Role of Media

in

Indian Society

International Conference on People, Politics and Media

(ICPPM)

April 25-26, 2014

at
Seminar Hall, JLU

School of Media and Communication (SMC)

Jagran Lakecity University, Student Enrichment Hub, Chandanpura, Bhopal

(Madhya Pradesh), INDIA

Submitted by: Ms. Vaishali Chowdhury

Research Scholar: Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal, M.P.

Address: 74-A, ‘C’ Sector, Kolar Road, Bhopal

Mob.No:8435864632 Email:vaishali.leeds@gmail.com
CONTENTS:-

1. Introduction

2. Definition

3. Objectives

4. Functions & Responsibilities of Media in Society.

5. Extent & Indulgence of Media at National & International Levels.

6. Role of Media in Good Governance.

7. Social, Economic and Cultural Impact of Media in Society.

8. Conclusions / Suggestions.
 Role of Media in Society
Introduction:-

"Pen is mightier than Sword"- this old proverb seems to be true even in today's context as the
media seems to gain strength in the modern society. Media includes mass media like TV, News
channels, News papers, Radio, journals, magazines and most importantly internet and email. The
sphere of influence of media is increasing day by day as the coverage of a small news article is
very wide these days and more importantly in this modern society, media plays the role of
facilitator of development, disseminator of information and being an agent of change. Today,
media is considered the fourth pillar of the state all over the world. More importantly this is very
true in the context of a biggest democracy like India.1

The media plays a very constructive role in today’s society. Media plays an important role in
increasing public awareness and collects the views, information and attitudes toward certain
issue. Media is the most powerful tool of communication in emerging world and increased the
awareness and presents the real stage of society. In this decade of knowledge and awareness
there is a huge and grand role of media, it is all around us when we watch on Television, listen to
on the radio, read to the books, magazines, and newspapers, every where we want to collect
some knowledge and information and a part of this media has to present a very responsible role
for our society. Without the media, people in societies would be isolated, not only from the rest
of the world, but also for the total formation of creditable world.2

 Definition:
WHAT IS MEDIA - The term Media derives its name from the word Medium, which means to
transfer the information from one end to the other (Voakes, 2004).

In general, "media" refers to various means of communication. For example, television, radio,
and the newspaper are different types of media. The term can also be used as a collective noun
for the press or news reporting agencies.

1
Role of Media in Promoting Communal Harmony; National Foundation for Communal Harmony; New Delhi;2012
2
Role Of Media In Social Awareness; International Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences;Vol 1 (01) August 2013, [ISBN
978-93-83006-16-8]; Research Scholars; Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi, Ingita Pandey
The term media refers to several different forms of communication required to educate and make
a socially aware nation. The communication forms can be radio, television, cinema, magazines,
newspapers, and/or Internet-based web sites. These forms often play a varied and vital role in our
society.

With the evolution in the field of economic reforms, India has witnessed a major advancement in
the role played by the media. Media has impacted our society in many ways. It has always
played a very crucial role as a source of information, education and entertainment.

During the early days of advancement, media was not only informative but also catered to the
development of a civilized society. These days, we find that the television channels and
newspapers are racing and competing with each other to make fast money. The condition is bad
to such an extent that to become more popular and make more money, the communication
medium have surpassed all the limits in misguiding the society. The fact that media is a
significant resource in building a healthy and progressive society.

Moreover, at times, the media also hurt the sentiments of the people. The information that people
get to know from the media has a great power associated with it. It influences the masses in
many ways. Further, the impact of an unethical and unprofessional information shared through
the various communication forms leads to an avoidable aggression within our society.

Simultaneously, Media is also considered as a mirror of the society. The main objective of it is to
inform, educate and entertain the people. Now-a-days, media has solely become the voice of
some political parties. It presents the information in a more sensationalized form than ever
before.

We must not forget the fact that there are some honest communication forms also. These forms
often put their lives at risk to inform us about an event or activity. These events/activities may be
in the form of a terrorist attack, natural disaster and sting operation to eradicate the social evil,
viz. corruption and/or other crime related news. Thus, these forms result in creating awareness
amongst the society.

The communication form(s) should be such that it provides a good atmosphere to enhance the
process of binding the society and not breaking the unity amongst the society.
 We should never forget that if the various communication forms play their respective roles
honestly and cohesively, no one can either weaken the strength of our society or stop the
development of our nation.

