ABSTRACT

The general means of communication that share data, information and facts on a massive level
are categorized under mass media. The traditional role of media in society is to inform people
about the various facts and happenings taking place in their surroundings. The different forms of
media used by people in general are print, television, radio, internet etc. There was time when
the information released on mass media was blindly considered as the ultimate truth by people
but today each and every information is rechecked for its authenticity on official levels. Social
media came up as the biggest revolution in the lives of people giving them the power to express
their thoughts in front of their preferred audience, strengthening the right to speech and
expression but somewhat perturbing the right to privacy. Effects of yellow journalism has lead to
a big amount of distrust amongst the common people towards media which is why people from
media are deviating their own field. Journalism that needs the highest amount of skills and
dedication has now become a field people fear from choosing due to its losing credibility and
power in terms of authenticity.

The objective of this research is to analyse the perception of people pursuing education in media
towards the media that is being practiced today and find out if they find mass media as a
potential career option for future.
 INTRODUCTION
From radios to social networking sites, the Indian Media has seen a drastic change in its
channels, values and processes. Its advances in technology has just increased its impact on the
masses and made it yet more powerful. But the question that arises is, are they using their power
befittingly?
The first and foremost function of the media in a society is to provide news and information to
the masses. People need news/information for various reasons, on one hand it can be used to
socialize and on the other to make decisions and formulate opinions. Entertainment would be the
other function of the mass media where it is mostly used by the masses to amuse them in present
day hectic environment. Educating the masses about their rights, moral, social and religious
obligations is another important function of mass media, which needs no emphasis. In our work
life we usually know what we have to do, based on our experience and studies, however on our
routine life and house hold chores we mostly rely on the mass media to get the current news and
facts about what is important and what we should be aware of. People have put their trust on the
media as an authority to give them news, entertainment and education. However, the influence of
mass media on kids, teenagers and society is so big that we should know how it really works.
The media has a huge impact on society in shaping the public opinion of the masses. They can
form or modify the public opinion in different ways depending of what is the objective. This is
the reason why the purest form of journalism is what today’s world actually needs and not what
is sponsored by the brands or authorities.
This research concentrates upon the short comings in media that is being practiced today which
in turn is leading to the disinterest in media students towards this field. The time has come when
some introspection by the Indian media is required. Many people, not only those in authority but
even ordinary people, have started feeling that the media have become irresponsible and needs to
be reined in. Simply making information available is not enough for today’s public. Today’s
audiences expect to be able to choose what they read, and most believe they should be able to
contribute content and opinions, too. This shift is the birth of a democratic movement that
emphasizes some of journalism’s key factors: transparency, honesty, and giving a voice to the
person who doesn’t have one. The main purpose of this research is to highlight the new emerging
trends in media that are affecting the traditional media and making people doubt the authenticity
of the information and facts provided by the media. The research would answer the one simple
yet complex question: What media students think about media that is being practiced today and
is mass media as powerful a career option as it used to be earlier? If no, why?

FREEDOM OF PRESS
In India, freedom of the press has been treated as part of the freedom of speech and expression
guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, however, as mentioned in Article 19(2),
reasonable restrictions can be placed on this right, in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity
of India, the security of the state, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of
court, defamation or incitement to an offence. Hence, freedom of the media is not an absolute
freedom.Press safeguards people’s right to know. The collection of below stated laws is
sometimes loosely referred to as freedom of press

 The right to get information from the government.

 The right to print it without prior restraint.

 The right to print without fear of reprisal for publication that does not offend the laws.

 The right to have access to printing materials.

 The right to distribute.

For a proper functioning of democracy it is essential that citizens are kept informed about news
from various parts of the country and even abroad, because only then can they form rational
opinions. A citizen surely cannot be expected personally to gather news to enable him or her to
form such opinions. Hence, the media play an important role in a democracy and serve as an
agency of the people to gather news for them. It is for this reason that freedom of the press has
been emphasised in all democratic countries, while it was not permitted in feudal or totalitarian
regimes.

