Media as misleading business: An analysis of Nepalese online media practices

Abstract

This research paper studies the extracts of the online media products supplied to ordinary readers as information and the motive behind those supplies. In the age of media transformation, people are spending a large chunk of their life browsing the online stuffs that are molded as information. This research, however, argues that the information, instead of providing the needed and accurate data, it cheats us with tailored items disguised in the garb of information. The distortion, manipulation, sensationalization of the facts for the economic interests are common practices in Nepalese media which are not concerned with what is true. Rather they are concerned about what sells among the audience by manufacturing adorned truth. Though there are several positive changes brought by the rapid growth of the online media too. They have transformed the media market, like ending the monopoly of big media houses, molding public opinion and helping to abolish the monarchy, and so on, they depended upon clickbait and making the news viral by any means rather than focusing on quality of the news report. This problem is compounded due to weak monitoring mechanisms of government and weak civil society. On the other hand, they rely upon copy-pasting of the international news. This manifests their incompetence. The local as well as international contents are mixed up, which results in diminished credibility. Key Words: Media product, scrutiny, manipulation, distortion, civil society, monitoring, truth