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by S. H. Galahitiyawa

The processes of interaction necessarily require communication, ranging from vocal and gestural signals to non-verbal messages such as those conveyed through music, dance and art, as well as verbal messages, both about observable physical phenomena and abstract ideas and non-tangible emotions.

With the growing literacy rate more people tend to read newspapers, books, magazines and to view television. Listening to the radio is less frequent than reading and viewing television.

With the emergence of the electronic revolution, better reporting and writing are essential to newspapers. The immediacy of television has caused many an editor to shake off the shackles of tradition, which decreed that all except feature material had to be told deadpan. Veteran journalist Edwin Ariyadasa defines feature articles as "a catch all".

The wide context of journalism

We can itemize some characteristics of journalism.

* Journalism does not exist in isolation

* Journalism deals with a wide audience

* Journalism should be enlightening

* Journalism should pave the way to create a responsible society.

With the capacity and potential mass media agencies and the journalists possess, to reach the mass audience, it is natural that this capacity could also pave the way for social progress as well as social decline.

In other words, messages that are transmitted through mass media channels such as newspapers, radio and television, etc., could affect the entire journey of a society or a country. But apart from the strength that is possessed by a particular mass medium to convey a message effectively through the inherent characteristics of the medium concerned, there are so many other factors that should be taken into consideration.

A rainbow of human interest arches over the entire field of journalism today. Almost anything can be turned into an interesting feature involving the human condition if the writer knows how. A well-researched, vividly written story that appeals to people is one of the essential ingredients of the modern newspaper. "Examples," Vladimir Nabokov once said, "are the stained glass windows of the mind." They are also the basis for any story involving human interest.

The processes of interaction necessarily require communication, ranging from vocal and gestural signals to non-verbal messages such as those conveyed through music, dance and art, as well as verbal messages, both about observable physical phenomena and abstract ideas and non-tangible emotions. The use of images, language and symbols has enabled human beings to refine and enrich the communication process both in depth and in variety.

Reader and the listener

The press has progressed. The general rule now is: Do it differently if you can. But you do need an idea for a story line first.

The press is a necessary condition for an informed and critical citizenship. It provides information on major issues without which the public would not be able to make intelligent judgments. And it functions as a forum for public debate about such issues, serving to ensure that a diversity of opinions is heard.

A well-informed, disciplined and responsible press, is the pith and marrow of a nations democratic well-being. The soul of such a press is proper ethical behaviour. The newspapers, magazines of good old days were very much free from radical political issues and loaded commercials.

They were full of educative, cool, harmonious articles. These varied articles not only educated people but also entertained and brought the reader relaxation. The intimacy of radio programmes too brought the listener closer to radio. Soothing music, dramas in realistic issue and educational programmes enhanced listening interest of the public. The paper articles and radio programmes then were written and produced not to pollute the human mind but to make tired minds relax after a person retires into an arm chair at the eve of a day.

Then, media balanced the harmony between science and arts in their productions to advance the public interest by publishing facts and opinions. Enhancing positive thinking of young and old was the fundamental objective.

Producing a newspaper is a team operation played out under immense pressure, conditions in which "professionalism" may easily substitute for more abstract issues of `principle'. Political biases of journalists manipulate public interest.

With the introduction of the open economy, which promoted new technology, the notion of global village came into being. Global exposure demanded more reading, listening and viewing. Public became more selective. More and more reading materials, radio and TV channels added to mass media. With this growing competition, media organizations depended more and more on commercial displays.

Airtime and reading space were allocated more to these. Editors have to curtail airtime and space for educational and entertaining programmes to satisfy the needs of media proprietors.

At the same time, the fiercer the battle for circulation, the greater the commercial pressures on editors to disregard journalistic standards on matters of truth, accuracy and ethical acceptability. Commercial decisions on marketing, the publisher's responsibility, easily overlap editorial requirements.

But, the inescapable irony of all this is, without the lavish support of commercial interests the price of a newspaper cannot be brought within the reach of the masses.

Viewer

With the emergence of digital technology, the electronic media entered into a new arena. Television became more popular. More TV channels emerged. Varied colours, shades and animation attracted viewers. Could merely colours and animation educate and entertain viewers? Public are intelligent and they cannot be illusioned just by the digital technology. They seek entertainment and meaningful communication. Disharmony between media and the public begins to develop.

A good example is, that it is a recent development, that, in TV, while a song is playing, a dance or video clips are shown in the background. It is pathetic that in some instances neither the dance nor the video clips go hand in hand with the song and these extra efforts damage the beauty of the song. Viewers' entertainment is destroyed by the disagreement between the producer and the public. Who is responsible? I am confused. Disharmony - who is responsible?

Many people read newspapers or watch television news as a form of entertainment - the feelings involved can vary from vicarious joy to schadenfreude, from nail-biting suspense to mildly satisfied curiosity. But, however strong is any pleasure-seeking motive in readers or viewers, they still expect some reliability - a credibility in the information presented to them. Thus, codes for journalists commonly require reporters to convey only information possessing certain attributes which help to ensure reliability.

Reporters may be required to give the truth; to write accurately and objectively; to avoid distortion, selection or misrepresentation of the facts; to avoid bias and partiality, to refrain from conjecture or the passing off of opinion as fact. (Nigel G.E. Harris, Codes of Conduct for Journalists)

Sometimes these requirements may be breached through carelessness or laziness; sometimes through an over-zealousness in seeking to make a scoop, as may happen when there is a temptation to treat some likely happening, such as a ministerial resignation, as having already occurred.

There are, however, cases which seem to merit much greater moral condemnation than these, ones in which what is reported is deliberately distorted, or in which material facts are deliberately suppressed, so as to fit in with the interests of a third party, perhaps a key advertiser or someone who has given benefits directly to the journalist concerned. Since the distortion or suppression will be carried out in the interests of the third party, and since that party will normally have a motive for bringing about those distortions or suppressions only when they are against the interests of readers or viewers, the journalist involved can be seen as involved in a cynical manipulation of the public.

Readers/viewers who find themselves to have been used in this way are likely to feel, and have good reason to feel, aggrieved; the journalist responsible will have seriously compromised the trust they have placed in him or her. Good journalists, as with the better people in any profession, pride themselves on their integrity, and they will find it easier to maintain that integrity against pressure brought by less scrupulous proprietors if they can point to a clause in their professional code which supports them in making a stand against their being used in this way. Information is the substance and sustenance of a democratic society.

`Information' should be understood in a wide sense: not just factual information but also the opinion, comment, criticism, speculation, discussion and debate that are needed to keep democracy healthy and society free and fair. A democratic society therefore requires freedom of information and freedom of expression, and this gives the media their vital role, that of providing people with the information that they need to know in order to be democratic citizens. It does not follow that people should be forced to be politically active, nor that the media have only a political role. There is more to life than politics, and the media can be entertaining and relaxing as well as informative.

Finally, producers in all forms of journalism are appealed by the public to maintain a cool, detached, even skeptical attitude as they approach their material. Their task calls for a high degree of skill in the use of language, organization and dexterity on both the video display terminal and, in declining importance, the typewriter to maintain the lullaby between media and the public.

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