CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,

NAYAYA NAGAR, MITHAPUR,

PATNA-800001

A Final draft submitted in partial fulfilment of the course press and media

Semester — IX,

During the Academic Year 2022 —23.

Submitted by- Amit Dipankar,

20181609

B.B.A.L.L.B

Submitted to – Ms Sugandha ma’am

Faculty of Press and Media Law

POVERTY LEVEL STILL ALARMING IN DEVLOPING COUNTRIES. HOW CAN MEDIA

HELP IN COMING UP WITH THE SOLUTION FOR THIS?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I feel highly elated to present the project Research on “POVERTY LEVEL STILL ALARMING
IN DEVLOPING COUNTRIES. HOW CAN MEDIA HELP IN COMING UP WITH THE
SOLUTION FOR THIS?” which owes its very existence to a number of people without thanking
whom, I would fail to do proper justice to its original profounder. Firstly, I would like to thank the
Telecommunications, Press And Media Law Subject Faculty, Ms. Sugandha ma’am for showing
her belief in me and considering me potent enough to carry out the research methodology, and
thereby assigning the said topic to me. In fact without her continuous exemplary guidance and
worm- view criticism the project could never have reached its current stature. Secondly, I would
like to extend my sincere acknowledgement towards the Librarian of CNLU, for making all the
reading materials available relevant for my Research Paper, within such short notice. In fact the
CNLU Library came up as an excellent source for all the requisite data. Thirdly, I would like to
thank the Managing staff of CNLU, for providing me with the facility of 24 hours/ 7 days a week
Internet connection, since the search engines namely, www.google.com, www.bing.com, where
an indispensable need to facilitate data access within fractions of seconds.
TABLE OF CONTENT

 INTRODUCTION

 IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA

 TYPES OF MEDIA

 IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA

 SOCIAL MEDIA AWARENESS

 WHY SOCIAL MEDIA IS IMPORTANT

 TYPES OF MEDIA

 ROLE OF MEDIA IN SOCIAL AWARENESS

 CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION

Media and society are closely related to each other. The extensive impact of media on society can
easily be seen these days. Media reflects our society, how it works and what it constitutes. With
the advancement in technological area, our society has also observed the expansion in the thoughts
and ideas of people. Every single invention starting from the printing press to the latest
smartphones our society has accepted it. Earlier people used to communicate things with the help
of sketch and print forms but as time passes the medium became more advanced. Today people
are just a click away from any and every information that is available on the internet. There are
various forms of media that help to inform, educate and entertain our society. Media can be in print
form that is through newspapers, books, magazines etc. Media includes an electronic form for
spreading information which is one of the most used media of mass communication. With the help
of radio and TV, listeners and viewers not only get updated but it also creates an understanding of
current happenings. Radio being an audio medium helps in disseminating information to every
nook and corner of our country. Radio has also played a vital role in creating a platform for
imagination. The reach of this audio medium is not only limited to urban areas but it has covered
a wide range even to the remote areas of our country. The people living in rural parts of the country
are getting more benefits from the audio medium of mass communication. The programs on radio
cater the interest of rural section which constitutes small-scale industries, farming, forestry,
fisheries etc. which has helped the rural people in their day to day life matters. On the other hand,
TV is the second most used medium in terms of reach. Visuals and audio when combined together
help in better understanding and provides up-to-date information. News from all parts of the
country is investigated and presented through this medium of mass communication. Initially,
Television in our country was introduced for education purpose. But later as time passes the
objective of educating people turned into imparting information and entertaining masses. Today
Television has become an important part of our daily life. It covers a vast section of programs like
daily soaps, news, movies, reality shows, sports, weather forecast, religious programs, music etc.
Social media is becoming one of the most popular and most accessed media of communication
these days. Social media has brought different people from the different geographical area on one
platform on which they can share their Feeling, ideas, emotions, information and much more. The
Manifold social networking sites like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google
+, and others open the door to share ideas, views, and thoughts on the same platform. With the
advancement of science and technology, the world has come close to each other. Today people
don't have to wait for the dissemination process but the condition is such that every social media
user has become a source of information on their own. The daily news and views to which the
social media user comes across cover a wide range of topics. These topics or subjects are related
to the happenings of our surrounding. People can like, show emotions through the list of emoticons
or even comment accordingly. The social media act as an umbrella that constitutes a variety of
interesting features that have our life very easier. Features of tagging friends, location sharing,
photo and video uploads, message chatting, video calling, searching friends etc. have made our
life more engaging.
Mass Media systems of the world vary from each other according to the economy, polity, religion
and culture of different societies. In societies, which followed communism and totalitarianism,
like the former USSR and China, there were limitations of what the media could say about the
government. Almost everything that was said against the State was censored for fear of
revolutions. On the other hand, in countries like USA, which have a Bourgeois Democracy, almost
everything is allowed. Shifting our view to the Indian perspective and its system of Parliamentary
Democracy, it is true that, the Press is free but subject to certain reasonable restrictions imposed
by the Constitution of India, 1950, as amended ("Constitution"). Before the impact of globalization
was felt, the mass media was wholly controlled by the government, which let the media project
only what the government wanted the public to see and in a way in which it wanted the public to
see it. However, with the onset of globalization and privatization, the situation has undergone a
humongous change. Before the invention of communication satellites, communication was mainly
in the form of national media, both public and private, in India and abroad. Then came
'transnational media' with the progress of communication technologies like Satellite delivery and
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), the outcome: local TV, global films and global
information systems. In such an era of media upsurge, it becomes an absolute necessity to impose
certain legal checks and bounds on transmission and communication.
“Our freedom depends in large part, on the continuation of a free press, which is the strongest
guarantee of a free society.”1

