JOIN USAs more and more people hail the world of blogging as a platform that upholds freedom of speech, a talk on the credibility of blogs and their role in reflecting public perspective was held at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (IIJNM) on Monday.
The discussion focused on how blogs had influenced the mainstream media, the question of credibility of information provided by bloggers, the role of social media such as Facebook and Twitter in shaping public movements such as the Arab Spring.
Participants also spoke about the exodus of people of Manipuri and Assamese
descent from Bangalore last year, due to a series of phone messages which purportedly threatened them with violence.
Subhash Rai, web editor of the Economic and Political Weekly, Tresa Morera, Deputy Editor at Reuters, Bangalore and others were participated in the discussion organised as part of the IIJNM alumni meet.
One of the panelists, Nelson Moses who works for Yahoo, said the line separating journalists and bloggers is being increasingly blurred due to the growth of social media.
“Journalists are one of the beneficiaries of neoliberalism,” said Subash Rai, while arguing that often, urban concerns take precedence over more pressing issues occurring outside the big cities, leading to these issues either not being reported or not given the same importance. “For example, nobody is reporting the agrarian crisis,” he said.
On the drawbacks of a digitally interlinked media landscape, Subhash Rai, said “It was clearly the work of right-wing fundamental elements which led to the circulation of provocative messages against people from the north eastern part of the country. The incident also pointed to the failure of neoliberalism in the Indian context.”
Tresa Morera said she believed that transparency in the Indian media and a system of checks and balances within media organisations could help in better reporting by media.