PRAGOTI

"The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) today, while saying 'no' to terrorism and 'yes' to caution on media reportage of terrorism has called upon the government to desist from clamping down on the media be it visual or print and instead put in order a Media Council with teeth to act without pressure from the government or other vested interests" Reports INN

Pragoti Editorial team member Srinivasan Ramani responds to the incident in which activists affiliated to the Communist Party of Nepal(Maoist) have vandalized a media house.

The coverage of the terror attacks showed that when the media becomes a purely business enterprise, news becomes a commodity, serving the interests of the few. It ceases to be the guardian of democracy or the protector of public interest.

NISSIM MANNATHUKKAREN's incisive article on corporate media.The article rightly identifies the role of corporate media in whipping up emotions after the Mumbai terror strike,by airing non-stop outbursts and insensible chants like “enough is enough”.The article also asserts the fact that the same media didn't come up with a similar emotional outcry for the 1.5 lakh farmers who committed suicide in a period of mere eight years and for the travail of many crores of ordinary Indians who still live like worms.

They say the media hold up a mirror to society. If so, then this must be most true of the electronic media, which (unlike the print media) are so instantaneous in their responses and presentation that there is no time for sober consideration and adjustment. But that also means that many weaknesses of society may well be not just reflected in, but even reinforced and sometimes worsened by, the media. This thought came while watching television coverage of the horrifying terrorist attacks in Mumbai last week. Writes Jayati Ghosh

There are occasions in history when collective trauma brings a nation intimately in contact with its deepest anxieties. Mumbai 26/11, to use the media shorthand for the horror that began one night in November and carried on for close to three days, was one such. The terrorist attacks that began November 26 and transformed swiftly into a 60-hour long siege of three landmark buildings in India’s commercial metropolis, have deeply transformed the national polity. The true consequences will take a while manifesting themselves.

Mukul Kesavan writes about the elitist tinge added by the media and celebrities to the debates on Mumbai attack.

Watching at least four English news channels surfing from one another during the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror of another kind. The terror of assaulting one's mind and sensitivity with cameras, sound bites and non-stop blabbers. All these channels have been trying to manufacture my consent for a big lie called - Hotel Taj the icon of India.

The role of the mass media (MM) in influencing mass and class behavior has been a central concern among critical writers, especially since the turn of the Twentieth century. Debates and studies on the MM have focused on its political bias, ownership and links to big business, relationships and ties to the state, relative openness and diversity, promotion of wars and corporate interests among other major issues affecting the relations of power, wealth and empire. Of particular interest to writers opposing and supporting the role of the MM is the impact of the MM in influencing mass outlook, opinions and behaviors. Essays, monographs and empirical studies have been published as to the extent of MM influence, the time frame in which it retains control, the ‘depth’ of loyalty to MM inculcated opinions, and the ‘place’ in which MM messages have the greatest influence in inducing mass opinion in conformity with ruling class interests.

An understanding of the role and power of the MM in contemporary capitalist society requires us to organize the debate according to three major schools – conservative, liberal and Marxist – before proceeding to a critical analysis and finally presenting notes towards setting alternatives to elite-controlled communications networks.

Media Accountability Day, October 1, is the annual release of the news stories that were not covered by the corporate-mainstream media in the US. The list, just announced by Project Censored at Sonoma State University in California, includes the twenty-five most
important uncovered news stories of the year selected by over 200 academics.

Media manipulation by police to create a distinct communalised imagery.