India’s media boom

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on January 11, 2007 at 11:31 AM

“The Indian electronic media is experiencing a revolution,” said Priyaranjan Das Munshi, India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister. And ‘old’ media are doing well too, with newspapers leading the pack.

There are roughly 62,000 newspapers in India he said at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conference of overseas Indians in New Delhi.

There are currently 300 television channels and the number should increase by 30% next year, up to 400.

Apart from strong growth in numbers, conference speakers also insisted on the importance of the media in highlighting isolated cases of social abuse, whether it is at home or for expatriates.

"The media's role then is one of social conscience and though it should be impartial, it must go beyond simply reporting on abuses and actively campaign against them," said Gulf Daily News associate editor Soman Baby.

Source: Follow the media – Gulf News