Although media plays an important role in informing and educating people about various issues,
its fact checking processes and the amount of accuracy in delivering the content is still under
suspicion. Media has a great responsibility in seeing if the news they present is accurate and
serve the interest of the people. If the media conveys false news, it may harm the reputation of a
person or a section of society, which may do great damage since reputation is a valuable asset for
every person. Even if the media subsequently corrects a statement, the damage done may be
irreparable. Hence, every news should be carefully investigated before presenting it in front of
the people.

How the Freedom of Press should be used? This is a matter of great importance to India as it
faces massive problems of poverty, unemployment, corruption, price rise and so on. Media in our
country have a great responsibility to fight backward ideas such as casteism, communalism,
violation of women rights and help the people in their struggle against poverty and other social
evils. Since a large section of the people is backward and ignorant, it is more necessary that
modern ideas are brought to them and their backwardness removed so that they become part of
enlightened India.

CASE STUDY
Case 1
Fake Reports in Kashmir Case One In recent times, one of the biggest fake news that echoed the
chambers of Kashmir was the rumor of the death of an infant due to polio vaccination. In
panic, “thousands of children who were administered pulse polio drops were rushed to
hospitals across Kashmir… by their parents (Ganai, 2016).” The rush of anxious parents
with their infants chocked every road that led to medical facilities in Kashmir. Authorities were
caught unawares by the swelling of hospitals and roads by people. At some places people
vandalized hospital furniture and equipment and beat doctors in anger. The unprecedented
number of people rushing for hospitals was unmanageable for the administration. Police had to
take swift action and arrest the person responsible for posting the fake news of an infant‟s death
due to polio vaccine.

Case 2
A senior police officer, Ayub Pandith, was lynched by mob on June 23, 2017 during the
congregational prayers of Shab-e-Qadr, the most auspicious night in the Muslim holy month of
Ramdhan. The incident happened in the compound of central mosque, also known as Jamia
Masjid, in the old city of Srinagar. Soon social media was abuzz with rumors that the officer
was killed for his surname “Pandith” (Faysal, 2017). This surname is shared mostly by Hindus of
Kashmir who migrated from Kashmir to different parts of India after violence plagued the state
during 1990s. However, Muslims and Hindus in Kashmir share many common surnames.
The rumor, mostly shared by Kashmiri Hindus also known as Pandits, on social media,
blamed Muslims for killing the officer because of his surname, which was far from reality.
A faction of Pandit population share hostile feelings for Muslims and blame them for their
exodus from homeland. The same hate was translated into controversy over police officer‟s
killings, who happened to be a Muslim. The intention behind such a campaign was to malign
the Muslim population and stoke communal tension in the state.

Case Three Panic gripped Rajouri district on May 25, 2017 when a “report” of a school bus
falling in gorge started to circulate on social media. The bus, according to the report, had
around 40 students on board who were on way to a picnic spot. The rumor sparked panic in
many areas as parents and district administration was struggling to establish communication with
the school bus. The bus was on way to Peer ki Gali, a picnic spot in mountains in Poonch
district, which is devoid of any communication facility. As the reports started to trickle down,
number of ambulances and private vehicles carrying parents and relatives of students rushed to
the “spot of accident”. However, soon the district administration managed to establish
connection with the bus and found out that the report was a hoax. The actual accident had
happened seven years ago in which over 43 students were injured. The district administration
had a difficult time to pacify and assure worried parents about the safety of students.

Case 3
Case Four Former Pakistani cricketer, Shahid Afridi, was scheduled to address people of
Kashmir at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid in the third week of April in 2018. The news was highly
circulated as the cricketer has a mass following in Kashmir. The cricketer has been in past vocal
about the human rights violation at the hands of Indian forces in Kashmir. During T20 World
Cup in 2016 in India, Afridi stirred a hornet’s nest by thanking Kashmiri fans after a match.
Even some mainstream media organizations like Mumbai Mirror carried the news of the
rumoured speech. Police had to suspend mobile Internet services in Srinagar on the day of
cricketer’s rumoured address via telephone. It later turned out to be a hoax. A Facebook page,
Kashmir Today, even went on to write “internet googly prevents Afridi to open account in
Kashmir.”
Ravish Kumar

Ravish Kumar is outspoken on how the India media is being strangles by the political parties
and the big companies to report anything which is against them or which can damage their
image in the mid of the masses. Ravish Kumar also says that mow media has just become the a
tool in the hands of the powerful people and they use the media to hide the truth from the masses
and secretly using the media to form opinion in the mind of the people so that they don’t
question what is being feed to them through this continues machines.

