Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Some Thoughts on Media and Press freedom


Why do media exist? To inform, educate and entertain people.

What are the various media available to our people nowadays? Broadly: print, broadcast, online, mobile, and oral media.

What do these media produce? Contents like news, information, leisure pastimes, gossips.

How do they produce? By tracking people and agencies who create news and information.

Who are these newsmakers? People in public office, corporations, private agencies and individuals. Of course natural phenomena like disasters which I suppose are man-made.

What is the problem in producing news and information? Newsmakers hide information believed to be embarrassing and liability.

What do journalists do? Try and try to get the information despite challenges in access.

Why do journalists do such job? Passion and salary. Of course oxymoronic job but it is such a job.

How to media houses pay people working for them? Through money made from advertisements and commercial spaces.

Who pays for advertisements and commercial spaces? Newsmakers!

What is problem in getting advertisers money? If you write anything bad against the advertisers then you better stay away from them.

How is media companies affected? No money. No salary.

What happens if there is no money and no salary? No news and information. Media companies suffer from anorexia.

What will happen if there is no news or information? People will depend on many information and news which are freely available.

So isn’t it better? Might be but again chaotic information might lead to uncontrollable chaos.

So what do we need? Freedom of press!

What is freedom of press? Media makes money to sustain itself and carry out fair reporting free from political and legal controls.

Can this be achieved? No country in the world has achieved so far.

So what’s the future? Write news, face challenges, try surviving, and be ethical.

Be ethical? Yes! Don’t write bad when it is not bad and don’t write good when is not good. But if you want to get paid write in a balanced way that everybody is checked well.

Ummm? That’s all.

Wait, what about online, mobile and oral media? They are untouchables! I mean for our local media industry. Actually they are the most effective medium not fully exploited by our traditional media houses.

How? I read news and information online and on mobile. I don’t find any media houses getting to me through these mediums.

Isn’t your view subjective? For anything to be objective must depend on subjectivity.

So…? The end.

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