New Media and Ethical Disconnect – Trends in India
ISSN: 2223-9553
Academic Research International
Volume 1, Issue 3, November 2011
NEW MEDIA AND ETHICAL DISCONNECT – TRENDS IN INDIA
Dr.B.K.Ravi
Associate Professor,
Department of Communication
Bangalore University, Bangalore,
INDIA
bkravibu@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
After the concept of global village, the New Media is gradually emerging as a reckoning force in
India with multi-dimensional effects gesturing towards formation of a neo-culture and also affecting many prominent existing values and virtues of the populace.
The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of New Media on the ethical practices and lifestyles of people in India, hence upon the culture, as against pro-active participation of the democratic citizenry in social, economic and political strata. Moreover, the presence of New
Media has forced all other mass media to redefine their priorities of functioning, giving rise to metamorphic syndrome for their own survival resulting in information explosion and information pollution. They are groping to find their place in the Convergence era.
The study approaches the problem through methodology of exploratory type supported by case studies and analysis. The significance of this study lies in identifying the avenues for judicious and balanced use of the New Media devoid of its harmful effects. The study also intends to measure the penetration, impact and the adverse effects of New Media on the large rural populace making them Out-of-Reach from the mainstream. The objectives include finding alternatives in modes of communication including media education that can build self-sufficient and healthy society; exploring the potential of existing cyber-laws in protecting the social fabric in Indian situation.
Inferences, conclusions and recommendations are drawn out of the findings of the study.
Key words: Metamorphic syndrome, information explosion, information pollution, Out-of-Reach, social fabric
INTRODUCTION
India, one of the largest democracies in the world is an epitome of cultural embodiment embedded with moral values and coupled with the strength of abundant human resource as well as biodiversity.
Media in India has experienced a lot to gain value amidst the complex society.
Mass Media activities have been commendable at any point of time of history in informing, educating or entertaining the people all over the world. Every media have had their share of effects on the society and has been responsible in their own way for changes in socio-economic and cultural aspects.
At the same time, when these mass media are viewed individually for their performances and effects, it is found that the birth of any other new mass media is a result of overcoming the shortcomings sighted in the earlier ones. Therefore it calls for the need to recognize the possibility of a plurality of mass media- high, intermediate and low, - co-existing and amenable for application to different sectors of economy and society. It needs to be recognized that all mass media are appropriate, contextually.
Endorsing technological pluralism1 is an important challenge of the twenty-first century.
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Early Media growth: It can be declaratively stated that the story of progress of Indian media has been by and large of an unsystematic growth. The reasons are many. When the existing social condition of majority of the Indians is highly imbalanced, and in the situation the mass media enters and tries to play a role, it will have disastrous effects than taking developmental mode.
It was the scene when the Indian society suffered with lack of scientific knowledge, social inequality, blind beliefs and people in their own paradise that the mass media put its pug mark on the soil. It soon led to an unbalanced situation scientifically. In the name of mass media activity, technology was imposed on this dark society. At the time only a minority was exposed to read and write. More or less, it continues to be so even now.
In its old ideology, Indian print media and the cinema had played a crucial role towards the goal of securing independence, both for the nation. Then the democratic dictums guided the media activities towards an inter-wound, interrelating savouring of fruits borne out of such a functioning. The old facets of media activities showed honest signs of commitment to the profession, people and governance alike. But soon, as other media like the television start posing severe competition to its predecessors, media was forced to commercialise and go beyond the mere profession and its main aim as making profit. In this spree, it started throwing all its social responsibilities to the wind.
As the media security situation was out of comfort zone, there was initial resistance by the people as well as the governance in the acceptance of commercialisation of media. It is reflected in the settling time that the electronic media in India took to make a take-off. Indian media was until the end of 20th century was seen by the media in the developed world as a passive, non-contributing player amidst the mighty tycoons and major players. Adding to this, monopoly by the respective elected governments made the electronic media stifle and frigid in its functioning. However, when the major economies of the world are studied, it points towards the growing and enhanced importance of E&M among the emerging powered economies, the BRIC nations, India being one of them.
Table 1. Indian Media Segments
[CAGR – Cummulative Average Growth Rate]
2008
2013
Per cent
Segment
($ billions) ($ billions)
CAGR
Television
4.81
9.45
14.5 per cent
Print
3.45
5.32
9.0 per cent
Film
2.18
3.37
9.1 per cent
Animation
0.35
0.79
17.8 per cent
OOH
0.32
0.59
12.8 per cent
Gaming
0.13
0.55
33.3 per cent
Internet
0.12
0.43
27.9 per cent
Radio
0.16
0.33
14.2 per cent
Music
0.14
0.21
8 per cent
(Source: KPMG-FICCI Report)
Table 2. Growth of Indian E&M Industry
Year
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Size ($ billions)
8.9
10.4
11.68
12.56
13.94
15.82
18.22
21.04
Per cent Growth
15.28 Per cent
16.85 Per cent
12.31 Per cent
7.53 Per cent
10.89 Per cent
13.49 Per cent
15.17 Per cent
15.45 Per cent
CAGR for 2009-13: 12.5 Per cent (Source: KPMG-FICCI Report)
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It is proved that the media today has its trident powers such as its ability to make people imitate, moulding public opinion and setting agenda for next generation. Media, out of such potentialities underwent a transformation to sustain itself amidst the onslaughts of constantly constructed shackles by different forms of governance by various sceptic iron-fisted groups and cliques. Soon, it found its own centre-stage by undergoing a metamorphosis2 through the blending of its various forms firmly holding to its committed convictions to play a crucial role, particularly in democratic set ups. One such outcome of such a transformation is the emergence of the New Media, soon rechristened as digital media, posing the challenge of finding meaning to the technological pluralism in media sector.
In a factually quazi-realisation of global village, the New Media is gradually emerging as a reckoning force in India. Due to the radical changes in technological adaptations, the New Media has become both a boon and a curse in the argument of emancipation of the society. Many studies reveal facts on its usage, which is continuing to expand rapidly, with thousands of systems adopting New Media standards every year. According to Arvind Singhal and Everett Rogers (2001) “No other nation like India provides a better example of the role of the new communication media in the development, process through which a country moves from being an agriculture-based economy towards becoming an information society”. Computer mediated communication systems constitute an entirely new form of media called
“collaborative mass media’ which mix elements of one-to-many information flow and many-to-many cooperative dialogue. The new media technologies include the Internet, multi-media, portals, mobile phones, gaming & animation and many others. It is the New Media that has given rise to multidimensional effects gesturing towards formation of a neo-culture and also affecting many prominent existing values and virtues of the populace. The New Media is essentially an amalgamation of most media forms existing anywhere in the world today. It is a roaring example for the democratization of publishing as well as distribution. It is an all digitized for by presentation but very conventional in message rendering. It is the incarnation of the Convergence era. The multimedia injection into the new media technologies makes it give full variety. For the deaf among the differently-abled consumer, the new media is more than a boon.
A virtue of the New Media is in its ‘archives’ content, that can be instantly accessed by the information needy, hence giving the seeker a sense of security. Though it is old information that the seeker avails, it gives a sense to every user that the media is of his/her own time, thus asynchronous nature vanishes. The New Media is highly interactive.
New Media has the potential to be a good mediator between the governors and the governed. There are numerous instances of it being a help to better the local self governance.
Yes, there are limitations like the espionage, wiki-leaks, etc. But traditional newspapers also favours political biases (paid news) and its credibility is becoming low day by day, while the trust of information on New Media is on the rise. Even government websites are on and rising.
Maturing Media Audience
There has been a confirmed increase in the maturity levels of media audience in terms of consuming, participating and even criticising aspects. Broadening of perspectives about different societies among people of particular nations to understand the intricacies of internationalization aspect is not only inevitable but also necessary and essential for post modern world affairs.
