He spoke to ET about the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s approach to media, social media, media controls and more. Edited quotes…
In terms of communication and messaging, the BJP’s election campaign has been called a lesson in protest on the ground. How can you translate this into a government structure?
All communication needs of the government will be managed through the social media center in our ministry. I offer this service to all ministers. Their Facebook, Twitter and other social media will be managed by a new media department, and a social media and communications center.
The benefit that the party saw in reaching out through all communication media was huge, and it was felt that the government was also making use of the available platforms. Therefore, this new center will provide all the support to create and run awareness by various ministers and ministries through their Facebook pages, Twitter handles and social media. Traditional media is important, of course, but social media vehicles should be overlooked.
What are your priority areas as far as this (I&B) ministry is concerned?
We must ensure transparency, make our vehicles more efficient. We also want to be accessible and accountable. Now the digitization phase is the third and fourth phase, we will call about it only after considering all the things. The issue is that digitization increases the revenue of paid channels, but consumers want less advertising.
11 million new set-top boxes are now required, which makes a great case for indigenization rather than imports. I will share with the Ministers of Finance and Trade how this can be done.
An interview of the Prime Minister during the election Narendra Modi has raised questions about the independence of public broadcasters. As I&B minister, how will you deal with it?
Right off the bat, I want to say that our commitment to freedom of the press and the independence of public broadcasting is absolute. But independence or independence has its own responsibilities.
The media has a responsibility to be impartial and objective. There is always a concern that when the government spends so much, it should reach the people. Public broadcasting is a means of public awareness. Having said all that, let me be clear that we have no plans to impose controls on the media.
Modi has been described as a “post-television” prime minister, in that he communicates directly to his audience or voters. How would you reshape the role of traditional media?
It’s a lesson for everyone on how to get your point across, the way the Prime Minister does. Law and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and I have been appointed as government spokespersons and we will soon come up with a communication plan to suit everyone’s needs. This government is different in the way it solves problems.
For example, Modiji’s design for the cabinet. Yesterday, some issues related to the environment and electricity were discussed. Piyush Goyal has the portfolio of power, coal and renewable energy, I have the environment ministry, and between our two and 10 officials we sorted out things that the previous government had tied up in a group of ministers (GoM). The emphasis is on harmony. There will also be things for the media to learn from the new government and activism.
