'Advent of social media has helped evolve citizen journalist culture'

Public opinion about journos on a decline

Amidst the constraints faced by electronic and print media outlets, the advent of social media and non-profit organisations has helped in effectively dissimating news to the public, said Dinesh Aminmattu, media advisor to Chief Minister of Karnataka, here on Monday.

Speaking at a K V Srinivasan Endowment Awards distribution programme at press club in the city, he said that with the help of social media, readers themselves have become journalists.

This has brought several issues to the fore and has also sparked revolutions in several countries, he said.

One of the phenomenons caused by the social media was the Arab Spring. The catalyst of the protest was the widely circulated photographs of Mohamed Bouazizi, a roadside fruit vendor, who immolated himself after his wares were confiscated by the police.

Within days of this, protests were launched in several Arab countries against the administration, toppling governments in the process, he said.

Along with the social media, non-profit organisations like WikiLeaks and ProPublica, which have released millions of classified documents of several nations, including India, have benefitted the process of information sharing. This has also helped in countering popular opinions, he said.

However, in social media people remain faceless and indulge in cyber-bullying. Despite only 14 per cent of Indian population having access to internet, it is placed third in the world with regard to the same.

China with 42 per cent population accessing the internet and Singapore, where 74 per cent of the population have access, stand first and second respectively in cyber-bullying, he said.
Advancement

Despite social and technological advancements in the past three decades, public opinion regarding journalists has seen a decline. Cynicism among journalists about social issues, which gradually tend to apathy and sensationalism are among the causes, he said.

He said that there were faults in the business models pursued by the media sector. The conditions are such that it is almost impossible to operate with public interest as the motive. In a model based on profit and loss, the first victim is public interest, he added.

He also stressed on the importance of district level newspapers in the State. Though the ‘price wars’ of popular Kannada newspapers almost decimated local dailies, it is encouraging to find few newspapers still under circulation, he added.

Endowment award

Five journalists, including Girish R Doddamani of the Prajavani-Deccan Herald group, were awarded endowment prizes during the programme. Other winners include Yathiraju, Hullahalli Srinivas, Alfred Solomon and Shilpa.