The media professionals seeking jobs in different media enterprises cutting across the globe, breaking the national barriers verily paves way for initiation of broadening of perspectives. Just like
International Cricket- Test/1-Day/20-20, any mode of entertainment platforms enjoining media
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activities anywhere in the world supports for the pan-national mixing of people thus catering to the perspectives of internationalization.
Table 3. Usage of Internet access in India
Purpose of Internet Access
E-mail
General Information Search
Educational Information Search
Text Chat
Online Gaming
Online Jobsites
Financial Information Search
Book railway tickets on the Internet
Online banking
Online news
Internet Telephony / video chat / Voice chat
%
91%
76%
49%
46%
41%
37%
21%
21%
20%
13%
13%
(Source: I-cube 2008, IAMAI)
Table 4-a. Global E&M Internet Market by Segment (US$ Millions)
Segment
2008
2009
2010p
2011f
2012f
2013f
Internet Access: Wired and Mobile
214,601
226,221
238,450
262,360
296,387
CAGR
333,628
% change
Internet Advertising”
Wired and Mobile
% change
2011-13
11.08%
12.7%
5.4%
5.4%
10.0%
13.0%
12.6%
59,873
58,717
60,241
65,654
74,972
86,728
12.9%
15.6%
-1.9%
2.6%
9.0%
14.2%
15.7%
(Source: KPMG-FICCI Report)
Table 4-b. Projected growth of the Indian Animation and Gaming Industry 2009-13
Rs. Billion
2008
2009
2010
2011f
2012f
2013f
Mobile Gaming
2.5
3.0
4.5
6.0
10.1
12.1
% change
67.6%
19.3%
51.5%
33.0%
66.4%
20.2%
Animation Industry
15.6
18.5
23.0
27.6
33.6
42.5
% change
20%
18.6%
24.3%
20.0%
21.7%
CAGR
26.5%
2011-13
39.86%
22.2%
(Source: KPMG-FICCI Report)
The scope of this study is to explore the effects of New Media on the ethical practices and life-styles of people in India, hence upon the culture, as against pro-active participation of the democratic citizenry in social, economic and political strata.
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The objectives include looking for areas of ethical disconnect in New Media practices.
Significance of the study lies in ensuring the parallels among the modes of communication including media education explored, so that it can build a self-sufficient and healthy society. The study also strives to identify the avenues for judicious and balanced use of the New Media devoid of its harmful effects. This theoretical study adopts an explorative type of methodology supported with instances and examples drawn from among the new media practices in the complex cultural context of India.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Using the New Media technologies calls for redefining the theories of communication wherein even an individual is able to manage a whole communication process like production of a newspaper or a complete programme on electronic media. Earlier one slot of a production or programme meant the involvement of a lot of people along with the associated bulky machinery. Convergence has changed all this. While individual use such media technologies, there are bound to be positive and negative effects both on the communicator and the society. It is to note that the communicator is also a receiver in the Convergence era. Liberation of media is an outcome of such an exercise. Today, the coinage is not mere ‘media audience’ but ‘media consumer’. Such a consumer loudly ensures the likes and dislikes of content on the media inherently because of the variety that goes into it.
Neo-culture, both boon and a bane
Information pouring on to an individual through New Media is affecting his thoughts and is bearing on lifestyle, even competing with TV’s power to occupy human minds. For the generation today, New
Media has become the manna dropped from the heaven. For today’s teens and the early youth, forming a neo-culture means getting themselves isolated from the family. Neo-culture is equated to be devoid of social contact, subscribing to the theory of isolation. Only the ‘neo-media’ is seen as a solution, the guide, the panacea for everything.
It is an unduly heavy dependence on new media. It is so acute, that any technological disturbance of the new media will collapse the whole life-style of an individual, unlike earlier. This has made an individual depend on technology more and more. Reading habits, group chatting habits, participating in religious rites, marriages, birthdays or social gatherings are gradually disappearing. Individuals limit themselves to some unusual contacts and the whole communication is happening through technology. The thoughts, behaviour, thinking and priorities are being decided by technology, not the homo-sapiens. Impact of media on society or community earlier was pragmatic. Convergence has brought in that change to within fraction of minutes. A new culture exposed in Chicago or London is immediately imitated in any other urban centre of any other nation. Social life is fast getting shattered. Family atmosphere is fast disappearing; parent-children relationships are diminishing. Questions about credibility of parents are arising, not merely among societal members but in legal quarters, Eg:Arushi’s Murder Case in India.
Unethical facets
Many sociological studies have revealed the effects of any facilities, controlled or otherwise, provided to sections of societies.
Facility with a rider3:- The rider could be in the form of a proper law or frequency of usage and so on.
On such a control, the facility will always be consumed very carefully and according to the essentiality demands. Giving anything that people want is after people are prepared to receive it. Technology can be invited into a society only after an optimum literacy, sufficient social equality and other
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sociological needs already exist. Common man is far from comprehending the nuances of powers of technology and its repercussions of use.
The ideal steps of exposure to a society for sustained utility of a technology are as follows:> 1. Innocence in the society about a facility
> 2. Availability of the information connected with the facility
> 3. Exposure to the facility among the prepared perceivers
> 4. Experiment through the experienced on the masses
> 5. Get prepared for the eventuality arising out of the implementations
Facility without a rider:- Getting most things free is a curse in a developing situation. It encourages unethical practices in society. In India, the existing social evils have not yet created a matured and understandable society, except perhaps some sections of decision making members of the society. In such circumstances, easy access and exposure of information leads to many sorts of unethical practices. People are not in a position to analyse the after effects of the exposure. Curiosity attracts technology which leads to frustration. Promiscuity of misuse and abuse also increases. The users get away scot-free on a wrong doing. In the absence of regulation and control, a boon becomes a curse.
Then, using New Media for propaganda and hyper-campaigns becomes common place. The tools of technology get into the hands of misanthropic elements like terrorists, separatists and fundamentalists.
In fact, most technology enters India when no planners, no technical experts are instituted to receive them. Hence, even no positive communication exercises result out of such an entry.
Moreover, the presence of New Media has forced all other mass media to redefine their priorities of functioning. In the traditional media houses, there is disappearance of a concept called deadline. The functioning of new media is without a deadline. So, it is also redefining the deadline of conventional print. New Media has forced the changes in speed of dispatch and the concept of reach of any other media. Pages of print are changing too often today, unconventional to the editorial policy. Even 24/7
TV channels are juggling with their content with changed slots because New Media gives an enhanced exposure to the consumers 24x7 and worldwide. Today a radio or a TV can’t repeat programs and hence strive to give fresh inputs. New Media has given freedom to watch a movie at one’s will and wish, then and there. Conventional movie going is strenuous compared to this. So, New Media is indirectly helping growth and sustenance of all other media through competition based on its own unique features. Hence, the need for all other media to change their priorities, concepts, presentation, language, style, etc.
New Media is giving rise to metamorphic syndrome for their own survival resulting in information explosion and information pollution. They are groping to find their place in the Convergence era.
Much trivia has set in through content whether wanted by target of audience or not and just for the heck of it. Content is produced regardless of a message merely because techniques of production are trained and available; intended messages or fruitful communication is no longer important; New
Media is becoming a dump yard; pollution ridden. In every instance and cases mentioned, a huge disconnect is evident and it is apparent that the gap is due to the deviation in ethical approach in the practices of New Media.
The theory of Out-Of-Reach
Any communication process will be complete only when there is comprehensive feedback. The reach of the message to the target audience is very important. There are three types of targetsJurisdictional reach i.e., by geography such as rural or urban or a region;
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Reach for a particular community;
Reach to an individual with a specific purpose.
