BENGALURU: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday underlined the need for effective guidelines and laws to work out a revenue-sharing model between tech-based social media giants and the traditional media struggling to generate revenues.
"The information reports generated by the print media with substantial cost is being hijacked by the social media giants. This is unfair," Naidu said at the sixth edition of the M V Kamath Memorial Endowment Lecture.
The event on the topic 'JournalismPast, Present and Future' was organised by the Manipal Institute of Communication which the vice president attended through video conference.
While the traditional print media has been sincerely enduring to adapt to the technological disruption by going online, it is struggling to come up with a viable revenue model, Naidu pointed out.
He said some countries were taking measures to ensure revenue sharing by the social media giants to the print media.
"We also need to take a serious look at this problem and come out with effective guidelines and laws with a consensus to enable print media get their share from the huge revenues of the technology giants," Naidu emphasised.
The vice president said advertisement revenue has been a key for the viability of a media organisation but in the mushrooming of the media outlets, and the sinking revenue pie, the traditional norms and principles of journalism are forced to be compromised with a serious consequence.
In this regard, he said the disruption caused by the technology has resulted in a serious effect on media which is facing a severe pressure.
"Technology giants have emerged as the gatekeepers of information.
The web has emerged as the main vehicle of the dissemination of information and news.
We are witnessing the consequences," Naidu pointed out explaining the effect of social media on the traditional media.
Speaking about the freedom of expression in the era of social media, Naidu said enabling the freedom of expression is welcome but there should be self-regulation and protocol.
The vice president lamented the side effects of internet driven 'instant journalism' due to which the credibility of fact based journalism has taken a beating.
"Speed of the delivery of information is the essence now, presenting the journalism at the crossroad.
In the process, the line between the news and fake news has become very thin, blurred and a matter of serious concern," Naidu lamented.
He appealed to journalists to avoid 'orientation based journalism' such as left leaning and liberal.
He appealed to the media fraternity to sense its responsibility towards the nation and become part of the solution and not the problem.
Madhav Vittal Kamath was an eminent journalist and former chairman of the Prasar Bharati.
He had worked in many reputed media organisations within and outside India.
He had also authored many books including 'Narendra Modi: The Architect of a Modern State' and 'Corruption and the Lokpal Bill'.