We are on the road to autonomy: Dr. A Surya Prakash, Chairman, Prasar Bharati

Though Prasar Bharati may be an autonomous body, according to Dr. A Surya Prakash, Chairman Prasar Bharati, the organisation is still on its way to becoming one. Speaking at an event recently, Dr Prakash stated that though Prasar Bharati has been around for almost two decades now, it is still coming to terms with its autonomous identity. “Till 1997, AIR and DD were virtually departments of the government. In 1997 the Parliament passed a law called Prasar Bharati Act and created an autonomous corporation and handed over AIR and DD to that organisation. So when people ask me: are you an autonomous corporation, my honest answer is: we are on the road to autonomy,” stated the Prasar Bharati Chairman. Making a case for public service broadcasting, Dr. Prakash feels that every broadcaster in India has to don the role of a public service broadcaster in the interest of the nation. “Parliament has given us certain responsibilities to strengthen the democratic traditions of the country. Given the complexities of our society, you can’t leave that responsibility to the public service broadcaster alone. I think every broadcaster should be a public service broadcaster in India. There are many broadcasters who have taken up public spirited work and we must encourage that.”

Speaking about the disruption that technology has ushered in the practice of journalism, Dr. Prakash believes that the essence of journalism will never get compromised no matter the level of disruption. Sharing his thoughts on it, he said, “Though technology may change, but the essence of profession will always remain intact, especially the moral framework. Having said this, we have to look at the new age consumer of India today who is coming via the smartphone. People are increasingly watching TV content on smartphones and the practitioners of contemporary media have to understand the needs of the new age consumer.”

According to Dr. Prakash, it is imperative for journalists and broadcasters to maintain political neutrality at all times. Talking about the heated debates that we witness on TV every day, he explains, “If the ideal of neutrality has evaporated there is one substitute and that is ensuring plurality. In this way the truth will flow through the biases and emerge at the end.” Talking about the rise of citizen journalism and comparing it with traditional journalism, Dr Prakash believes that citizen journalists cannot replace professional ones, “Traditional journalism is structured and it cannot be replaced by citizen journalists no matter the genre of news.” Stating that social media has become one of the biggest sources for news, Dr. Prakash does not deny the big impact that it has cast on traditional mediums of communication. In his opinion, social media has also resulted in dumbing down of the content and rise of trivia. “I believe mainstream media has got impacted by the coming of social media in a big way. In fact it is the biggest reporter. However, social media is dumbing down content in many ways. People want content that can go viral and in this attempt many media houses tend to compromise on the basic tenets of journalism,” he said.