Most communicators misinterpret the reach as jurisdictional reach as against a targeted person or community. In jurisdictional reach it would amount to purely one-way communication. In such one– way communication, credit can be given only to the communicator, who even does not digest the message, merely processes it and throws it to the audience. The information explosion in the media has forced to formulate an important theory called OOR, meaning Out-Of-Reach.
Example of a Web page: By the time a page is opened, the number of advertisements, insertions, colour photos, scrolls, flashes, animations, etc. will see to it that the user forgets the original message.
Similarly, on the 24-hour news channels, no one is in a position to watch the moving scroll news of all kinds, on the left another icon, on the right, an animated interruption and so on. All these make any consumer go OOR of the intended message. Most of the time, even the Cognitive Dissonance4 theory may contribute to the potentials of the OOR theory.
When the penetration, impact and the adverse effects of New Media on the large rural populace is explored, it is clear that there is no reach for the villagers to these Media, thus making them Out-ofReach from the mainstream. As on now, even the marginalized groups belong to the OOR category.
Government’s intentions could be honest, however, at the planning and implementation levels, most failures occur. For instance in the purchase of an equipment, the procurement of hardware seems successful from the stage of purchasing the imported gadgets to the stage of installing them in community centres, schools , etc. But managing the gadgets, lack of supportive factors like power supply, maintenance, fixing responsibility are simply missing; they then become mere dry boxes without use; so the OOR syndrome in a developmental process. A case hereunder throws light on the fate of things in schemes and projects mooted by administration and governance. Basically, the
Secretariat frames a policy; the Directorates direct the grassroots to implement it down line.
The Case: Teaching supports audio-visual mode in high schools. The Directorate distributes the gadgets; TV sets cannot function due to lack of availability of power. Details of TV sets are entered in stock registers, only to see the set destroyed in due course. In the absence of electricity, the sets become showpiece equipment, without serving the purpose.
The Verdict: Policies are framed in the air conditioned rooms without the knowledge of ground realities. Who should be blamed? The ignorant policy making body? The Departments? Government?
Coordination? Such questions remain unanswered.
There is absolute need of the role of New Media in any project. It could be any project like a road, public works, construction of dams, sprinkler irrigation, cattle and sheep rearing, fisheries, dairy development, horticulture, floriculture, small and medium industries, social welfare, etc. But if the result is like the case mentioned above, not just New Media but no media can help. According to a survey, only 17 paise reaches the grass-root out of the sanctioned one rupee [INR] in any sort of project. There could be various reasons for the failure of a particular programme– an elite administrative class being indifferent to the programme which is beneficial to the poorer class, people themselves being recalcitrant and apathetic, bureaucratic entanglements and lack of resilience in the society in general are some of the tangible bottlenecks in the process of implementation of welfare schemes. Proper publicity is also a missing element in making utility rate higher.
Modern political analysis is “who gets what, when and how”. In this power bargaining, those who go along with the people seem to be successful. It has also been a method of statecraft to appease the public in understanding them. It is an accepted democratic device to function efficiently and effectively. It should go beyond nepotism and caste-based approaches, a big drawback in caste ridden and hierarchical societies like that of India. In this milieu, the New Media becomes is a static entity
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with respect to the dynamics of information flow amidst the social functioning, thereby making it redundant. However, in this context, when the New Media becomes aggressive in convincing the society of its stay and utility, it rubs on the wrong end to cause more harm and less good.
Media education means exploiting media for positive purposes by the society, for the society. Through
New Media, there is high tendency of languages getting corrupt. There is dire necessity to redefine new usages through proper education on SMS standards, use of e-mail emoticons and so on. The market forces operating on the New Media, due to profit motives tend to corrupt the minds of the users making them prone to obscenity. To this end, at the social level, the governance should evolve legislation for strict implementation of sex–education at the right identified age, soon followed by exploring the potential of existing cyber-laws in protecting the social fabric in the contemporary
Indian situation. Efforts should also be to strengthen and redraft cyber laws, compiling of the precedences and the frequency of occurrences of wrong-doings, promulgating of a strict implementation authority. Common man should be educated strongly on cyber laws. There should not be any hesitation to borrow such laws from proper international situations. To counteract the wrong effects of New Media on cultural incompatibility, the society should emphatically rely on instilling folk media to disseminate progressive and productive messages.
INFERENCES & CONCLUSIONS
In 21st century, the proportion of media content including that of New Media is predominantly of entertainment. Such a lopsided content generation has made it detrimental to the catering of different ethos of various communities, the populace, marginalised groups, socially downtrodden and so on.
Media is fast forgetting its primary function of ‘educating’ the masses.
In the ephemeral global village, media finds that values and ethics are not of primary concern to the ambitious society. New Media has contributed to a new culture among the members of society where the native culture, language or life style is seeing a drastic change. Shift from a culture in vogue to a stranger one has been too sudden and jolting. The challenge to mass media practices is to restore the moral values and the tradition of most societies. The distorting or dismantling of any culture leads to a much expected disaster in terms of socio-ethnic in-fights, all for which the next generations will have to suffer.
While the practices and content of any media, including the New Media is too homogenous and devoid of any variety and diversity, for example monolingual influences through English with usages like ‘Techie’, ‘Glocalization’, ‘McDonaldism’, ‘Americanization’, etc. It is also instilling the values and characteristics of monoculture in the society. The earlier theory of media regarding the constitution of the target audience and reach of the message are simply forgotten.
Too much emphasis is on mere practice of industrial aspects of media and very less concentration on media education, media literacy or media awareness exercises which are the basic components of communication research. The New Media practitioners less believe in the R&D outputs and rely unduly on precedents and case to case basis. The emergence of such media centres and media hubs, the competition among media is ending in information pollution and information explosion, where the contribution of New Media is excessive. The whole process of communication in making the message lost in the din and the noise is simply apparent. Hence, the very objective of communication process is getting blurred.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Judicious Usage
Top down: There is an obvious and urgent need to strengthen the cyber laws, make it comprehensive and address the oncoming technologies. Regulation, not control should be the dictum. Regulation is a positive exercise of keeping check on rampant usage of technology while ‘control’ is a negative exercise of it. In social-psychology, the more the control, the more is the resistance and violation.
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Through awareness campaigns about the laws, it is possible to mitigate unethical hacking, blackmailing through SMS or MMS, check naughty mails and keep in abeyance the commercial mails.
Bottom up: Such exercises include educating people of the pros and cons through anecdotes, movies and propaganda; tell about the positive usages; keep people informed on the impact of New Media and utilization for development into a healthy society. New Media has the onus of contributing to eradicate social evils prevailing in the sub-continent. New Media should be utilized in guiding people for maintaining health, environment and prosper. All this can be achieved only if New Media is inevitably and compulsorily introduced in formal education levels. It is to remember that ‘Awareness is the key’.
To this end, high amount of quality training, workshops, seminars, conferences and such other academic design of activities should be taken up on war footing.
Because of the numerous varieties of languages and dialects form the mother tongue as well as transactional communication of Indians, large sections of people in India are not able to work on the internet which is predominantly monolingual and that being English, a foreign language, sometimes even alien to most of them. This forms a major limitation for New Media. Also, fear of gadgetries is all prevalent in remote pockets of India.
The lower strata in the society are simply not well versed with New Media. There is urgent need to build softwares to make it compatible to Indian languages and dialects. Technology and mother tongue go together; whereas technology and foreign language do not.
India has decentralised units with the Panchayat Raj System and so it is easy to convince for usage right from Gram-Panchayat [village administration] to Jilla Panchayat [district administration].
Thus the steps of expanding utility – Usage, Ethics, Law and Convergence in that order -
Usage
-
Ethics
Law
Convergence
may help people to utilise the facility optimally and meaningfully. Negative usages may also be curbed to some extent once such compatibilities are achieved.
