India Current Affairs » Media

ONLINE NEWS ATTRACTS RAPIDLY GROWING AUDIENCE IN INDIA

India Current Affairs — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:36:28 +0000

ComScore, Inc on December 2009 published a report on the top online news brands in India based on data from its comScore World Metrix service. The study found that traffic to online news sites reached a record 15.8 million visitors age 15 and older in October 2009 , up 37 percent from the previous year, and representing 44 percent of the online population in India.

“The number of online news and information consumers in India surged 37 percent in the past year, more than double the rate of growth of the total online audience in India,” said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. “As the world’s seventh largest Internet market and one of the fastest growing, India represents fertile ground for both local and multinational publishers hoping to expand their audience footprint.”

Online News Category Sees Record Number of Visitors in October, 2009.

In October 2009, nearly 16 million people visited an online news site in India, a gain of 37 percent from the previous year. A look at the most visited news destinations in India revealed that local brands make up a significant portion of the top news sites – and some of the fastest growing. The Times of India captured the #3 spot in terms of visitation reaching 2.6 million visitors during the month (up 78 percent), while Oneindia.in surged 148 percent to 2.4 million visitors. The Hindu Group, the fifth most visited news property in India, reached nearly 1.6 million visitors in October (up 19 percent).

Multi-national brands Yahoo! and New York Times ranked as the most visited destinations in the news category – also with high growth rates. Yahoo! News led all news sites with 4.2 million visitors, up 26 percent versus year ago, followed by New York Times Digital with nearly 3.9 million visitors, an increase of 67 percent.

Top 10 News/Information Sites in India Based on Unique Visitors October 2009 vs. October 2008 *Total India Internet Audience, Age 15+ – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix**
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Oct-2008	Oct-2009	% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	31,179	36,170	16
News/Information	11,529	15,838	37
Yahoo! News	3,312	4,169	26
New York Times Digital	2,306	3,854	67
The Times of India**	1,476	2,626	78
Oneindia.in	949	2,359	148
The Hindu Group	1,299	1,551	19
The Indian Express Group	925	1,244	35
HT Media Ltd	1,088	1,155	6
NDTV.com	848	1,104	30
BBC	777	992	28
The Economic Times**	769	820	7

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**The Times of India and Economic Times are both channels included in the Times Internet Ltd property.

Local News Brands Exhibit Strong Signs of Audience Engagement

In October, an average visitor to the news/information category spent 22 minutes on news sites and consumed 38 pages of content. An overall analysis of the category showed greater engagement with local news brands when compared with multi-national brands. Among the 10 most visited online news brands in India, The Times of India led as the most engaging news site with visitors averaging 14.3 minutes on the site, consuming 27 pages of content during the month.

Visitors to HT Media Ltd, which includes Shine.com and Hindustantimes.com, averaged 11.5 minutes on the site, consuming 24 pages of content in October. Visitors to India-based NDTV averaged 11.3 minutes during the month and consumed 15 pages of content, while visitors to The Economic Times spent an average of 10 minutes and consumed 20 pages of content.

Top 10 News/Information Sites in India Based on Unique Visitors October 2009 *Total India Internet Audience, Age 15+ – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix**
	Average Minutes per Visitor	Average Pages per Visitor
Total Internet : Total Audience	700.6	1,155
News/Information	22	38
Yahoo! News	3.6	9
New York Times Digital	3.7	5
The Times of India**	14.3	27
Oneindia.in	5.8	13
The Hindu Group	3.6	4
The Indian Express Group	5.3	7
HT Media Ltd	11.5	24
NDTV.com	11.3	15
BBC	7.6	9
The Economic Times**	10	20

“Online news is a fast-growing market segment among the increasingly technology-oriented Indian population,” continued Mr. Hodgman. “News sites offer advertisers a touchpoint for reaching millions of engaged consumers in a branded environment. Having a reliable third-party source such as comScore helps increase media accountability in this marketplace, which should help accelerate the growth of the online advertising market in India.”

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MEDIA EXPOSES COPYING JUDGES AND NAPPING UNIVERSITY -Madabhushi Sridhar,

India Current Affairs — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:42:18 +0000

Like mirror, TV camera is also cruel. ABN Andhra Jyoti channel has finishedcareer of seven judicial officers in Andhra Pradesh, when its Warangal District cameramen barged into the examination hall ‘specially arranged’ for judges to write LL.M. correspondence Course examination freely, without any fear of invigilation, and caught them copying from text books and hand-written sheets. Chief Justice Nissar Ahmad Kukru did not loose much time in suspending the copycat judges after watching the CD sent by the TV Channel which vividly picturised the unethical misconduct of copying in Kakatiya University Examination. The incentive of three increments for judges for having or acquiring higher qualification in legal education turned out to be lethal for those who are caught red-handed by camera. When invigilators were frightened, students frustrated and judges were issuing threats, the media exposed nexus between inactive university authorities and over active judicial officers.

While one was found copying from a law book hidden under his answersheet, the written slips and pages torn from textbooks were seized from other judges. K Ajitsimha Rao, senior civil judge, Ranga Reddy district, M. Kistappa, principal senior civil judge, Anantapur, P Vijayendar Reddy, second additional district judge, Ranga Reddy district, M. Srinivasachary, senior civil judge in Bapatla of Guntur district and Hanumantha Rao, additional junior civil judge in Warangal were suspended. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/HC-suspends-five-judges-caught-copying-during-LLM-exam/articleshow/6443036.cms 26th August 2010)Times of India reported on August 27 that judges were found copying in a surprise ride by the invigilating squad, totally ignoring the role of media operation by the tv channel. Though the fact that judges copied made sensational news, another fact that university facilitated them to copy was equally bad. The PTI and INN reported the same without any mention about media adventure and university’s indulgence. It said: The court directed the University officials to initiate action against all judges who indulged in mass copying, and to submit a comprehensive report on the entire incident. The court also directed the state government to initiate disciplinary action against them, as, it claimed, they brought disrepute to the law profession. (INN news as appeared in http://fullhyderabad.com/hyderabad-news/five-judges-suspended-for-mass-copying-1434, 26^th August 2010) (PTI news appeared in several newspapers and magazines including http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?691607 26^th August 2010) Of all the other newspapers, Andhra Jyoti Telugu Daily alone explained how its TV channel team exposed the cheating by some judges and frightened inaction of University.

The reporter Mr. Vijayakumar, of Andhra Jyothi TV channel, Warangal, who ventured into ‘highly’ secured hall which was specially and separately arranged after some judicial officers spoke to top authorities of University, told this author that most of the officers chose Warangal center for their LL.M. for obvious purposes. Heeding to their ‘request’ the officers were given separate building, besides the scheduled Examination Center, ie., University Arts College, much against the rules, with separate security staff and guards standing outside hall, not to invigilate the examinees but to alert them if invigilator arrives in. The invigilators and squad members were kept themselves ‘off’ from this special room as if it was an instruction. When a lecturer caught three of judges copying, other judges took the issue to the principal, who took an undertaking stating that they would not copy in next examinations. Judges knew that it was confession, but authorities left them without debarring from further examinations, while several other ordinary students in the center were facing strong actions for copying. One lecturer was threatened “don’t do any over action, go and ask your VC, we told him that it would be difficult for us to study for the course as we would be always busy with burden of cases”, the reporter added.

The news tips that the judges were copying from August 17, when examinations started, and they gave undertaking not to copy further, reached Andhra Jyoti, Warangal Branch. After thorough verification the reporters conducted a demo run around the hall and found it difficult to enter the special hall because of strong security, while judges had free for all situations inside. Next day the reporters gained their entry jumping a wall near the open ground from behind the building and appeared in the hall all of sudden, brushing aside the resistance from security guards in a fraction of second. Reporters in fact did ‘invigilation’ by stopping the judges from writing from text books, picked up their answer sheets and used handwritten notes etc., and then called the principal on cell phone along with the squad. As the media cameras have already captured incontrovertible evidence of malpractice by those who were supposed to punish the criminals, it was inevitable for the authorities to book the cases after taking the material papers concerning the malpractice, such books and slips used for copying along with answer sheets. They fulfilled all formalities like panchanama etc.

The reporters dared the threats from judicial officers and stay put themselves up to 5 O’ clock not to leave any scope for manipulations. Once their fate was sealed the media cameras left the hall to start beaming the video pictures of the judges copying leaving audience stunned. As he came to know the ghastly incident the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh was furious and asked his office to procure the CDs and a report from the Examination in charge of the Kakatiya University Distance Education Center. With the cases already booked along with copying material, judges could not escape the axing action.

After five officers were suspended the Warangal District Bar wrote to Governor Narasimhan and Dean of Law, Justice L Narasimha Reddy (Judge AP High Court), explaining how Mr. Razzak and his wife Mrs. Prema Rajeswari, both the judicial officers, were also involved in the copying racket, they were also suspended. (http://expressbuzz.com/cities/hyderabad/hc-suspends-2-more-judges-for-copying/202094.html 29th August 2010)

”We were tense for two hours as the judges were threatening to jail us for contempt of court” Reporter said. He added that those who have quickly thrown out the copying material before camera focused on them tried to implicate cases on reporters for ‘trespass’ and ‘causing disturbance’ to the examinees. But after facing the surge of condemnation from TV viewers, and prompt suspension, they dared not, reporter said.

