Media must portray growing inequalities in the society: P Sainath

MUMBAI: The deepening disconnect between the mass media and the masses is one of the biggest challenges being faced by journalism, this year's Magsasay award winner and veteran journalist P Sainath said on Friday.

The media must also portray the growing inequalities between a small section of affluent people and those who are struggling to make ends meet existing within our society and connect with the greatest movements of this time, Sainath, the rural affairs editor of 'The Hindu' said at an interaction at the Mumbai Press Club.

"What we are witnessing right now is just the trailor of the agrarian crisis we are reeling under. We speak a lot about the growth but the farm sector has taken a big hit in the last decade and half and the journalists must report more on such aspects," he said.

He cited Forbes Magazine ranking India as fourth in number of dollar billionaires but the country ranks a dismal 126th in Human Development Index in the league of sub-Saharan African countries.
   
"All of us work for some organisations and the challenge before us is to expand the public space in a private forum," he said.

Sainath said a journalist should analyse more which would distinguish him from a large number of people who do mere 'stenography' by plainly producing material handed over by some agencies to them.

"We must also look at new ownership patterns so that the media houses do not end up in the hands of a few groups," he said and suggested opening trusts as an alternative.