Times of India; Monday, Aug 8, 2011,
DONA PAULA: Society and media should work together to achieve good governance as the quality of governance has reached its nadir, Vinita Deshmukh stated at a panel discussion on Sunday. The programme on the 'Role of media in good governance' was organized at the International Centre -Goa at Dona Paula. Deshmukh, who is the recipient of an award for rural reporting, said, the media exposing various scams had raised hopes in civil society, which has become increasingly wary of corruption. Deshmukh said that the Right to Information (RTI) Act is an important tool for journalists to access information, especially Section 4 of the RTI Act which permits the inspection of official documents.
"The media should strive towards empowering the citizen. The ordinary citizen cannot understand technical language," she noted. Vinod Dua, an anchor, political commentator and election analyst was of the view that "the tremendous power which the media yields today should not lead to a vicarious sense of power." Citing the example of Harsha Bhogle who he said "is a fine cricket commentator, analyst and critic but will be a disaster as a player", Dua said, "The media is an observer, critic and analyst, but not a player." "Our job is to maintain a distance, be an adversary and be objective, while not getting carried away by crusading," he added.
Dilip Padgaonkar, former director of the office of public affairs of UNESCO said, "Newspapers have to address many fields, deal with a huge number of subjects. They have to be attentive to various sectors. As the media is in a highly competitive market, if a newspaper devotes eight pages a day to valiant causes, it will sink." He said, the media attracts far more criticism than other pillars of democracy. "The media cannot handle the job of the opposition or the judiciary," Padgaonkar said.
"The media should strive towards empowering the citizen. The ordinary citizen cannot understand technical language," she noted. Vinod Dua, an anchor, political commentator and election analyst was of the view that "the tremendous power which the media yields today should not lead to a vicarious sense of power." Citing the example of Harsha Bhogle who he said "is a fine cricket commentator, analyst and critic but will be a disaster as a player", Dua said, "The media is an observer, critic and analyst, but not a player." "Our job is to maintain a distance, be an adversary and be objective, while not getting carried away by crusading," he added.
Dilip Padgaonkar, former director of the office of public affairs of UNESCO said, "Newspapers have to address many fields, deal with a huge number of subjects. They have to be attentive to various sectors. As the media is in a highly competitive market, if a newspaper devotes eight pages a day to valiant causes, it will sink." He said, the media attracts far more criticism than other pillars of democracy. "The media cannot handle the job of the opposition or the judiciary," Padgaonkar said.
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