If a few of judicial officers’ malpractice caused a severe dent on the integrity of subordinate judiciary, the Chief Justice tried to rescue a little of its dignity by immediate action without leaving any scope for the ‘cover’ up by culprits. Media has telecast appreciation for this action. However, the Kakatiya University suffered a serious loss of credibility as this incident confirmed notoriety of its Distance Education program that it made post graduation degree a hassle free activity diluting the standards. Authorities could not explain the special arrangements made for judicial officers and other advocates with absolute lack of invigilation.

In Dayashankar v High Court of Allahabad, AIR 1987 SC 1469, the Supreme Court dealt with similar problem of malpractice by a judge and struck down all his petitions confirming the dismissal by full court of Allahabad High Court for misconduct. In this case District Judge Dayashankar was charged ‘you have lowered reputation of judiciary for honesty /integrity and you have exhibited an unworthy conduct wholly inconsistent with the dignity of office you occupied”. Disciplinary Committee of High Court held him guilty of misconduct and then the Full Court of Judges of Allahabad High Court in charge of administration of justice resolved to remove the guilty officer for copying in Jurisprudence paper of LL.M. examination held in Alighar University. His contention that some person disgruntled by his conviction order provoked his brother to plant a slip when he briefly left the examination hall for toilet was rejected as a concocted story. Yet, the officer resorted to all sorts of petitions, suits and writ petitions to some how secure some tenure keeping the orders in pendency. Supreme Court rejected all his contentions saying ‘undoubtedly the judiciary cannot have two standards, one in court and other outside the court. They have only one standard of rectitude and honesty. They cannot act even remotely unworthy of office they are occupying’.

Media’s camera, protest by Bar and prompt action by High Court saved the situation which otherwise would have been successfully wrapped up with connivance of sleeping invigilators and copycats. While some of the advocates demanded review of the judgments given by these tainted officers, students sought action against the university authorities for having two standards of invigilation, stricter against them and no action against the VIPs like judges.

Meanwhile the High Court Administrator’s action of canceling the increment incentives for judicial officers for acquiring higher degree in the wake of this scandal left the other officers, grumbling. They said “we did not copy, we are entitled to it, to cancel them in toto is injustice.”

Author:

– Prof. Madabhushi Sridhar,

Convener: Center for Media Law & Public Policy,

NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad

MANAGING THE MASS MEDIA -Jayati Ghosh

India Current Affairs — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:25:42 +0000

The Italian-born English poet Humbert Wolfe described the press of his day in the following terms:

”You cannot hope to bribe or twist,
Thank God! The British journalist.
But seeing what the man will do
Unbribed, there’s no occasion to.”

Things have only got worse in this matter in the eighty-odd years since these words were written, and they have probably got worse in many more places. And so the age-old dilemma between freedom of expression – including the essential requirement in democracy to have free and vibrant mass media – and any form of accountability to society and the public at large, has become at once more complex and more urgent.

In India, for example, there is general agreement now that the mass media have become monsters of sorts, self-righteous and unself-critical, sensationalist and scandal-obsessed, often irresponsible and generally insensitive. The brilliant new satirical film Peepli (Live) highlights this with biting humour, through scenes that would appear to be completely over the top if they were not so alarmingly derivative of our recent experience.

It is not as if these general tendencies have not been commented upon. There was widespread public condemnation of the crassly insensitive and even downright dangerous media handling of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November last year. There are thoughtful media persons who bemoan the tendency to sensationalism and obsession with trivia and TRPs at the expense of honest reportage of the events and issues that matter to most of the people. More recently, there have been careful investigations into – and shocking exposes of – the growing phenomenon of ”paid news” which increasingly mocks at any pretence of objective and honest reporting.

Yet nothing seems to make any difference! Despite all the criticism and complaints, often aired within the same media, there has been hardly any change in the general manner of functioning, especially of the more ”popular” media. The explicit desire to sensationalise and the implicit but equally strong desire to present the news in ways that suit their corporate bosses has come to define the way that most mass media in the country operate today.

The valiant efforts by some journalists to reveal the extent of the paid news scandal in both local language and English language media did lead to an investigation by the Press Council of India. But this supposedly august institution set up to monitor and protect the integrity of the media ended up by playing safe, avoiding any naming that could also have led to shaming and more restraint, and coming up with anodyne suggestions for restraint and self-regulation, which have clearly not worked so far. Meanwhile, the same TV channels and newspapers that have shouted themselves hoarse over the evident corruption in the preparations for the Commonwealth Games were completely quiet on this major scandal of corruption in their own ranks, to the point of almost blacking out such coverage.

Even the promises made by Editors in the wake of the outcry over the media role during the Mumbai attacks, of greater control over reporters and more focus on their sensitivity, have not been kept. Courts have had to be moved to ensure the privacy of families in cases of unsolved murders as the media persists in endless speculation, unmindful of the grief and pain of those involved.

Perhaps they have simply forgotten what sensitivity is? The same week that Peepli (Live) was first shown in cinemas in New Delhi, the news channel that was thanked in the credits of the film for assisting in production had a report on the ongoing floods in Pakistan. A young reporter thrust a mike into the face of a man whose house had been completely demolished in the floods, with his family members and all his possessions buried in the rubble. ”Now that you have lost everything, how do you find courage (himmat)?” she asked him briskly. He broke into tears as he asked where such courage could be found when he had been rendered all alone. Without even waiting a minute, the reporter turned away from him to face the camera, and pronounced dramatically that the floods and lack of government response had been so devastating that they had even taken away the possibility of himmat from the local people.

So the question that more and more people are asking is: how we ensure some accountability of the mass media, some way of making them work for the public good? Almost all the other major institutions of our democracy are coming under some form of scrutiny and public accountability: the politicians of course, but also the bureaucracy and even now the judiciary. Only the media themselves, who appear to be the arbiters of the fate of all the others, seem to be exempt from any kind of answerability, except to their owners and advertisers.

The problem is compounded for the ”new media” which is growing apace and often without even the loose self-regulation that characterises other more established media. In the case of online media, their power has increased greatly without them having to answer to anyone, because at present it is not even clear who they would have to answer to!

The issue is a thorny one and not easily resolved, also because as Denis McQuail has pointed out, ideas of accountability ”are not easily applied to a typical mass media situation, because power is so imbalanced. Media publishers have the means and the power to publish at will, protected by legal rights and with no formal obligations beyond those to their shareholders, within the limits of the law. …(T)here is no generally shared framework of normative principles that is strong enough to justify claims against the media that go beyond some very basic legal rights. Claims also vary widely in their reference, some concerning individual matters where law may provide support, others referring to broad public issues that are not covered by law or regulation. In the latter case, most accountability claims can be rejected or ignored.” (Denis McQuail, Media Accountability and Freedom of Publication, Oxford University Press 2003)

The solution cannot really be state regulation, because of the inevitable conflicts of interest and propensity of governments to try and control unfavourable media presentations. And of course, there can never be complete certainty or unanimity on what the public interest actually is.

Yet, because the problem is getting so much worse and because self-regulation does not seem have made much impact, we urgently need to think of new and creative ways to make sure that our media is actually accountable to the general public, including those without any political voice to speak of. The old dilemma, of who will guard the so-called guardians (of democracy) themselves, has never been so pressing

Source :Macroscan.org.

FOR MORE READING. .

Trial by Media or Trial by Police through Media? – A case study of Investigation and Media Reporting of Aarushi Murder – Professor Madabhushi Sridhar, NALSAR

India Current Affairs — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:09:11 +0000

Media makes eye-ball catching ‘sensational’ stories out of incidence of crime, if involved a teenage girl or high profile accused. An unfortunate young girl Aarushi’s mysterious death became a source of news making for both print and electronic news media. Initially it was crime reporting and thereafter, publication of follow up stories based on ‘reliable sources’ of CBI or others without having any concern for the honour of the family in general and character of the victim and her father in particular. If some one has brutally killed her, it was undoubtedly the media that has more brutally assassinated the character.

Aarushi, who was a teenage girl when murdered, has become a focal point as to how an investigation should not have occurred and how media should not have reported. The investigation by the police in the beginning and by CBI thereafter, their press conferences and leaks to press, relentless sensationalism of media in reporting for dozens of hours have raised several questions of journalistic ethics, victim’s rights, family’s privacy, liability of police for defamation and media’s criminality in crime reporting, besides, all important people’s right to know. Recent intervention of Supreme Court while hearing a PIL on victimization of victim in Aarushi case is a very vital discussion point.

Before calling it trial by media, we should know why the CBI and police made selective leaks to media. Is it not trial by invisible police through visible media? Before calling it gag order, we need to know the background, exact nature and meaning of the Supreme Court’s order. Aarushi murder and its investigation by police and reporting by media is exposing inefficiency of police and irresponsibility of media.

Is it a gag order?

First let us address the question, whether order of Supreme Court is justified. The Supreme Court on Monday (9^th August 2010) cautioned media against their irresponsible reporting affecting the honour of crime victim, in case of Aarushi murder. An advocate Surat Singh filed Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court in 2008 seeking some restraint in reporting in the wake of “wild allegations” levelled by Noida police, which first investigated the Aarushi murder case. The Bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and A K Patnaik passed the order after the counsel for the parents of Aarushi pointed out to news reports and repeated telecasts casting aspersion on the character of everyone — the victim, Talwars and their deceased servant. Surat Singh rightly asked in that PIL, “Can freedom of press be allowed to degenerate into a licence to malign the character of a dead person? Does our Constitution not guarantee the right to privacy even to the dead?” He had sought a direction to restrain the media from publishing any story relating to Aarushi case till investigation into the crime was complete.

