Media researcher Harsha Man Maharjan is associated with Martin Chautari, one of the few social science research organisations in Nepal. Maharjan holds a doctorate degree in media studies from Kyoto University in Japan and has extensively studied Nepal's media industry. Purushottam Poudel of the Post spoke with Maharjan on the theory of media, its applicability in the changed context, the issue of media regulation, digital democracy, old and new media and a host of other issues. The following are excerpts from that interview.
In the traditional media,
the media dependency theory had a dominant role in a country like ours. How do
you evaluate the media dependency theory with the emergence of new media?
We know that the media dependency theory
discusses the core and the periphery. It assumes that people on the periphery
need to depend on the media at the core. As a media researcher, I cannot state
that this theory does not have its influence, but of late, its effect has
waned. Many local media outlets are now becoming global in terms of their
access in the current scenario. As a result, not only the foreign media, but
our media too, can equally influence foreigners with good content.
We can understand the celebration of this
theory as media imperialism and its critique from the work of British
scholar Jemery Tunstall. In the heyday of this theory, that is in
1977, he published a very important book, titled, The Media Are
American.
The title speaks for itself. Simply, it says
that the media are American. By this, he means that there was the domination of
western media, mainly the American and British, in the world. He mentioned that
developing countries could not make their own movies so they imported Hollywood
movies. In the case of Nepal, it is interesting to remember that Nepal
Television which was started in 1985 with a mission to promote national culture,
later imported American teleserials, like Night Rider and Automan. In his book, Suitably
Modern: Making Middle-class Culture in Nepal, Mark Liechty mentioned that
around 1991, Nepal Television aired six Pakistani serials, four Hindi serials,
including seven English serials.
However, the influence of the theory has been
declining. In 2008, Jeremy Tunstall revised his thesis and published another
book, The Media were American: US Mass Media in Decline. In
this book, he has described the increasing role of national media with huge
populations. He has highlighted the media from the perspective of nations like
China, India, and Brazil. So, the dependency theory was successful up until
recently for these causes.
Did the rise of new media
weaken the media dependency theory?
Before answering this question, we have to
know what is new media. There are scholars who think that the word ‘new media’
is a slippery term. Are the characteristics of new media totally different from
old media? What is new about the new media? These are theoretical questions.
Scholars have written books on these questions. When we say new media, often
the people include online news media and social media. These media are highly
interactive. So, the audiences can easily participate in new media as compared
to traditional media. Digital content can use multimedia so the boundaries of
print, radio and television have ended.
We should look at this question from two
perspectives. On the one hand, social media has made people who did not have a
say in traditional media, vocal comparatively. They don’t need to depend on
traditional media. Activists can fight with international media players. They
can criticise their representation in these media. They can try to make them
accountable. So, the silenced people can speak. The traffic of information is
not one-way as in the past. In fact, information flows in multiple ways. So we
can say that the media dependency theory is undoubtedly waning as news sources
multiply. Of course, the question of what to call the core and peripheral has
arisen as a result of the new media. Social media does have a role to play in
society, even though it would be too early to claim that they have a similar
impact to that of traditional media in terms of bringing about changes.
However, if we think about the powerful IT
companies, it seems as if dependency theory helps us to make sense of the
present world where a few companies from western countries dominate. Let us
take an example of social media platforms. In 2022, the top five such platforms
were Facebook, YouTube, Whatsapp, Instagram, and TikTok. Except for TikTok
which is based in China, the rest are based in the US. Our interaction with the
world depends on these companies. People are hooked to them due to the powerful
algorithms these platforms use. News media in Nepal depend on some of these
platforms to distribute content to the audiences. News media companies worry
that their brand names would be overshadowed by these social media platforms.
Can we call this another kind of dependency?
With the expansion of the
internet, new types of media have emerged, putting the need for their
regulation up for debate. What’s your take on it?
This can be viewed from two policy debates.
One is self-regulation. That means the media industry should make its own rules
and ethics, and should not wait for the government to interfere. New media
should improve themselves. They should have their own ethical guidelines. To
prepare such guidelines, they need to sit together and discuss their problems.
In terms of legislation, our constitution
ensures complete press freedom. The legal documents are important: Electronic
Transaction Act (ETA), 2006 and Online News Operation Directive. Though the ETA
was made to govern electronic transactions, it contains article 47 which
restricts freedom of expression, online. In fact, as my research shows, this
article appeared in an ordinance brought out by the royal regime and it was not
changed when this Act was passed in 2006. Governments have misused this Act to
breach press freedom. The directive is based on a non-media-related Act, the
Good Governance (Management and Operation) Act, 2064 (2008). This makes it
mandatory for online news media to register at the Department of Information.