Mass Media laws in India have a long history and are deeply rooted in the country’s colonial
experience under British rule. The earliest regulatory measures can be traced back to 1799 when
Lord Wellesley promulgated the Press Regulations, which had the effect of imposing pre-
censorship on an infant newspaper publishing industry. The onset of 1835 saw the promulgation
of the Press Act, which undid most of, the repressive features of earlier legislations on the subject.

Thereafter on 18th June 1857, the government passed the ‘Gagging Act’, which among various
other things, introduced compulsory licensing for the owning or running of printing presses;
empowered the government to prohibit the publication or circulation of any newspaper, book or
other printed material and banned the publication or dissemination of statements or news stories
which had a tendency to cause a furore against the government, thereby weakening its authority.

Then followed the ‘Press and Registration of Books Act’ in 1867 and which continues to remain
in force till date. Governor General Lord Lytton promulgated the ‘Vernacular Press Act’ of 1878
allowing the government to clamp down on the publication of writings deemed seditious and to
impose punitive sanctions on printers and publishers who failed to fall in line. In 1908, Lord Minto
promulgated the ‘Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act, 1908 which authorized local
authorities to take action against the editor of any newspaper that published matter deemed to
constitute an incitement to rebellion.

The chapter on Fundamental rights, Part III in the Indian Constitution, was not incorporated as a
popular concession to international sentiment and thinking on human rights in vogue after the
conclusion of the Second World War. The demand for constitutional guarantees of human rights
for Indians was made as far as way back as in 1895 in the Constitution of India Bill, popularly
called the Swaraj Bill, which was inspired by Lokmanya Tilak, a lawyer and a great freedom
fighter. This bill envisaged for India a constitution guaranteeing to every citizen, among other
freedoms, the freedom of press.

