CHENNAI: To commemorate India’s National Press Day, the US Consulate General, Chennai organised a panel discussion on the topic ‘Digital Influence on Traditional Media’, a very appropriate topic in today’s world where social media posts are considered as news.
Robert Burgess, the US Consul General, highlighted the importance of press freedom to democracy. “Societies built on good governance, strong civil society, and an open and free media are more prosperous, stable and secure,” he said.
The panelists included Ramya Kannan, bureau chief, The Hindu, SA Hariharan, senior anchor at Thanthi TV, Ramanathan Subramanian, partner at thenewsminute.com and Bindu Bhaskar, professor at Asian College of Journalism. Moderated by Alexis Wolff, information officer, the discussion revolved around the ideas of how digital media has intervened in the appropriate delivery of news to the general public, with several news agencies prioritising on breaking the news first.
The panelists concluded that “If you go for speed, you may compromise on facts”. Bindu Bhaskar highlighted that there is a strong move towards a ‘digital-first newsroom’ and that it is inevitable. “There is competition between sites, and the drive to go viral, all of which adds pressure,” she said.
The audience raised questions about using social media posts and comments as credible sources of information for a story, and whether that was trustable journalism, if at all. The advantages of digital media were also addressed — no space constraints or word limits, ability to include more media content like audio, video, graphics, and faster journalism. “Reuters has a news tracer software which scans
Twitter, where most news breaks often. If done well, with proper rules, digital advancement can provide good credibility and newsworthiness,” advised Bindu, emphasizing that there is no need to fear technology fully.
The general consensus of the all was that there should be no compromise in the basic traditional rules of reportage and credible sources. “It is important to be critical and question everything,” said Ramanathan Subramanian.
The take away for the day was that journalism is a basic need for the people and the responsibility for good journalism is a two way street — journalists should be true to their reportage, and the public ought to believe only credible news outlets and not every post on social media or WhatsApp forwards is news.