Paid News- Message to Readers

Paid News- Message to Readers
Lakshmi L Lund*, Dr P E Thomas**
Article 19 of the Constitution of India confers the right to freedom of speech and expression to all citizens of the country and media alike. In this largest democratic nation, the Press is regarded as the forth most important pillar of democracy, rightly called ‘Forth Estate’. Sadly corruption in the society, has rubbed on to the Indian media.


In recent years, corruption in the Indian media has gone way beyond the corruption of individual journalists and specific media organizations, from planting information and views in lieu of favors received in cash or kind, to more institutionalized and organized forms of corruption wherein newspapers and television channels receive funds for publishing or broadcasting information in favor of particular individuals, corporate entities, representatives of political parties and candidates contesting elections, that is sought to be disguised as “news”.


News is meant to be objective, fair and neutral and this is what sets it apart from such information and opinion from advertisements that are paid for by corporate entities, governments or individuals.


Over the last few years, the phenomenon of “paid news” has acquired a new and even more pernicious dimension in the sphere of political news or reporting on candidates contesting elections. In the financial reporting sector, private treaties between media houses and the corporate organizations are on the rise. All this has given birth to ‘Rate cards’ and ‘Packages’ (costing the media houses’ client crores of rupees), which in lay mans language is a ‘menu card’ of the price tag attached to the coverage the individual or corporate entity receives from the media house. Higher the price, greater the coverage and negative coverage about the payers rivals is expected. It comes by no surprise that no where in such stories paid for, words ADVT, advertisement or advertorial appear, simply making the readers believe they are genuine news stories. Such is the power of paid news in the Indian print media.


Despite desperate efforts to curb the cancer of paid news in the Indian media, it must be understood that the solution is not easy, simple or clear-cut. The Press Council of India that enjoys quasi-judicial status has limited powers though. The Council has the power to admonish, reprimand and pass strictures but cannot penalize the errant or those found guilty of malpractices. Moreover, the Council’s mandate does not extend beyond the print media.


The aim of this paper is to bring to light the cancer of ‘Paid News’ in the Indian Print Media conveying a message to newspaper readers that time has come to know about the media, rather that knowing from the media

*Research Scholar, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore.

** Associate Professor and Head I/C, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore.

'To Involve' - Yet Another Function of the Media

We are all aware of what the fact that the media performs four functions which are:  

To Inform, To Educate, To Entertain and To Protect. Media also performs yet another important function at various levels. The very function of involving people. Knowingly or unknowingly this is performed by the media.

Media is responsible for involving people, different people, at different times and at different levels. Consciously or unconsciously people become involved with the media. Media involves people; either an individual or group of individuals alike. Many - a - times media successfully involves the masses at one time.


Media more often than not, does not really intend to involve people but this process simply takes place in many instances, rather unconsciously. Media just involves an individual or a group of individuals, but how much the individual or a group of individuals are involved with the media depends entirely on individual(s). This somehow varies form an individual to another.


Take the example of the television. While the television is being viewed by an individual, the person can be fully involved in watching television or he can be distracted. This depends on the individuals' interest in television as a medium and also what he is watching. Families watching television in their living room with full involvement without moving a muscle is a common trend in Indian homes. Again this depends on the group of individuals' involvement with television. In both the scenarios media successfully involves people, but how much it is able to involve people depends on the people.


We can argue that the content plays a major role in involving people. I must say that content apart, likes and dislikes differ from individual to individual as well. So we cannot hold the content solely responsible for being able to involve individugal(s) into the medium.


Before going any further, we must understand two important terms and their usages hear. When I say media I mean the various media like the print, electronic and new media. When I say medium, I mean the various forms of the media. Example the various forms of print media like the newspapers, magazines, journals and more. Print is the 'media' and the 'medium' is the various forms of the media we are referring to.


Consider this. It is the final match of cricket between arch rival India and Pakistan. In a family of five, we cannot expect all the members of the family to be glued to the television to watch the live cricket match. People not only in the family, but on more general terms, watch the match for love of the game of cricket, simply because it is India and Pak finals, or could be because they have nothing to do, they just want to while away time, may because the entire family is watching so they watch with the family. Hear the individuals' involvement varies and it is obvious.


We can quote very many such examples where peoples' involvement with the media can be closely studied. Many are ones we see and come across in our day to day life. One such is while we are traveling by air on a long distance flight, many - a - times a movie is played on board. Out of the people flying some are so involved in the movie that they are unaware of what happing around them, a percentage of them watch the movie and get distracted as well, a hand full of them chat with their co passengers while others simple dose off. Reasons could be many, to kill time might be the prime reason, the movie might be boring for some, and others might have seen the movie already. Again under no circumstances can we blame the content (the movie) hear. Involvement with the medium is entirely up to the individual(s) who are associated with the medium.