WHAT IS MEDIA

1
Cf. Herbert Lee Williams, Newspaper Organization and Management, 5th Edn.
Media is one of the most powerful instruments of communication. It can help to promote the right
things on right time and gives a real as well as strong aspects of the world about what is right or
wrong also it also express that how can we store and distributes the views. The world is moving
towards progress in every step of life. But we cannot refuse the real fact that we all are bounded
directly or indirectly with the loads of social problems and issues, which are affected by the people
of the people and for the people. Social issues or matters include so many types such as poverty,
violence, corruption, bribery, suppression of human rights, rape, discrimination, and crime, killing
in the name of honor. Today News Channels, Newspapers, radio, internet etc. help us to estimate
the realities of live and focused on the every social matters with the pure and free effect, it has a
chance to explore the issues of society more openly. Media refers so many links such as mass
media broadcast media, print media and the web media. We know that television and radio are
considered broadcast media while newspapers, magazines and journals are formatted as print
media and internet news are called as the web media. The media is an important source of
information through its news segments, entertainment and allows for exchange of our ideas,
suggestions and views for related matters. There is huge variety of media. The media is not only
an important source of news and opinions but also entertainment. Most young people usually turn
on the television for movies, educational programs other entertainment programs. However,
although most of us get our news through the media as many of us have little time to read books
or journals, the news presented to us can be biased and one sided because news reported on
websites appears most reliable and transparent though one has to be careful about the accuracy of
the facts reported. However, there is still a degree of freedom in these countries' press compared
to other more conservative countries. we have access to news from all around the world and readers
are invited to send their views and contributions to be published in the media. The term media is
derived from Medium, which means carrier. Media denotes a links specifically designed to reach
large viewers. The term was first used with the advent of newspapers and magazines. However,
with the passage of time, the term broadened by the inventions of radio, TV, cinemas and Internet.
In the world of today, media has become almost as necessary as food and clothing. It is true that
media is playing an outstanding role in strengthening the society. Its responsibility is to inform,
educate and entertain the people. It helps to know current situation around the world. The media
has a strong social and cultural impact upon society. Because of its inherent ability to reach large
number of public, it is widely used to convey message to build public opinion and awareness, it
can be used to educate people with very little cost. Imagine a classroom in every city with
thousands of students being taught by just one teacher. But unfortunately, because of money-
making approach of media and lack of interest by government, very less work is done in spreading
the education.

IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA

 The media has got a vital role in molding a good society to develop our lifestyle and move
it on the right path, because it always try to side with the truth and relevant factor. It is the
best tool to spread awareness in the modern society either it be political, social or economic
and giving us latest sight about what is happening in our world, making us aware about
our rights, creating awareness against evils in our society, what new happening around us,
exposing corrupt politicians and hardcore criminals by sting operations.
 There is correlation between media and society to share them self about the past, present
and future event on need base method of the society. We know that a long time ago we
see all news, views events all these things through Radio, Banner and Cinema slide show.
But now a day we have a power to see everything of the society and to share it among the
people only the good approach of media. So Media and their function have been changed
as because there is a competition among the Media also. Therefore apart from the service
to the society they have to earn also. From this point of view several media are taking
different steps to expand their business and sometimes they are deviated from the
principles for which they are functioning.
 What society will decide for their existences and functioning is mainly depend upon the
Govt. rules and regulations by limiting their scope of works in a particular field. In my
opinion several sensitive international issues should not be published through Media for
which tension among them increased. Otherwise media should come in front of the society
with all truth. The main purpose of this studies to explain the real feature of growing
techniques of information and used it to spread the social awareness. Its limitless
connectivity and potential has open social order and system of interaction and
communication which have been made a possible way to develop the communication
technology and define the social situation of awareness. We can feel the impact of social
networking in every step of life. Everyone wants information timely and to the point which
 can be possible through the help of social media. There is various types of social
networking under the connectivity of media.
 Here we explore the FACEWOOK a social networking site, people can assess information
easily through the help of this site and user can utilize these information to their personal
and professional work and behavior. Social network is used to denote the huge number of
blogs and intercommunication skills to provide online social networking service which
can be focused and reflecting of social network or social relations among people who share
interests and activities Most social network services are web based and provide means for
users to interact over the internet. They interact, share and exchange resources by social
networks. It promotes free flow of information and sharing of resources beyond
boundaries. My point is not any of it said above. We had a nation with so much of events
happening around, which but is escalated only on the whims and fancy of the people who
rules us.
 Few of the examples are Ram Mandir issue, Lokpal Bill, 2G scam, CWG scam, Mining
scam, Land Acquisition scam, Coal Gate, Delhi Rape Case, Godhra Riots, Mumbai Riots,
26/11 Mumbai Attack, Aarush murder case, LPG subsidy, Fuel price hike etc. All of the
above issues had its own relevance in political arena and accordingly had the coverage and
importance across the media and discussed upon the nation till then until when it is to be
fumed and exploited. Unfortunately none of the news had a chance to be there in limelight
or discussions even until its natural closure of which many are due pending.
 Shattering fact is that even many of the above stated issues out of the many left out without
mentioning are yet to have a judicial closure and the culprits yet to be booked and
penalized. But at the brim of its flash we had all of the print and visual media,
administration, intellects, social media and even stupid common man were there on the
front to protest, outrage and even ready for a national cessation. Post shelf life of the issue
hardly was there any movement on the same until either there is a reference by any for
personal gain (other than the relative of the person involved) or on the occasion of
anniversary reminder by the media who had to fill in the prime time slot.
 It is time for us, to do something better for our society. Any means the realism of a fact
lies with the complete closure with justice delivered not only to the victim but to the
society too. Until unless the limited time outrage and mongering of issue is protracted
 despite of what we are forced to think and react. May this sound a bit weird as we being
responsible-sensible citizens, it is our bona fide birth right to react on anything and
everything comes across. But will make a difference if it is made to prolong it despite of
the shelf life tag come along with the issue.