This is even more prevalent in Kashmir as it is very unstable and even a small fake news or
propaganda can lead to a lot of trouble. This is very visible in the case studies above. Sometimes
this media can be also used to disrupt the system so that to cause violence and civil unrest in the
population.
In recent times the international journalist community has also noticed Indian media and some
even start to question the way some of the incidents are being covered.

Aljazeera

In this article Aljazeera has raised question on India media and how its credibility is being
compromised by the rich, powerful and the powerful political parties. However when we talk
about Aljazeera then you have to take it with a grain of salt as Aljazeera is continually being
accused by the India as being spreading the fake news and trying to destabilise masses along
with inappropriately reporting the Kashmir issue and painting the Indian army in the bad light. In
this case it is best that the reader use their own mind compare various sources to understand what
is real and what being being manipulated.
CHANGING TRENDS IN MEDIA
The list of social media tools could probably run on for paragraphs, and
today’s technology changes so rapidly that many industries, including corporations and news
media, can barely keep up. In the traditional world, newspapers, corporations, governments, or
other types of leading organizations simply had to give out information, and people would
consume it by reading or looking at it. But this seemingly tried-and-trusted method is
transforming. Many traditional and non-traditional media outlets report and comment on how
the Internet and social media, especially social networking, have begun to seriously affect news
organizations and how they operate. Although newspapers currently face a crisis on how to make
the news profitable in the digital age, that isn’t this report’s main focus. How papers will make
money has been talked to death. So, instead, this report will focus on how social media,
especially social networking sites like Twitter, has begun to affect the news organizations and
changed — for better or worse — how journalists perform their jobs every day.

“People expect to be listened to when they have knowledge and raise questions. They
want news that connects with their lives and interests. They want control over their
information. And they want connection — they give their trust to those they engage with
— people who talk with them, listen and maintain a relationship” (Skoler).

The Internet also played a role in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008. Many believe
information about the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008 broke first on Twitter. In an article on
CNN.com, Neha Viswanathan, a former regional editor for Southeast Asia and a volunteer at
Global Voices, said, “Even before I actually heard of (the attack) on the news, I saw stuff about
this on Twitter. People were sending in messages about what they were hearing. According to
the cnn.com article on the Mumbai attacks, eyewitnesses sent an estimated 80 messages every
five seconds, providing updates and some even asking for blood donors to go to specific
hospitals. The cnn.com article also reads, “However, as is the case with such widespread
dissemination of information, a vast number of the posts amounted to unsubstantiated rumors
and inaccuracies”. Twitter wasn’t the only tool involved, though. Witnesses posted “haunting
images” of the aftermath of the attacks on Flickr, a photo-sharing Web site.

“Social media is one of the best ways to get traction with the mobile market. This allows
journalists to reach lower and even middle-income communities and minorities that news
organizations have been overlooking. It’s to reach communities where they are, and
they’re on the phone” (Podger).
 SHORTCOMINGS OF NEW MEDIA
Twisting facts: In order to sensationalize the news and make it more attractive for the reader,
the media tends to twist the facts and even statements of people which is entirely a wrong way of
presenting news. for example Times of India published a story saying Military Secretary asked to
go on leave till retirement after allegedly receiving bribe.
The Army’s public information twitter handle quickly clarified that the Military Secretary would
be rejoining on 18th September and is not going on “leave till retirement” as reported by Times
of India. It also called the Times of India tweet “false and malicious”. A good 5 hours after this
tweet, Times of India apologised for their mistake. They claimed it was “based on an input from
our correspondent” and that they “erred by not verifying it with the Army”.

Paid news: The news that are sponsored by politicians, brands and bureaucrats somehow
exhibit the biased face of media in which they hide the reality and promote what they are paid
for. The Election Commission is reported to have identified more than 1,400 cases of paid news between 2009
and 2013, during which elections were held in 17 states of India. One person involved, Deepak Chaurasia, host
of India News, is accused of being a promoter of paid news in India.