We can understand the involvement of individual(s) with the medium they are involved with at three levels, being physical, psychological and emotional. To understand this better let us use cinema as an example. In a cinema theater a cinema is being played. Among the mass audience watching there is an amazing variety. Some will sit in their seat motionless, until the last scene. They will not move a bone come what may, simple because they are 'physically involved' with the cinema. Despite knowing the fact that all said and done it is but a cinema that is being watched, a hand full of audience become so emotionally attached with the cinema. This results in tears of joy or sorrow rolling down their eyes, come any high voltage comedy or tragedy scene. The 'emotional involvement' of these set of audience is but obvious.


This larger than life medium portrays the society's way of life on the huge screen, which makes it all the more easier for a chunk of audience to easily associate themselves with the cinema, as they watch it unfold before their eyes in the dark room. (cinema theater) This set of watchers are successfully able to place themselves in the shoes of the actors and characters of the cinema they are watching, because the scenes of the cinema or the story itself could be similar to what they might have gone through in the past or what they are experiencing or encountering currently. The audience become 'psychologically involved' with the medium. Media successfully involves individugal(s) and masses knowing or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously.

Mobile Phone usage among Teenagers

My next paper presentation

Mobile Phone usage among Teenagers

A stethoscope is the safest in a doctors hands, a sailor knows best to use a magnetic compass, a ‘t’ scale fits the best in the hands of an engineer, but a mobile phone is for anyone and everyone who can manage to get their hands on. For a toddler it is yet another toy, little does he know the difference between a toy and this gadget, for a pre teen it is an equipment worth experimenting upon, for teenagers it has become part of their daily lives, for people in their twenties it is something they cannot do without, for adults it has become a luxury, a status symbol more than a necessity and the aged consider it an emergency device, that helps when they are in need. Statistics is proof enough of the fact that the people of all age groups around the globe are using mobile phones.

Global warming, psychological trouble and other health problems caused by usage of these gadgets has indeed taken a back seat. Similarly mobile phones have proved to be like a friend in need is a friend in deed on various counts, but the question about what age group of people need make use of this gadget, requires a serious thought.

This study aims at bringing to light teenagers’ mobile phone usage habits at large. It first classifies the various types of teenage mobile users as those who have a mobile phone to themselves, teens who borrow their family members or friends mobile phone when in need and teenagers who use their family members or friends mobile phones on and off.

The intention of the following research is to throw light on the teenagers’ usage patterns of mobile phones in detail, going by factors such as gender, educational and domestic background, performance in academics and extra curricular activities of the teenagers. Media usage habits of teenagers have also been brought to the limelight through this research.

Also the study draws a comparison of the teenage users and non users of mobile phone. Just like people who eat meat and flesh of animals are called non vegetarians and those who do not, called as vegetarians, this research also makes an attempt to coin a term for teenage users and non users of mobile phone.

Place and time have been the motivating factors driving this research. Place because India is the only country in the world that boasts of low mobile tariffs and time because we have reached a stage where every other person around us owns or uses a mobile phone, irrespective of age, gender, economic background and other factors. The research study focuses on teenagers only to draw a conclusion to the argument if they should or they shouldn’t use a mobile phone. Early teens are the ones who are not on their own financially and above all legal procedures in the country do not give them to authority to use a mobile phone in their name. Moreover state governments across the nation have banned the usage of mobile phones in educational institutions. Despite all of this teenagers manage to have a mobile phone to themselves. These are the few factors among many covered in the research.

‘Paradise on Earth’- My Version.

For practical reasons I had to take off contents of the blog. Will e mail the same if you would want to read.

Thematic Perspectives of Virtual Communities with regard to Social Networking

The internet today is regarded as regarded as a utility for some and a necessity for many of its worldwide users. Thanks to the internet Social Networking Sites SNS’s were born. Looking back at the early days of the introduction of SNS’s, it comes by no surprise that nine out of ten of these sits had a slow start. Orkut and Facebook for instance, who had a few hundred users initially. Facebook was restricted to students of Haward then. However as the popularity of these sites began to grow, increased the number of users, these sites opened the doors of access to more and more countries across the globe. Today SNS’s are being pronounced as a ‘phenomenon’ with many million users, who little do realize they have created a virtual platform where many alike do beyond just keeping in touch.


Objective of study
      This thematic paper brings together a collection of articles that analyze a wide spectrum of SNS’s using various theoretical and analytical approaches. This paper aims at bringing out a comparison between social and virtual networking. We understand better the process of socialization that takes place among individuals in the society with the networking theory. The phenomenon of virtual networking is compared to the same networking theory. More over the goal of this paper is to compare the virtual world with that of the social world.
      Since their introduction, social network sites (SNSs) have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated these sites into their daily practices. As of this writing, there are hundreds of SNSs, with various technological affordances, supporting a wide range of interests and practices. While their key technological features are fairly consistent, the cultures that emerge around SNSs are varied.


Social Networking Sites SNS
      Social Networking websites give people an online identity–and an online space to call their own. These websites are more nuanced than sharing whole personalities that focus on connecting people through certain media and interests offer specialized value to users.
We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to
(1) Construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,
(2) Articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection,
(3) View and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.