Rajesh Talwar, father of teenager Aarushi, also moved the Supreme Court seeking to restrain the media from indulging in reckless and irresponsible reporting on the case. Talwar, in his application, said that the reporting by a section of electronic media and that of the print was prejudicing their case and damaging their reputation. (see http://www.khabarexpress.com/21/07/2010/AAarushi-murder-Father-seeks-legal-curbs-on-media-news_173069.html accessed on 10th August 2010)

The Supreme Court on 10^th August 2010, said: “we not only reiterate our interim order of July 22, 2008, but also restrain the respondents from publishing material which has potential to interfere with the process of investigation of all cases. On July 22, 2008, a Bench comprising Justices Kabir and Markandey Katju had said, “We will only observe that both the print and electronic media should exercise caution in publishing any news regarding the case which may prejudice the case or damage reputations.” On August 18, 2008 the same bench said: “We are not worried about ourselves. We have sufficiently broad shoulders but we are concerned about the reputation of people as was in Dr (Rajesh) Talwar’s case.” When trial court is seized of the matter, ie, sub judice, the media’s role is restricted. Bench said: “Extreme caution and care in reporting such cases was required, as it is not only the reputation of a person but a person is held guilty even before the trial in the case is over….In this case, what is the positive evidence against them (the accused)? ”

The apex court further explained recently: “We however clarify that this would not prohibit publication of information which will not interfere with investigation, damage reputation or prejudice the accused……The press is important in a democracy. But it must observe self-restraint. When it fails to self-regulate, what can be done. No one says do not report. But do it in a manner so that none of the parties’ reputation is tarnished. What is involved here is a young girl’s reputation. Have some sensibility while reporting.”
A section of media called it ‘gag order’ or new set of restrictions on media’s crime reporting. Times of India (August 10, 2010) said: ‘SC has c virtually slapped a ban on source-based news stories in matters under investigation, in an order which can alter the journalism landscape’.

In fact Supreme Court was cautioning against violation of a specific order in Aarushi murder case only. Even if it is a gag order it is not a general ban, as that is Aarushi-murder-report specific order. The reports in media were brought before SC which felt that such reporting was violation of the apex court’s two-year-old ruling asking newspapers and TV channels to exercise restraint in reporting the Aarushi Talwar murder probe. The news media has to understand this difference between a general order and specific direction in a particular case. Another point the SC made is that in general also the media should not resort to publication of a report if it had the potential to interfere with the investigation, tarnish the image of persons or prejudicially affect the accused in trial. This is not a new ‘restriction’. The right of accused to fair trial, right of privacy and reputation as part of right to life of a victim, or relatives of the victim are well protected by the Constitutionally guaranteed freedom which formed the grounds for imposing reasonable restriction by law on press freedom. Media can still investigate to explore the evidence of real culprit, collusion between prosecution and accused, or any other aspect of corruption etc affecting the justice in any crime incident, as part of their freedom of expression and fair criticism.

Is it Trial by CBI or Media?

Then is it trial by media in this case. The Supreme Court questioned the CBI, “Who are these anonymous sources dishing out information to the press?” Senior advocate Pinaki Mishra said the Talwars had cooperated in every kind of investigation, from narco-test to repeated questioning, yet the CBI kept leaking information that found its way into newspapers and TV channels in a much sensationalised manner. “It is virtually a trial by a voyeuristic media presenting an incident in an extremely malicious manner,” he said. (See Times of India report dated 10.8.2010)

At the beginning police suspected her father. To know how the top police officers spoke kicking off series of media speculations, one should read Vandana K Mittal who wrote: The credibility of the investigating authorities has taken a further beating with the IG police being accused of exhibiting a deeply biased and conservative mindset by commenting on the character of the father as well as the murdered daughter. As a confused nation listens to every twist and turn of the case disturbing questions arise about how this case is being investigated by the cops, covered by the media and followed by the people…. Senior cops like the IG Gurdarshan Singh stepped in to ensure that the public trial (outside of a courtroom) of all those involved was complete. We have had the IG making (so far unproved and totally speculative) allegations about the kind of relationship that AAarushi shared with the domestic helper, Hemraj. Enraptured by his two minutes of fame on national television the good cop went on to call the father and daughter, both, people of loose character. Anita Durrani was unveiled on live TV as the ‘other woman’ in the case. Even a young friend only 17 years of age was not spared and he was named by police in direct contravention of international norms where all efforts are taken to protect the identity of the under aged. His mobile number was incessantly flashed on TV screens. How this young boy is going to cope with the unwanted attention at this young age is anybody’s guess. (See http://www.merinews.com/article/aAarushi-murder-case-trial-by-media-and-its-implications/134631.shtml last accessed on 10th August 2010) Based on this, it will be comfortable for media to speculate unmindful of rights and honour of the family members of Aarushi, which is, of course, nothing short of a crime. However, it is to be noted that the initial leak or conclusion of the police officers based on incomplete or incompetent investigation is at the root of speculations.

With this kind of police statements or leaks, media went on exposing every one right left and center, who is just associated with suspected or accused in Aarushi life. Every one was brought into the ring of exposure. Then both print and electronic 24/7 flow unleashed their spun kahaniaa about how Talwars family are affluent, their style of living, nature of Aarushi’s parents depending upon the instantly available inputs, nature and habits of Aarushi, her relationship with her friends and more about the things between Aarushi and servant. With bombarding of expressions giving rise to all sorts of suspicion, no proper neutral words are available to describe her life. Relation, affair, nexus, closeness, friendship…each and every word might give rise to suspicion. Irresponsible writing creates artificial dearth of expressions also. Media did not stop with that as they wrote about the state of the marriage of the Talwars, state of the marriage of the Durranis and the nature of the relationship that the Durranis and the Talwars shared. Every ‘hearsay’, rumour, guesses or loose remark made by unconnected or remotely connected people became either ‘breaking news’ or ‘turning point’.

There is another interesting extension of speculative reporting in this case. Some TV news channels reported that CBI has launched an internal inquiry against its own officials who allegedly leaked confidential information to the media. One TV News channel also claimed that two CBI officials have been sent on a month’s leave. Dismissing this the CBI Director Vijay Shankar warned: “If any one person, whether a simple man, a CBI official or person in a specific business tries to obstruct the investigations, he would be dealt with accordingly to rules and law.” CBI Director has lashed out at the media for being speculative and intrusive while reporting the news. He was particularly critical of the visual media. (see http://www.breakingnewsonline.net/2008/06/cbi-directors-questions-medias-role-in.html accessed on 10th August 2010)

As the police suspected the role of domestic servant Yam Prasad Banjade alias Hem Raj, media was spinning stories of relationship between victim and this servant. It went on till the police recovered his body from the rooftop of the Talwars’ house. He was also murdered on the same day. Then police suspect the role of the father and media writes stories relating to his character.

The Noida police adopted such assassinating language against victim Aarushi, that they deserve condemnation. The character assassination has begun by the Noida police in its initial stages of investigation. Their language is blatant violation of social norms of decency. Even before they laid hands on evidence to pin point culprits they termed her as characterless. The police also developed a theory that her father, Ramesh Talwar’s affair with Anita Durrani, and the knowledge of this to Aarushi, and again father seeing Aarushi in an intimate relationship with the house aide, Hemraj, is just an absurd concoction and quite an embarrassment to parents, Anita besides harming reputation of deceased victim.

Justice Bilal Nazki’s apt Remarks

It is highly relevant to quote the remarks made by Justice Bilal Nazki of the Bombay High Court in the Grover murder case: “The media is conducting the trial with the help of the police; very much as it did in the Talwar case. The judge was hearing a petition filed by an accused in the Grover murder case for a copy of her confession to the magistrate. The court asked the police “You give the confessional statement to the press but not to the accused?” Noted writer AG Noorani says: The kind of statements made by police officials in the Talwar case constitute prima facie contempt of court as does its reportage by the media. (see AG Noorani, Oh! Behave!, Indian Express, August 28, 2008)

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh police investigators arrested Aarushi’s father, Rajesh Talwar. Meerut Range Inspector-General of Police Gurdarshan Singh alleged Dr. Talwar had killed his daughter and Hemraj in an alcohol-fuelled rage, after discovering them in an “objectionable but not compromising” position. Police based their findings on three facts: the door to the apartment where Aarushi was killed was locked from the inside, where only her parents, Noida-based doctors Nupur and Rajesh Talwar were present; Banjade’s (Hemraj) body was found on a terrace to which the family alone had keys; and both parents claimed not to have heard any noises through the night, when Banjade, and Aarushi were brutally beaten to death. But no hard evidence emerged to link Dr. Talwar to the killing, and he was released from jail. (See The Hindu Newsreport September 4, 2009)

Viewership increases: Hindustan Times reported on June 13, 2008: Some channels went berserk after Meerut IGP Gurdarshan Singh made the sensational claim on TV that Aarushi and Hemraj were killed by Rajesh Talwar because he had found them in an “objectionable but not compromising” position. They even suggested questions that showed Aarushi’s character in poor light. “The television channels conducted media trial of Aarushi, who was not there to defend herself. It would have got them higher TRPs but did a lot of harm to the young soul,” said Bharati Ali of HAQ for Child Rights, an NGO.