Objectives:-
The objective of this research paper is to undertake a first attempt –

1. To explore the Functions and Responsibilities of Media in Society.

2. To highlight the Role of Media in Good Governance.

3. To analyse the relationship between Media & Social Progress.

4. To shed light on the Extent & Indulgence of Media at National and International levels.

5. To analyze the Social, Economic and Cultural Impact of Media in Society.

1. Functions & Responsibilities of Media in Society :- The constitution gives us the freedom of
speech in our country. However, we must keep in mind that exercising these liberties includes
duties and responsibilities also. Therefore, the Media is a fundamental part of our Society and
has become a leading influence and also it has an outcome on our Nations’ future, viewpoint,
and the globe’s view of us.

Hence, Media is the way of public communication reaching to the large, scattered,
heterogeneous and anonymous audience at the same time. Media has proved a boon to human
Society. Nothing has influenced the lives of modern men as the media have. Media the
powerful means that do not only influence today’s world but also shape the globe of
tomorrow. In this case, media performs essential task in order to cast its effect to the audience
and maintain the society. The functions of media can be classified into two
categories: general functions and specific functions.   

Under the general functions of media, following points are included:-

a. Information: Dissemination of information is the major function of media. Since information is

knowledge and knowledge is power, media offers authentic and timely facts and opinions about
various event and situations to mass audience as informative items. Information provided by
media can be opinionated, objective, subjective, primary and secondary. Informative functions of
media also lets the audiences know about the happening around them and come to the truth. 
Media disseminates information mostly through news broadcast on radio, TV, as well as
 columns of the newspaper or magazines. Moreover, advertisements are also mainly for
information purpose. 

b. Education: The most vital function of Media is that it also educates the Society side by side. It
provides education in different subjects to people of all levels. They try to educate people
directly or indirectly using different forms of content. Distance education program, for example,
is a direct approach. Dramas, documentaries, interviews, feature stories and many other
programs are prepared to educate people indirectly. Especially in the developing country, media
is used as an effective tool for mass awareness. For eg. In context of Nepal, media have been
successful in eradicating various traditional and evil superstitious practices from society through
continuous advocacy.

c.    Entertainment: The other important function of media is entertainment. It is also viewed as the

most noticeable function of media. Actually, entertainment is a kind of performance that
provides pleasure to people. Media fulfill this function by providing amusement and assist in
reducing tension to a large degree. Various mediums like Newspaper, magazines, radio,
television and other online mediums offers stories, films, serials, and comics to entertain their
audience. Sports, news, film review, columns on art and fashion are other instance. It makes
audience recreational and leisure time more pleasurable.
But these days, media have comprised information and education through entertaining programs.
The fusion of entertainment and information is called infotainment. Similarly, the inclusion of
education in entertaining programs is regarded as edutainment.

d.    Persuasion: It is another function of media. Persuasion involves making influence on others

mind. Media influence audience in varieties of ways. Media contents build opinions and sets
agendas in the public mind. It influences votes, changes attitudes and moderates behavior. Using
editorials, articles, commentaries and among others, media persuades audience. However, all
audiences are not well known about it. Many of them become influenced or motivated
unknowingly towards it. Advertisement is the example which is designed to influence / convince.

Along with the above mentioned general functions, media performs some specific functions too.
Hence, the specific functions of media are explained below:

a.   Surveillance: Surveillance denotes observation. Here observation means to watch the society

closely. The function of media is to observe the society closely and continuously and warn about
 threatening actions to the mass audience that are likely to happen in future in order to decrease
the possible loss. Likewise, media also informs about the misconducts happening in the society
to the concerned authority and discourage malpractices among mass audience in the society.

Warning or beware surveillance occurs when the media inform us about threats from hurricanes,
erupting volcanoes, depressed economic conditions, increasing inflation or military attack. These
warnings can be about immediate threats or chronic threats. Similarly, news of increasing
deforestation, drug abuse, girls trafficking, crimes etc. are also disseminated which may harm the
peace and security of the society. News about films are plying at the local theaters, stock market
prices, new products, fashion ideas, recipes, and so on are examples of instrumental surveillance.

b.   Interpretation: The media do not supply just facts and data but also explanations and
interpretation of events and situations. Media offer various explanations correlating and
interpreting information to make the reality clear. Unlike normal reporting, interpretation
functions provide knowledge. News analysis, commentaries, editorials, and columns are some
examples of interpretative contents. Basically, such types of interpretative contents are prepared
by those journalists who have a vast knowledge of background information and strong analytical
ability.

