23rd December 2014, Constitution Club, New Delhi
Media is considered fourth pillar in a democratic setup after Parliament, Executive and Judiciary. Media is the backbone of a democracy and plays a very important role in shaping a healthy democracy. It makes people aware of various social, political and economic activities. It exposes loopholes in the system and helps in filling the vacuums by making the system more accountable, responsive and citizen-friendly.
Media has evolved over the years and today media uses different mediums to reach people like Print, TV, Audio, Web, Social sites etc. Unlike in the past today media is also a business floated with commercial objectives. Competition in media has led many to cut corners, sometimes at the cost of social amity and national interests. Accountability, integrity and commitment have become victims, sometimes in the race for TRPs.
Many media houses are promoted by or working on minorities related subjects and sometime they face unmatched expectations from their readers. Also in the mainstream they are looked more as rabble-rousers. Discharging duties as impartial has become a daunting tasks. Some fall prey to the challenges and some go out of business. But that may not be a healthy trend for a democratic society.
Maeeshat Media, during the challenging times of Azad Maidan incident in Mumbai in 2012, has been a great advocate of impartiality and integration. It not only works towards bridging the gap between aspiration and realities but also between various groups of media and people associated with it.
To promote the above mentioned objectives Maeeshat Media is organizing a Minority Media Conclave. In this Conclave various media personalities especially those who represent minorities in print and electronic media are invited to deliberate on some of the most threatening challenges faced by them. We are also seeking participation and help from mainstream media and Web-portals and inviting select editors, reporters, interpreters, media activists, and key personalities to come and share their experiences on how to address the challenges faced by media in todays’ environment.
This Conclave is proposing speeches by select senior speakers of the industry and a Penal Discussion comprising representatives of various media houses. This will be an interactive program with involvement of all participants. Following issues are among the top on agenda:
- Highlighting the importance of good relations among all sections and types of media (English, Urdu, and Hindi). Special focus will be on minorities’ media.
- Discussing strategies on how to exchange news and views and develop consensus on all important matters. This is primarily aimed at bridging the gap among English, Urdu and Hindi Media (Print, TV media as well as Web).
- Discuss corporate role and involvement in the media business and how journalists can make a balance between aspiration and realities.
- Sustainability of impartial media is also a big question today. How can we address this issue?