• Newspapers are called the 'Light House of democracy'. • Prepare a project displaying any three prominent news published in any of the newspapers or magazines (like India today, Times of India, Hindustan Times, Malayala • Manorama etc.) And show visual media highlighted the issue and compelled the government to take effective steps to bring law and order.
Answers
Answer:
When working with newspapers and magazines, you will likely begin with an article, especially if you are using digitized newspaper and magazine collections, article indexes, or footnote tracking as strategies for discovering primary sources.
All newspaper and magazine articles have authors, but the authors are not always identified. Many articles are unsigned, by which we mean the author remains anonymous. The part of a newspaper article that identifies the author or authors is called the byline, which you can see in the example below. In a newspaper article, the byline will sometimes include the author's affiliation (does he or she work for the newspaper itself, or is he or she a reporter for a newswire service like the Associated Press?) and sometimes even the author's job title (e.g. Crime Reporter). If there is a byline, it can appear in different places--beneath the headline, or sometimes at the end of the article itself.
There is no special name for the part of a magazine article that identifies its author, but as with newspapers, many magazine articles are unsigned. If the article is signed, the author's name can appear beneath the title, or at the end of the article. Unsigned articles have been conventional throughout the history of journalism, though less so after the 19th century. In Britain, the number of unsigned magazine articles written by now-famous authors was so great, that scholars in the 20th century tried to provide attribution for as many of these unsigned articles as possible. The results of their work can be consulted in the Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals.
Magazine articles often have titles, but not always. Sometimes, especially if the article forms part of a special section, it will be untitled.
Newspaper articles technically do not have titles, but headlines. Headlines and titles serve similar functions, but a headline is really one or more line of display type intended to capture the reader's attention. One reason to understand that headlines are not the same as titles is that a newspaper article reprinted from a newswire service like the Associated Press will often have completely different headlines, depending on the newspaper in which it is printed. The headline chosen for such an article can sometimes reveal information about the newspaper's editorial stance.
Finally, a newspaper article will often have a dateline. An article's dateline is the part of the article that identifies the location from which the reporter filed the article. It can also refer to the date the article was filed with the newspaper, but the word primarily refers to the location. Not every article will carry a dateline, but if it does, you can use that information to decide how near the author was to the event he or she is reporting. For example, in the newspaper article below, we might interpret the reporter's information differently if the article carried a London or New York dateline.
Answer:
:As a class project, decide to focus on a particular news topic and cut out stories from different newspapers on this. Also watch the coverage of this topic on TV news. Compare two newspapers and write down the similarity and differences in their reports. It might help to ask the following questions:
What information is this article providing?
Answer: A road accident in which a pedestrian gets killed while crossing the road.
What information is it leaving out?
Answer: All the media are blaming the car driver only. Nobody is thinking about why the pedestrian was crossing the road without waiting for pedestrian signal.
From whose point of view is the article being written?
Answer: All articles are apparently catering to the sentiments regarding the rich and poor divide.
Whose point of view is being left out and why?
Answer: It is leaving the problems which drivers face while negotiating through busy traffic. It is ignoring the high level of stress through which most of the drivers may be going. Creating sensationalism and dishing out a popular fare can be the reason.
Extra Questions
What do you understand by independent media? Is the media actually independent and unbiased?
Answer: The term ‘independent’ in the context of media means that there should be no control or influence on the coverage of news by them. In other words, nobody should have a say in what should and should not be included in a particular news report. An independent media would give reliable and unbiased news.
In reality, media is not independent. This is because the Government has a lot of influence on media. There have been times when the government has censored the media.
Business houses control the media and it is in their interest if the media highlights only one side of the story.
The dependence of the media on advertisements for revenue deters it from reporting against people who give them advertisements.
For making a news interesting and increasing the public support for an issue, media tends to highlight on only one side of the story.
Describe local media.
Answer: Since media will not be interested in covering ‘small issues’ that involve the lives of ordinary people, many local groups have come up with their own media. This is called local media. Some examples of these are:
Community radio: These are used to tell farmers about the prices of different crops and to give many other valuable inputs to them.
Documentary films: These are low budget films and focus on the real – life conditions of different poor communities.
Khabar Lahriya: It is a newspaper which is a fortnightly that is run by Dalit women in Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh. It reports the issues of the Dalits. It has its reach to the farmers, shopkeepers, school teachers, panchayat members and literate women.
Write a note on media and democracy.
Answer: Since a democracy refers to the concept of – ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’, the elected representatives are accountable to the people. Media plays an important role in disseminating information about events happening in the country and the world. Based on this information, people are able to understand how the government is working, how much it has fulfilled its promises and where it is lagging behind. People can express their views/ suggestions and take action against the government based on the media reports.