From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: It is high time the media should renew its respect for the Lakshman Rekha before it become too late. Already we have lost respect among a large section of sensible and sensitive citizens because of overdoing things in the name of practicing journalism that sells the best.
Thus commented on Thursday by one of the most acclaimed and decorated journalists from the region , the Editor of The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim delivering the Eleventh Journalist Kamala Saikia Memorial Lecture organised by the memorial trust named after the journalist who was slain by ULFA militants on August 9, 1991 in Sivasagar in Assam.
Speaking before a distinguished gathering at Vivekanandra Kendra Auditorium here, Mukhim highlighted the way media has deviated away from its defined role and path, as should be in a democracy like ours, after 24×7 TV news channels have cropped up in the country as well as in the region.
“The media has come under the scanner at the advent of 24X7 news channels which have created a tremor of sort in the country. These channels are hungry monsters that need be fed with news every minute. As a result the media as a whole has become apparently incapable of drawing its Lakshman Rehka where to stop and when to stop. We no longer hesitate to intrude upon the private space of private individual.
We have started thinking for others and thereby impose opinions on others. We tend to be the moral police and try to preach by framing the story wrongly. At times we assume the role police and even the judge.
Why are we doing this ? We need to ask ourselves. Already we have lost great amount of respect and we should lean to correct ourselves before it is too late for us to even survive,” she said.
“Today, the news is what sells the best. If it bleeds, it is a lead and no blood means no news. By churning out crime stories in much exaggerated forms day in and day out , have we been able to bring down the crime graph,” the noted columnist said.
She pointed out that it was time for media persons in general to try understanding the current gender discourse by becoming sensible enough to be able to distinguish between sex and gender. She said media houses in the country should go on an overdrive to train their journalists so that they become sensitive operators who commend respect of the people that is so vital for maintaining credibility of the media
She concluded with a note of warning that in this day of internet and electronic gadgets , journalist no longer enjoyed the monopoly on new. “ In this changed scenario, we journalist should realize that we are not the only gate keeper of democracy. We should also not forget that investigative journalism holds the key to resurrection of the media in the country that is now mired in controversies over paid news, sensationalism and orchestrated journalism. Do we have time to reflect on our own behaviour ? “ she said.
Journalist Kamala Saikia Memorial Trust on Thursday conferred its first National Award to noted tea planter and industrialist from Assam Hemendra Prasad Barooah. In a prompt reciprocating gesture, Barooah donated Rs two lakh to the coffer of the Trust.