Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
Most reputed media organisations and media monitoring/policy organisations agree on public interest being the most valuable characteristic of any form of journalism. The perception that journalism, apart from being unbiased and objective, is in public interest too, lends journalism a social authority that parallels the statutory arms of governance. However, public interest is often compromised at the altar of the unscrupulous such as individual interest and market. There arise conflicts over ‘what public interest is in’ and ‘what is in public interest’. Also, despite the fact that there seems an a priori understanding of the concept of public interest, the definition and scope of public interest in journalism lacks a general consensus. A review of scholarly literature on the subject reveals that the problem still lacks a methodological structure. This study, based on a survey of University students, approaches the understanding of public interest in journalism from the audiences’ perspective. It adopts a two-pronged approach: one, by trying to establish, from the audience perspective, what public interest in journalism should be; and two, exploring the perception of audience about Indian TV news adhering to the principles of public interest.
Public Interest, Audience Profile
