author of “Good news for an even better world” said that gender equality in media is still a distant dream in many countries and the power of media cannot be utilised completely if women are ignored. She will launch India’s first women-owned and produced channel, focusing on women empowerment and environment-friendly living at the WEF event.
With all this, the media industry is unveiling itself a new every day. It will be interesting to see where it strikes the equilibrium.
BW Reporters
The author is Trainee Journalist with BW Businessworld