Epilogue
The emergence of New Media has brought about a lot of change, especially the content, style and impact of the mass media. Its role in the socio-economic, cultural and educational conditions of any nation cannot be ruled out. But unfortunately, the system that has accepted the New Media is not well equipped to face some of the negative influences of the New Media. The challenge is that the code of ethics, the laws and the related authorities are very less prepared to face a change of this kind. Hence, there is a necessity, especially in almost all developing countries to have a strategy by all concerned regarding accepting a new technology or a new phenomenon only after equipping with core and peripheral groundwork like the laws, awareness, utility, etiquettes and mannerisms, etc, with a foresight that it should not damage the fabric of a multi-cultural society, more so in a democratic set up of a large kind like India. The approval of legislations in democratic set ups take a long time and by the time it is enforced, a host of technology would have gushed in and a redundant exercise of an entire round of the same process has to be deliberated upon, sickening the system and leading to utter confusion. In this background still the trends in India point towards a deep ethical disconnect with respect to the New Media practices and prospects.
---x---
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End Notes
1. Technological pluralism is a concept which is a challenge of Convergence of Media and has its impact on society.
2. ‘Metamorphosis’ of media is the transformation of media due to the invasion from the skies.
3. Rider is a convenience or a provided facility with a condition, eg:- Law, social norm
4. Cognitive Dissonance is a renowned classical theory under Psychology extensively applicable to communication processes.
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Rao, Madan Mohan e. (2003). News media and New media; the Asia Pacific Internet Handbook,
Singapore: Eastern University Press, episode–V
Shamsi, Nayyar, J.C (2005). Journalism: Codes and Ethics, New Delhi: Anmol.
Sharma, Chaturvedi (1998). The Future of Mass Communication, New Delhi: Radha Publishers.
Silverstone, Roger (2007). Media and Morality: On the Rise of Mediapolis, Cambridge: Polity Press
Singhal, Arvind, Rogers, M. Everett (2002). India’s Communication Revolution – from bullock carts to cyber marts, New Delhi: Sage.
Wilkins, Lee (2009). The Handbook of Mass Media Ethics, New York: Routledge Press
Williams, Frederick, Gibson, David V e. (1996). Technology Transfer: A Communication Perspective,
New Delhi: Sage.
Wilson, Rebecca A (1997). Students’ use of the Internet for Course-related Research: Factors which account for use or non-use, Pennsylvania, The Penn. State University.
Visited Web sites / links•
ala.org/alaorg/oif/filt_ref.html, (for libraries)
•
ecommercetimes.com (newsletter for e-commerce marketing)
•
homenet.hcii.cs.cmu.edu/progress/purpose.html (on Why people Use the Internet)
•
http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Global_Communication_Reaches
•
http://www.learnthenet.com
•
lone-eagles.com/guide.html, (on utility in University education)
•
songline.com/teachers/, (for teachers)
•
www.thehoot.org, Dec. 2010
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Author’s brief profile
Dr. B.K.Ravi, M.A., M.S., Ph.D., is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Studies in
Communication, Bangalore University, P.K. Block, Palace Road, Bangalore-560 009, India. He has more than two decades of teaching and research experience.
He had a five year stint as journalist with the regional vernacular daily ‘Prajavani’. His specialized areas include journalism, film appreciation, electronic media, public relations and industrial communication, traditional folk media for rural communication, magazine production, communication skills, political communication and international communication. He has presented nearly 20 papers and attended several more including ten international conferences inland and overseas such as in USA,
Poland, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Kenya, Qatar and Thailand.
He has held many positions as chairman/ member/ Secretary/ Trustee, etc. of several commissions or committees in active or advisory capacities. He was nominated for two terms as Member, Karnataka
State Commission for Backward Classes, Govt. of Karnataka.
He is currently the Editor-in-chief of Indian Journal of Media Studies. He has been nominated for several Central Govt., State Govt., University level, academic and administrative bodies. He has received five Awards from recognized bodies including Chanakya award for best teaching faculty from Public Relations Council of India. He has produced more than 20 programmes for TV and nearly
20 productions for radio, besides 30 talks on radio. He has nearly 20 books and articles published in different national and international journals, worked in film productions, conducted research studies and training courses. He was also on five committees of media relations.
Currently he is the Executive President of Karnataka State Backward Classes, Dalits and Minorities
Federation, striving for the welfare of the downtrodden. He is also working on several projects including e-content production for Education Television NME-ICT, Govt. of India and EMMRC,
University of Mysore and also a Major Research Project on ‘Role of Television in Rural
Development’ granted by UGC.
He is the founder President of the Karnataka State Journalism & Communication Teachers’
Association, Bangalore. He is also the member of AMIC- international.
Ph: +91-80-23201938; +91-80-22961992; e-mail: bkravibu@gmail.com
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References: Alia, Valerie (2004). Media Ethics and Social Change, New York: Routledge Press Bugeja, Michael J (2007) Craig, Alan (1998). Adoption, Diffusion and optimal uses of computer technologies for instruction in higher education: A case study, The University Of Dayton. Iyer, Venkat (2002). Media Ethics in Asia: Addressing the Dilemmas in the Information Age. Kaminer, Noam (1997). Internet Use and Scholars’ Productivity, Berkeley: University Of California. Keeble, Richard e. (2008). Communication Ethics Now, Leicester: Troubador Publishing Ltd. Lumby, Catharine, Probyn, Elspeth (2003). Remote Control: New Media, New Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Manonmani (1997). Communication and Culture, New Delhi: Galgotia. McQuail, Denis (2005). McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory, New Delhi: Vistaar. Na-Songkhla, Jaitip (1997). Utilization of the Internet in selected Thailand Universities: Attitudes of Academic Users, School: Northern Illinois University (0162) Degree: EDD; International Publication Abstract, pp: 218 Neelamalar, M (2010) Oommen, T.K. (Dr.) (1999). Social Challenges of the 21st Century, New Delhi: Manorama Year Book 2000. Patterson, Philip, Wilkins Lee (2010). Media Ethics Issues and Cases, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. Pavlik, John.V (1998). New Media Technology- Cultural and Commercial Perspectives Massachusetts, USA: Allyn & Bacon. Plaisance, Patrick Lee (2008). Media Ethics: Key Principles for Responsible Practices, New Delhi: Sage. Ramanathan, Sankaran, Becker, Jorg (2001). Internet in Asia, Singapore: Asian Media and Information Communication Centre. Singapore: Eastern University Press, episode–V Shamsi, Nayyar, J.C (2005) Sharma, Chaturvedi (1998). The Future of Mass Communication, New Delhi: Radha Publishers. Silverstone, Roger (2007). Media and Morality: On the Rise of Mediapolis, Cambridge: Polity Press Singhal, Arvind, Rogers, M Wilkins, Lee (2009). The Handbook of Mass Media Ethics, New York: Routledge Press Williams, Frederick, Gibson, David V e Wilson, Rebecca A (1997). Students’ use of the Internet for Course-related Research: Factors which account for use or non-use, Pennsylvania, The Penn
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Volume 1, Issue 3, November 2011
NEW MEDIA AND ETHICAL DISCONNECT – TRENDS IN INDIA
Dr.B.K.Ravi
Associate Professor,
Department of Communication
Bangalore University, Bangalore,
INDIA
bkravibu@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
After the concept of global village, the New Media is gradually emerging as a reckoning force in
India with multi-dimensional effects gesturing towards formation of a neo-culture and also affecting many prominent existing values and virtues of the populace.
The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of New Media on the ethical practices and lifestyles of people in India, hence upon the culture, as against pro-active participation of the democratic citizenry in social, economic and political strata. Moreover, the presence of New
Media has forced all other mass media to redefine their priorities of functioning, giving rise to metamorphic syndrome for their own survival resulting in information explosion and information pollution. They are groping to find their place in the Convergence era.