SOCIAL MEDIA AWARENESS

In this era of global information the social media is the most dynamic internet service that
persuades the contemporary world. “Many of Today’s teens spend hours each day on line
communicating with friends. They visit their online friends in social network sites such as
Facebook and Twitter; they comment on each other's videos and photos on sites such as YouTube
and Flickr; and they send each other text messages throughout the day 1 and night via their ever
present cell phones.” Social media is now not only influencing the youth but also all sorts of people
and it had turned out to be a part of social life. Social media services make it possible to connect
people, share interests and activities across political, economic, and geographical borders. “In the
digital era Internet and mobile technology become more essential Part in every day’s life. The way
people access, create and distribute the information result libraries to reconsider their 2 traditional
role as librarian to cybrarian.” Social media is offering new confronts to Library and Information
Science (LIS) professionals in this web influenced world. There is noteworthy increase in the
number of social media sites and users 3 all over the world; the Wikipedia lists more than 200
social media websites and its number is increasing day by day. As global phenomenon the users
of internet and social media are also remounting in a higher rate in India. India ranks 3 position in
terms of internet users according to the internet world stats survey in the 4 2012 and its previous
year ranking was 4 position . A recent 5 report by ComScore, “globally used web audience
measurement tool also ranks India as the 3rd largest in the world after China and the United States
in terms of internet users. This report also point out that India has 73.9 million home and work
internet users and surprisingly 94.8% of typical Indian web users are using social media sites. So
social media use is rated as the top online activity in India.” Libraries and LIS professionals in
western countries are overpoweringly adopting social media sites for the progress of their
profession and libraries. On the other hand developing countries like India are high-flying users of
social media but they are far behind in adopting social media sites for the development of their
libraries and profession.

Media and Development

The media can make a real difference to the lives of poor and disadvantaged people by:

• making people more aware of their rights and entitlements;

• enabling people to have access to government programmes, schemes and benefits;

• making people more aware of political issues and options and helping to stimulate debate;

• educating the public on social, economic and environmental issues;

• drawing attention to institutional failings – corruption, fraud, waste, inefficiency, cronyism,

nepotism, abuse of power and the like;

• fostering exchange of best practices, knowledge resources, access to better technology, and to
better choices;

• creating pressure for improved government performance, accountability and quality, for example
in service delivery; and

• providing a discursive space for citizens to dialogue with other actors in the governance process.
TYPES OF MEDIA

 INTERNET
 TELEVISION
 MAGAZINES
 NEWS PAPERS
 RADIO

INTERNET

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet
protocol suite (TCP/ IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that
consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to
global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical networking
technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the
interlinked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support
electronic mail.

USES OF INTERNET

Internet has been the most useful technology of the modern times which helps us not only in our
daily lives, but also our personal and professional lives developments. The internet helps us
achieve this in several different ways. For the students and educational purposes the internet is
widely used to gather information so as to do the research or add to the knowledge of various
subjects. Even the business professionals and the professionals like doctors, access the internet to
filter the necessary information for their use. The internet is therefore the largest encyclopedia for
everyone, in all age categories. The internet has served to be more useful in maintaining contacts
with friends and relatives who live abroad permanently.

