“Let me be blunt here to state that the profusion of TV channels and publications in India has led to a media explosion and brought a new urgency to the speed and quality of governance and decision-making as journalists are constantly stepping n the gas,” Gupta said.
Gupta further said, “Journalism has led to a dramatic expansion of the public sphere, effectively intervened in public debates and worked as a force multiplier for institutions and branches of government. But this phenomena has triggered high levels of noises, sensationalism, dumbing down of news and a lack of adequate gatekeeping, leading to a steady erosion of credibility and threatening the very basis role of the media as a watchdog and a hound in democracy.”
Gupta defending the media said, “The problem is not with the normative question of whether the Fourth Estate should be a watchdog or a hound, but in the way in which it assumes the role of a watchdog or a hound.”
Recalling the time when he entered the field of journalism in the mid 1970s when Indian journalism as passing through one of the fiercest, yet finest phases, Gupta said it was a time when “being the watchdog and the hound wasn’t a question to debate, it was the hallmark of excellence in our profession. But today, the watchdog and the hound are barking their heads off every half-an-hour, as if their tails were perpetually on fire. The race for TRPs and higher revenues has also forced newspapers and TV channels to cut corners on fairness, accuracy and objectivity,” Gupta said.