On May 23, the day Aarushi’s father Rajesh Talwar was arrested and police claimed it to be an honour killing, the TRP — the viewership-measuring instrument — of Hindi and English news channels was higher than the IPL match between Mohali and Hyderabad. Five top Hindi news channels had cumulative TRP of over one point as compared to 0.96 for the IPL match, says aMAP, a company that rates television programmes. Television Audience Measurement (TAM), another company in the business of TRP but with a different methodology, gave the news channels close to nine points as compared to 7.5 for the IPL match. Rights activists said the high TRPs could have been also due to unnecessary sensationalism of the case created by some insensitive reporting. According to TAM, the TRP of Hindi news channels jumped about two points. The jump was confirmed by aMAP too. The head of a Hindi news channel said the Aarushi case was single most important factor for the jump. “To me, the only difference in the news content during the period was the Aarushi murder case. All that news channels ran around the clock was programmes on the twin murder case and that fetched high TRP,” he said. Sabhyata Arora, a child physiologist at NGO Pratidhi, said the reason why everyone is hooked to the Aarushi story was that it has something for parents as well as children. “Parents wanted to know about the relationship between a child and parents in an influential family. Children were interested to see what was happening to their peer group,” she said. (June 13, 2008 Hindustan Times, http://www.hindustantimes.com/special-news-report/Aarushimurder/AAarushi-s-story-bigger-hit-than-cricket-on-TV/Article3-317023.aspx accessed on 10th August 2010)

Rajesh Talwar was put on test; even truth serum (anesthetizing drug thiopental sodium) was injected into before he walked out of prison as no concrete evidence was there to hold him without granting bail. But it was only after 50 days of imprisonment, a punishment before the proof of crime. It was the CBI who said they had no evidence against the father. Who is responsible for this crime? The Hindu Editorial rightly stated: The Aarushi murder case is a disturbing example of how a bungling police and a sensation-hungry media can make a horrendous travesty of justice. Arrested for killing his teenage daughter Aarushi on the basis of tenuous circumstantial evidence, condemned by fanciful and self-serving leaks by the Uttar Pradesh police, and tried and ‘convicted’ by the media, dental surgeon Rajesh Talwar has gone from a heartless murderer to a free but traumatized man in the space of less than two months. The Central Bureau of Investigation, to which the case was transferred, has dropped all charges against him. (see The Hindu, Editorial 15^th July 2009)

Liability of Police and Media

Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN IBN raised the right question, whether the Talwars have a case for suing the NOIDA police and the media for defamation. Answer is yes. Not only that, Talwar can also file a civil wrong case for wrongful imprisonment and ask either the police or state to be liable to pay damages, so that police also would learn a lesson that they have no authority to make irresponsible and defamous publications through media. Some Media persons like Deepak Chaurasia formerly of Aaj Tak and Doordarshan News, might be asserting that the media had no culpability at all, saying it was all the police’s fault, media is certainly responsible according to existing law of defamation for carrying the baseless allegations with some stuff of their own indicating their support to the allegation. They can escape liability only when the report was carefully made without them joining in senationalization for TRP rates, which they certainly did. The fact that the media deserve credit for catching the real killers in the Jessica Lal and Nitish Kataria cases will not shield media from consequences of defamatory reporting.

After some intervel the CBI alleged that a neighbour’s servant, Krishna, had assaulted Aarushi with the help of associates Raj Kumar and Shambhu. In this account of events, Banjade was killed to silence an eyewitness to murder. The former CBI Director, Arun Kumar, asserted in a July 2008 press conference that Krishna had confessed to the murder during narcoanalysis — a procedure involving sodium pentothal injections that has been internationally discredited following research that demonstrates that it often throws up false results. However, the CBI failed to gather evidence for this theory either, and was unable to file charges against the suspects. (See The Hindu report dated September 4, 2009 http://hindu.com/2009/09/04/stories/2009090455901100.htm accessed on 10th August 2010) Meanwhile, no murder weapon has been found. Then CBI tells that it is not a matter of honour killing which Noida police had claimed in its reports. Who should media & people believe – CBI or Noida Police or none of them?

DNA and Sabotage

The police and CBI’s reputation suffered once again when the newspapers reported that the DNA samples were swapped indicating a big conspiracy. CBI sources said the CDFD finding, which was extensively discussed at a high-level meeting of investigators, has led the organisation to drastically revise its initial findings in the case. An officer said: “It seems evident that the three servants we thought had killed Ms. Talwar and her family servant Yam Prasad Banjade did not have the resources to tamper with evidence.” As part of the standard autopsy procedure, New Okhla Industrial Development Area-based doctor Sunil Dohere had drawn vaginal swabs from Aarushi’s body. The doctor reported that the swabs contained a white discharge, suggestive of seminal fluid. However, Dr. Dohere’s superior, Dr. S.C. Singhal, later told media that slides prepared from the swabs had tested negative for semen. Officials at the CDFD, India’s premier DNA-testing institution, said there was indeed no semen in the slides sent to them by the CBI — but said corroborative testing left no doubt the material was not drawn from Aarushi in the first place. (See The Hindu report dated September 4, 2009 http://hindu.com/2009/09/04/stories/2009090455901100.htm accessed on 10th August 2010)

Akhila Sivadas who heads a media advocacy group said not many bothered to find out where the stories originated. “Virtually all TV news channels and dailies had gone to town to cater to people’s thirst for voyeurism and sensationalism. “Between voyeurism, sensationalism and character assassination and a genuine public scrutiny, we have to draw a line,” Sivadas told IANS. (http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/aAarushi-murder-coverage-lessons-media-should-have-learnt_100192370.html 10.8.2010)

Two years after murder, making all sorts of allegations, tests, and arrests and kicking up controversies, the CBI seems clueless yet about the twin murders and was tight-lipped about the probe.

None know the truth but the facts as appear in the reports added by fictions have ominously obscured the truth behind murder of the 14-year-old girl raising gruesome speculations and springing to fore the shallowness of professional ethics and social responsibilities. Since day one of the ghastly crime the readers or viewers are hearing new accusations being made in media followed by lies after lies to cover up such accusations. Nothing can justify the unthinking acceptance of the veracity of police leaks and using them to build a wholly fanciful story.

People’s Right to Know

Then we need to address another moot question, whether it is right for the police to hold press conferences and tell the progress about criminal investigation. Answer is positively yes. When sensational crimes occur and people’s moral is low, it is the duty of the authorities to rebuild the confidence that the state takes care of the people by nabbing the culprits.

High Court questions Police Press Conferences

Hearing a petition on encounter the Delhi High Court on November 7, 2008 (See Indian Express dated November 8, 2008) slammed senior police officers for rushing into press conferences to disclose “leads which are not leads at all” in sensational cases with little concern for an “honest” probe. Press conferences are hampering your own investigations. As an investigating body, don’t you know how to preserve your evidence… these press conferences are giving away leads,” a Bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar told senior Delhi Police counsel Mukta Gupta. The judges criticised the conduct of top policemen, drawing from several recent “sensational” cases such as the murder of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar in May, the Jamia encounter in September, and the killing of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in October 2008. Justice Muralidhar asked “Is it a policy to arrange press conferences where your police officers go on to disclose leads which turn out to be no leads at all?” The Chief Justice Shah said: “Look at what happened in the Aarushi case and the Soumya case… you have not been able to come up with any leads at all. Your officers engage in selective leak of information which surely affects the evidence in hand.”

The Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Gopal Subramanium intervened on behalf of the police to contend that press conferences are usually held to “appease the public’s right to know. After a sensational event, lack of information causes a certain degree of public unrest. The public wants to know as soon as possible….We have to strike a balance between informing the public and making police officers accountable for making excessive disclosures… this requires a certain degree of introspection by the probe agencies as there is no existing codification of guidelines on interaction with the media.” There is justification for the need for press conferences, as explained by the ASG, “We live in times when civil rights activists go to police stations for information and then pass it on to the media. Police at times feel that it is better they call these press meets and brief the media themselves.”

People’s right to know cannot authorize the police or media to make baseless character assassinations, or intrusions of privacy. At least for the press conferences, we can hold the officers who addressed as responsible, but who is responsible for the ‘leaks’ making sensational crime news headlines which cannot lead to any ‘reliable’ officer, on who the reporter relies on. The CBI or the Police or any investigating agency should either stop the leaks, or condemn immediately the veracity of leaked information. The Supreme Court and other courts addressed these issues, recognized the problem also. Still there is a need for a specific direction to CBI or other investigating authorities to formulate some guidelines on these leakages and irresponsible press conferences. The police has a duty to inform the public of the progress in crime investigation, but, at the same time it has no right to comment on the suspect’s character or background. The media can criticize the ineptitude or tardiness of police investigations without prejudging the guilt or innocence of the suspect.

Media makes eye-ball catching ‘sensational’ stories out of incidence of crime, if involved a teenage girl or high profile accused. An unfortunate young girl Aarushi’s mysterious death became a source of news making for both print and electronic news media. Initially it was crime reporting and thereafter, publication of follow up stories based on ‘reliable sources’ of CBI or others without having any concern for the honour of the family in general and character of the victim and her father in particular. If some one has brutally killed her, it was undoubtedly the media that has more brutally assassinated the character.

