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Role of the media in promoting national unity :recommendations

1992

Role of the media in promoting national unity : recommendations. (1992). In AMIC Seminaron Media & National Unity, Bangalore, May 26‑27, 1992. Singapore: Asian Media Information& Communication Centre.

https://hdl.handle.net/10356/86473

Downloaded on 01 Dec 2021 21:32:10 SGT

Paper No. 7

THE R9LE OF THE MEDIA IN PROWTft4G NP,T'IOk!AL UNITY

The grow began 3 affirmirg the u t t e r i for t h e prcmot,i'on' @f sat-ionaf n i t in t-he context. of t-he vsriot~s frammtiug f~rceu that are attacking the fabric of a un i t ed India t-cxtay.

After exawining the vvrinus bspscts like the d e f i n i t i ~ n of uatiwlal ursity, t;he efforts already being made by the m d i z t o prf:~m..;lte it mid t h e reack~ of the differerlt- fcams of media t.r&ett~er ~ i t h some of the drawbacks i n pracer1t.-day media pclicies, %he grmp ceuua up w i t h the folowing r-cc~mrendatims.

Electronic Media : Radio and Television : The media should lcaok deeper i r i t - 0 the underlying erunrsnic causes %kJat in ~ 1 0 9 ~

cases trigger off fissiparous tendm::ies i t i the dif f men* reg-ioris of the country. ( It was felt t-hat this holds goo4 for t h e print media as well. There should be more prcgr-rrrmes and feat-ures that foe-s or, t h e s e ezrmornic i s s u e s - el B . , unenrtpI~ymerit among the yout-k, a& the cr>n~eq1-~ent f r u s t r e t i o n resuf tiag from it.

While there are ~ccas i~>na l yrcarsmmes ;>a the national network .that f euture the uor-ks of creative writers from t h e different- states nnd Ianguages, these are a ~ a i lable only in Hindi. A t the local Kendru level arr tare other hard, all programmes t,end to be about local issues. An effor t should be made therefore - prdurte feat-ures of this kind ( e. g , Hatk~asagzr, Kwar 1 in t h e local languages fnr telecast over the local network, i s will make crvailrxtle t-o the audierioe insights iat-o the ruUlms nf life in ist-her parts of the country in %he language of the prc:pf e.

* Vat-* oft.en yrcgram~ss l i k e panel d i scuss ior~s ori issues of n u t - i o r d int-erest- t-elecast over %he nak ional r~etwork tend ~ C J draw its resource ysrsrms f rmu t-he same i r r s t i t u t i o r ~ s of t h e Capi-tal lending to t.hese prr-ranunes a Delhi-centric flavour. Since t h e teck~nolm~ of .t-elecc~r~fermcing i s already we1 l - established { eg. election coverage ) these programmes cam be put; in-kc) this n~ould so as to errable partic;ipatiori from all over the country thus giving a powerfully visual impetus to the unity of tkla nation.

* More works of lit-erature t-hat, promote nst ior~al unity starrmlng from the regional language should be telecast.

Since Radio has a wider reach, it car1 be used very effectively for this cause. It is suggested that programmes

I. like " Knw Your India ", " India's Cultural Heritage , etc. in innovative formats ( e .g , Quiz ) be aired. There is also the need for greater grofessionaliam to ensure t h a t these Pro&!ranrmzs are both stimulating and enjoyable.

Tile . J J n1edi.r : c~f ten r its zeal t o rmke programmes e~pk las i z iag natiorlal unity, %ends to create naive s t;er.e~;e;~pas ( e. g . , steraot-ypes in dress ) . r.. :he relative proput-io:l ~f c~verage given t;o gl~bal, riational ftr~d forrr,? Issl~es irr t h e f3evs Bullet-ins should tr; arrived &-tJ k ~ e r l i t ~ i r i view the relative impc)rta>~>e and signifir>car~ce of e s ~ k ~ vis-a-vis tt14 needs r_:f t h e &dienr;e in various parts of the country.

