UAE | Media
Lack of depth in media 'due to fear of competition'
The media is ignoring too many important stories and everyone is rushing to do the unimportant stuff, said an expert yesterday on the second day of the Indo-Arab fest.
- By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
- Published: 01:09 March 8, 2008
- Shashi Kumar addresses the media seminar during the Indo-Arab Cultural Festival in Abu Dhabi onFriday.
- Image Credit: Abdul Rahman/Gulf News
Abu Dhabi: The media is ignoring too many important stories and everyone is rushing to do the unimportant stuff, said an expert on Friday on the second day of the Indo-Arab fest.
Calling it the 'Press Club Syndrome', Shashi Kumar, Chairman of the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, India, said the agenda of the news media has been sabotaged by the internet.
"The media goes after the unimportant news because they are afraid of the competition," he said. "When the news media pushes the news set by its own agenda then people tend to get their news off the internet."
He was speaking at a media seminar at the National Theatre as part of the Indo Arab Cultural Festival held by the Kerala Social Centre.
He said newspapers are under threat in the West and the news today lacks depth because of the shift in focus from 'depth' to 'breadth'.
"Such lack of depth influences even politicians and they do not touch deep subjects in debates deliberately as they are afraid of being ignored or go unnoticed."
He said bloggers and citizen journalists have democratised the news media.
"Information on the ground realities in Iraq is given by bloggers. Western journalists cannot move out of their hotels because of the fear of abduction. The first pictures or videos of a major [incident] like the tsunami was not taken by news photographers but amateurs, citizen journalists, on their mobile phones."
Newspapers are therefore giving more importance to the aesthetic factor, he said. K.B. Murali, president of Kerala Social Centre, also addressed the gathering.
Share this article
Popular in UAE
Latest news
- Appeals court acquits gardener of rape charge
- Woman injured in fall from balcony
- Hypertension affecting 36% of UAE population
- Suspects deny charges of trafficking and assault
- Space experience awaits students at US camp
- Friendship festival loses steam due to lack of sponsors
- Reader helps police to bust brothel
- Ministries to help cut waistlines in schools
- Mohammad receives Iceland's president
- Rare wild cat discovered in Fujairah wadi
- Faded signage fails to guide visitors
- Tory chief vows to bolster ties with the UAE
- Gang who robbed Dh1m from businessman nabbed
- Chinese duo held for assault, blackmail
- Khalifa revamps border affairs council
-
Your pictures
Readers' pictures
A Selection of the best Gulf News reader pictures this week
Community Reports
-
Faded signage fails to guide visitors
Reader seeks better upkeep of signboards in green areas
-
Noise pollution must be regulated
Residents are finding it difficult to sleep well at night owing to ongoing construction work
-
Protect our children's health
Dust and dirt from a nearby road are causing problems to those frequenting Al Nasseriya park, Sharjah.
-
Keeping out curious cats in Abu Dhabi
Felines trapped in electrical substations create a nuisance
