In The medium, the message, and the masses on India Together, Ammu Joseph writes on what public broadcasting should rightly be all about.
We all freely and at regular intervals criticize the media for giving undue salience to otherwise frivolous news items / issues… we are often outraged at what increasingly passes off as news now… but what is the extent of our involvement in deciding what is featured? Think about it, do readers / viewers get only what they deserve? Is there a Page 3 because people want to read about Page 3 people – do we turn these otherwise non-descript, completely unimportant people into celebrities by showing a ghoulish interest in their personal (read party) lives?
How much can the public influence what is shown on television or what is published in the print medium as news – can the process of agenda- setting be reversed?