http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?263241
Paid-for news is emerging as the single-most serious threat to our collective
credibility.
Vinod Mehta
News is something someone, somewhere doesn’t want to read. The rest is PR.
— Claud Cockburn
Indian media doesn’t do introspection. We recommend it to others—MPs, political
parties, militants, judges, scientists.... They are all advised to look deep
inside their own trade and clean up the rot. Meanwhile, the rot creeping into
the fourth estate is studiously ignored or airbrushed, usually by organising a
“studio discussion” in which the citizen is asked: Does the media need to be
accountable? Discussion over. Issue over. Fortunately, even that stratagem is
wearing thin. The chicanery is conspicuous.
And yet who can deny that while our media has much to be proud of, there is
increasing public disenchantment, not just with its slant, shrillness,
sermonising and sensationalism, but with its core value, namely integrity. It
is hardly a secret that the media is capable of misjudgement and laziness.
However, what the aam aadmi seldom doubts is the “news” it transmits. That
trust, alas, is breaking down.
I am not referring to the blurring of news and opinion, which itself violates
the time-honoured principle: News is sacred, comment is free. However, even
when news and comment are mixed up, it is possible for the alert consumer to
separate the two. At any rate, even in the most advanced of democracies, the
media does carry ideological/party bias, which is reflected not in the
editorial pages, but in the news columns. That practice, however deplorable, a
free press can live with.
If all these burdens were not enough for the media in the world’s largest
democracy, consider this: Sections of the media are now for “sale”. For a
price, you can buy news on the front page. It is a trend which has been with us
for a few years, but thanks to the exposure by the late Prabhash Joshi, P.
Sainath and others, it is emerging as the single-most serious threat to our
collective credibility. Indeed, the system is getting fast institutionalised,
with TV channels and newspapers approaching politicians, especially during
elections, with a “package” which, interestingly, is negotiable. It is an offer
difficult to refuse.
I am not unmindful of the difficult times the media industry is going through.
The market is too crowded, the advertising cake is too small, the economy is
too sluggish. We are all furiously engaged in finding new and innovative ways
to augment our dwindling revenues. Outlook (like others) is neck-deep in this
skirmish. As you may have noticed, the Outlook ‘Spotlight’ feature is
sponsored, the client has almost full editorial control. The only redeeming
aspect is that the reader can easily spot it, since it is clearly marked on the
page. News for sale is not. The purpose here is to pass off sponsored news as
professional news.
Dog does not eat dog. True. In the investigation you are about to read, the
intention is to shed light on a malaise which, if not treated, will surely
destroy the Indian media. I hope our colleagues in the business will take it in
that spirit.
I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still i can do
something. I will not refuse to do something I can do .( Helen Keller )