The study approaches the problem through methodology of exploratory type supported by case studies and analysis. The significance of this study lies in identifying the avenues for judicious and balanced use of the New Media devoid of its harmful effects. The study also intends to measure the penetration, impact and the adverse effects of New Media on the large rural populace making them Out-of-Reach from the mainstream. The objectives include finding alternatives in modes of communication including media education that can build self-sufficient and healthy society; exploring the potential of existing cyber-laws in protecting the social fabric in Indian situation.
Inferences, conclusions and recommendations are drawn out of the findings of the study.
Key words: Metamorphic syndrome, information explosion, information pollution, Out-of-Reach, social fabric
INTRODUCTION
India, one of the largest democracies in the world is an epitome of cultural embodiment embedded with moral values and coupled with the strength of abundant human resource as well as biodiversity.
Media in India has experienced a lot to gain value amidst the complex society.
Mass Media activities have been commendable at any point of time of history in informing, educating or entertaining the people all over the world. Every media have had their share of effects on the society and has been responsible in their own way for changes in socio-economic and cultural aspects.
At the same time, when these mass media are viewed individually for their performances and effects, it is found that the birth of any other new mass media is a result of overcoming the shortcomings sighted in the earlier ones. Therefore it calls for the need to recognize the possibility of a plurality of mass media- high, intermediate and low, - co-existing and amenable for application to different sectors of economy and society. It needs to be recognized that all mass media are appropriate, contextually.
Endorsing technological pluralism1 is an important challenge of the twenty-first century.
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Early Media growth: It can be declaratively stated that the story of progress of Indian media has been by and large of an unsystematic growth. The reasons are many. When the existing social condition of majority of the Indians is highly imbalanced, and in the situation the mass media enters and tries to play a role, it will have disastrous effects than taking developmental mode.
It was the scene when the Indian society suffered with lack of scientific knowledge, social inequality, blind beliefs and people in their own paradise that the mass media put its pug mark on the soil. It soon led to an unbalanced situation scientifically. In the name of mass media activity, technology was imposed on this dark society. At the time only a minority was exposed to read and write. More or less, it continues to be so even now.
In its old ideology, Indian print media and the cinema had played a crucial role towards the goal of securing independence, both for the nation. Then the democratic dictums guided the media activities towards an inter-wound, interrelating savouring of fruits borne out of such a functioning. The old facets of media activities showed honest signs of commitment to the profession, people and governance alike. But soon, as other media like the television start posing severe competition to its predecessors, media was forced to commercialise and go beyond the mere profession and its main aim as making profit. In this spree, it started throwing all its social responsibilities to the wind.
As the media security situation was out of comfort zone, there was initial resistance by the people as well as the governance in the acceptance of commercialisation of media. It is reflected in the settling time that the electronic media in India took to make a take-off. Indian media was until the end of 20th century was seen by the media in the developed world as a passive, non-contributing player amidst the mighty tycoons and major players. Adding to this, monopoly by the respective elected governments made the electronic media stifle and frigid in its functioning. However, when the major economies of the world are studied, it points towards the growing and enhanced importance of E&M among the emerging powered economies, the BRIC nations, India being one of them.
Table 1. Indian Media Segments
[CAGR – Cummulative Average Growth Rate]
2008
2013
Per cent
Segment
($ billions) ($ billions)
CAGR
Television
4.81
9.45
14.5 per cent
3.45
5.32
9.0 per cent
Film
2.18
3.37
9.1 per cent
Animation
0.35
0.79
17.8 per cent
OOH
0.32
0.59
12.8 per cent
Gaming
0.13
0.55
33.3 per cent
Internet
0.12
0.43
27.9 per cent
Radio
0.16
0.33
14.2 per cent
Music
0.14
0.21
8 per cent
(Source: KPMG-FICCI Report)
Table 2. Growth of Indian E&M Industry
Year
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Size ($ billions)
8.9
10.4
11.68
12.56
13.94
15.82
18.22
21.04
Per cent Growth
15.28 Per cent
16.85 Per cent
12.31 Per cent
7.53 Per cent
10.89 Per cent
13.49 Per cent
15.17 Per cent
15.45 Per cent
CAGR for 2009-13: 12.5 Per cent (Source: KPMG-FICCI Report)
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It is proved that the media today has its trident powers such as its ability to make people imitate, moulding public opinion and setting agenda for next generation. Media, out of such potentialities underwent a transformation to sustain itself amidst the onslaughts of constantly constructed shackles by different forms of governance by various sceptic iron-fisted groups and cliques. Soon, it found its own centre-stage by undergoing a metamorphosis2 through the blending of its various forms firmly holding to its committed convictions to play a crucial role, particularly in democratic set ups. One such outcome of such a transformation is the emergence of the New Media, soon rechristened as digital media, posing the challenge of finding meaning to the technological pluralism in media sector.
In a factually quazi-realisation of global village, the New Media is gradually emerging as a reckoning force in India. Due to the radical changes in technological adaptations, the New Media has become both a boon and a curse in the argument of emancipation of the society. Many studies reveal facts on its usage, which is continuing to expand rapidly, with thousands of systems adopting New Media standards every year. According to Arvind Singhal and Everett Rogers (2001) “No other nation like India provides a better example of the role of the new communication media in the development, process through which a country moves from being an agriculture-based economy towards becoming an information society”. Computer mediated communication systems constitute an entirely new form of media called
“collaborative mass media’ which mix elements of one-to-many information flow and many-to-many cooperative dialogue. The new media technologies include the Internet, multi-media, portals, mobile phones, gaming & animation and many others. It is the New Media that has given rise to multidimensional effects gesturing towards formation of a neo-culture and also affecting many prominent existing values and virtues of the populace. The New Media is essentially an amalgamation of most media forms existing anywhere in the world today. It is a roaring example for the democratization of publishing as well as distribution. It is an all digitized for by presentation but very conventional in message rendering. It is the incarnation of the Convergence era. The multimedia injection into the new media technologies makes it give full variety. For the deaf among the differently-abled consumer, the new media is more than a boon.
A virtue of the New Media is in its ‘archives’ content, that can be instantly accessed by the information needy, hence giving the seeker a sense of security. Though it is old information that the seeker avails, it gives a sense to every user that the media is of his/her own time, thus asynchronous nature vanishes. The New Media is highly interactive.
New Media has the potential to be a good mediator between the governors and the governed. There are numerous instances of it being a help to better the local self governance.
Yes, there are limitations like the espionage, wiki-leaks, etc. But traditional newspapers also favours political biases (paid news) and its credibility is becoming low day by day, while the trust of information on New Media is on the rise. Even government websites are on and rising.
Maturing Media Audience
There has been a confirmed increase in the maturity levels of media audience in terms of consuming, participating and even criticising aspects. Broadening of perspectives about different societies among people of particular nations to understand the intricacies of internationalization aspect is not only inevitable but also necessary and essential for post modern world affairs.
The media professionals seeking jobs in different media enterprises cutting across the globe, breaking the national barriers verily paves way for initiation of broadening of perspectives. Just like
International Cricket- Test/1-Day/20-20, any mode of entertainment platforms enjoining media
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activities anywhere in the world supports for the pan-national mixing of people thus catering to the perspectives of internationalization.
