The Audience View & Media in Assam

Mass media are the primary provider of information that reaches wide audiences. News and information from mass media are considered stimuli that solicit responses from the public. Mass media have become a critical part of a system of governance, taking advantage of their capacity to transcend almost all barriers that may be linguistic, geographical or economic. Mass media being a properly structured communication system today have acquired the capacity to influence, shape and even alter public opinion on issues of relevance. Mass media have now been accorded a special status at the advent of globalization considering the amount of impact they can make upon the people at large. Therefore, a medium gains considerable degree of respect based on the reliability of information it dishes out to the public (Hungbo, 2007). Here comes the pertinent question of credibility of media which is basically a major content-related challenge. Public trust in the media is always at the core of credibility. Decline of the trust in media by public has become a pressing issue and information being asymmetrical is manipulated by media. The history of the growth of print media in modern Assam dates back to around 1846's while the private satellite channels started operating in the state only since 2004. In a state like Assam, considering its economic status & educational attainment level of the people, the impact and role of print media are basically confined to a particular section while the influence of private satellite channels is widespread and profound. Recently, some corners have raised voice against both the media for ‘creating' somewhat baseless news or ‘blowing out' some particular news items which could have easily been avoided to restore trust on media. This paper based on qualitative analysis makes an attempt to study the reactions of different segments of people about some select news items published in local print media which reflect their level of trustworthiness on media. Some published news items in three Assamese dailies during 2012-16 have been taken into consideration for the present study.