A few of us friends got together for dinner today, one of them an army officer. Talk inevitably, amid loads of nostalgic discussions about school times, turned to the attitude of the media about sensitive issues like corruption, defense, etc.

There were two opinions on the issue. One, that the media hypes issues, even at times perverts facts to sensationalize. The other, that the media, in whatever way, plays the role of a watchdog in society and the content should be looked at in that perspective, perhaps with a bit of salt but also with grains of truth hidden in there.

I have a few more thoughts to add. Media is the only source of information for a citizen on many issues relevant to his life. Therefore, to be irresponsible on the part of media and to carry content that actually misleads the public in unethical. On the other hand, people consume news and opinions guided by their interests, sensibilities and political leanings. Therefore, no matter how varied the opinions carried by media, it is not really drastically changing thought processes, only influencing them to some extent.

At this time, when both economics and politics are being tested in our country, a skeptical attitude to media is dangerous. With social networking sites and a variety of digital media rewriting the way we relay and ingest information, the question of who takes responsibility for providing well-researched, authentic information or expert opinions is a very different and much larger one. We consume the media, but we also are the media, so how about we each start with being responsible and honest ourselves about what we communicate?