TELEVISION

Television meaning “sight” or “vision.” It is a mode of (tele) communication typically used for
transmitting moving (color) images (and potentially sound) to audiences. Although the technology
was commercially available since the late 1920s (in very limited amounts and at a very high price),
television has since become a common household good. It is also used in businesses and
institutions particularly as a vehicle for advertising, entertainment, and news broadcasting. From
around the 1950s onward, television increasingly became the primary medium in the Western
world for shaping public opinion because of the saturation of television in society. Color
televisions became widely available from the 1960s, and because of the availability of media such
as video cassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs, and high-definition discs, viewers have been able to use the
television to watch prerecorded material. Recently, there has been a rise in Internet television
services, with services such as BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and Netflix broadcasting their material onto
television screens via the Internet. In 2009, approximately 78 percent of the world’s households
owned at least one television set with 87 percent of TVs sold being color liquid crystal display–
screen TVs. The most common medium for broadcast television is modeled on the radio
broadcasting systems developed in the 1920s; it uses high-powered radio-frequency transmitters
to broadcast the television signal to individual TV receivers such as antennae or satellites, which
are then linked to the television set. The technology is also used in other forms such as closed-
circuit television. The broadcast television transmissions are typically disseminated via designated
channels in the 54- to 890-MHz frequency range. A visual display device that lacks a tuner is
called a video monitor, which distinguishes it from a television.

In its most basic form, a color broadcast can be created by broadcasting three monochrome images,
one each in the

Three colors of red, green, and blue. When displayed together or in rapid succession, these images
will blend to produce a full-color image, as seen by the viewer. Televisions are also used for
surveillance, industrial process control, and guiding of weapons. The first transmission of images
occurred in 1881 using a device called the pantelegraphy. Scanning in one form or another has
been used in nearly every image transmission to date this includes television. “Rasterization” is
the concept used to describe the process of converting a visual image into a stream of electrical
pulses. In 1927, Philo Farnsworth made the world’s first working television system with electronic
scanning of both the pickup and the display devices; it was demonstrated to the press on September
1, 1928.

Following this, Manfred von Ardennes gave the world’s first public demonstration of a television
system at the Berlin Radio Show in 1931; he used a cathode-ray tube for both the transmission and
the reception of images. This laid the foundation for the world’s first electronically scanned
television service that started in Berlin in 1935. In August 1936, the Olympic Games in Berlin
were carried by cable to television stations in Berlin and Leipzig, where the public

Could view the games live. On November 2, 1936, the BBC began transmitting the world’s first
regular publicly available service in North London. It therefore claims to be the birthplace of
television broadcasting as we know it today. In 2012, television revenue was growing faster than
film for the major media companies.

MAGAZINES

A magazine is a publication that is issued periodically. It generally contains essays, stories, poems,
articles, fiction, recipes, images etc. Magazines are directed at general and special audience, often
published on a weekly or monthly basis. We know that the word "magazine" is derived from
Arabic word makhazin or "storehouse," which contains a collection of facts and fiction, all bundled
together in one package. Gentlemen's Magazine, founded in 1731 is considered as the world's first
magazine. Then we had The Economist, Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post, National
Geographic, Time, The New Yorker, Life, People etc. In the present age of the tablet and social
media, the idea of a "magazine" is returning to its storehouse roots. Functionally, a magazine still
represents the idea of a bunch of thematically-related content put together as one package. A
magazine can also be considered as a cabinet of curiosities; i.e. a display case in which interesting,
unusual and occasionally 'eccentric' objects are collected and displayed as a conversation piece or
an expression of the writer's wide-ranging interests or tastes. The readers are treated with a
fascinating, mind-expanding and unique set of wonders they had never dreamt of.

