Venkaiah Naidu bats for revenue sharing model between social media giants and traditional media
Bengaluru, Dec 18: 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 'Journalism Past, 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'.
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Ruckus outside counting centre in Mamata's constituency, TMC claims entry of car with BJP flag
Kolkata (PTI): The counting centre at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur assembly constituency witnessed a ruckus a day ahead of the counting of votes, with TMC workers alleging two cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept.
The incident comes close on the heels of a four-hour-long sit-in by Banerjee in front of the same counting centre at the Sakhawat Memorial Girls School on Thursday night, alleging unauthorised entry of persons into the strongroom.
With the polling now over, the wrangling for power in West Bengal has turned into a battle of nerves between the incumbent TMC and the BJP. Workers and leaders of both parties have been keeping a steely gaze on the security of strongrooms across the state where the electoral fate of the candidates is sealed.
Despite expressing her confidence in a "landslide victory", Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".
On Sunday morning, TMC workers camping 100 metres from the counting centre alleged that two cars with BJP flags entered the premises and went near the strongroom.
"The CAPF personnel at the spot are not allowing any vehicle or person to enter the premises of the counting centre without valid identity proof. Then how come this car, which we have not seen in the past few days, was allowed entry? Once we protested, the central forces asked us to move 100 metres away," a TMC activist said.
The TMC claimed that while the police personnel posted there promised the vehicle would be removed from the spot, it remained there for some time.
A senior Election Commission official said the car was passing by the Harish Mukherjee Road, and after checking by security forces and police, it was allowed to leave as nothing objectionable was found in it.
On Thursday night, two counting centres, including one at Sakhawat Memorial Girls School in the city, witnessed high drama after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
TMC leaders and candidates, Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh, held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents
In Howrah, TMC protested renovation work by the public works department at a place adjacent to the strongroom, and the EC stopped the work temporarily.
On Saturday, the ruling party filed a complaint with the poll panel, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at the EVM strongroom in Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Similar scenes were witnessed on Saturday outside the strongrooms at Asansol College in Paschim Bardhaman and the Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas districts, where TMC workers held protests, alleging that CCTV cameras were switched off for several minutes.
The EC turned down all allegations, saying the surveillance cameras were working in an uninterrupted manner.
BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh told reporters that the people of Bengal were finding it "hilarious" that the TMC, "which used to win elections through unfair means and strongarm tactics" were now coming up with all sorts of "frivolous charges".
"Are they scared of losing?" he posed.
