Newslaundry Podcast

"What is the role of the media? The role of the media is to make money for its owners. Its function is to inform people...and give them news," says journalist Palagummi Sainath in a conversation with Newslaundry.On June 16, People's Archive of Rural India's founder-editor Sainath delivered the 1st Neelabh Mishra Memorial Lecture on how corporatisation of the media harms Indian democracy. Newslaundry spoke to Sainath about media ownership, freedom of the press, priorities of Indian newsrooms, among several other issues related to the Indian media landscape.Speaking on the corporatisation of media, Sainath says, "[In] corporate-owned media, journalism and journalists can never be free. He also added that whatever freedom there was, even in that set-up, has been swiftly shrinking. "There are very fine journalists...but the space they have to function has shrunk quite rapidly." Quoting American journalist AJ Liebling, Sainath says, "Freedom of the press is meant for those who own one." He adds that when it comes