Wrong preferences in terms of issues: Issues that are nothing more than gossips are
hyped to extremities while real issues are not even brought in front of people. For example, while
Salman Khan’s rape statement is covered whole month, news of a woman and her daughter
getting gang raped brutally is nowhere to be seen. Is this a responsible way for the Indian media
to function? No doubt, sometimes the media mention farmers' suicides, the rise in the price of
essential commodities, and so on, but such coverage is at most 5 per cent to 10 per cent of the
total. The bulk of the coverage goes to showing the life of film stars, pop music, fashion parades,
cricket and astrology.

False portrayal of society: Bomb blasts have taken place near the Delhi High Court, in
Mumbai, Bangalore and so on. Within a few hours of such a bomb blast, many TV channels
started showing news items that said that the Indian Mujahideen or the Jaish-e-Mohammed or the
Harkatul-Jihad-e-Islam had sent e-mails or text messages claiming responsibility. The names of
such alleged organisations will always be Muslim ones. Now, an e-mail can be sent by any
mischievous person, but by showing this on TV channels and the next day in the newspapers, the
tendency is to brand all Muslims as terrorists and bomb-throwers.
The truth is that 99 per cent of the people of all communities, whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian
or Sikh, and of whatever caste or region, are good. But the manner in which such news is shown
on TV screens and published in newspapers tends to create the impression that all Muslims are
terrorists, and evil — which is totally false. The person who sends such e-mails or text messages
obviously wants to create hatred between Hindus and Muslims, which is the old British divide-
and-rule policy continuing even today. Should the media, wittingly or unwittingly, become part
of this policy of divide-and-rule?

EXAMPLES OF FALSE JOURNALISM

The most recent example of fake news is during the violence in Jamia
Millia Islamia

In the article bellow it tells how there was fake news and how it was
responsible for the civil unrest making the situation much worse.
  India Today published this fake news about ‘woman uploading 12
million pictures on Facebook’ as real breaking news.
Is it humanly possible to upload millions of pictures on Facebook in just one day? Yes, if
you are an India Today web editor.  India Today wasn’t aware of the satirical American
news site The Onion. So, they did what they are actually good at – Copying and
Rewording news from internationals news sites and publishing on their site as their own
without citing the original sources. Fooled byThe Onion!

 And this one when Doordarshan taught TOI a lesson.

If you are a responsible media and if you make ridiculous mistakes, we have DD to correct
you.

 NDTV
was
caught
red-
handed
by a
twitter
user
for
using viral YouTube video to broadcast the Uttarakhand flooding in
2013. Cheating caught!

So, NDTV video editor wasn’t aware of the fact that we also watch YouTube?
 The moment when both were confused about the nationality of the rape
victim.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this research is to know about the current status of media amongst students
pursuing education in media. This research paper aims to know the perception of people towards
journalism that is being practiced today. It is to find out if journalism is as powerful a career as it
used to be.

METHODOLOGY
The research method that I have chosen for this research is questionnaire method. I have
prepared a questionnaire that consists of 10 questions related to media that is being practiced
today apart from the personal information. The sample size of the research is 75. The
questionnaire was distributed amongst 75 students pursuing Bachelor’s in Journalism and Mass
Communication from Amity School of Communications, Amity University Rajasthan. The
students are in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year of their programme and know the basics of journalism and
mass media. The questions are framed to know their knowledge and perception towards new
media.

DATA ANALYSIS
Q.1- Why did you opt for journalism?
A pen serves as the biggest weapon in today’s world. A good number of students said they opted
for journalism because they needed the power to express their thoughts in front of the masses
which only this field can provide. What fascinates these students the most is that people see you,
hear you and form their opinion on the basis of your presentation of the story.

Q.2- What are the sources of media you use in your daily life?

1. Digital Media
2. Print Media
3. Social Media
4. Electronic Media
While 72% students relied on digital media like news apps and other apps to gather information
and stay updated about the current affairs, 63% of the students used social media, 37% students
used electronic media and just 12% of the students read news papers.
 Chart Title

1st Qtr
1 2nd Qtr
2 3rd Qtr
3 4th Qtr
4

This question clearly describes the digitalization of media. It shows how apps and social media
are more preferred by the youth as compared to traditional print and electronic media.