The police outlook, which might be based on their experience, is always suspicious about the people around the victim of the crime, and if victim is female, invariably the sexual motives are suspected. If a girl asserts her rights by questioning sexual harassment by male colleagues, or wife questions violence of husband, first encounter she faces is about allegations against her character. Police suspicion is in tune with this psychology of male defence. But all cases are never the same. Every crime has a unique or different proposition. Just a suspicion without clue cannot be a source of story in any crime reporting. The problem with the present media is their hurry in reporting. No reporter is checking whether it is just a suspicion or a clue or a piece of evidence or part of complaint or just a guess work of investigating officer. Because a TV channel speculated something, the other competing channel will make another most interesting speculation, without any logical basis.

Who will answer Vandana’s question: Is the airing of private MMS clip, of insinuations about the character of the victim, contamination of the potential witnesses justified in the cause of serving our concerns? Are we not equally guilty of turning this case into a trial by media? She also has dig at the viewers and arm-chair critics for who every thing is entertainment. “And before we rub our hands in glee at having nailed and blamed the media and the police for conducting a trial via media, we need to do a reality check. Are we really completely free of any blame? Sitting in the comfort of our homes, it is our insatiable, almost perverse, curiosity that drives the Television Rating points (TRP)’s of the channels?” And these TRP ratings boomerang at viewers with heavy load of advertisements.

For More Reading. .

Prof. Madabhushi Sridhar,

Coordinator NALSAR Center for Media Law & Public Policy

THE PARK WOOD EPISODE : NEW MEDIA: NEW TOOL TO VICTIMIZE RAPE VICTIMS -Prof. Madabhushi Sridhar,

GRAVEST THREAT TO NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY IS DISREGARD FOR BASICS OF THE BUSINESS: M J Akbar

India Current Affairs — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 05:15:13 +0000

Eminent Journalist and author, Mr. M J Akbar, turned the spotlight on the grave threat to the newspaper industry arising out of scant regard for the basics of the business. The greatest threat was not profitability or balance sheets of the newspaper business but the huge ego mania that had swamped journalists, he said while addressing the session on Content is King. But Who Dictates It – Advertising, Consumer Taste or Editorial Policy? at FICCI FRAMES 2010. In the media world, neither the editor nor the consumer can dictate terms. In the absence of a true measure of the importance of the role of a newspaper, there was variety in the content available, he said. Mr. Akbar said the Indian media’s credibility was much higher than that of the international media since the former had always believed in maintaining a connect and communication with the readers.

He considered insidious the transfer of real power to board rooms due to issues of financing. The inherent nature of the media business, he said, was linked to funding and the interaction between power and politics.

Mr. Akbar said that idealism was the job of editors. However, ideas have to chase practicality and not be a victim to popular taste. While nobody sniffs away from profits, the need is to live by profits and not be hit by profits, he pointed out. Surveying the international scenario, Mr. Akbar said that the loss of jobs for journalists and fall in profitability of the international media could be attributed to the increasing bias and the pompousness of the journalists. Journalists, he said, were losing touch with their culture and morality which leads to a denial of choice to the readers and viewers, a choice that was undeniably being provided by the internet.

PAID NEWS : UNETHICAL, AND SINISTER

India Current Affairs — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 06:26:51 +0000

Speech of Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, Election Commissioner of India at the Seminar on Paid News organized by EGI and IWPC on 13th March, 2010

“Like most of you I too have grown with news. I have found news as essential in the conduct of my professional and personal life. Over the decades, the approach to news both from providers and receivers has changed quite a bit. But these changes have largely related to presentation and formats. But news has remained news. In the increasingly competitive world of media, we have come across terms like morning news, evening news, prime-time news, headline news, latest news and more recently breaking news. But, paid news? This coinage does not fall within the nationality of news even by the farthest stretch of imagination. In fact, it represents the epitome of anti-news. If you allow me to remove the layer of politeness provided by English language, the Hindi equivalent could be “ Kharidi Hui Khabar”, or “Bikau Khabar” or even something more outrageous, depending on the accuracy that a better translator can bring in. Paid news is downright unethical, and sinister.

I also understand that the malaise has now gone deep enough and cuts across print and electronic, regional and national and language and English media. For me, it is heartbreaking to know that young and talented reporters are being used as the new foot soldiers of this immoral news selling industry. We at the Election Commission of India are seriouslyconcerned, as all of you are. Many of us have been dealing with the problem of surrogate advertising for quite a while. Some instructions are in place to prevent stealthy advertising in favour of or against candidates. The success in this has only been moderate. But the new camouflage for advertising is “news”. To some extent, the menace has played out its role in manipulating real estate and stock market; but this is not my official headache. We feel directly concerned with the infiltration of this evil into the election arena. We do realize with all seriousness the impact of this malpractice. It is against free and fair polls. It could derail democracy.

Paid news is not free speech. The Commission is concerned about the undue influence that paid news can create in the mind of the voter. The voter’s right to correct and unbiased information needs protection. Our second concern is that paid news hoodwinks the enforcement of the expenditure ceiling, a key component in election management with particular importance for a level playing field.

I am happy that most political parties are speaking against paid news. I am even happier that there is a conspicuous uprising against it within the media. Not surprisingly, the protest is led by women and men from the editorial desk, because it is their space and their freedom, which is in maximum danger. The Commission has met senior most journalists of the country, mourning the new grave danger to their noble profession and yearning for remedies. It is heartening to note that the Government and Parliament are also seriously engaged to find a redressal. The churning is healthy and holds out hope.

Friends in media and politics have suggested that the Election Commission is powerful enough to deal with this problem. Well, we have some powers defined by the Constitution, Acts of Parliament and judicial pronouncements. We have to work within these. Our control runs only during the election period and applies generally to political parties and candidates. Politicians are more powerful. Members of Parliament alone have the power to legislate to bring the culprits of paid news to book. But, it is the media, which, to my mind retains the absolute power, derived from absolute freedom. In my estimate, the problem of paid news is best addressed by self-regulation that lends legitimacy to absolute power anywhere. Commission would again call upon politicians and media to press the delete button on paid news through active self- regulation. And if this does not happen, as seems to be the case, state interventions shall become unavoidable. While media has the absolute power to duly influence, exercise of undue influence is a misuse of media power and needs to be acted against, especially, in the context of elections.

Of course, this would require a consensus building. Fortunately in our country, a good cause or a good piece of legislation brings even opposite camps together. Our Model Code of Conduct during the elections is a shining example of restrictions voluntarily accepted by all political parties. This is a unique Indian institution that makes election managers across the world envious about. I need not tell this august gathering that this Code has worked wonderfully well. My suggestion is, can there be a code to check the de-stabilizing activity of paid news, to which there is voluntary and willing adherence.

Paid news is like a snake whose hood is down and tail gone underground. It is not quite feasible to take it head-on. It is also not easy to pull it out. There is circumstantial evidence of all type, but little proof. I am happy that the Press Council is engaged in finding ways to deal with the element of deceit in paid news and bring culpability over ground. The Commission has lent due support to their consultations and should do more, if necessary.

I understand that the Council is doing some serious enquiries. We look forward to their report on the subject, which is expected this month. The situation also warrants that the Election Commission keep a higher watch on the paid news phenomenon through our existing machinery of election related vigilance. We will do so. We will augment the machinery if necessary.

As I have often said, in the multi-dimensional mandate of election management, every problem has a solution, but often a good solution leads to a new problem. After serious consideration of the public damage caused by some campaign methods, the Commission put some restrictions on wall writings, hoardings, loudspeakers etc. The question as suggested by some is, whether the strict enforcement of defacement laws has contributed this worse sickness of paid news in the election arena. More importantly, has it denied a level playing field to those candidates and political parties, who by force or by will, are not accomplices in paid news. These are issues, which will need to be considered.

It is indeed ironical that I stand here today to raise a few questions at media. India’s media is one of the strengths of the Election Commission. We often refer to them as one of our most formidable allies. We immensely benefit from media’s role as watchdog. With all responsibility, I have to state that media has all too often been our eyes and ears in the conduct of elections. I fervently wish that the alliance between the Election Commission, political parties and the media that fortifies the world’s largest democracy should not get diluted under the shadow of paid news. We must overcome.

* * * *

FOR MORE READING. .

BROADBAND SUBSCRIBER COUNT LIKELY TO REACH 275 MILLION BY 2015

India Current Affairs — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:05:57 +0000

ASSOCHAM AND FROST & SULLIVAN have projected that total broadband subscriber count will reach around 275 million by FY-2015 from approximately 9 million as of now as submarine cable capacity is expected to grow and supply of capacities is likely to increase significantly with adoption of wireless broadband (BWA).

The overall broadband subscribers base stands at around 9 million in Indian market as of now and is seen to be significantly under-penetrated, says the paper on ‘Dawn of the Digital Decade’, jointly brought out by ASSOCHAM and Frost & Sullivan.

Releasing its findings, Chairman, ASSOCHAM Convergence Committee, Mr. C.S. Rao pointed out that this under-penetration in India is due to factors such as insufficient wire line infrastructure, fragmented Local Cable operators Network, lack of a broadband policy to regulate pricing of rental and usage rates and delays in awarding spectrum to wireless broadband deployments.