Table 3. Usage of Internet access in India
Purpose of Internet Access
General Information Search
Educational Information Search
Text Chat
Online Gaming
Online Jobsites
Financial Information Search
Book railway tickets on the Internet
Online banking
Online news
Internet Telephony / video chat / Voice chat
%
91%
76%
49%
46%
41%
37%
21%
21%
20%
13%
13%
(Source: I-cube 2008, IAMAI)
Table 4-a. Global E&M Internet Market by Segment (US$ Millions)
Segment
2008
2009
2010p
2011f
2012f
2013f
Internet Access: Wired and Mobile
214,601
226,221
238,450
262,360
296,387
CAGR
333,628
% change
Internet Advertising”
Wired and Mobile
% change
2011-13
11.08%
12.7%
5.4%
5.4%
10.0%
13.0%
12.6%
59,873
58,717
60,241
65,654
74,972
86,728
12.9%
15.6%
-1.9%
2.6%
9.0%
14.2%
15.7%
(Source: KPMG-FICCI Report)
Table 4-b. Projected growth of the Indian Animation and Gaming Industry 2009-13
Rs. Billion
2008
2009
2010
2011f
2012f
2013f
Mobile Gaming
2.5
3.0
4.5
6.0
10.1
12.1
% change
67.6%
19.3%
51.5%
33.0%
66.4%
20.2%
Animation Industry
15.6
18.5
23.0
27.6
33.6
42.5
% change
20%
18.6%
24.3%
20.0%
21.7%
CAGR
26.5%
2011-13
39.86%
22.2%
(Source: KPMG-FICCI Report)
The scope of this study is to explore the effects of New Media on the ethical practices and life-styles of people in India, hence upon the culture, as against pro-active participation of the democratic citizenry in social, economic and political strata.
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The objectives include looking for areas of ethical disconnect in New Media practices.
Significance of the study lies in ensuring the parallels among the modes of communication including media education explored, so that it can build a self-sufficient and healthy society. The study also strives to identify the avenues for judicious and balanced use of the New Media devoid of its harmful effects. This theoretical study adopts an explorative type of methodology supported with instances and examples drawn from among the new media practices in the complex cultural context of India.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Using the New Media technologies calls for redefining the theories of communication wherein even an individual is able to manage a whole communication process like production of a newspaper or a complete programme on electronic media. Earlier one slot of a production or programme meant the involvement of a lot of people along with the associated bulky machinery. Convergence has changed all this. While individual use such media technologies, there are bound to be positive and negative effects both on the communicator and the society. It is to note that the communicator is also a receiver in the Convergence era. Liberation of media is an outcome of such an exercise. Today, the coinage is not mere ‘media audience’ but ‘media consumer’. Such a consumer loudly ensures the likes and dislikes of content on the media inherently because of the variety that goes into it.
Neo-culture, both boon and a bane
Information pouring on to an individual through New Media is affecting his thoughts and is bearing on lifestyle, even competing with TV’s power to occupy human minds. For the generation today, New
Media has become the manna dropped from the heaven. For today’s teens and the early youth, forming a neo-culture means getting themselves isolated from the family. Neo-culture is equated to be devoid of social contact, subscribing to the theory of isolation. Only the ‘neo-media’ is seen as a solution, the guide, the panacea for everything.
It is an unduly heavy dependence on new media. It is so acute, that any technological disturbance of the new media will collapse the whole life-style of an individual, unlike earlier. This has made an individual depend on technology more and more. Reading habits, group chatting habits, participating in religious rites, marriages, birthdays or social gatherings are gradually disappearing. Individuals limit themselves to some unusual contacts and the whole communication is happening through technology. The thoughts, behaviour, thinking and priorities are being decided by technology, not the homo-sapiens. Impact of media on society or community earlier was pragmatic. Convergence has brought in that change to within fraction of minutes. A new culture exposed in Chicago or London is immediately imitated in any other urban centre of any other nation. Social life is fast getting shattered. Family atmosphere is fast disappearing; parent-children relationships are diminishing. Questions about credibility of parents are arising, not merely among societal members but in legal quarters, Eg:Arushi’s Murder Case in India.
Unethical facets
Many sociological studies have revealed the effects of any facilities, controlled or otherwise, provided to sections of societies.
Facility with a rider3:- The rider could be in the form of a proper law or frequency of usage and so on.
On such a control, the facility will always be consumed very carefully and according to the essentiality demands. Giving anything that people want is after people are prepared to receive it. Technology can be invited into a society only after an optimum literacy, sufficient social equality and other
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sociological needs already exist. Common man is far from comprehending the nuances of powers of technology and its repercussions of use.
The ideal steps of exposure to a society for sustained utility of a technology are as follows:> 1. Innocence in the society about a facility
> 2. Availability of the information connected with the facility
> 3. Exposure to the facility among the prepared perceivers
> 4. Experiment through the experienced on the masses
> 5. Get prepared for the eventuality arising out of the implementations
Facility without a rider:- Getting most things free is a curse in a developing situation. It encourages unethical practices in society. In India, the existing social evils have not yet created a matured and understandable society, except perhaps some sections of decision making members of the society. In such circumstances, easy access and exposure of information leads to many sorts of unethical practices. People are not in a position to analyse the after effects of the exposure. Curiosity attracts technology which leads to frustration. Promiscuity of misuse and abuse also increases. The users get away scot-free on a wrong doing. In the absence of regulation and control, a boon becomes a curse.
Then, using New Media for propaganda and hyper-campaigns becomes common place. The tools of technology get into the hands of misanthropic elements like terrorists, separatists and fundamentalists.
In fact, most technology enters India when no planners, no technical experts are instituted to receive them. Hence, even no positive communication exercises result out of such an entry.
Moreover, the presence of New Media has forced all other mass media to redefine their priorities of functioning. In the traditional media houses, there is disappearance of a concept called deadline. The functioning of new media is without a deadline. So, it is also redefining the deadline of conventional print. New Media has forced the changes in speed of dispatch and the concept of reach of any other media. Pages of print are changing too often today, unconventional to the editorial policy. Even 24/7
TV channels are juggling with their content with changed slots because New Media gives an enhanced exposure to the consumers 24x7 and worldwide. Today a radio or a TV can’t repeat programs and hence strive to give fresh inputs. New Media has given freedom to watch a movie at one’s will and wish, then and there. Conventional movie going is strenuous compared to this. So, New Media is indirectly helping growth and sustenance of all other media through competition based on its own unique features. Hence, the need for all other media to change their priorities, concepts, presentation, language, style, etc.
New Media is giving rise to metamorphic syndrome for their own survival resulting in information explosion and information pollution. They are groping to find their place in the Convergence era.
Much trivia has set in through content whether wanted by target of audience or not and just for the heck of it. Content is produced regardless of a message merely because techniques of production are trained and available; intended messages or fruitful communication is no longer important; New
Media is becoming a dump yard; pollution ridden. In every instance and cases mentioned, a huge disconnect is evident and it is apparent that the gap is due to the deviation in ethical approach in the practices of New Media.
The theory of Out-Of-Reach
Any communication process will be complete only when there is comprehensive feedback. The reach of the message to the target audience is very important. There are three types of targetsJurisdictional reach i.e., by geography such as rural or urban or a region;
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Reach for a particular community;
Reach to an individual with a specific purpose.
Most communicators misinterpret the reach as jurisdictional reach as against a targeted person or community. In jurisdictional reach it would amount to purely one-way communication. In such one– way communication, credit can be given only to the communicator, who even does not digest the message, merely processes it and throws it to the audience. The information explosion in the media has forced to formulate an important theory called OOR, meaning Out-Of-Reach.
Example of a Web page: By the time a page is opened, the number of advertisements, insertions, colour photos, scrolls, flashes, animations, etc. will see to it that the user forgets the original message.
Similarly, on the 24-hour news channels, no one is in a position to watch the moving scroll news of all kinds, on the left another icon, on the right, an animated interruption and so on. All these make any consumer go OOR of the intended message. Most of the time, even the Cognitive Dissonance4 theory may contribute to the potentials of the OOR theory.
When the penetration, impact and the adverse effects of New Media on the large rural populace is explored, it is clear that there is no reach for the villagers to these Media, thus making them Out-ofReach from the mainstream. As on now, even the marginalized groups belong to the OOR category.