Q.3- What are your most preferred segments of media you choose?

1. Entertainment

2. Investigative

3. Editorial

4. Politics
While 62% students had entertainment as their favourite genre to watch or read, 18% liked
Editorial section of the news papers, 12% were interested in Investigative Journalism and mere
8% of students liked watching and reading politics.
 This implies that a large amount of
youth still considers mass media as a
source of entertainment making it the
most favoured segment of all. This is
1st Qtr why media believes in
2nd Qtr sensationalizing the news and serves
3rd Qtr
entertainment news for highest
4th Qtr
amount of time rather than required
stuff.
Q.4- Do you check for the
authenticity of the
information you get from
media?

1. Always

2. Sometimes

3. Usually

4. Never
While just 16% of students said they always checked for the authenticity of the news they watch
or read, a big 58% of students said they check for the authenticity usually. 19% of the students
said they check it sometimes and just 7% of students said they donot check for the authenticity at
all.
 This clearly states that although a big
number of students didn’t check for the
authenticity always but most of them did
it usually which is a positive thing to do as
an audiences and shows the sense of
responsibility in the youth today.

Q.5- What reasons make you

suspect the credibility of the
news?
Almost every student had the same
credibility issue which was the sources
and carelessness exhibited by the media in recent times as mentioned in the case studies already.

Q.6- Do you find social media as a reliable source for information gathering?
A big 87% of students said they do not find social media as a reliable source for information
gathering. This shows that the youth does not rely upon unofficial and non-credible sources for
information gathering as they are alert enough to not trust the rumors spread by fake ids.

Q.7- Do you know about citizen journalism?

On asking if students knew about citizen journalism, 86% of them haven’t heard of it. Only 14%
of the students were aware of citizen journalism. This shows that although the whole youth is an
active content provider on all mass mediums, very less are aware of citizen journalism which is
the fastest growing form of journalism and needs more promotion amongst the youth.
 Q.8- Have you provided any
content on social media or to any
other organization?
While all the students were active in
sharing stuff on social media, none of
them really provided any content to any
organization or social media themselves
in public interest.

Q.9- Do you think that media is involved in twisting facts for their own
benefits?
78% of the students are aware of the fact that media is involved in twisting facts for their own
benefits. They agreed to the idea of sensationalizing of news and paid news. They believe that
the media that is being practiced today is biased in all forms just to protect their revenues,
viewership and political backing.
 1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
5th Qtr

Q.10- What might be the possible reasons due to which people change their
career option after opting for journalism?

1. Pay is less
2. Isn’t interesting enough
3. Perks are less as compared to other jobs
4. Not safe
5. Job involves more efforts
On asking the reasons behind opting out of journalism for students, 42% of the students said
that the pay is very less as compared to other jobs like advertising, management, tv
production etc. 32% of the students have safety issues with journalism which is true to a
greater extent as reporting does involves visiting areas of high risks. 14% of the students said
that the perks are less as compared to other jobs, 10% said that the job demands a lot of
efforts as the work of a journalist never ends. There are no days and nights for journalists and
they do not even get holidays. Mere 2% of students said that they don’t find this job
interesting enough.
 CONCLUSION
 The research shows that the media has changed to such an extent that the youth today
does not find it credible enough anymore. People check on the authenticity of the content
published or broadcasted by media.
 The research also shows that a lot of media graduates do not consider it as a great career
option anymore as they do not get paid enough even after putting a lot of efforts and they
are instead getting diverted towards other fields like PR, Advertising and Film Production
where they get stability in their career.
 REFERENCES
 http://www.dailymoss.com/funny-bloopers-
and-lies-made-by-indian-media/
http://www.lincoln.edu/criminaljustice/hr/Spe
ech.htm
 http://mashable.com/category/citizen-
journalism/
 http://www.newmediainv.com/
 http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/publica
tion/rise-social-media-and-its-impact-
mainstream-journalism
 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/202/
the-social-media-revolution-exploring-the-
impact-on-journalism-and-news-media-
organizations