However, the paper claims that recent broadband wireless auctions in which operators were allocated spectrum for wireless broadband deployments comes as a much needed respite for future of broadband adoption in India. It is expected that total broadband subscribers will reach about 275 million in next 5 years. This is due to the fact that submarine cable capacity would grow substantially and supply of capacity will shoot-up since adoption of BWA would become more popular. The two institutions expect that deployment of BWA would begin in this fiscal itself, added Mr. Rao.

Leveraging on broadband technologies, the paper says that excessively high right way charges, fragmented cable operators, non cooperation in last mile copper unbundling and low data ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) has made operators in India to realize, that Wireless is the most effective way to provide affordable broadband to masses in country. With around 43% of internet subscribers still using dial-up connections at the end of 2009, there is potential to migrate existing subscribers to high-speed services.

On the issue of advent of 3G to fuel Enterprise Mobility Market, the paper points out that with heightened pressures for the telecom service providers to augment their stagnating mobile voice revenues, there is a keen focus on 3G mobile services being the driver for greater mobile data applications adoption. Indeed, the major mobile players have obtained 3G spectrum in those telecom circles comprising a significant number of enterprises, which can potentially be targeted for mobile data services.

Presently, the Enterprise Mobile Data market consists of telecom service provider revenues generated via Value Added Services (VAS), Data Cards and GPRS. These three segments comprise approximately 17.1 percent of the total Enterprise Mobile Voice and Data market.

Mobile email is the most dominant application utilized by enterprises in India today, constituting approximately 91.7 percent of the total Enterprise Mobility market of 452.94 crores in FY 10. However, with the advent of 3G networks bringing in higher speed and enhanced bandwidth, more enterprise customers are expected to adopt bandwidth intensive applications on mobile.

The Enterprise Mobility market is expected to reach INR 1386.23 crores by FY 14, and 3G is expected to play a significant role in this high growth. With increasing number of enterprises providing reimbursements for mobile data usage to the employees, and with the proliferation of 3G networks; the enterprise mobile data services are likely to grow in popularity and usage.

The paper further adds that 3G will increase consumer mobile data usage as and when the roll-out of 3G networks in the various telecom circles occurs, it is anticipated that this will be a major tipping point for several stakeholders besides the telecom service providers. The mobile handset manufacturers in particular, can look forward to a high volume opportunity when the telecom service providers commence commercial 3G services in some of the tier 2 or 3 cities in India. Such a scenario can prove vital in increasing mobile data usage via 3G-enabled handsets amongst the tier 2 and 3 cities in India.

FOR MORE READING. .

OPERATION COVER-UP NOW BEGINS -S.K.Pandey

India Current Affairs — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 04:32:13 +0000

“PAID news is like a snake whose hood is down and tail underground. It is not easy to pull it out. There is circumstantial evidence of all type, but little proof.” So said S V Quraishi, one of the election commissioners in a recent article.

Noting that the “DNA” of Indian media organisations has changed after liberalisation, vice president Hamid Ansari said on January 28, 2010: “That the phenomenon of paid news and coverage package have a potential to tarnish the polity and destabilise the country’s economy.”

“Paid news is a ‘fatal combination’ of three M’s, namely, the media, money and mafia, that has subverted free and fair elections …..”, says Madhubhushi Sridhar, a legal expert, at a seminar on the subject in 2009.

MANAGERIAL

PRESSURES

Slowly but surely, the news for sale scam, spotlighted in the Press Council of India, is set for a cover-up. From a two-person expose in the council, led painstakingly by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta with assistance from Srinivas Reddy of the Indian Journalists Union, the ball has been flung to a wider Press Council net. From the Indore session of the Press Council to the Delhi session held earlier, to yet another session to be held on May 31, 2010, faces of the cover-up operation are slowly coming to light. Behind it all stand managerial pressures — some subtle and others not so subtle.

The questions being asked are manifold. What are the pressures on the Press Council of India trying to cover up the cash for coverage abuse? From Indore to Delhi, pressure for dilution is reportedly increasing day by day. It is now clear that in a few months, if not earlier, only a punctured version of the report would see the light of the day or its submission would be further postponed if some parties caught in the act don’t succeed in a cover-up. Furthermore, there are reports of deals for a new Press Council of India, which was advertised some time ago. The last date for filing the nominations ironically coincided with a meeting of the Press Council in Delhi on May 31, 2010. It is learnt that pressures and counter pressures from press barons are doing the rounds to prevent the non-statusquoist scribes from gaining entry. There is some evidence to suggest that ghost organisations are seeking seats through well known combinations and perambulations, threatening to reduce the Press Council to a farcical lottery of self-seekers. Add to it the pressures reportedly coming from the government also.

Clearly caught in the act as practitioners of “paid news” are the largest circulated newspapers in Hindi and Marathi. These papers belong to big business houses that have diversified into other media lines. Both have ad revenues consistent with their leadership positions is respective market segments. None of them can plausibly advance the argument that they are impelled to adopt the “paid news” practice on account of dire financial need.

CREDIBILITY

AT STAKE

Media credibility is a visible casualty, as is the integrity of the electoral process. The chief minister of Maharashtra has, for considerations that are as yet unknown, managed to get identical stories about his achievements (real and imagined) featured in a number of Marathi language newspapers, under different bylines. Several newspapers also carried extensive supplements within their main editions blazoning his glories — again without any suggestion that this was advertising content.

Deserving serious consideration are the views of Dr Madabhushi Sridhar. He said politicians used to hire musclemen, earlier, for huge amounts of money and train them in booth rigging. “Now….. candidates are training media pens instead of mafia guns to ‘rig’ the minds of people with constant opinion bombarding,” he added.

Dr Sridhar further stated that news items misguide readers about particular candidates by reporting that they are forging ahead in elections. “They use expressions which are most of the time absolutely false. The lack of truth in such statements can be easily verified as the same page of the same newspaper also publishes a similar story about a rival candidate. It is also reported that some pages of district edition tabloids were changed twice or thrice every day to accommodate the ‘success trail’ of different candidates in the same constituency.”

He has made the open charge that the trend of publishing news for money is on par with criminalisation of elections. “It is not just a breach of media ethics or impropriety and not just the concern of the Press Council of India. It is a crime against democracy, punishable under law…. the syndrome is just not the concern of the Press Council of India but a real challenge to the Election Commission of India, whose sole aim is to conduct free and fair polls….”

Dr Sridhar added: “Under Section 123 of the Representation of People Act 1951, bribery, undue influence, appeal on the ground of religion, caste, etc, publication of false statement relating to a candidate, free conveyance of voters, incurring of election expenditure in excess of the prescribed limit and seeking assistance of government servants are all considered corrupt practices. In 1989, booth capturing was added as another ‘corrupt practice’ in the law. In the present context, the media sold space and time to perpetrate undue influence and by the publication of false statements relating to winning chances of a candidate. In the process, the candidates spent huge amounts of money for coverage ‘packages’ which is a corrupt practice. These aspects have to be considered, investigated and prevented by the machinery of the Election Commission of India, as and when such things are happening. The Commission should not leave it to be decided at the time of hearing of election petitions, which means that the state would allow perpetration of corrupt practices and then wait for ‘proof’ of the same before election tribunals….”

WIDESPREAD

EXPOSURE

In a way, before the cover-up attempts began, the Press Council of India’s first report — based on the testimonies of well-known journalists, unions of journalists, other organisations and individuals including politicians who deposed before the council — went a very long way in establishing the fact that the pernicious practice of “paid news” has become widespread across the media (both print and electronic, English and non-English languages) in different parts of the country. Interestingly, this phenomenon appears to be less pervasive in states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu where the media are clearly divided along political lines. It is notable that a great deal of work in this regard had been done by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and P Sainath through a series of exposures, while the Delhi Union of Journalists made continuous interventions through a public meeting and in other ways. Senior editors and veteran journalists like the Late Prabhash Joshi, Kuldeep Nayar, The Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists, sections of the Indian Journalists Union, independent journalists of Andhra Pradesh, legal expert Madhubhushi Sridhar, Ram Bahadur Rai and Anuradha Raman (journalists) and Akshat Kaushal of the Indian Institute of Mass Communications in Delhi also made valuable contributions. A great deal of credit goes to the work began by late Prabash Joshi who fired the first salvo at a seminar organised by the Delhi Union of Journalists and called for public meetings, intervened in the Press Council along with some senior editors and stressed the point his last speech to a group of journalists. The Editors Guild also set up an ethics committee while the press associations and Women’s Press Corps held a seminar; some other journalist bodies also intervened. A key role was played by investigative journalist P Sainath in exposing the dimensions of the scam which was visible even in the assembly elections in Maharashtra later .

From among the political parties, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury called the paid news syndrome a negation of parliamentary democracy, while the CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat suggested an amendment to the Representation of People’s Act to declare the paid news an electoral malpractice.

The PCI report on “paid news,” it is learnt, covers a wide range of practices that have compromised media integrity. Leveraging news content as a direct revenue source is not a new practice. It formally began in March 2003, when India’s biggest media group announced what it called the “Medianet” initiative, professedly part of its effort to stay current with journalistic practices in the rapidly changing times. Subtlety aside, the concept simply sought to institutionalise the corruption of the profession by carrying the paid content with proper acknowledgment.

