Journalism or Reporting : Where is the media headed ?

A post by P Sainath (author of the book called "Everybody loves a good drought") made me sit up and take notice of the question in the heading of the post.

The book itself is something I picked up on the recommendation of Mr Ramamurty of Sikshana.

While the book is a collection of thought provoking articles, the fundamental question raised at the start needs a very deep / detailed look.

With the proliferation of the online channels (multiple 24x7 news channel included), I think there is less of journalism that comes out of independent thought and reflection and more of "being the first to file a report" happening in India today.

Be it a report on local crime, citizen / civic issue or the coverage of an event that is newsworthy. The worthiness is related to a quick "instant" meal rather than the process of extracting the key essense / doing "root cause analysis"

What I think is needed a bipolar strategy that channels / newspapers and the fourth estate in general should undertake. One that is "responsive" and will file in the reports, while another that is based on reflection and analysis.