NEWS PAPERS

Newspapers are typically published daily or weekly. News magazines are also weekly, but they
have a magazine format. General-interest newspapers typically publish news articles and feature
articles on national and international news as well as local news. The news includes political events
and personalities, business and finance, crime, weather, and natural disasters; health and medicine,
science, and computers and technology; sports; and entertainment, society, food and cooking,
clothing and home fashion, and the arts. Usually the paper is divided into sections for each of those
major groupings (labeled A, B, C, and so on, with pagination prefixes yielding page numbers A1-
A20, B1-B20, C1-C20, and so on). Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing
editorials written by an editor (or by the paper's editorial board) and expressing an opinion on a
public issue, opinion articles called "op-eds" written by guest writers (which are typically in the
same section as the editorial), and columns that express the personal opinions of columnists,
usually offering analysis and synthesis that attempts to translate the raw data of the news into
information telling the reader "what it all means" and persuading them to concur. Papers also
include articles which have no byline; these articles are written by staff writers. A wide variety of
material has been published in newspapers. Besides the aforementioned news, information and
opinions, they include weather forecasts; criticism and reviews of the arts (including literature,
film, television, theater, fine arts, and architecture) and of local services such as restaurants;
obituaries, birth notices and graduation announcements; entertainment features such as
crosswords, horoscopes, editorial cartoons, gag cartoons, and comic strips; advice columns, food,
and other columns; and radio and television listings (program schedules). As of 2017, newspapers
may also provide information about new movies and TV shows available on streaming video
services like Netflix. Newspapers have classified ad sections where people and businesses can buy
small advertisements to sell goods or services; as of 2013, the huge increase in Internet websites
for selling goods, such as Craigslist and eBay has led to significantly less classified ad sales for
newspapers.

RADIO

Guglielmo Marconi of Italy invented a way to transmit sound without using wires. By 1901,
Marconi succeeded in creating a wireless communication link between Europe and North America.
In 1906, Lee Forest with John Fleming perfected the ‘audio’ or the vacuum tube, which made clear
transmission of voice and music possible. These developments paved the way for the first ever
broadcast that took place on Christmas Eve, in 1906 in USA. Later it took ten years of hard work
to perfect the radio. Radio established its place very fast in the minds of listeners. Heavy doses of
infotainment including music, drama, talk shows, etc. supplemented with news made radio popular
overnight. Soon radio industry developed wide spreading networks and by the 1930’s radio
became prime mass medium. Radio broadcasting was introduced in India by amateur radio clubs
in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Lahore, though even before the clubs launched their ventures,
several experimental broadcasts were conducted in Bombay.

RADIO PROGRAMMES MAY BE CLASSIFIED INTO TWO BROAD GROUPS

1. SPOKEN WORD PROGRAMMES, which include news bulletins, talks, discussions,
interviews, educational programs for schools and colleges, specific audience programs directed at
women, children, rural and urban listeners, drama, radio features and documentaries.

2. MUSIC PROGRAMMES, which include disc jockey programs, musical performances of all
types and variety programs.

STRENGTH OF THE RADIO

1. Radio reaches messages to illiterates, neo-literates and highly educated receivers

simultaneously.

2. It is a fairly affordable to be owed by everyone.

3. The want of visual effect is compensated by sound effects, both natural and mechanical and so
live effect is moderately high. The quality of voice and sound makes the communication fairly
enjoyable.

4. Musical sound effect enlivens the communication and often breaks monotony.

5. It has the capacity to deliver instantaneous messages.

6. Radio does not require captivity. Listeners can receive messages even when they are working.
Farmer may listen to farm programs while working in fields, a busy executive may listen to news
bulletin even while driving or a housewife may listen to her favorite programme even while
working in the kitchen.

7. Radio does not require power line for operation and so people in remote villages devoid of
power lines can also receive messages from this medium.

8. Once a transistor radio is purchased, messages flow constantly and no cost is involved for
reception of messages.

WEAKNESS OF THE RADIO

1. Communication through radio lacks visual component and so does not demonstrate but suggests.
2. Spoken messages are subject to interpretation of listeners according to their imagination,
experience and predisposition; hence possibility of misinterpretation is very high.

3. Listeners need lot of imagination and therefore understanding of message depends largely on
the characteristics of the receivers.

ROLE OF MEDIA IN SOCIAL AWARENESSS

 Media is the most powerful tool of communication.

 The word global village has been given to the world just because of media.
 Media is very integral part of our lives therefore they generate popular interest and debate
about any social problem.

NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The media cover all aspects of our interest like weather, politics, war, health, finance, science,
fashion, music, etc. One of major duties of media today is to inform the people about the latest
happening around them and the world. As when the terrorist attacks takes place the role of media
become very important, because it pass the message to rest of world.

NEWS

News is a report of a current event. It is information about something that has just happened or
will happen soon. News is a report about recent happenings in a newspaper, television, radio or
internet. News is something that is not known earlier. From all these, we can safely define news
as a development that has happened in the past 24 hours which was not known outside and which
is of wide interest to the people and that which generates curiosity among listeners.

