In a forum organised jointly by Mindshare and ESPN Star Sports, top media personalities from the field of sports agreed and differed in variable measures.
MUMBAI: In a forum organised jointly by Mindshare and ESPN Star Sports, top media personalities from the field of sports agreed and differed in variable measures about the role of the media in sports building on Friday.
Ayaz Memon of DNA, Sunil Lulla from the Times group, Pradeep Magazine from The Hindustan Times and R Mohan from The Asian Age discussed some of the prevalent and controversial topics related to the field of sports.
“It is essentially about building heroes because our nation is parched of them, sportspersons that the next generation will look up to,” said Ayaz Memon, who cited that sheen of hockey had diminished over the years because it had lost its heroes or the media had failed to project hockey players as heroes.
Pradeep Magazine supplemented to the view by observing that while the presence of heroes is important, they couldn’t emerge out of vacuum.
“Infrastructure and amenities are also needed in this hero-building initiative,”he said. R Mohan directed his barbs at thegovernment saying that it has done little over the years for sports and itis the media — both print and television — that has to be credited for its proliferation and the pride it has put in the national teams.
Venturing on to the offshoot but unavoidable issue of the various factors that influence the media, all panelists agreed that the pull the market had on the sports media was inevitable, for sportspersons after film stars are the only celebrities around. “I believe the market will develop and each reader or viewer will make a sensible choice, something that fits his or her needs,” said Memon.
Lulla concurred, saying that, “the Indian markets will mature over time like in the UK, where there is a clear demarcation between the sensible and the sensational. Value judgement will be done by the audience for themselves.”
On whether the media is getting too intrusive into the players’ lives, the opinions were split.
Memon felt that TV was setting the agenda for print and hence such a development was indispensable. Pradeep Magazine said that a line needs to be drawn to guard the sportspersons’ privacy.
There was a consensus amongst all the members of the panel regarding media’s role in taking up sports’ cause. All agreed that the apathy and negligence shown by the sports authorities in administering their respective bodies needs to be highlighted but for that they said sportspersons have to be at the forefront.
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