Of content and control

THE Indian media scene has gone through a dramatic shift in recent times both in terms of content and control. While media content is more and more market-driven, control has now shifted, although indirectly, to "foreign corporates". And yet our political masters continue to revive irrelevant debates such as the 1955 Cabinet decision against the entry of foreign capital into the Indian print media, when in fact the "foreign factor" is already "moderating" the priorities of most media in the country. The debate on foreign equity is perhaps meant to sideline the core of the issue - the direction of the Indian media.