c.    Linkage: The function of media is to join together different elements of society that are not
directly connected. For instance: mass advertising attempts to link the needs of buyers with the
products of sellers. Similarly, by broadcasting news of those suffered from the disease or natural
disasters, media can help in collecting aids and provide the collected amount to the victims. In
this way, media become bridge between different groups who may or may not have direct
connection.

d.   Socialization: Socialization is the transmission of culture.  Media is the reflector of society. It

socializes people, especially children and new-comers. Socialization is a process by which,
people are made to behave in ways that are acceptable in their culture or society. Though this
process, we learn how to become a member of our society or human society in greater sense.
Whenever a person reads newspaper or watches television, individual knows how people react
on matters and what types of norms and values they perceive on particular event, issue or
situation. Though the process of socialization media help to shape our behaviors, conducts,
attitudes and beliefs. The process of socialization brings people close and ties them into single
unity.

Print media has a wider access to the people; hence it has a strong impact. It plays a vital role in
the opinion making process. Now that world has become a global village. Press has the power to
turn a dream into reality.

It is the need of the hour that press should play its role in the nation building process. Instead of
being indulged into the false propagation media should try to optimize the situation. The role of
press in education and health sector is far more important than its role in the election campaigns.
It’s the job of the print media to show the true picture of the society.

They have to play crucial rule in educating the people and to provide them clear picture of
what’s going on in the world because ignorance is a major problem. Factual reporting is the
essence of journalism and if the press starts reporting facts there would be a lot of betterment in
the society.

Additionally the media has the responsibility to give readers, viewers and listeners accuracy and
accountable.  Nonetheless, the media should uphold fairness and meticulousness (Pulliam, 1996-
2012).  For this purpose the media has assembled into the most crucial aspect of our era,
influencing every citizen settling the unease relating to media responsibility today, but also
challenging to characterize the importance of the responsibility.

       The media are what we read, listen to and watch; the foremost impact is psychological,
intellectual and share commercial implications.  A utilitarian purpose can be proficient only
through an endeavor to add diverse ethical standards established by the social order to improve
our society.

It also includes its failure to distort the information obtained and being given out and its
failure to violate any basic human right or offend viewers in any way. However, the media today
sometimes goes beyond its boundaries, it carries some social responsibility also it should enable
communication informing people responsibility with factual knowledge without any kind of bias.
Additionally, the basic role of the media is to basically and formally update a person on
everything that is happening around them by informing them through the various communication
channels listed. The media therefore has got moral responsibility, social responsibility and
ethical responsibility with all working to form a responsible media fraternity.
The social responsibilities expected from media in the public sphere were deeply grounded with
the acceptance of media as the fourth estate, a term coined by Edmund Burke in England. With
the formation of the 1947 Commission on the Freedom of the Press the social responsibility of
media became a strong debating point.

It was formed in the wake of rampant commercialization and sensationalism in the American
press and its dangerous trend towards monopolistic practices.

The report of the Hutchins Commission, as it was called, was path breaking on its take on social
responsibility and the expected journalistic standards on the part of the press. The theory of
social responsibility which came out of this commission was backed by certain principles which
included media ownership is a public trust and media has certain obligations to society; news
media should be fair, objective, relevant and truthful; there should be freedom of the press but
there is also a need for self regulation; it should adhere to the professional code of conduct and
ethics and government may have a role to play if under certain circumstances public interest is
hampered (McQuil, 2005).

Extent & Indulgence of Media At National & International Levels :- The mass media in
India often reflects the diversity and plurality of the country, especially when general elections
take place. At the same time, since much of the media is privately owned and driven by profit
motives, commercial obligation can and do sometimes disfigure the free and fair distribution of
information. This is especially true during periods of economic slowdown, when advertising
revenues are down.

Close to 60,000 publications of various kinds in various languages are currently registered with
the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI), which functions under the Indian government’s
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. An estimated 1900 ‘large’ daily newspapers are
published in the country – over 40 per cent of them in Hindi, less than 10 per cent in English and
the other half in dozens of other languages and dialects.

