Media ethics and the
frenzy of stereotype
A view from the Indian sub-continent
Rashmi Vasudeva, Erasmus Mundus Masters in Media Within Globalization
Security and Ethics of Technology-Enabled Communication
EMA Thematic Conference, Bordeaux, 29-30 March 2010
An overview

Why media ethics in this age
of convergence

Media – lifeblood of
democracy or a demagogue?

US-Pak media: A case study
of tech-enabled
homogenization

India-Aus racism row:
Mediatized crisis

The frenzy of ‘easy hate’

Conclusion: Get into the big
tent but give and take!

Media impacts an electronic
diaspora

A climate of fear, terrorism
and regional conflict – media
must remember Spiderman’s
words – with great power
comes great responsibility

Technology throws up vital
questions about ethics,
security and media’s role in
conflict creation and cultural
polarization

Internet is a wayward
river…how information flows
and to whom and to what
consequence is anybody’s
guess
US-Pak media: ‘This is not us’

The real war in
Pakistan is about
perceptions

International migraine
versus the Evil West

Pak is not Iraq; nor
is it Afghanistan

Pak media fostering
Anti-Americanism
watch video

“Pluralism represents one of the greatest
challenges of our age. Our world is connected
technologically like never before but this grid of
connections co-exists with a collision of cultures,
values, customs, religions, social structures and
philosophies.

To compound matters, this pluralism is refracted
through the prism of an instantly-accessible
news media of striking images of angry
conflicting voices and of powerful manipulative
agents.”
Stephen Ward, Media Scholar
India-Aus row: Mediated crisis
A wired wildfire of stereotyping

Increasing globalization and
instant online access has altered
how countries like India and
Australia view their identity and
role in world politics

Globalized media's encounters
with each other fosters deeply
divisive racial/polarized debates
 In times of insecurity, the media
thanks to technology, can amplify the
view of fear mongerers.
 Internet's ability to provide layers of
information should result in a more
'contextualised' journalism for a
pluralistic public sphere.
 But does that really
happen?
The frenzy of hate: An online drama?

The role of technology in
media is crucial; for it ensures
efficient distribution of fear,
anxiety and outrage with
minimal effort.

“24x7 media, both online and
offline, converts a kernel of an
issue into a forest fire with
effortless and almost inevitable
ease. It specializes in
recasting questions in martial
terms - everything becomes
war when it is mediatized –
either for gain or in ignorance.”
Santosh Desai, Times of India columnist
The symbolism of hate

The use of random violence staged
spectacularly is a particularly efficient
device in today's times

The ease with which symbolic
violence can be widely distributed is
creating a surfeit of such issues, but
the real damage inflicted is to the
ideals modern societies are built on
 Today, hate and violence is a stage performance enacted for an audience.
Now it is so much easier for hate to be expressed without putting anything at
risk.
 We can froth, foam, rave and rant without restraint in the alternative universe
called media. The internet is full of the vilest form of hate since it gives us the
maximum protection from the consequences of our words.
Conclusion

Technology has made the journalist an initiator of
conversation rather than a transmitter of information.
This new environment changes how journalists see
themselves and how they regard public deliberation.
Obviously these have great implications for ethics,
security and democracy.

Global information = higher stakes

Thus, ethical standards must be broader, more
profound and more defined to realize a democratic
and empowering technology rather than an
enslaving or debilitating one,

Journalists must deal with the stubborn complexity
and plurality of the world, not shrink it down to
digestible sound bites or clever tweets; only then can
ethically responsible or peace journalism can work.

Only a true collaboration between the traditional and
the new media will sustain journalism’s credibility
and relevance and thus help it exercise its enormous
power responsibly.


It might be a Dickensian ‘worst of times’
for media in many ways and the
profession might be facing its greatest
challenges from all quarters but it is
also its ‘best of times’ with so much
global potential and power in its
reach – technologically as well as
socio-culturally. It is up to journalists to
reach out…
For, it is Journalism and
Journalism alone that has the
capacity to be the most potent
force for humanity, for
intercultural understanding,
for peace and for democracy.
THANK YOU!