Mainstream media faces ethical challenges as ‘new media’ grows
Ahtisham Nazki
Srinagar: While Journalism is touted as fourth estate of democracy and media men hailed as watchdogs of society, the profession has also received criticism from some quarters for dwindling ethics and moral principles.
With the emergence of social media platforms, journalism has undergone a paradigm shift.
The citizen journalism has seen marked growth in last few years and enabled people to talk about their issues but the emergence of semi-professional organizations has compounded the problems for professional journalists.
However, some professional journalists believe content would always prevail over mediocrity despite hiccups in the media industry.
Gowhar Geelani, a seasoned journalist and author who writes for many international and national publications believes that such people have no shelf life in journalism.
“Content will always be the king. Mediocrity has no shelf life. Though it does create a lot of noise but it has no value beyond nuisance. People have every right to become journalists even without a professional degree but not without knowledge, training, acumen and nose for news,” he said.
He said professional training hone ones skill set and is always preferable to learn the trade as it is taught in journalism school.
Interestingly, there are hundreds of news based pages across social media platforms disseminating news.
While these pages provide updates to people from time to time but their ethics and professionalism is often questioned, with many believing they bring disrepute to the profession.
Mir Farhat a journalist with ETV Baharat said storytelling on real time basis may have aided in the quick dissemination of the news.
“But these platforms have also given breathing space to people and organizations with workable journalism tools, who operate like journalists albeit with no checks and balances,” he said.
Burhan a media student from Jamia Millia says respect that journalists enjoyed in the past has gone due to some people masquerading as journalists.
“If we go only a decade back, journalists enjoyed huge respect from people as well as the authorities but now things have changed. Some people who have zero know how of this profession are degrading the image of real professional journalists. Sometimes I regret choosing this profession,” he said.
Arjimand Andrabi, a young journalist based in Srinagar says owning a camera and other devices alone does not make one a journalist. “Professionalism and ethics are very important,” she said.
“Last year a fake doctor who was exposed by an online portal was dragged out of his chamber and paraded in front of people by the journalist in utter disregard of any ethical considerations. This is how low some people stoop for mere likes,” she said.
Tahir Firaz, a research scholar and co-founder of Pe’nd online said that the journalism is a profession which can be learnt effectively by being on the ground but emphasized on the importance of being cognizant of ethical media practices and standard of reporting.
“These values are acquired in well established institutions while working with seniors who have proven their mettle in the field”, he said.
He said the problem with “wannbe” Journalists is that they not only lack theoretical training but also the exposure.
“They often work on their own with their own notions and assumptions of journalism entails,” he added.
KV News