The question of whether new media should be registered is currently being
discussed within the country. There are some nations where media organisations,
mainly newspapers, can operate unregistered. So, the government needs to
prepare different laws related to online media in consultation with the
industry.
There are discussions on
the need to regulate new media as Nepal’s traditional media are under the purview
of law. Meanwhile, the idea of digital democracy has come up. How do these
schools of thought relate?
Digital democracy is a contradictory idea in
itself. For instance, Balen Shah, the mayor of Kathmandu, declared that he
would stream a municipal meeting live on social media. Is that a digital
democracy?
Making powerful people more accountable
through digital media could be a part of digital democracy. In this situation,
anyone can respectfully pose a question to a person in authority. Here we
should not forget these questions: Who wants to speak in a digital democracy
and why they want to speak or who does not want to speak and why they do not
want to speak are other issues that need to be addressed.
One shouldn't be permitted to express himself
in whatever way he wants in the name of digital democracy. The frequency of
hate speech has also grown recently. Digital democracy must therefore also be
balanced. Hence, it is important to keep an eye on all forms of media, whether
they are new or old.
Basically, from the new forms of media,
populism in politics has become prevalent. Leaders try to draw followers to
themselves by using emotion, rather than logic. Instead of making us mature,
the growing media has made people immature. We have a rising propensity to
scold the one we do not like rather than have a debate on the subject. There is
a notion of digital democracy where people should have the ability to express
their opinions. Yet, it should also adopt regulatory measures for balance.
So are you suggesting
that with the rise of the new form of media, populism in politics has
increased?
Certainly, the rise of new media has
contributed to an increase in populism in politics. Before, political party
leaders had to use traditional media to express their views. But as new media
becomes more significant, leaders no longer seem to require traditional media
as much as they did in the past.
In traditional media, before the news gets
published, there is a rigorous editing procedure. Hence, it may not be
published if what someone is trying to express is not true. However, the new
media, which is in direct control of the leaders and their views, will have a
lesser chance of gatekeeping. Furthermore, it has made it simpler for them to
resort to populism.
Of late, there are many
questions before the traditional media. Are they fair?
Being a media researcher, I am also aware of
the problems within our traditional media. There are questions about our
traditional media. I don't believe all of the accusations are real but some may
be. However, we have only looked at the work of the media in black and white.
We should have a nuanced understanding of how the media works.
Mass media were the sole
channels of communication with a large audience until recently. Now, new media
have been more effective at reaching the general public. And when mass media
have an online presence, should they still be called traditional media?
The term ‘new media’ raises the question,
"What exactly is new media?" Theoretically, whichever media emerges,
at the very beginning, it becomes a new media.
We need to keep in mind a few factors when we
discuss new media. Interactivity is higher in new media. Traditional media do
not allow for the type of interaction that the new media does. Because of the
new media's effect, traditional media now also distributes their material
through them.
Although new media like Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, and TikTok are all effective communication tools, they also have
drawbacks. The fact that new media content must be delivered promptly makes it
challenging to confirm its veracity.
It can also be seen from an alternative angle.
Traditional media no longer use just a traditional medium. Many FMs now
broadcast their shows live on Facebook, if FM is still considered a
conventional media. Because of this, it is now challenging for us to
differentiate between traditional media and new media. Currently, there are no
boundaries for the media. The conventional media still plays an important role.
They can practise journalism which new forms of media cannot do due to
financial burdens like long-form investigative reporting.
How do you find the
changing media landscape and its future?
It was once believed that print media in South
Asia, including Nepal, had no impact on the internet. A few owners of Nepali
print media had predicted in 2018-2019 that print and online media will
co-exist for another 30 years. Covid-19 made all those claims wrong.
The urge to read newspapers appears to be
declining. Because of this, print media owners have begun to declare their
intention to become public companies. I am also waiting to see how the future
unfolds for the Nepali media industry. Traditional media may, however, alter
them over time, since that’s already a work in progress.
Purushottam
Poudel is a reporter covering national politics for The Kathmandu Post.
Source:
https://kathmandupost.com/interviews/2023/02/19/how-traditional-media-are-evolving