The Indian press includes a mind-boggling variety of publications, ranging from neighbourhood
free-sheets, to school magazines, to mass circulation dailies like the Times of India (TOI), which
claims to be the most widely circulated English-language daily in the world. A number of non-
English Indian dailies individually sell more copies every day than the TOI.
Till the early 1990s, television viewers in India could only watch programmes broadcast by the
state-owned Doordarshan (now part of the Prasar Bharati Corporation). Barely a decade later,
they have access to hundreds of television channels from all over the world, most of them
privately owned. In 1995, barely 20 million television set owning households in the country had
cable and satellite connections. This number has since gone up five-fold to around 100 million
households.

The first India-based private television channel to enter the news space, Zee News, began
operations somewhat tentatively in 1994. At present, India is the only country in the world with
over four dozen 24-hour television channels that broadcast news and current affairs programmes
in over a dozen languages, including nearly 20 channels in the most widely spoken language:
Hindi.

Although private radio stations have also entered the scene over the past decade, they are at
present not allowed to broadcast news and current affairs programmes. So the state-owned All
India Radio (also part of the Prasar Bharati Corporation) is currently the sole source of news
relayed on radio.

Elections constitute an important feature of democracy. It is, therefore, imperative that the news
media disseminate among the electorate accurate and fair reports on the campaigns of the
contesting parties and candidates. The freedom of the media in this context depends, to a large
measure, on journalists conducting themselves with a sense of responsibility and impartiality. In
an effort to help the media adhere to the principle of fair and objective reporting of elections, the
Press Council of India has formulated guidelines for the print media that are to be observed
during elections.

The implicit contract between the mass media and the functioning of democracy underpins
journalists’ claims for a substantial degree of autonomy. A healthy democracy requires, among
other things, the participation of informed citizens. One of the roles of the media is to enhance
the level of public participation by providing information and analyses on a range of political,
economic, social and other issues.
Although important sections of the mass media in India covered the elections in a nonpartisan
manner, there were sections that compromised their independence in favour of commercial
interests. However, on the whole, a substantial section of the media in India was able to live up
to the faith ordinary people have in democracy by disseminating information and analyses of a

wide variety of events and issues, and news and views of interest and concern to the electorate.

Role of Media in Good Governance

Good governance has been considered important since ancient times while the media in its
present day avatar is a relatively new industry. The ancient Roman Empire, which existed
approximately 2000 years ago, was formed on the basis of good governance of smaller, diverse
kingdoms. Since then, irrespective of whether a state was a republic or a dictatorship, good
governance has been a requirement for functioning of any society. Leaders are the supreme
authority accountable for good governance but if the quality did not satisfy people, they
challenged these authorities to ensure a worthy level of governance.

Media usually refers to mass media, which is any medium that provides citizens with
information regarding all the current affairs of any area at a large scale. It is unbiased reporting
of facts through print, television, radio or Internet.

Traditionally and constitutionally, the media has no defined role in governance. It doesn't have
the power to change any decisions made by the various arms of a state––the legislature,
executive and the judiciary. Yet, the media plays one of the most important roles in the
functioning of any society. It amplifies the voice of citizens and communicates their opinions to
the lawmakers. Pandit Nehru called media the watchdog of our democracy. This handed the
media a huge responsibility in the functioning of our society.

This is true in a global context as well. Recently, The Guardian and The New York Times, two
large media houses were responsible for uncovering information on the violation of privacy laws
by the US government tapping communications of officials from other countries. Similarly, in
India, the media was primarily responsible for revealing corruption in the coal,
telecommunication and environment sectors. Media, thus, brings illegal practices to the people’s
notice. A vital element in ensuring good governance.
 The media protects the rights of citizens, especially the less privileged and whose voices go
unheard. This function helps countries like India where the judiciary is overburdened. It brings to
the judiciary’s notice, incidents that would otherwise have been ignored.

 The case of the IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who was suspended for no reason and the case
of Jessica Lall’s murder are just two examples of how the media has protected individuals and
ensured that justice is done in society.

Newspapers and radios facilitated India’s freedom struggle and since then have continued to play
a central role in social and political movements that looked after the interests of diverse
communities and minorities. This led to them being governed better. The Narmada Bachao
Andolan is a prime example of this.

 Any organization that functions efficiently requires a mechanism that allows it to receive
constructive feedback. The media is a feedback mechanism for every state run institution. It rates
the performance of these institutions as the people rate them and is a critic to all the policies
formed and laws enacted. The media is responsible for bringing opposition to poorly performing
institutions. It also plays a crucial part in bringing help to areas affected by natural calamities, as
it happened after the 2004 tsunami that devastated areas surrounding the Indian Ocean.