%ere s t i ~ : - ~ ? d be a greater role for pecr;lle fro::; other walks of life have a sey i n t h e decision-making bodies of t h e Euvernmer~t ~ f ~ d i a so t h s t a broader pool of tslerit- could be tzpped.

* M x ~ r e sknt.:-:;t-f-ory payer rzrust. be invest& k;~Aies like khe Press ::~:-qrtci 1 of f r;di r s ~ : t k ~ & ~ ?:.hey can cff ectivaly cerisure

1" :istir::nal 1 - -kie Press t7uL::-;ci?. s h o ? ~ l d have offis;:es ail L X V ~ L ' Iildia scz .t.kr.rt. it car! OPE--8t.e more effectively Or1 the national scene.

-* There is slsc~ a great-er a e d for co-o~eration betweea the Engl is11 = g press m1d t-he **.srrraculsr presses sr; that i a n ~ v a - t i c t n s i r l each of -k-hen aan he ri;ut~.~all:f benef i c z i a l .

Srhc~uis I:)£ j12urnal ism :should be involved i n fora pronot. ing r l . f t t i orJal I-tKj ieJ* .L% :-.,>, *-#-* .-.ugh luedls wit-:-, t.t,h eai c:f yc-rsuadinq( !r-!lein BCI i t~cf l;tla a i-l;lrnr.lonetit- c:f t h i s n a t u r e i r i their- courses. Represeni:.at;iues cf i,-kllt. yerriar.ular. press s k ~ o u f d be r:trire oft-en i n v i t e _ t i1.u f~:xra 1 ike t ,his .

m :L' 1k19re grat.e~; ~r_l~er.se f . ~ i n i t i a t i v e s ~riade by lesser krI,:jwtl r,.c~pfe i+s;,eciall;. ir, rural India towaxis pr~'m'ot-io~i r:~f

r ~ a t.icnal uu l.t:-. ;

E l i T - 1 M i f a : Since i t is ur~ivr?r.c;allr tzl:kcirr3izledgrxI t h a t f o l k media such as Yekshagans, Street Then t-re, Pg.~ppet.r-y, e*;f_:, are i attended by a rural ycp.ilat,iorrs, 1 effllrrti. ~~~1st- be rnade in the direction of cf-13 1 trtlvra t i clr~ e . Lh era . z ~ d h e rfla3rn uiesris of 2 : : ~ : i i i ~ J 1 : mix-e effectively conscientize t h e rural Inasses or1 t h i s i s sue . There is %?SO .the possibility of us ing pritlf-. aerlia fu rus like House J o u r n s l s c4.f v a r i o u s indust-rial Iri1l.tses -kc ;uur-t= e lf ec t , ive?y pr-fise~~t, issues pr-ziat..ing :'~at,i orif;? 1-in i t.22 -

h :=.;> ttls who?? it is fel$ i~k~st. arl open-rfiirlded at;ti.t-?jde to various . . . . r.Jrr,ss l b l i rt. ies of deplo::irrg tiurna.~1 potential bctt.k cc:nventisnal &rid n~:ln-r~c:r iv~~t- ic:r~&l~ forrrral arid r;cq-~-fc:rmel. is impclrtant. basis fr;r Zriy pri-gres~ i n i;he d i ~ e r : ~ i n r ; cf prg~c;t..itlg rizt . . i~t-lr;? u n i k ? + b - - - - . b . f l " v r l L I-..-<E) 11

t i if? 3@3i&.

THE ROLE 13 GOVERNMENT POLICIES IN PRDf3f)TING MATIOI4AL UNITY

Ttlr Grr~up %a3 ap~rekler~si-r'e of p c ~ w e r uf +.he G ~ J Y ~ R J z ~ Z I ~ - p i : r>n t.he maos m e x i i s t-c. bring & J Q U ~ nat.imal u n i t y . They c m only play :: l i m i t - t d r u l e as - t h e r e are several at-her icrkor:ta:it fsr:tc:rs t-hst ue-1 t:> k:e tdLea aci;fpant of.