Government’s intentions could be honest, however, at the planning and implementation levels, most failures occur. For instance in the purchase of an equipment, the procurement of hardware seems successful from the stage of purchasing the imported gadgets to the stage of installing them in community centres, schools , etc. But managing the gadgets, lack of supportive factors like power supply, maintenance, fixing responsibility are simply missing; they then become mere dry boxes without use; so the OOR syndrome in a developmental process. A case hereunder throws light on the fate of things in schemes and projects mooted by administration and governance. Basically, the
Secretariat frames a policy; the Directorates direct the grassroots to implement it down line.
The Case: Teaching supports audio-visual mode in high schools. The Directorate distributes the gadgets; TV sets cannot function due to lack of availability of power. Details of TV sets are entered in stock registers, only to see the set destroyed in due course. In the absence of electricity, the sets become showpiece equipment, without serving the purpose.
The Verdict: Policies are framed in the air conditioned rooms without the knowledge of ground realities. Who should be blamed? The ignorant policy making body? The Departments? Government?
Coordination? Such questions remain unanswered.
There is absolute need of the role of New Media in any project. It could be any project like a road, public works, construction of dams, sprinkler irrigation, cattle and sheep rearing, fisheries, dairy development, horticulture, floriculture, small and medium industries, social welfare, etc. But if the result is like the case mentioned above, not just New Media but no media can help. According to a survey, only 17 paise reaches the grass-root out of the sanctioned one rupee [INR] in any sort of project. There could be various reasons for the failure of a particular programme– an elite administrative class being indifferent to the programme which is beneficial to the poorer class, people themselves being recalcitrant and apathetic, bureaucratic entanglements and lack of resilience in the society in general are some of the tangible bottlenecks in the process of implementation of welfare schemes. Proper publicity is also a missing element in making utility rate higher.
Modern political analysis is “who gets what, when and how”. In this power bargaining, those who go along with the people seem to be successful. It has also been a method of statecraft to appease the public in understanding them. It is an accepted democratic device to function efficiently and effectively. It should go beyond nepotism and caste-based approaches, a big drawback in caste ridden and hierarchical societies like that of India. In this milieu, the New Media becomes is a static entity
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with respect to the dynamics of information flow amidst the social functioning, thereby making it redundant. However, in this context, when the New Media becomes aggressive in convincing the society of its stay and utility, it rubs on the wrong end to cause more harm and less good.
Media education means exploiting media for positive purposes by the society, for the society. Through
New Media, there is high tendency of languages getting corrupt. There is dire necessity to redefine new usages through proper education on SMS standards, use of e-mail emoticons and so on. The market forces operating on the New Media, due to profit motives tend to corrupt the minds of the users making them prone to obscenity. To this end, at the social level, the governance should evolve legislation for strict implementation of sex–education at the right identified age, soon followed by exploring the potential of existing cyber-laws in protecting the social fabric in the contemporary
Indian situation. Efforts should also be to strengthen and redraft cyber laws, compiling of the precedences and the frequency of occurrences of wrong-doings, promulgating of a strict implementation authority. Common man should be educated strongly on cyber laws. There should not be any hesitation to borrow such laws from proper international situations. To counteract the wrong effects of New Media on cultural incompatibility, the society should emphatically rely on instilling folk media to disseminate progressive and productive messages.
INFERENCES & CONCLUSIONS
In 21st century, the proportion of media content including that of New Media is predominantly of entertainment. Such a lopsided content generation has made it detrimental to the catering of different ethos of various communities, the populace, marginalised groups, socially downtrodden and so on.
Media is fast forgetting its primary function of ‘educating’ the masses.
In the ephemeral global village, media finds that values and ethics are not of primary concern to the ambitious society. New Media has contributed to a new culture among the members of society where the native culture, language or life style is seeing a drastic change. Shift from a culture in vogue to a stranger one has been too sudden and jolting. The challenge to mass media practices is to restore the moral values and the tradition of most societies. The distorting or dismantling of any culture leads to a much expected disaster in terms of socio-ethnic in-fights, all for which the next generations will have to suffer.
While the practices and content of any media, including the New Media is too homogenous and devoid of any variety and diversity, for example monolingual influences through English with usages like ‘Techie’, ‘Glocalization’, ‘McDonaldism’, ‘Americanization’, etc. It is also instilling the values and characteristics of monoculture in the society. The earlier theory of media regarding the constitution of the target audience and reach of the message are simply forgotten.
Too much emphasis is on mere practice of industrial aspects of media and very less concentration on media education, media literacy or media awareness exercises which are the basic components of communication research. The New Media practitioners less believe in the R&D outputs and rely unduly on precedents and case to case basis. The emergence of such media centres and media hubs, the competition among media is ending in information pollution and information explosion, where the contribution of New Media is excessive. The whole process of communication in making the message lost in the din and the noise is simply apparent. Hence, the very objective of communication process is getting blurred.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Judicious Usage
Top down: There is an obvious and urgent need to strengthen the cyber laws, make it comprehensive and address the oncoming technologies. Regulation, not control should be the dictum. Regulation is a positive exercise of keeping check on rampant usage of technology while ‘control’ is a negative exercise of it. In social-psychology, the more the control, the more is the resistance and violation.
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Through awareness campaigns about the laws, it is possible to mitigate unethical hacking, blackmailing through SMS or MMS, check naughty mails and keep in abeyance the commercial mails.
Bottom up: Such exercises include educating people of the pros and cons through anecdotes, movies and propaganda; tell about the positive usages; keep people informed on the impact of New Media and utilization for development into a healthy society. New Media has the onus of contributing to eradicate social evils prevailing in the sub-continent. New Media should be utilized in guiding people for maintaining health, environment and prosper. All this can be achieved only if New Media is inevitably and compulsorily introduced in formal education levels. It is to remember that ‘Awareness is the key’.
To this end, high amount of quality training, workshops, seminars, conferences and such other academic design of activities should be taken up on war footing.
Because of the numerous varieties of languages and dialects form the mother tongue as well as transactional communication of Indians, large sections of people in India are not able to work on the internet which is predominantly monolingual and that being English, a foreign language, sometimes even alien to most of them. This forms a major limitation for New Media. Also, fear of gadgetries is all prevalent in remote pockets of India.
The lower strata in the society are simply not well versed with New Media. There is urgent need to build softwares to make it compatible to Indian languages and dialects. Technology and mother tongue go together; whereas technology and foreign language do not.
India has decentralised units with the Panchayat Raj System and so it is easy to convince for usage right from Gram-Panchayat [village administration] to Jilla Panchayat [district administration].
Thus the steps of expanding utility – Usage, Ethics, Law and Convergence in that order -
Usage
-
Ethics
Law
Convergence
may help people to utilise the facility optimally and meaningfully. Negative usages may also be curbed to some extent once such compatibilities are achieved.
Epilogue
The emergence of New Media has brought about a lot of change, especially the content, style and impact of the mass media. Its role in the socio-economic, cultural and educational conditions of any nation cannot be ruled out. But unfortunately, the system that has accepted the New Media is not well equipped to face some of the negative influences of the New Media. The challenge is that the code of ethics, the laws and the related authorities are very less prepared to face a change of this kind. Hence, there is a necessity, especially in almost all developing countries to have a strategy by all concerned regarding accepting a new technology or a new phenomenon only after equipping with core and peripheral groundwork like the laws, awareness, utility, etiquettes and mannerisms, etc, with a foresight that it should not damage the fabric of a multi-cultural society, more so in a democratic set up of a large kind like India. The approval of legislations in democratic set ups take a long time and by the time it is enforced, a host of technology would have gushed in and a redundant exercise of an entire round of the same process has to be deliberated upon, sickening the system and leading to utter confusion. In this background still the trends in India point towards a deep ethical disconnect with respect to the New Media practices and prospects.
---x---
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End Notes
1. Technological pluralism is a concept which is a challenge of Convergence of Media and has its impact on society.
2. ‘Metamorphosis’ of media is the transformation of media due to the invasion from the skies.