Let us consider a few examples.

You have heard a news broadcast on the radio .Twenty people died in a train accident. You don’t
consider it as news concerning you. Lots of accidents happen in various places every day. But after
some time you hear that passengers in the compartment which met with the accident are from your
village. Now you become more alert. The news becomes important for you. You are anxious to
know the condition of passengers. Are they safe? Is anyone hurt or hospitalized?

MAGAZINES

Magazines deal with socio-cultural and political issues more deeply than daily newspapers. They
have a special feel and mission and exhibit even an overall special tone. The magazines are
generally read more attentively during leisure time. Its language and style of presentation is quite
different from newspapers. The variety and richness of the content, its social focus and visionary
perspectives are more valued by the readers. The success of a magazine is based on intelligent
observation, imagination and consistency in articulating the views on all matters of public life.

EDUCATION

The power of media is so extensive and huge, it can be used to educate people with very little cost.
Imagine a classroom in every city with thousands of students being taught by just one teacher. But
unfortunately, because of money - making approach of media and lack of interest by government,
very less work is done in spreading the education.

The term ‘education’ is a very common and a popular word that is uttered by many of us but
understood by a very few in its right perspective. It is in one way or the other appears to be as old
as the human race, though during the course of time, its meaning and objectives have inevitably
undergone certain changes. As a student of education course, and, as a future teacher, it is essential
for you to understand the meaning of education, its conceptual features and different perspectives
that have shaped its meaning from time to time. Understanding the concept of education and its
dynamic features will help you to develop insights about the purpose of becoming a teacher and
help you while educating your students. This chapter analyzes different perspectives and views of
Indian and western thinkers on education. The contemporary meaning of education is discussed
here from analytical viewpoints. Education as a natural and a social process and also education as
an intentional activity are discussed with suitable illustrations. The different processes of education
and understanding the role and the need of institutions in educating the individuals are also
examined by drawing relevance to school context.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Arrival or departure of flights and trains, etc. In some cases, it is legally binding to publish notices
in newspaper like tenders, change of property ownership, etc. Various authorities and agencies
utilize the power of media to spread informative messages to public.

ADVERTISEMENT

Almost all business concerns use the power of media to sell their products. They advertise in media
for the enhancement of business purposes. Huge amounts of money are invested in media for
marketing of a product. The more attractive the advertisement, the more people will follow it.

1. American Marketing Association has defined advertising as “any paid form of nonpersonal
presentation of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor”.

2. According to Webster, “Advertising is to give public notice or to announce publicity”.

3. According to Gardner, “Advertising is the means of mass selling that has grown up parallel with
and has been made necessary to mass production”.

Role of Media

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations states:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any
media and regardless of frontiers.” The short section on media in the Plan of Action (C.9) states
that “The media ….. have an essential role in the development of the Information Society and are
recognised as an important contributor to freedom of expression and plurality of information.” In
fact, mass media is the most important vehicle for information, knowledge and communication in
a democratic polity:

a) They are pervasive and play a significant role in shaping societies; they provide the public
sphere of information and debate that enables social and cultural discourse, participation and
accountability.
b) They are the most accessible, cost-effective and widespread source of information and platform
for expression. Information is power. The media can play a crucial role in building an inclusive
Information Society based on knowledge power and its distribution.

For media to fulfill its potential, actions are required in three key areas:

1. To protect and extend media freedom and independence, and rights of access to information;

2. To actively develop the potential of media to provide information, a forum for debate on topics
of public interest, cultural expression and opportunity to communicate, especially to the poor and
marginalised;

3. To strengthen the capacity of media to promote and help build an Information Society – raising
awareness, channelling civil society concerns, debating policies and holding government, private
sector and civil society accountable.

Traditional systems of information access in India have made journalists dependent on sources
they must cultivate. Whether bureaucrats or politicians, much depends on the privilege and
patronage of the individual source. Such relationships of patronage not only make journalists
depend on very feudal relationships, it often makes them use the information regardless of its
veracity.

