Structured training vital for addressing challenges in media space: Jaitley

Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley has said that a structured training programme was important to address the needs of the fast evolving and expanding media landscape in the country.

"Skill Development was an important step to equip the challenges faced by journalists in responding to the requirements of varied target audience/viewers," said Jaitley while delivering the keynote address at the inaugural session at the seminar on "Establishment of Communication University" organized by the Indian Institute of Mass Communication under the aegis of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

"The discussion on the establishment of the Communication University would enable stakeholders to focus on the new and emerging facets of media world including the technological changes, innovations, skill requirements and the emerging needs of the media fraternity," he added.

Jaitley said today the definition of news had undergone a change, with the media playing a pro-active role, setting the agenda for what constituted news.

"The influence of camera was evident in the prioritization of news across platforms. The impact of technology on news dissemination was evident in view of instant and faster communication," he added.

Touching upon issues related to financial modeling, Jaitley said that the absence of a viable financial model at times created discrepancies leading to higher cost of distribution, race for eye balls and quality of content being compromised.

The Information and Broadcasting Minister further said that the emerging scenario led to debates becoming shriller.

"However, enough scope existed for the reader / viewer to get authentic information and news based on facts. There was enough opportunity for conventional news to emerge stronger and counter news that was at times one sided," said Jaitley.

"In the given scenario, the consumer was king as he had the power to dissect the news which was closest to reality," he added.

The seminar seeks to explore the possibility of establishing a Communication University in the country by attempting to enlist the views of major stakeholders, including universities and institutions in the government and private sectors, as well as leading practitioners in the field in three sessions.