Two years later, the same media group introduced another innovation, called “private treaties,” involving the acquisition of shares in enterprises in exchange for advertising space. When the concerned enterprise grew to a level where it could conceivably go public, the media company that had freely advertised its merits would cash in. The example was one that most media enterprises, including the broadcast companies, have eagerly followed.

Now it seems select publishers and proprietors, led by select media mughals, are tightening the screw to save their credibility and save their long term interest. Like the ping pong being played on the Women’s Reservation Bill, the news coverage scam 2009-2010 is also set for a reprieve. It is believed that some journalist members of the Press Council are hunting for yet another term, for which purpose help from some press barons is necessary. Rules are being manipulated help the status-quo, with the government’s interests also chipping in. As it is, the report of the two-member committee has now gone to a wider council and from there one wonders whether it would find its way to the dustbin.

STRIKING

INSTANCES

The said report on paid news and how corruption in the Indian media undermines democracy, is jam packed with concrete examples, particularly from the Hindi language press. Here are some examples from Ranchi. Take the Prabhat Khabar and Hindustan which, before the parliamentary elections, published articles praising various candidates. The former placed on top of each such item the line “PK Media Marketing Initiative,” while the latter publication added “HT Media Marketing Initiative” at the bottom of such items.

Former civil aviation minister Harmohan Dhawan was quoted in Pratham Pravakta Magazine (in its edition dated July 16, 2009), stating: ”I was contesting the 2009 elections on a ticket of the BSP from Chandigarh. Representatives of the print media came to me and asked for money. They said their newspapers will give me coverage if I paid them money. They offered a ‘package’ to me and in one such ‘package’ I was told editorials would be written in my favour. I have been contesting elections since 1974 but not a single newspaper asked me for money before this. Among the newspapers that offered a ‘package’ to me was Punjab Kesri. A representative of Dainik Jagran came to me 20 days before the election and clearly told me: ‘If you want coverage in this election, you have to buy a ‘package’. These packages were worth lakhs of rupees. After that, a representative of Dainik Bhaskar visited me in my home. He too offered me a “package.”

Now, while a cover-up attempt is on, it is worth considering once again how the mainstream media abetted the process of paid news and whether an all-encompassing media council of experts chosen by various democratically elected bodies would not be better than a tinkering with the problem under pressure from the government or newspaper barons. Also, the need of the hour is media commission — a la the first and second press commissions. Researches in the US have shown how even the best democracies have seen rigged elections; one can see the book titled Best Democracy Money can Buy. The Election Commission and the parliament too have to play a more proactive role to save the Indian journalism and Indian democracy for tomorrow.

FOR MORE READING. .

WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION/ICT DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2010 – BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS FOR HALF THE WORLD’S POPULATION BY 2015

India Current Affairs — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:12:44 +0000

Many governments across the world are actively promoting public access and some are turning libraries, museums and post offices into Internet cafés. In Bhutan, for example, 40 per cent of all localities have a Public Internet Access Centre. Since 2003, the Royal Government of Bhutan, in cooperation with ITU, has been revamping post offices in remote and rural locations into ICT centres, allowing rural inhabitants to join the information society. In Mexico, almost 40 per cent of the 7000 public libraries offer visitors Internet access. All archives have a broadband Internet connection and efforts are being made to digitize all the information.

ITU’s World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report 2010 was launched at the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-10), which met in Hyderabad. The report provides a mid-term review of the progress made in creating a global information society by 2015, a commitment that governments agreed upon at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) which took place in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunis in 2005.

Mobile technology leads to connectivity revolution

The report points to the tremendous growth and evolution in the area of mobile cellular technology, which has led to connecting many previously unconnected areas. “Today, nearly 90 per cent of the world’s population is covered by a mobile cellular network,” says ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré, “and even people in rural and remote areas now have the means to access the global information society”. Take the world’s two most populous countries in the world — India and China — where mobile technology has provided basic telephone services to over 90 per cent of villages. In many developing countries, fixed telephone lines are largely limited to urban areas. But today, more than half the rural households have a mobile telephone.

More effort needed to increase Internet access

“The number of Internet users has more than doubled since 2003, when the World Summit on the Information Society first met, and today more than 25 per cent of the world’s population is using the Internet,” says Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. “The importance of bringing people online is widely recognized, but more efforts are needed to increase the number of Internet users. While today 75 per cent of all households have a TV, only 25 per cent have Internet access. In the developing countries, home Internet penetration is as low as 12 per cent.”

Where home access to the Internet is low, it is particularly important for countries to invest in public Internet access. Many governments across the world are actively promoting public access and some are turning libraries, museums and post offices into Internet cafés. In Bhutan, for example, 40 per cent of all localities have a Public Internet Access Centre. Since 2003, the Royal Government of Bhutan, in cooperation with ITU, has been revamping post offices in remote and rural locations into ICT centres, allowing rural inhabitants to join the information society. In Mexico, almost 40 per cent of the 7000 public libraries offer visitors Internet access. All archives have a broadband Internet connection and efforts are being made to digitize all the information.

Many health care institutions and schools in developing countries deprived of high-speed Internet access

The report finds that the availability of ICTs in health institutions in developing countries is limited and more needs to be done to achieve the target of “connecting all health institutions to the Internet”, ideally through broadband. M-health, which refers to medical and public health practices that are supported by mobile devices, is another area with great potential and the report highlights that over 75 per cent of countries today have launched some m-health initiatives. This includes, for example, the use of text messages in South Africa, to support HIV/AIDS treatment.

Since WSIS, much progress has been made in the area of e-government. The target set by the Summit to “connect all local and central government departments” has been at least partially achieved, since almost all central governments have a web presence and provide basic information to their citizens. The next step is to ensure that all countries move towards more sophisticated and interactive online e-government applications and services, for example, to apply for a driver’s license, fill out a tax form, or to make online payments using a credit or debit card.

A central focus of the WSIS commitments is to bring schools online and to ensure that school curricula teach students how to use ICTs. Here, the report finds mixed results. While many schools in developing countries remain deprived of any form of Internet access, a number of countries have successfully brought ICTs to schools. Jordan, for example, has connected 80 per cent of its schools to the Internet and 73 per cent have a broadband connection. Its teaching force is highly qualified in the area of IT and the large majority of the country’s schools make use of Internet-assisted-instruction. At the same time, training a sufficient number of teachers to use and teach ICT skills remains a challenge, even in some developed countries.

The report further points to the lack of local content, in local languages on the Internet. The web is still largely dominated by the English language, even though only around 15 per cent of the world’s population understands it. On the other hand, the proportion of English-speaking Internet users is declining, suggesting that non-English speakers are increasingly going online. Another indication for the diversification of content on the Internet is the growing number of websites that are registered under country domain names. Some of the highest 2005-2009 growth rates in terms of newly registered domain names were found in India (.in), Russia (.ru) and China (.cn).

Goal to provide high speed online access to half the world’s population by 2015

Overall, the report concludes that while major achievements have been made over the past five years, substantial efforts are required in developing countries to achieve the goals and targets by 2015. The report makes three main recommendations on the policies and measures needed to help achieve the targets:

1.Ensure that half the world population has access to broadband by 2015

2.Build an ICT-literate society globally

3. Develop online content and applications

To this end, governments can take a number of concrete steps, such as licensing mobile broadband operators and ensuring that broadband infrastructure is accessible to all citizens. Policy-makers in developing countries, in partnership with the international community, should continue to commit resources to connecting educational institutions to ICTs and to adapt the curriculum. The development of online content and applications in local languages should be promoted, for example, through the digitization of books and documents to create an e-culture. With more than half of the Internet users speaking languages with non-Latin scripts, the recent opening up of Internet domain names to non-Latin script characters is an important development.

Finally, the report highlights the importance for setting clear policy targets and monitoring progress. To this end, it proposes a list of 50 concrete indicators to monitor the targets over the next five years, until 2015.

The report is the result of a joint effort among several international organizations, led by ITU, and includes contributions from UNESCO, WHO and UNDESA, as well as from representatives of civil society. It reviews each of the ten targets agreed upon at the World Summit on the Information Society, which range from connecting villages, schools, health centres, libraries and government agencies to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and to developing online content. It is the first global effort to identify quantitative measures to show how far the world has come in building an information society, and what remains to be done.

Within the UN system, ITU is the main source of internationally comparable data and statistics on ICT. The Market Information and Statistics Division of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) collects, harmonizes and disseminates more than 100 telecommunication and ICT indicators from over 200 economies worldwide. Data are accessible online through the ICT Eye portal, on CD and in print publications. The Market Information and Statistics Division regularly publishes analytical reports illustrating the latest trends in the sector.

ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO BUY – S Y Qurasihi

India Current Affairs — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:31:56 +0000

Paid news is not free speech. The commission is concerned about the undue influence that paid news can create in the mind of the voter. It is against free and fair polls. It could derail democracy. This is the address S Y Quraishi, Election Commissioner made to a seminar on paid news in Delhi on March 13, reprinted on March 12, 2010 by the Indian Express.

Over the decades, the approach to news has changed quite a bit. But these changes have largely related to presentation and formats. In the increasingly competitive media world, we have come across terms like morning news, evening news, prime time news, headline news, latest news and more recently, breaking news. But paid news? This coinage is the epitome of anti-news. Paid news is downright unethical, and sinister. The malaise has now gone deep, and cuts across print and electronic, regional and national, vernacular and English media.

