|
Media For People (MFP) is an alternative media movement set up to promote the voices of the marginalised people. MFP is being launched by three dedicated media activists based in south India, to support the public to penetrate the newsrooms with their views. Media For People is born out of a wish to be with the people, to become their megaphone.
Latest news from the front says that the Indian government is opening doors to foreign media by surrendering its restriction of 51% shares for the Indian collaborator. The domestic media even before opening up to foreign corporate giants, have begun its sell out to the market forces. In some cases, forcing the staff reporters to turn into sales agents, forced to work in favour of consumer sales market. In the case of some television channels they are also asked to bring in 'saleable' news which would attract potential sponsors.
The New Indian Express, a major paper based in the South is launching a series of market shows in cities targeted at women and urban readers with the help of the target-specific supplements. "Know the woman by the jewel she wears", was the heading of its news report on page one that announced the inauguration of a recently held Womans World exhibition. The show sold lipsticks, washing machines, bangles etc.
This is the time to act in tune with the idea that change has to begin from oneself.
As the first step, MFP wishes to set up a video / photo documentation unit which would select underreported events, issues, causes and efforts and travel to those places to document them as video films / documentaries / photo-essays / web reports / news features with photos and supply them to editors / publishers / NGOs / activists / non-profit groups etc for the purpose of dissemination of information. This shall be done with the assistance of groups and activists in villages and towns for the ultimate benefit of the people involved without seeking corporate finance. MFP already functions in a modest manner from home offices with an aim to dissipate alternative news stories around the world from India.
|
 |
|
| |
 |
On Mainstream Media
Noam Chomsky 
The real mass media are basically trying to divert people. Let them do something else, but dont bother us (us being the people who run the show). Let them get interested in professional sports, for example. Let everybody be crazed about professional sports or sex scandals or the personalities and their problems or something like that. Anything, as long as it isnt serious. Of course, the serious stuff is for the big guys. "We" take care of that.
What are the elite media, the agenda-setting ones? The New York Times and CBS, for example. Well, first of all, they are major, very profitable, corporations. Furthermore, most of them are either linked to, or outright owned by, much bigger corporations, like General Electric, Westinghouse, and so on. They are way up at the top of the power structure of the private economy which is a very tyrannical structure. Corporations are basically tyrannies, hierarchic, controled from above. If you dont like what they are doing you get out. The major media are just part of that system.
|
|
|
|
