The way we consume news has changed drastically over the last decade or so. Gone are the days when people received their daily news either from newspapers and television. Now social media has taken over as a major source of information for millions. But is this information credible? Not necessarily. At least not the one shared on the platforms by the sources that are not formally devoted to producing news. Hence the rampant rise in misinformation and disinformation. This has also created a significant problem: the struggle to differentiate trustworthy journalism from misinformation.
News production is a formal process, to wit: it is the responsibility of trained professionals who adhere to strict ethical standards, ensuring accuracy and credibility. But now anyone with a smartphone and internet access claims to be a journalist. The result is that the digital space is now flooded with unverified information, making it harder than ever for the people to separate fact from fiction. Hence the abiding value of a traditional newspaper or a new channel.
However, the advancement in communication technology has by and large overturned the revenue model of the traditional media. More so in the places like Kashmir where fewer revenue sources exist for the professional media organizations outside the government. The challenges for the media in Kashmir Valley are formidable. The media in the region, comprising a robust English and vernacular press, online sites and a few fledgling television channels, has a particularly unenviable job to perform. The problems faced by it are both universal to the conflict situations and unique to the region. One of the major problems bedeviling the freedom of expression in the Valley is the economic sustainability of the local newspapers.
Being a place with only a fledgling private sector and little industrial presence, government advertising is a predominant source of revenue for the newspapers. This gives the government enormous power to influence news agenda as the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah rightly said in his recent speech in the Assembly. He said the media shouldn’t be dependent on government advertisement as this curtails its freedom to report. But this isn’t also so straightforward an issue. Media in the union territory has been receiving government ads and also performing its job well like in the rest of the country. True, this also reflects positively on the approach of the successive governments towards the media. And it should stay that way. The alternative is the free run to misinformation and disinformation.
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