Kudos for your bold editorial “A bonfire of vanities” (November 23) about the fall in the integrity of the media in public perception, followed by an interesting debate on “Does the media need public relations?” (November 24). As the fourth pillar of democracy, the media has an important role to play in informing and shaping public opinion in an objective manner, free from the influence of power or avarice.
Four developments have contributed to the decline in the credibility of the media, particularly print media, over the years. One, in addition to the paid news, the virus of “planted” news has also raised its head. Leaks by vested interests are touted as investigative journalism. It is here that the help from corporate communications managers needs to be filtered before using it. Two, editors add to the credibility of the media but ever since some newspapers started marketing news as a product, the importance of editors has gone down from the front page to a footnote, resulting in a strategy that raises revenue, if necessary, by catering to low tastes — sensationalism replacing lofty journalism.
Three, the quality and quantity of full-time media staff and reporters have dropped. Many of them have other sources of income and use their media clout to promote their interests. Finally, tolerance of readers’ criticism is another pointer to the media’s trustworthiness. The media gives little space to readers’ views and shies away from publishing letters critical of its stand.
Measures to refurbish the media’s reputation should consider all these together but as immediate steps the suggestions in the editorial could be implemented.
Y G Chouksey, Pune
