‘Traditional media must be compensated by e-platforms’ | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday highlighted the crucial issue of fair compensation for traditional media, underscoring how financially disadvantaged these media are as news consumption is “rapidly shifting” from conventional forms to the digital space.
Speaking at National Press Day organized by the Press Council of India, the minister argued that substantial investments in traditional journalism – including training, editorial processes and verification – have been undermined by the unequal bargaining power of digital platforms.
Media challenged by fake news, algorithm bias & AI: Vaishnaw
Although the investments required to build a team of journalists, train them, have editorial processes and methods to check the veracity of news and take responsibility for the content are enormous, both in terms of time as money, they become irrelevant since these platforms have a very unequal edge in terms of bargaining power over conventional media,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, while adding that the efforts of conventional media in content creation should be appropriately be compensated.
The minister called for a balanced approach to ensure that traditional media remains viable while holding digital platforms accountable for the content they distribute. “It is time for a collective effort to redefine these provisions and safeguard the future of journalism,” he said.
He identified three other pressing challenges facing media and society today: fake news and disinformation, algorithmic bias and the impact of artificial intelligence on intellectual property.
Vaishnaw stressed the need to review the “safe harbor” provision, which protects intermediaries and internet service providers from liability for third-party content hosted on their platforms and has allowed tech companies to act selectively, often prioritizing their interests over public ones accountability. “So the question is who will take responsibility for the content published on these platforms,” he asked.
Further, Vaishnaw emphasized the ethical need to protect creators’ rights amid advancements in AI. “AI models today can generate creative content from the massive data sets they were trained on. But what happens to the rights and recognition of the original creators who contributed to that data? Are they compensated or recognized for their work?” he asked. “This is not just an economic issue, it is also an ethical issue.”