Prakash Javadekar warns news channels not to fall for 'TRP journalism'

Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, has warned the news genre not to fall for “TRP journalism”, which even good channels falls for.

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The minister was speaking at an event where he said that while they believe in self-regulation and independence of the media, there is a need for a better way to measure the popularity of news channels and the attention given to TRPs must stop.

Javadekar’s statement is yet another sound of caution for the news channels after BestMediaInfo.com reported how India’s top brands want news channels to stop being toxic, else they could pull the plug on advertising.

The minister said if we look at the coverage of news in the past two weeks or two months, we would understand how low the standard of journalism has fallen. “Media will have to do away with the unwanted pressure of TRPs sooner or later,” he said.

“Yes, there should be a way of measuring popularity but if you air content that ends up instigating people in the name of TRPs that is not journalism. We believe in self-regulation. We trust the media and its independence but the media has to devise a system to use this freedom with restraint,” he said.

पत्रकारिता में निश्चित ही सुधार की जरूरत है। यह सुधार मीडिया जगत स्वयं लाये, यही बेहतर है। हमारी सरकार मीडिया की स्वतंत्रता में विश्वास करती है परन्तु मीडिया का भी यह कर्तव्य है कि अपनी स्वतंत्रता का उपयोग संयम से करे। इसके लिए TRP के अनावश्यक दबाव से बाहर निकलने की आवश्यकता है। pic.twitter.com/LzKzYBYK7K

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) October 7, 2020

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