 The defined role of media as the information provider is only a share of the real role it plays. It
is, in many ways ensuring efficient functioning of society. It does this by encouraging the people
responsible to provide good governance.

 A society without media is hard to imagine and will be a deterrent to good governance. So
media is not just an ordinary industry in society, it is a necessity for good governance and
efficient functioning of society.

In theory, the media appears to be a perfect check on good governance but it has been accused of
not fulfilling its responsibilities.

It is said to be biased towards some political parties and runs advertising campaigns for them.
Media companies are suspected of charging money for publishing articles, which leads to the
problem of news being influenced by wealthy people. Wealthy companies that tend to look after
their own interests are increasingly running media in India.
All these problems are of grave concern for the media, since it questions their ability and
contribution to the society’s proper functioning. 

In the 1999 Kargil War, a news channel was blamed for revealing strategic data, which led to the
death of Indian soldiers. If the media is not responsible, it will end up doing more harm than
good. Media persons must draw a moral line regarding their jurisdiction.

 Sometimes the media’s shallow but tangible goal of earning the maximum TRP influences its
news while its role as a watchdog is forgotten.

 Nonetheless, the media has the power to shape peoples’ opinion. With this power, they are more
accountable to increasing the quality of governance. Thus, it becomes even more important for
the media to look into the criticisms it’s received and make the changes required. It is essential to
have a watchdog that is sincere and loyal to its true owners (the citizens).

Relationship between Media & Social Progress: - Historically, the media was born as organs
of the people against the feudal oppression. In Europe, the print media played an important role
in transforming a feudal society into a modern one. The print media was widely used to prepare
and organize the people during the French and American Revolution. The people were able to
know the thoughts and teachings of great thinkers from various part of the world. During India's
struggle for the freedom, the leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak, Nehru etc. used the print
media extensively to reach the masses. In present times also, print media is very popular. It
provides information on wide variety of subjects, the local issues are brought forward in eyes of
the public by the regional newspapers. The national newspaper deals with mostly national and
international issues. The newspaper tends to be neutral on most subjects, and is catering to
mostly intellectual people.

The radio broadcast medium is very popular in rural areas. The radio reaches the remote parts of
the country and it is very simple to use. The government broadcasts weather related information
via radio channel which is very essential for the farmers, similarly the warnings related to flood
is broadcasted near the coastal areas for the fishermen. It is easy and inexpensive to create
customized programme for different regions. The government also uses it to popularize its
scheme related to rural areas.
The growth of this medium is very important for the inclusive growth of our country as most of
the people have access to only this medium. The TV medium has the maximum impact on the
mind of the people due to its presentation. People are able to catch real time event in form of
breaking news. It is also a popular form of entertainment. The latest is the internet based
medium, here the reach is immense restricted only by the penetration of internet. The message is
just flashed on the website and millions of people can get the information at their convenient
time. It also very cheap to broadcast message over the internet. Many government agencies have
started using this medium to transfer relevant information.

In a developing country such as India, the media have a great responsibility to fight the backward
ideas such as superstition, casteism and communalism. It also needs to help people in their
struggle against poverty and other social evils. Since a large section of people is backward and
ignorant, it is responsibility of the media to bring modern ideas to them and remove their
ignorance. There is huge economic disparity in India, it has fourth largest number of billionaires
in the world, but is ranked only around 125th in Human Development terms. The media need to
work especially towards the welfare of the poor.

Presently there are thousands of journalists who cover events like cricket match, fashion week,
movie launch parties but there are only few who cover issue of national importance like farmer
suicide, unemployment of youth, income disparity etc. Many TV news channel frequently show
programme on astrology. Common sense would tell us that the movement of the stars and planets
can have no rational connection with our lives. Astrology is totally unscientific but many TV
channels continue to promote it, instead of this they should be promoting scientific views and
latest technologies. Media play an important role in promoting government's policies like fight
against diseases such as polio, AIDS, cancer etc.

Recently we have also witnessed a case of media activism, in some high profile cases such as
Jessica Lal and Aarushi Talwar. In both these cases media went an extra mile to do its
investigation and the accused were pronounced guilty before the verdict of the judiciary. The
media was also reprimanded in the Aarushi Talwar case for its investigative journalism by the
Supreme Court.

