Information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani today pitched for giving "more voice and power" to regional language broadcasters and called for a viewership measurement system that reflects the strength of regional languages and varied tastes of viewers.
"If we want the broadcasting landscape to be powerful that it adds strength to our democracy, first thing (we need to do) is that equal importance should be given to regional broadcasters, whether news or entertainment, as is given to those in the national capital or in English reporting," Irani said.
The Union information and broadcasting minister said that Prasar Bharati provides services in rural areas where private broadcasters might not be interested.
She also pitched for giving "more voice and power" to all those who broadcast in regional languages.
"How much accurate is the measurement of viewership in rural areas? If we want to have a model structure of broadcasting to strengthen our democracy, we have to first democratise the measurement system for our viewership in our country," she said while addressing the 'Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture 2017' here on 'Model of broadcasting landscape for Democracies'.
She said that the model structure of broadcasting should focus on democratised viewership.
"This should be based on an accurate measurement system that reflects the strength of regional languages, varied tastes of viewers and bridges the divide on issues related to agenda setting, creative content and revenue between the mainstream and regional platforms," Irani said.
Citing an example, she said if her speech today also appears in regional languages such as Marathi, it would reach more people.
The minister said she wanted to give her speech in Hindi but was told that the lecture has a history that it has always been delivered in English.
Irani gave her speech in mix of Hindi and English, saying that what would Patel, who is known for his contribution to the integration of India after independence, think of his memorial lecture being only delivered in English.
Stressing that public interest was above the profit and business interest, she said Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio, provides services in those parts of the country where the private sector broadcaster "does not feel it is reasonable nor profitable to go there".
The minister said huge responsibility lies on Prasar Bharati as there are "so many stories to tell in so many languages" and they need to be told in the public interest.
She said the public broadcaster serves the national interest from the perspective of news by "staying away from the normal masala kind" of news which would probably get more eyeballs but might not be in the larger interest of the country.
"The biggest service we can give as a broadcaster is to give the news but not with the added element of drama," she said.
Talking about the news segment of the broadcasting landscape, Irani said that news today had become a "spectator sport" as technology had blurred the lines between content and broadcast.
The 'Mann ki Baat' programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was an ideal example of how a technology platform blended the prime minister's message with citizens' understanding and awareness of the issues highlighted by him in each episode, Irani said.
"While a certain section of the media space adhered to codes, ethics and conduct rules, the other segment was driven by rush for TRP's, eyeballs thereby being influenced by the 'headlines competing with hashtag'," she said.
Talking about social media, Irani said while some say it is "distracting", she feels it gives new pathways to tell stories in new ways with internet, mobile and content coming together.
If the young audience is asked here that how many of them listened to AIR in the morning today and how many of them private channels, then the response may probably look odd to the AIR director general, she said, without elaborating further.
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