Characteristic features of SNS
      Social networking sites generally have two primary components: a user profile and a network of friends. The friends’ network, however, is he real key to social networking sites–the crux of what differentiates them from blogs, online journals, personal Web sites, and other means of personal communication on the Web. However the characteristic features of Social Networking Sites can be classified as follows:

• Users’ profile
• Security
• Networking Feature
• Search Option
• Help and Support
• Legitimate Friend Focus

      Resent survey points out that Social Networking Sites are regarded as the in thing, next to beer and i-pods. Frequent users of SNS’s when surveyed revealed that they are logged into these sites, not just to keep in touch with their friends, family and co workers, a majority of users agreed that these SNS’s are the best way to keep in touch with the developments in the word as and when they do happen. Take Twitter; a user can follow other users of his choice and can have other users follow him as well.


      This way a user can express himself, his views on a topic of his choice or simply reveal a personal information about himself using up to 140 characters. Staying in touch with fellow humans apart, the followers of the user are in touch with the latest happings across the globe, thanks to the tweets. Twiter apart Facebook, Orkut and Myspace users agree that they use the same not just to keep in touch. Little do they realize that they have created a virtual space in the world wide web.


Social (Virtual) Networking Online and Social Networking Offline (in Society)
      Social networking websites provide users a platform enabling them to socialize online, what we term as virtual networking. This socializing process and virtual networking have been related to the networking theory


History and Orientation
      The idea of socializing and the notions of sociometry and sociograms appeared over 50 years ago. Barnes (1954) is credited with coining the notion of social networks, an outflow of his study of a Norwegian island parish in the early 1950s. 

Core Assumptions and Statements
Statements: Rogers characterizes a communication network as consisting of “interconnected individuals who are linked by patterned communication flows” (1986). A communication network analysis studies “the interpersonal linkages created by the shearing of information in the interpersonal communication structure” (1986), that is, the network.
Network analysis within society
Scope: In general, network analysis focuses on the relationships between people, instead of on characteristics of people. These relationships may comprise the feelings people have for each other, the exchange of information, or more tangible exchanges such as goods and money. By mapping these relationships, network analysis helps to uncover the emergent and informal communication patterns present


 The Social Networking theory
Theory Name: Social Network Theory
Acronym: SNT
Alternate name(s): Network theory, network analysis
Main dependent construct(s)/factor(s): Node size, density, link strength
Main independent construct(s)/factor(s): Nodes, links


Concise description of theory 
      Social network theory views social relationships in terms of nodes and ties. Nodes are the individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors. There can be many kinds of ties between the nodes. In its most simple form, a social network is a map of all of the relevant ties between the nodes being studied. The network can also be used to determine the social capital of individual actors. 

Online Networking - Virtual Networking
      The rise of SNSs indicates a shift in the organization of online communities. While websites dedicated to communities of interest still exist and prosper, SNSs are primarily organized around people and interests. Early public online communities such as Usenet and many public discussion forums were structured by topics or according to topical hierarchies, but social network sites are structured as personal (or "egocentric") networks, with the individual at the center of their own community. This more accurately mirrors unmediated social structures, where "the world is composed of networks, not groups" (Wellman, 1988, p. 37). The introduction of SNS features has introduced a new organizational framework for online communities, and with it, a vibrant new research context.


      What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between "latent ties" (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily "networking" or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them Social Network Sites SNS’s.

Bridging Online and Offline Social Networks
      Although exceptions exist, the available research suggests that most SNSs primarily support pre-existing social relations. Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe (2007) suggest that Facebook is used to maintain existing offline relationships or solidify offline connections, as opposed to meeting new people. These relationships may be weak ties, but typically there is some common offline element among individuals who friend one another, such as a shared class at school. This is one of the chief dimensions that differentiate SNSs from earlier forms such as newsgroups.


      Research in this vein has investigated how online interactions interface with offline ones. For instance, Lampe, Ellison, and Steinfield (2006) found that Facebook users engage in "searching" for people with whom they have an offline connection more than they "browse" for complete strangers to meet. Likewise, research found that 91% of those who use SNSs do so to connect with friends.

      Given that SNSs enable individuals to connect with one another, it is not surprising that they have become deeply embedded in user's lives. In Korea, Cyworld has become an integral part of everyday life—Choi (2006) found that 85% of that study's respondents "listed the maintenance and reinforcement of pre-existing social networks as their main motive for Cyworld use". Likewise, Boyd (2008) argues that MySpace and Facebook enable U.S. youth to socialize with their friends even when they are unable to gather in unmediated situations; she argues that SNSs are "networked publics" that support sociability, just as unmediated public spaces do.

Conclusion
      Social networking sites do have an impact on user’s life, especially with respect to how users present and hide aspects about themselves (from others) and connect with others. The fact that participation on social networking websites leaves online traces offers unprecedented opportunities for researchers. Keeping watch of the increasing numbers of social networking website users, leaves one to imagine, if everyone is virtually networking who is actually socially networking? Social networking services comprise a large part of today’s Web and show no sign of releasing their hold on the world’s psyche any time soon.