Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who also holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting Ministry, on Monday said the print media is facing tough challenge from the electronic media, which has made the operation and survival of the traditional media difficult.
launching the Hindi edition of The Pioneer in Raipur, Jaitley said the advent of the electronic and social media has hugely impacted the print media leading to the closure of several newspapers.
“In this present era, running a newspaper is a difficult task as the print media is getting touch competition… The electronic media has radically changed the definition of news as they keep on updating the news story round the clock,” he said.
Welcoming the launch of the Hindi Pioneer edition, Jaitley said, “I am confident that this newspaper will meet the challenges and end up as an important heritage of Chhattisgarh.”
He said The Pioneer is one of the oldest English dailies of India. “The Pioneer began its journey from Uttar Pradesh, and ever since my old friend Chandan Mitra has taken over this paper, it has opened seceral editions.”
Recalling his association with Editor-in-Chief of The Pioneer Chandan Mitra, the Finance Minister said, “We know each other for the last 45 years and for the last 12 years he has been my colleague in the Rajya Sabha. During the college days, I was junior to him by a few years. Chandra Mitra chose academics as his career and he shifted to journalism and was editor of several newspapers and also worked for website and other mediums.”
Jaitley said, “Mitra faced some tough moments when he took over The Pioneer, he successfully managed the Delhi edition and this paper has launched its edition from Chhattisgarh and I am confident this paper will touch new heights under the leadership of Mitra.”
He said before the advent of the electronic media, print media was the source of detailed information for the readers. “The electronic media has radically changed this status as story lies where the camera is focused; the camera is focused where there is pandemonium, drought and famine,” Jaitley said, adding “this has also impacted the print media and what needs to be published is no longer covered by the print media.”
Jaitley said the social media has emerged as a third weapon at global level. “It’s a very powerful instrument where each individual gets a global reach and none can complain now that his/her event was not covered by the media, and more and more people are coming forward and expressing themselves in a meaningful way,” said the Finance Minister.
Sharing his experience with social media, Jaitley said, “When I was contesting the 2014 Parliament election, I used to share my ideas in the social media and also got good response, but today this media is being misused and people are using unparliamentary and foul language.”
Sounding a note of caution, Jaitley said, “Technology has developed many facilities for the people, they need to be used diligently.” He said with the growth of the digital media, both the information and knowledge are proliferating. There are many cities in the world where the users of the digital media far outnumber the viewers of television.
He said where ever media was misused; it has disturbed the balanced and weakened the media. “Its common sight to see heated debate on TV channels where everybody is shouting but the viewer never gets to know as to what is the news point in the debate,” said Jaitley.