Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday said the credibility of the mainstream media channels, which invited guests indulging in shouting matches, polarization and spreading false narratives, would go down.
“The biggest threat to mainstream media is not from new age digital platforms, but the mainstream media channel itself.” The BJP leader said.
Highlighting the alleged false narratives and polarisation pedaled on news channels the sports minister said, “If you decide to invite guests who are polarising, who spread false narratives and who shout at the top of their lungs, the credibility of your channel goes down…the viewer may stop for a minute to watch the show, but will never trust your anchor, your channel or brand as a trusted and transparent source of news.”
The Minister was addressing the inauguration of the Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) General Conference Meeting 2022.
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Mr. Anurag Thakur further questioned, “Are you going to watch the narrative be defined by soundbites or redefine yourself and set the terms for your guests and channel? Are you going to watch as the younger audience switch and sweep through the shrill on TV news or are you going to bring back the neutrality in news and discussion in debates to stay ahead of the game? Are you going to show visuals that grab eyeballs and inflame anger or show restraint and project visuals in context to showcase the full picture?.”
“And finally, how will you redefine and innovate your TV news content, presentation and dissemination to reach the new age audience who is constantly being fed information via social media platforms? Instead of compromising our values in this fierce competition, we must work hard to preserve professionalism,” he advised, Mr. Thakur said.
Expressing confidence in AIBD the I&B minister said, “The AIBD as a regional inter-governmental organization must continue to train and equip media practitioners with the best professional skills to gain broader freedom for our media. India stands ready to support your efforts. I am happy to note that the National Academy of Broadcasting and Multi-Media, NABM, the apex training institute of Prasar Bharati is closely collaborating with AIBD in organizing training covering various aspects of the broadcast industry.”
The union minister further said that another important area of cooperation was good quality content exchange among the member countries. India has bilateral agreements in the areas of content exchange, co-production, capacity building, etc. with a number of AIBD countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, Maldives, Nepal, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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