Intro:

Information is power, and communication is the art of transmitting information effectively for the
empowerment of society. Media as a tool plays an important role in communication.The media
in its current form has broadly evolved over three phases: traditional media, mainstream media
of the 20th century, and the emerging social media of the 21st century.

Traditional Media in India 

Traditional media was very popular at a time when there was no television, cinema, or printed
newspapers and magazines. The foremost feature of traditional media was that it was based on
interpersonal communication. It was people to people, and the performers travelled from place
to place to entertain and educate audiences. Traditional media comprised four segments.
● Folk Theatre
● Folk songs
● Narrative forms
● And puppetry

Mainstream Media of 20th Century

With the advent of print media, cinema, radio and television, and the Internet, traditional media
lost popular patronage. The novelty of the new media and the fact that they were available
within the home hastened the decline of traditional media.Mainstream media mainly consists of
● Print media
● Radio
● Cinema
● Television
● And the Internet
Social Media Enters the Scene
 Social media has introduced the common man into the media scene. His voice can now be
heard in political, economic, and social discourses.A first milestone in social media was the
launch of MySpace, a social networking site. Then came Orkut (of Google) in 2004,However, it
was the advent of Facebook in 2004 that gave social media a kick start.

BC skit (draft 1- unfinished)

Intro :
Media as a tool of communication has an enormous influence in shaping public opinion on
issues. The media, as an important accountability mechanism has the power to raise important
issues and expose problems that need to be addressed if presented in a fair, even-handed and
non-inflammatory way. Media should be responsible in what and how it reports and clearly
distinguish news analysis from opinions. In the age of information sharing through electronic
and social media it is essential that media should be held accountable and should not be
allowed to become mouthpieces.
Here is a short skit which demonstrates today's news debates on television….

Anchor 2: Hello everyone, we are going to tackle big issues tonight in today's 'Nation wants to
know show'. I'm your host PQR and joining us is Mrs. X and an MP. We will start with asking
Mrs. X with obvious question, Mrs. X, you do know that your husband is guilty of stealing from
the MP?

Mrs. X: I deny it because my husband is not guilty. There is no proof. He has been framed by ...
(Gets interrupted)

Anchor 2: (interrupts Mrs.X) No nononono Mrs.X, your husband is guilty and our other guest can
prove this..

MP: Yes PQR, He is guilty and should be punished. The whole nation is waiting on this. We
need to show that the justice is not dead in this country.

Anchor 2: Well said, how do you respond to this Mrs.X.

Mrs.X: The MP has framed him, does he have any evidence which proves that my husband is
guil…..(gets interrupted again by Anchor)

Anchor 2: I don’t have the proof because your husband has destroyed the evidence.. Your
husband is guilty and and should be punished. The whole nation has had enough of people like
you Mrs.X. Justice will prevail, your husband will be punished!

Mrs X: How can you assume all this without any proof.
Anchor: I see it, I see it now.. you are a part of the conspiracy too. You should also be punished.

With this our time is up in today's 'Nation wants to know'. I'll see you again tomorrow! We will
continue this debate until the guilty is punished!
Goodbye!

Narrator:  this is a demo of today's "media trial" where we see a trivial issue blown out of
proportion in a large scale using sensational showmanship.
What does media get out of this?
It might be for TV ratings or for camouflaging real issues or maybe there is some other agenda.
Is the audience to blame for watching it? or the producers to blame for? It is left for you to
decide.

Narrator: Now, we move onto another instance of this skit:

Anchor 1 : Welcome to Primetime debate, I'm your host XYZ and today we are joined by 2
guests, Mr.B, an economist and a Mr. A, CEO of an MNC and today's topic of discussion: "Is
government doing enough for the revival of the pandemic hit economy?"

We will now move on to guest 1, economist Mr.B. Sir, the government has announced a revival
package, your views.

Economist : Revival package is good but it is not enough. Welfare programs for the poor is the
priority. For businesses, private investment is needed more than a government stimulus
package.

Anchor 1: Mr. A, you are in support of the revival package. Do you think it is enough?

CEO : Yes. I am in support. This is what the economy needs right now. I agree with welfare of
poor but we need to focus on getting the businesses running too.

Anchor 1: Mr. B, your response:

Economist: while I agree that businesses need support from government, but the people in
poverty are suffering more and they need all the help they can get. The package announced by
government is simply not enough to cover both.

Anchor 1: Mr. A, I think that economist has a point here, how do you respond?

CEO: I think supporting businesses is like jumpstart button or a spark, it will restart economic
activities will benefit everyone including the poor.

Anchor 1: So in conclusion, we can say that both measures are required to certain extent, the
government needs to prioritise welfare and also take steps that would bring in more private
investment and light that spark for the businesses to resume activities.

Narrator: Here we can see media being used for a constructive debate. An effective tool to
educate the masses and in turn finding solutions to the important issues of today that affects
everyone in the country.

These two instances show how media is an effective communication tool. It has the power to
change the world, educate the society but it also has the power to disrupt the world and cause
chaos.

Outro &conclusion :
From the above two narrations we can understand that how responsible media behaves and
how those who tie the government line create false cases, do media trial on the people and also
declare the judgements in the news studios only. Media should be responsible enough because
media is the one which creates opinions and if it just sticks to the propaganda then it is just
another Radio Rawanda. While no one can deny the fact that media is the most powerful tool of
communication, it should not become an instrument for the dissemination of false and
inflammatory messages and values, but should act as an empowerment tool for the society.