Myth or reality

The talk involved a lively discussion with distinguished panelists including Sevanti Ninan, Managing Director, The Hoot, AS Panneerselvan, Readers’ Editor, The Hindu, Urvashi Butalia, feminist and founder of Kali For Women, and Professor Jan Leach, Director, Media Law Centre for Ethics and Access, Kent State University and Poynter Ethics Fellow. 

The programme was however moderated by Vaiju Naravane. The discussion was a much needed one at the time when media is expanding far and wide. The talk focussed firstly on what media ethics actually is and if there is a moral responsibility the media carries. Answers to few questions like what does ethics mean in the age of the internet when there are really no boundaries, were explored. 

The most important thing discussed was that how much water does the term Media Ethics in a world where the media is so deeply and widely corporatised that the biases are blatant and evident. What sort of role can people like Readers’ Editors play in maintaining standards of journalistic ethics? In today’s context of increasing gender- based violence, media holds a responsibility to raise awareness of the issue and work towards positive change. But when business houses start owning media houses, the focus stays only on profit. In all this, where does journalism as a change maker stand?