3. Rider is a convenience or a provided facility with a condition, eg:- Law, social norm
4. Cognitive Dissonance is a renowned classical theory under Psychology extensively applicable to communication processes.
REFERENCES
Alia, Valerie (2004). Media Ethics and Social Change, New York: Routledge Press
Bugeja, Michael J (2007). Living Ethics: Across Media Platoforms, UK: Oxford University Press.
Craig, Alan (1998). Adoption, Diffusion and optimal uses of computer technologies for instruction in higher education: A case study, The University Of Dayton.
Iyer, Venkat (2002). Media Ethics in Asia: Addressing the Dilemmas in the Information Age.
Singapore: AMIC.
Kaminer, Noam (1997). Internet Use and Scholars’ Productivity, Berkeley: University Of California.
Keeble, Richard e. (2008). Communication Ethics Now, Leicester: Troubador Publishing Ltd.
Lumby, Catharine, Probyn, Elspeth (2003). Remote Control: New Media, New Ethics, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Manonmani (1997). Communication and Culture, New Delhi: Galgotia.
McQuail, Denis (2005). McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory, New Delhi: Vistaar.
Na-Songkhla, Jaitip (1997). Utilization of the Internet in selected Thailand Universities: Attitudes of
Academic Users, School: Northern Illinois University (0162) Degree: EDD; International Publication
Abstract, pp: 218
Neelamalar, M (2010). Media Laws and Ethics, New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
Oommen, T.K. (Dr.) (1999). Social Challenges of the 21st Century, New Delhi: Manorama Year Book
2000.
Patterson, Philip, Wilkins Lee (2010). Media Ethics Issues and Cases, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
Pavlik, John.V (1998). New Media Technology- Cultural and Commercial Perspectives
Massachusetts, USA: Allyn & Bacon.
Plaisance, Patrick Lee (2008). Media Ethics: Key Principles for Responsible Practices, New Delhi:
Sage.
Ramanathan, Sankaran, Becker, Jorg (2001). Internet in Asia, Singapore: Asian Media and
Information Communication Centre.
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Volume 1, Issue 3, November 2011
Rao, Madan Mohan e. (2003). News media and New media; the Asia Pacific Internet Handbook,
Singapore: Eastern University Press, episode–V
Shamsi, Nayyar, J.C (2005). Journalism: Codes and Ethics, New Delhi: Anmol.
Sharma, Chaturvedi (1998). The Future of Mass Communication, New Delhi: Radha Publishers.
Silverstone, Roger (2007). Media and Morality: On the Rise of Mediapolis, Cambridge: Polity Press
Singhal, Arvind, Rogers, M. Everett (2002). India’s Communication Revolution – from bullock carts to cyber marts, New Delhi: Sage.
Wilkins, Lee (2009). The Handbook of Mass Media Ethics, New York: Routledge Press
Williams, Frederick, Gibson, David V e. (1996). Technology Transfer: A Communication Perspective,
New Delhi: Sage.
Wilson, Rebecca A (1997). Students’ use of the Internet for Course-related Research: Factors which account for use or non-use, Pennsylvania, The Penn. State University.
Visited Web sites / links•
ala.org/alaorg/oif/filt_ref.html, (for libraries)
•
ecommercetimes.com (newsletter for e-commerce marketing)
•
homenet.hcii.cs.cmu.edu/progress/purpose.html (on Why people Use the Internet)
•
http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Global_Communication_Reaches
•
http://www.learnthenet.com
•
lone-eagles.com/guide.html, (on utility in University education)
•
songline.com/teachers/, (for teachers)
•
www.thehoot.org, Dec. 2010
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Author’s brief profile
Dr. B.K.Ravi, M.A., M.S., Ph.D., is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Studies in
Communication, Bangalore University, P.K. Block, Palace Road, Bangalore-560 009, India. He has more than two decades of teaching and research experience.
He had a five year stint as journalist with the regional vernacular daily ‘Prajavani’. His specialized areas include journalism, film appreciation, electronic media, public relations and industrial communication, traditional folk media for rural communication, magazine production, communication skills, political communication and international communication. He has presented nearly 20 papers and attended several more including ten international conferences inland and overseas such as in USA,
Poland, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Kenya, Qatar and Thailand.
He has held many positions as chairman/ member/ Secretary/ Trustee, etc. of several commissions or committees in active or advisory capacities. He was nominated for two terms as Member, Karnataka
State Commission for Backward Classes, Govt. of Karnataka.
He is currently the Editor-in-chief of Indian Journal of Media Studies. He has been nominated for several Central Govt., State Govt., University level, academic and administrative bodies. He has received five Awards from recognized bodies including Chanakya award for best teaching faculty from Public Relations Council of India. He has produced more than 20 programmes for TV and nearly
20 productions for radio, besides 30 talks on radio. He has nearly 20 books and articles published in different national and international journals, worked in film productions, conducted research studies and training courses. He was also on five committees of media relations.
Currently he is the Executive President of Karnataka State Backward Classes, Dalits and Minorities
Federation, striving for the welfare of the downtrodden. He is also working on several projects including e-content production for Education Television NME-ICT, Govt. of India and EMMRC,
University of Mysore and also a Major Research Project on ‘Role of Television in Rural
Development’ granted by UGC.
He is the founder President of the Karnataka State Journalism & Communication Teachers’
Association, Bangalore. He is also the member of AMIC- international.
Ph: +91-80-23201938; +91-80-22961992; e-mail: bkravibu@gmail.com
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References: Alia, Valerie (2004). Media Ethics and Social Change, New York: Routledge Press Bugeja, Michael J (2007) Craig, Alan (1998). Adoption, Diffusion and optimal uses of computer technologies for instruction in higher education: A case study, The University Of Dayton. Iyer, Venkat (2002). Media Ethics in Asia: Addressing the Dilemmas in the Information Age. Kaminer, Noam (1997). Internet Use and Scholars’ Productivity, Berkeley: University Of California. Keeble, Richard e. (2008). Communication Ethics Now, Leicester: Troubador Publishing Ltd. Lumby, Catharine, Probyn, Elspeth (2003). Remote Control: New Media, New Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Manonmani (1997). Communication and Culture, New Delhi: Galgotia. McQuail, Denis (2005). McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory, New Delhi: Vistaar. Na-Songkhla, Jaitip (1997). Utilization of the Internet in selected Thailand Universities: Attitudes of Academic Users, School: Northern Illinois University (0162) Degree: EDD; International Publication Abstract, pp: 218 Neelamalar, M (2010) Oommen, T.K. (Dr.) (1999). Social Challenges of the 21st Century, New Delhi: Manorama Year Book 2000. Patterson, Philip, Wilkins Lee (2010). Media Ethics Issues and Cases, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. Pavlik, John.V (1998). New Media Technology- Cultural and Commercial Perspectives Massachusetts, USA: Allyn & Bacon. Plaisance, Patrick Lee (2008). Media Ethics: Key Principles for Responsible Practices, New Delhi: Sage. Ramanathan, Sankaran, Becker, Jorg (2001). Internet in Asia, Singapore: Asian Media and Information Communication Centre. Singapore: Eastern University Press, episode–V Shamsi, Nayyar, J.C (2005) Sharma, Chaturvedi (1998). The Future of Mass Communication, New Delhi: Radha Publishers. Silverstone, Roger (2007). Media and Morality: On the Rise of Mediapolis, Cambridge: Polity Press Singhal, Arvind, Rogers, M Wilkins, Lee (2009). The Handbook of Mass Media Ethics, New York: Routledge Press Williams, Frederick, Gibson, David V e Wilson, Rebecca A (1997). Students’ use of the Internet for Course-related Research: Factors which account for use or non-use, Pennsylvania, The Penn
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