At a time when Republic TV and its founder Arnab Goswami is being witch-hunted by the Shiv Sena led government in Maharashtra, few of the Indian digital media outlets have announced the launch of a new self-regulatory board that prioritizes national interest.
The Indian Digital Media Association (IDMA) identifies itself as ‘a pro-nation, Indian-owned, Indian-edited and Indian-controlled digital news association’. OpIndia.com, DeshGujarat.com, Goachronicle.com, InKhabar.com, NewsLiveTV.com, NewsX.com, OTV Digital, Republicworld.com, Sundayguardianlive.com are the founding members of the association launched on October 26.
The founding members of IDMA have a collective unique viewership of over a 100 million. 25 more digital news media houses are being onboarded.
Savio Rodrigues, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, GoaChronicle.com said, “The disruption in media in the coming years will be digital. India will see a phenomenal shift towards digital media. Coming together of digital media organisations with their own niche disruptions in Indian Digital Media space to form an association is the formation of a force to be the true voice of a vibrant India digital media space.”
Nupur Sharma, Editor OpIndia, said that the news cycle is not longer a slave to television media and added that digital media has the potential to not just shape, but change the national discourse. “IDMA is an endeavor to not just strengthen, but organise and advocate for the interest of Nationalist Digital Media that has the potential today to shape the country and what its citizens talks about.”, Nupur Sharma said.
This is the first time a large conglomeration of digital platforms have formed an association to safeguard the interest of not just member digital platforms but also actively participate in dialogue with all stakeholders, uphold standards of news reporting in national interest and engage with the government for policy formulation.
“As a self regulatory body, IDMA will be the eyes and ears of digital media platforms, to serve as an intermediary on its behalf. IDMA will be the central point of joint action on matters of interest.”, the IDMA’s press release said.
It added that nationalistic media platforms of the country have come together as IDMA to uphold a vision for India that is not directly or surreptitiously owned by foreign elements.
The IDMA also added that it stands against overseas control of Indian digital media saying that it such an arrangement directly compromises Indian interests and users. “We strongly believe that it should be our aim to take Indian media global, rather than compromising the interest of Indian readers and their right to information by inviting overseas control, which might not necessarily be inclined to protect the interest of Indian readers and platforms.”, it said.
“We believe that it is time for Indian editors and owners to come together and fight the onslaught of foreign ownership and editorship, since the attempts by foreign entities and organisations to corrupt news by pushing vested global agendas unethically are at its zenith.”, it further added.