In cases where injustice is done, its alright for media to bring it to the public attention, but it
should leave the decision making to the judiciary.
The journey of India from a developing nation to a developed one will depend a lot on the role
played by the media in the country. It needs to focus on the real issues, which are mostly social
and economic in nature, instead to trying to divert the attention to the non-issues.

Social, Economic & Cultural Impact of Media in Society: - The mass media possesses a great
deal of influence in today’s society such as high profile court cases and news events.
Newspapers, radio, magazines and television are able to use their own judgment when reporting
current events.  In today’s landscape the media has used its position to sway the minds of many
individuals in society.  This has been used quite often to spread liberal propaganda. Alternatively
the media and its responsibilities to the public and society are very enormous and carry a great
deal of weight. On the contrary a lot of people look to the media to be fair and balanced. An
instance of this can be seen recently regarding the uproar of George Zimmerman case of Travon
Martin.  Therefore NBC news left out an important part of a recent 911 call involving the Travon
Martin case. The dispatcher asked George Zimmerman what the perpetrator looked like. In the
edited version of the tape the news organization cut out the part of the dispatcher asking Mr.
Zimmerman the question of race. It was edited to look like Mr. Zimmerman was targeting
Travon because he was black. This has caused a racial uproar in the US. It was made to look like
Mr. Zimmerman was targeting the teenager because of his race. This was untrue. It was later
discovered that the dispatchers question was left out. This in turn was made to look like he was
killed because he was black.

Furthermore, the media can shape opinions of the public relating to other issues as well, such as
politics’.  In the political world, the media holds great influential power on the politics
themselves and social change.  History has witness to the fact that media has successfully
molded the opinion of the public on many controversial subjects in politics’.

CONCLUSION: The media do not merely have an instrumental function in society, they also
shape norms, beliefs and fields of interest in matters such as identity-building, ‘regionalization’,
the formation of the multicultural society. In developing country, especially one with as much
widespread poverty and mis-governance as India, media has a special responsibility that perhaps
our counterparts in developed countries may not.

What does the media do? It supplies good content to the people via a good communication
infrastructure. In other words, there are two requirements: creating content so that people can
understand it, and crating the infrastructure so that people can access the content. The media
brings awareness to the people, and I believe that awareness triggers thinking. Once the people
are more aware, it will automatically make them think of good and better ways to create a good
and better functional democracy.

In the words of Marshall McLuhan, the medium is the message because the medium is
constituted by the people, and the message (or the content) is also supplied by the same people.
The idea is to bring together media and society.

It is about bringing information to the people, getting them to think, and getting them to realize
their responsibilities towards the nation. This change cannot occur overnight, but it can be
initiated overnight for sure. The initiation is through your own hearts and minds, to understand
what is missing, and take a determined step towards the belief of a better land, and to learn to
dream.

In Indian democracy media has a responsibility which is deeply associated with the socio-
economic conditions. The present scenario is not quite encouraging and certain areas need to be
addressed. Media organisations, whether in print, audio visual, radio or web have to be more
accountable to the general public. It should be monitored that professional integrity and ethical
standards are not sacrificed for sensational practices. The freedom of press in the country is a
blessing for the people. The self regulatory mechanism across media organisations need to be
strong enough to stop anomalies whenever they occur. Agencies like Press Council of India need
to be vigilant to stem the root. Big media conglomerates are a serious threat. To counter this
problem pluralistic media organisations which are financially viable needs to be encouraged.
Community participation is a goal that the media should strive for in a country like India.3

Hence, the Media has the responsibility to give readers, viewers and listeners’ accuracy and
accountability of information. In addition the media has built into for the most part fundamental
feature of our era, influencing every citizen rather it is politics, the law, or other social issues. 
They must act as a mirror of society to inform the people. Furthermore to help bridge the
communication gaps between different sections of society. Lastly, also critically analyze public
policies, social and cultural issues in the society.

3
Global Media Journal – Indian Edition/ Summer Issue / June 2011; Social Responsibility of Media & Indian
Democracy;Soumya Dutta ;UGC Junior Research Fellow; Department of Mass Communication; University of
Burdwan, West Bengal, India
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Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi, Ingita Pandey

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Express.

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of Media & Indian Democracy;Soumya Dutta ;UGC Junior Research Fellow; Department

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