.. The !ar.oup r-snliued I..-hat. in t-kle ccmplex sit11at.im in our . t-he :-ei-r:~w~iandat,it:t;i:.; sl.~st,:f d kxe i n t.he context of t he i.lr.ttse~d.. 2 Scezie ar~d tzf SQ i r i c o n t e x t of t h e i m n ~ i n z i t flri*jit.is.a-I:-it:yfI sitf brcarjcast;-ing media.

Govrr-sruretlt; Prxl i I: i es srt. uoi; expL i tit l y st.ftt;erf thmgf.1 rriariy of t-he drltcumetlk-s like il-y~yr P l a r s argue f ~ r t;!-~e import-mt r o l e of the m~3iait1 D.-.uel~pr;!e~lt Coviurl lcat-i~rr~s :

Thy Orcv-tp diucuusg1 nmzy asper>i:.s ~f rigf,j~:~k1gf life i n re fs t - ion t:: t-11s yues i--i uu ctf :_ZU it-y ~ r ; d made t.Ge frill o.g.ir;g reconmrer~dat. i C J ~ I S :

* Tkle Goverrluent. shtjufd m&a its policies known t r ~ the p u b l i c . Pc~l i cy rlr,.tu;uerit-s x ,d Cr_:gmii.t;-t-ee P,eg:c,rt.s should te r:~sde eas i ly avai f ztr~le.

* Tile Gz.o:-~y k~efie*;f;d that. rlat, i~:~al uniey sho?-:?d. be pr.oxic:ted rigtit- f schosl age. As Y p ~ l i 1 3 j ' ckildrsr~ need ti, be t a u g h t !:XI respect Matiorlsl F l a g arrd urrderstflrrd t-he signif i ctarice i~f t.heir t.tatic:xz? Syml-si,l. They need to be eficouraged to skudy tlie c u l t - ~ ~ r e of ot-krer r e g i ~ n s , x ~ d st&-8s.

At . i - . e~pt , s sh~-~,-tlr_! I : Y ~ mz13e to m a k e spsc:e f o r pr:xrsn;;ites for the ;;si-.ir-~zlrcl rr&.wr:xr-k rsf AIR Dcsc:rdarshsn in Indian languages in zrJdit_.iafi i t i . R1~s-p ,,,, . - prt:tgrammss shou1rA be s u b - t i t l e d OI? &.,zltY€?.td . .m l:le - Hirrdi a=; l.srig:.~&e rjf ~~~~~~~icaticm, for . - . , ~2.t1~2:-~f 15 ~ \ a t . i ~ ~ s l z l i ~ d SO as til faci l i t h k 9 C ~ S Y :--~~;r;pr-rf 1~1~:; i r _ q ~ by L.t.1~ :ua J or- i.t,r of -t.he peep? e .

... Frvnsls Lir-ttl ~f i-c>urisle wit-tlin ttte o~ur1t;ry for the less a f f l u e n t .c.e&netli-..~ r j f t.tle ;jop~lai:.i rl,n st1otild be proruc~~& 3s Y ctatter of F i w Irlt.er-stdate sports and , ct.;ltural events shsuf d be e i~c~ur-age i t . These sbcluld be derig'r~d t-o erlak~ls ?az-ticiprnts 1.o under?; t.asd t*he different- culi ;urcs r:if t-he count.rr.

The Gr,uuil expressed its crx-icemi pit- +...t.ie di.vergence bet-ween pf-#lip:. zwl a - in the rise of rnedia for na t iona l i . Care should be exercised iu the use of cmisurusr- s!:.y-,Le adyert,isitig f o r -tI~c p r o m ~ t i c ~ r ~ nf nat..ionsl unit.;..

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iui Sridfisr f aAuras ini A s Y - ~ z - ~ T I :s ll a &ii,-:y

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