Improving Media Industry - Inputs on Solutions

Dear Friends:

Below are the Key Root Causes and Issues as identified by you for/with the current state of Media Industry in India.

Please review them and propose specific solutions that will address these Issues/Root Causes by responding to this post.

I look forward to your participation!
Rajendra Pratap Gupta

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Media industry in India – Root Causes

1. Media has a lot of authority vested in them
2. There is no objectivity in news coverage
3. Media houses are getting more and more profit centred
4. News which will generate better TRPs are given preference
5. Government watch over the content produced in newspapers and magazines is weak
6. Corruption and paid news is prevalent
7. No strict laws on journalists accepting favours from companies/individuals
8. More the advertisements in the newspapers, more the profits
9. A nexus has developed between the media and the corporate world with PR companies in the centre of it
10. Media houses need Ad money to survive and it becomes hard to unmask(prosecute) the same person/institution who is a key revenue source
11. Some of the smaller news channels do not have the resources to cover international news
12. Many media houses are owned by politicians and corporate honchos
13. Some reporters are not educated/trained enough to understand the sensitivity of some events
14. Too many media channels create unhealthy competition, unsavoury practices and blatant commercialization
15. Media industry lacks good journalist with in depth knowledge
16. Media is drifting away from its social responsibility
17. Sensitivity of the news with maximum social impact is not a priority today
18. Too many institutions/universities teach journalism today, but don't teach the primary responsibility of a journalist

Media Industry in India - Key Issues

1. The power of media is misused
2. Media houses are moving away from their primary responsibility, which is to report good and genuine news
3. Absence of well researched presentations in both print and electronic media
4. Only negative news is covered mostly; positive news is ignored
5. News channels sensationalize sensitive issues
6. Obscene content is published in newspaper and magazines
7. Media overhypes social problems in India
8. Defamation of individuals by media
9. Journalists accept favours from individuals to publish their news
10. Many PR (Public Relations) companies give gifts/cash to journalists for publishing their customer's news/providing coverage
11. Newspapers publish news about companies who are giving them ads on a preference basis (sometimes on the same day)
12. Newspapers are mostly advertisements with minimal news
13. A lot of news articles don’t have credible sources
14. Too many mediums; the real news gets lost
15. Many political parties and industrialists influence the media to fulfil their need
16. News papers and channels at times ask for pay offs to hold back certain news against businesses/politicians/celebrities
17. Some news papers even promise the exact page /column/article size for paid news (non advertorial)
18. Sensitivity of information is many a times ignored or taken too softly, leading to communal clashes
19. Majority of the channels do not cover any international news
20. Debates on television seem to be a fighting ground than serious discussions
21. There is limited focus on reporting positive/constructive/inspiring news and people