NewsClick.in brings an alternate perspective to that of the corporate media that dominates the world today. This is possible as it is based on voluntary efforts and contributions of readers and our well wishers who want to see an independent voice on matters that affect them. It will address the key issues in today's world -- issues from the point of view of the poor, the working class, the farmers -- all of which are virtually missing from the coverage of the corporate media.

Editorial Statement

In today's' world, TV and other forms of media are essentially pipelines to the consumer through which brands and products can be sold. As public broadcasting has also succumbed to advertisements, the issue is no longer between private and public broadcasting, but how advertisers assert control over the media. Only higher TRP's bring in advertisement revenue and this is the be all and end all of TV as a media. It is driven by the objective of maximisation of ad revenues rather than providing a serious view of society.

The issue is oven worse when it comes to news channels. The budget for news-gathering is hardly 5-10 % of the total budget. The international news coverage is almost entirely from the western news agencies or feeds from international news networks. Therefore, Indian media replicates the biases of the western media, be it West Asia or International Terrorism. Africa and Latin America is almost invisible in Indian news media. The urban poor, industrial workers, land struggles, the rural poverty are largely missing in the media, as they are not the consumers that major brands are looking for. Therefore, it is unlikely that a corporate media, with its search for advertisement as its main source of income can be receptive to the real issues of the poor.

The key issue is whether there is any alternative to this dominant model of the visual media today? It is here that the Internet and the possibility of using the Internet as an alternate form of reaching the people need to be considered. The Internet today, with increased broadband penetration and the phenomena of You-Tube and Google Video, has made it possible not only to provide written material but also visual material. An Internet based news and views, is therefore an alternative and can be built at costs an order of magnitude lower than the conventional TV channels. The Internet also has shown the power of networks: what any one group cannot achieve can be achieved if we network activists and groups. An Internet site, in this vision, will become a hub, which others can either link to or post their material it can be primarily be looked upon as an open, collaborative space. With this, we unleash the much larger creative energies that are lying idle today due to the complete trivialisation of media today and its centralised control.

Contact Us

Newsclick.in is run by an editorial collective of individuals. They include

Prabir Purkayastha

D.Raghunandan

Aijaz Ahmad

Amit Sengupta

Srinivasan Ramani

Email - newsclick.in@gmail.com