{"id":5274,"date":"2025-08-18T00:24:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T18:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/?p=5274"},"modified":"2025-08-18T00:24:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T18:54:40","slug":"revive-journalisms-legacy-or-become-the-problem-urges-k-v-prabhakar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/?p=5274","title":{"rendered":"“Revive Journalism\u2019s Legacy or Become the Problem, Urges K.V. Prabhakar”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Indian Journalism Must Reclaim Its Legacy, Says K.V. Prabhakar<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Mandya, August 17<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 On the eve of India\u2019s 79th Independence Day celebrations, K.V. Prabhakar, Media Advisor to the Chief Minister, called for introspection among journalists, warning that the shift from political to economic leadership has reduced citizens to mere consumers while investigative journalism strays from its core purpose.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the Press Day event organized by the Mandya District Journalists\u2019 Association, Prabhakar urged the media to revive the values that once defined Indian journalism\u2014a force that played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle but now risks becoming part of the problem.<\/p>\n

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From Political to Economic Leadership: A Dangerous Shift<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Prabhakar highlighted the stark contrast between journalism\u2019s past and present. \u201cDuring the freedom struggle, Indian journalism was financially weak but rich in political and social will. Today, it has escaped financial poverty but fallen into a poverty of social responsibility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He attributed this decline to the transition from political leadership to economic dominance. \u201cEarlier, governments controlled economic forces, enabling policies like bank nationalization, land reforms, and free education. Now, economic forces control governments, upending the social order and turning citizens into consumers,\u201d Prabhakar explained.<\/p>\n

He illustrated this with sharp criticism: \u201cEven withdrawing \u20b9500 from your own bank attracts a fee. A poor man stepping out in the morning faces taxes, GST, fines, and compound interest before returning home. Even beedis, matchboxes, and bananas come with a GST tag. Yet, journalism, which should question this exploitation, remains silent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Corporate Takeover of Media: Stenographers, Not Watchdogs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Prabhakar argued that corporate powers hijacked the media as the first step in shifting national leadership from politics to economics. \u201cNewspapers and channels now serve corporate interests, reducing journalists to stenographers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He lamented the distortion of investigative journalism: \u201cOnce focused on people\u2019s struggles\u2014food, livelihoods, and hardships\u2014it has now shifted to sensationalism, fixating on private lives rather than public issues. Cameras that once captured hunger and deprivation now linger on scandal. This is not Indian journalism\u2019s true model.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Reviving Journalism\u2019s Lost Values<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Prabhakar stressed the need for self-criticism and revival. \u201cWhether it\u2019s Independence Day or Press Day, we must restore credibility, not just celebrate. If journalism doesn\u2019t address its own crisis, it will become the problem,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

He urged journalists to \u201cdust off the models that once guided us\u201d and return to principled reporting. \u201cA meaningful Press Day means reviving the ideals we\u2019ve lost through honest introspection,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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A Call to the Next Generation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Addressing the children of award-winning journalists, Prabhakar emphasized values beyond academic success. \u201cThe mother\u2019s lap is the best place in the world. Children must learn humanity, responsibility toward parents, and real relationships\u2014not just mobile addiction,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n

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Dignitaries in Attendance<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The event was attended by District In-charge Minister Chaluvarayaswamy, Film Academy President Sadhu Kokila, businessman Zafrullah, Working Journalists\u2019 Association State President Shivanand Tagadoor, Housing Minister\u2019s Media Coordinator Lakshminarayan, and MLA Darshan Puttannaiah, among others.<\/p>\n

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Final Thought<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prabhakar\u2019s remarks serve as a stark reminder: journalism must reclaim its role as society\u2019s conscience, or risk irrelevance in an era dominated by corporate and economic interests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Key Quotes:<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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    “Earlier, journalism was financially poor but rich in social will. Today, it has money but no moral responsibility.”<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 K.V. Prabhakar<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    “When economic forces control governments, citizens become mere consumers\u2014even withdrawing \u20b9500 from your own bank costs a fee.”<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 K.V. Prabhakar<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    “Corporate powers turned journalists into stenographers. Media now shows what corporates decide, not what people need.”<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 K.V. Prabhakar<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    “Investigative journalism once focused on hunger and livelihoods\u2014now it\u2019s obsessed with scandal and sensationalism.”<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 K.V. Prabhakar<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    “If journalism doesn\u2019t solve its own crisis, it will become the biggest problem.”<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 K.V. Prabhakar<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Indian Journalism Must Reclaim Its Legacy, Says K.V. Prabhakar Mandya, August 17\u00a0\u2014 On the eve of India\u2019s 79th Independence Day celebrations, K.V. Prabhakar, Media Advisor to the Chief Minister, called for introspection among journalists, warning that the shift from political to economic leadership has reduced citizens to mere consumers while investigative journalism strays from its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[198],"tags":[74,1226,82],"class_list":["post-5274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bengaluru","tag-karnataka","tag-kv-prabhakar","tag-siddaramaiah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5276,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5274\/revisions\/5276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}