An RTI regime can enable credible, evidence-based and factual reporting on key issues of public
interest. It can enable the media to expose mal-administration, corruption and inefficiency and to
propagate stories and instances relating to accountability, transparency, effective administration
and good governance. By using the RTI Act, the media can play an important role in highlighting
issues related to public service delivery and the efficacy and accountability of public officials.

Under the RTI Act, the journalists & reporters, like citizens, can:

• Demand from the Government information pertaining to any of its departments

• Demand photocopies of Government contracts, payment, estimates, measurements of

engineering works etc.

• Demand from the Government certified samples of material used in the construction of roads,
drains, buildings etc.
• Demand to inspect any public development work that may be still under construction or
completed

• Demand to inspect Government documents - construction drawings, records books, registers,

quality control reports etc.

• Demand status of requests or complaints, details of time delays, action taken on Information
Commission’s decisions etc.

The media can play a constructive role in the governance process by:-

• Catalyzing Effective Implementation of the Act: As the ‘fourth pillar of democracy’, the media
not only has an important stake in what the RTI Act purports to provide and achieve, but also in
catalyzing and entrenching the implementation and enforcement of this significant piece of
legislation.

• Providing Information to the Citizens and Building Awareness on the Act: Despite the
provisions that have been made to access information, citizens resort to media like newspapers,
radio, television etc. for day to day information about public authorities and their activities. The
media provides a link between the citizens and their government. The media’s right to information
or right to tell is not a special privilege but rather, an aspect of the public’s right to know. The
media should fulfill this obligation.

• Giving Voice to the Citizens: As part of the civil society, the media has an obligation to articulate
the needs and aspirations of the people. Using the Act, the media can highlight key issues faced
by the citizens, particularly those faced by the poor and voiceless.

• Acting as a Watchdog on behalf of the Citizens: The best service that the media can provide
to the public, whether in a mature or emerging democracy, is that of a community watchdog.
Journalists should see and perform their role keeping in mind public interest. Using RTI, the media
can expose corruption and inefficiency. However, in performing a watchdog role and digging out
the truth, journalists should be careful in interpreting facts and evidence.

It is important that the media plays the role of an honest broker of information for its readers
without deliberate bias or favouritism. The media must consider its independence to be its most
valuable commercial, editorial and moral asset. Maintaining its independence through professional
behaviour and a code of conduct that is subscribed to by all journalists, the media can be a powerful
user of the RTI Act and an agent for the empowerment of people through an Information Society.
The objective of the Act to usher in a practical regime of right to information cannot be attained
without a proactive role played by the media

CONCLUSION

Social media platforms are ubiquitous nowadays, and have connected us in ways, ten years ago,
we could never have imagined. We share information and updates instantaneously with the
networks of connections we’ve built, and are subsequently flooded with updates from those same
networks. While sharing information in this manner is advantageous for many reasons, it brings
many risks along with it.

Suggested Areas for Action by the Media

The following section provides cues for the media to use the RTI Act in discharging the following
roles:

• In monitoring implementation of the Act

• In reporting on the effectiveness & efficiency of public service delivery

• In highlighting corruption and fraud related issues

• In highlighting citizen grievances

• In highlighting significant cases or efforts made by organisations/individuals on RTI.

However, it needs to be noted that the suggested areas are selective and are provided only to guide
the media to effectively use the RTI Act provisions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Text Books:

1. Press and the Law (1990) by Justice A.N.Grover

2. Cf. Herbert Lee Williams, Newspaper Organization and Management, 5th Edn

3. B. Shiva Rao, The Framing of India’s Constitution: A Study

4. Will Durant’s ‘The Story of Civilization: Rousseau and Revolution’

News Articles:

1. Ankur Pathak & Bharati Dubey, Mumbai Mirror, “Cinematograph Act all set to get a makeover”
Oct 30, 2013, available on, http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-30/news-
interviews/43526569_1_censor-board-cinematograph-act-shoojit-sircar

2. Emerging trends in Digital copyright law – Growing technology and digitalization entail a
protective regime, available on, http://www.helplinelaw.com/business-law/ETDCL/emerging-
trends-in-digital-copyright-law.html

3. "Justice Markandey Katju on the role of media in India".The Hindu (Chennai, India). 5
November 2011

4. N. Ram, “The Changing Role of the News Media in Contemporary India”, available on
http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/archive/00863/Contemporary_India__863821a.pdf