David Puttnam spent thirty years as an independent producer of films, including The Killing Fieldsa, Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, etc. His films have won 10 Oscars, 25 Baftas among many others. He retired from movie making to focus on his work in public policy related to education, environment and communication industries.
In this thoughtful talk (please click on the link), David Puttnam asks a big question about the media: Does it have a moral imperative to create informed citizens, to support democracy?
NaMo, RaGa, KeGri....It is the year of the elections in India. It is the diversity in our country, food, language, culture, etc that creates this sound of music that makes our country the largest democracy in the world. And in an election year the decibels go up a few notches higher. The advent of competitive news channels have added to this noise and information overdose.
The right to free media I think is an important pillar of democracy. Ability to deliver the information in this true form is the cruz of good journalism and the duty of a free press. Can this be done without personal bias is in itself is a question. Add to this the competitive news channel dynamics, corporate and political patronage among the many national and regional news channels, is this leading to a trust deficiency?
Debates are essential to drive awareness, and create public opinion. It is here that lies the challenge. To remain neutral and yet help in generating public opinion. With agendas of their own, the various channels are taking aggressive stance on many issues.
What tops it all is this....once the anchor calls for the much needed break pop comes the ad of the politicals parties saying all the good stuff while the debate was all about bashing them.
At the end of everyday, when suddenly all of India wants to know, ladies and gentlemen, I think I start beginning to lose perspective in all the noise.
In this thoughtful talk (please click on the link), David Puttnam asks a big question about the media: Does it have a moral imperative to create informed citizens, to support democracy?
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| Source: Sabbah Report |
NaMo, RaGa, KeGri....It is the year of the elections in India. It is the diversity in our country, food, language, culture, etc that creates this sound of music that makes our country the largest democracy in the world. And in an election year the decibels go up a few notches higher. The advent of competitive news channels have added to this noise and information overdose.
The right to free media I think is an important pillar of democracy. Ability to deliver the information in this true form is the cruz of good journalism and the duty of a free press. Can this be done without personal bias is in itself is a question. Add to this the competitive news channel dynamics, corporate and political patronage among the many national and regional news channels, is this leading to a trust deficiency?
Debates are essential to drive awareness, and create public opinion. It is here that lies the challenge. To remain neutral and yet help in generating public opinion. With agendas of their own, the various channels are taking aggressive stance on many issues.
What tops it all is this....once the anchor calls for the much needed break pop comes the ad of the politicals parties saying all the good stuff while the debate was all about bashing them.
At the end of everyday, when suddenly all of India wants to know, ladies and gentlemen, I think I start beginning to lose perspective in all the noise.