We at the Election Commission are seriously concerned. Many of us have been dealing with the problem of surrogate advertising for a while. Some instructions are in place to prevent stealthy advertising in favour of or against candidates. The success in this has only been moderate. But the new camouflage for advertising is “news”. To some extent, the menace has played out its role in manipulating real estate and the stock market; but this is not my official headache. We feel directly concerned with the infiltration of this evil into the election arena. We realise with all seriousness the impact of this malpractice. It is against free and fair polls. It could derail democracy.

Paid news is not free speech. The commission is concerned about the undue influence that paid news can create in the mind of the voter. The voter’s right to correct and unbiased information needs protection. Our second concern is that paid news hoodwinks the enforcement of the expenditure ceiling, a key component in election management with particular importance for a level playing field.

I am happy that most political parties are speaking against paid news. I am even happier that there is a conspicuous uprising against it within the media. Not surprisingly, the protest is led by women and men from the editorial desk, because it is their space and their freedom which is in maximum danger. It is heartening to note that the government and Parliament are also seriously engaged to find a redressal. The churning is healthy and holds out hope.

Friends in media and politics have suggested that the Election Commission is powerful enough to deal with this problem. Well, we have some powers defined by the Constitution, acts of Parliament and judicial pronouncements. We have to work within these. Our control runs only during the election period and applies generally to political parties and candidates. Politicians are most powerful. Members of Parliament alone have the power to legislate to bring the culprits of paid news to book. But, it is the media, which, to my mind retains absolute power, derived from absolute freedom. In my estimate, the problem of paid news is best addressed by self-regulation that lends legitimacy to absolute power anywhere. The commission would again call upon politicians and media to press the delete button on paid news through active self-regulation.

Of course, this would require consensus building. Fortunately, in our country, a good cause or a good piece of legislation brings even opposite camps together. Our model code of conduct during the elections is a shining example of restrictions voluntarily accepted by all political parties. This is a unique Indian institution that makes election managers across the world envious. Can there be a code to check the destabilising activity of paid news?

Paid news is like a snake whose hood is down and tail underground. It is not easy to pull it out. There is circumstantial evidence of all type, but little proof. I am happy that the Press Council is finding ways to deal with the element of deceit in paid news. The commission has lent support to their consultations and will do more, if necessary.

As I have often said, in the multi-dimensional mandate of election management, every problem has a solution, but often a good solution leads to a new problem.

After serious consideration of the public damage caused by some campaign methods, the commission put some restrictions on wall writings, hoardings, loudspeakers etc. The question as suggested by some is, has the strict enforcement of defacement laws led to this worse sickness of paid news in the election arena? More importantly, has it denied a level playing field to those candidates and political parties, who by force or by will, are not accomplices in paid news?

In India, the media is one of the strengths of the Election Commission. With all responsibility, I have to state that media has all too often been our eyes and ears in the conduct of elections. I fervently wish that the alliance between the Election Commission, political parties and the media, which fortifies the world’s largest democracy does not weaken in the shadow of paid news.

FOR MORE READING ON PAID NEWS. . .

FACEBOOK TO SET UP CENTRE IN HYDERABAD, INDIA

India Current Affairs — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:14:33 +0000

Social networking site Facebook announced that it will set up its office in Hyderabad to support the growing number of users, advertisers and developers in India and globally.

Facebook has seen exponential growth in recent months and has more than eight million active users in India, it said in a statement.

The rising popularity of Facebook has also come as a threat to various other social networking sites like Orkut, MySpace and Flickr.

It has more than 400 million active users worldwide.

The centre will house online advertising and developer support teams and provide round-the-clock, multi-lingual support to its users and advertisers globally.

The new centre in Hyderabad will supplement operations out of California, Dublin, Ireland and a recently announced location in Austin, Texas.

It has already started its hiring procedure for the Hyderabad centre.

“We expect our new office in Hyderabad to tap into the region’s strong pool of talented people who understand operations and technology, and help us more effectively serve the needs of our users, advertisers, and developers around the world,” Facebook Director (Global Online Operations) Don Faul said.

As more and more people share and connect on Facebook, we are growing our operations and teams to support them around the world. Just last week, we announced plans to invest in a new Austin, Texas, office, and today in India we unveiled our intentions to open an office in Hyderabad, the face book said.

By having multiple support centers in a variety of time zones, the face book can provide better round-the-clock, multi-lingual support.

The new offices come at a significant time in face book’s international growth. Seventy percent of the people using Facebook are outside the U.S. and are accessing the service from more than 70 languages. In India alone, there is rapid growth and now have more than 8 million people actively connecting on Facebook with their friends, family, and other people they know, both within India and around the globe,

FOR MORE READING. .

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES : NEW HOTSPOT TO PROMOTE BOLLYWOOD FILMS

PARLIAMENT DEBATES PAID NEWS ISSUE

India Current Affairs — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:37:39 +0000

“Paid news” is a serious matter as it influences the functioning of a free press. The media, acts as a repository of public trust for conveying correct and true information to the people. However, when paid information is presented as news content, it could mislead the public and thereby hamper their judgment to form a correct opinion. Thus, there is no denying the fact that there is an urgent need to protect public’s right to correct and unbiased information.

The ‘Paid News’ issue was raised in Rajya Sabha under Calling Attention Notice tabled by Sitaram Yechury regarding the role of print and electronic media indulging in paid news in disguise as news. The text of Minister of Information & Broadcasting Smt. Ambika Soni’s statement made in response to the Calling Attention Notice is as follows:

“The Government is committed to ensuring the right to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution of India. In pursuance of this objective of preserving the freedom of press and maintaining and improving the standard of newspapers in India and to inculcate the principles of self regulation among the press, the Press Council of India (PCI), an autonomous body was set up under the Press Council Act, 1978. The PCI has developed Norms of Journalistic Conduct that cover the principles and ethics regarding journalism.

PCI has also laid down guidelines on reporting of specific issues of public and national importance. In 1996, it drew up a set of guidelines that are particularly applicable to financial journalism. PCI has also issued guidelines on reporting of elections.In recent months, however, there have been a number of media reports that sections of the electronic and print media have received monetary considerations for publishing or broadcasting in favour of particular individuals or organizations or corporate entities, what is essentially “advertisement” disguised as “news”. This has been commonly referred to as the “paid news syndrome”. While this is not a new phenomenon, it has attracted greater public attention of late and is being widely discussed and debated across the country.

It has been reported that the owners of some media organizations have financial relationships, including share-holdings, with advertisers.

Further, cases have been reported wherein identical articles with photographs and headlines have appeared in competing publications carrying bylines of different authors or sometimes even without bylines, around the same time. On the same page of specific newspapers, articles have been printed during elections, projecting rival candidates, both as winning candidates! While it is widely agreed that it is not easy to find proof for such malpractices, there exists strong circumstantial evidence.

It is, however, very commendable that this issue of “paid news” has been vigorously raised by some sections of the media themselves. The Editors Guild of India has in its press note on this issue dated 23.12.2009 condemned this unethical practice and called upon all editors of the country to desist from publishing any form of advertisements which masquerade as news. They went on to say that it is imperative that news organizations clearly distinguish between news and advertisements with full and proper disclosure norms, so that no reader and viewer is tricked by any subterfuge of advertisements published and broadcast in the same format, language and style of news. The Indian Women Press Corp, a body of working women journalists from print, TV and online media are also highlighting this issue in a seminar being held in a few days from now in order to build an opinion against this malpractice. The Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (A.P.U.W.J.) conducted a detailed sample survey to highlight the manner in which newspapers had published “paid news” items. A number of senior journalists have formally complained about the phenomenon of “paid news” to the Press Council of India and the Election Commission of India.

In view of all this, the PCI has constituted a Sub-Committee to consider this issue and collect evidence from stakeholders, including the Election Commission of India. The representatives of Election Commission of India in their interaction with the Sub-Committee on 16.12.2009 desired the Council to define what constituted “paid news” so that expenditure incurred by the political parties and the candidates become accountable. The Committee has also met representatives of Indian Newspapers Society (INS) and Indian Language Newspapers Association (ILNA). The Committee also held its meeting at Mumbai on 27th & 28th January 2010 to interact with the stake holders.

As part of evidence gathering exercise, the Committee also visited Hyderabad on 9th & 10th February, 2010 and met stake-holders. The representatives of A.P.U.W.J. named six newspapers, carrying numerous paid news stories.

The report of this Committee is likely to be placed before the Council by the end of March for further action.

This phenomenon of “paid news” is therefore, a serious matter as it influences the functioning of a free press. The media, acts as a repository of public trust for conveying correct and true information to the people. However, when paid information is presented as news content, it could mislead the public and thereby hamper their judgment to form a correct opinion. Thus, there is no denying the fact that there is an urgent need to protect public’s right to correct and unbiased information.

It is important that all sections of society should introspect on this issue as it has wide ranging implications for our democratic structure.”

FOR FURTHER READING

* SELLING NEWS OR BUYING SILENCE?

* PAID NEWS’ UNDERMINES THE FOUNDATION OF JOURNALISM – Rajdeep Sardesai

* PUTTING PAID TO ‘PAID NEWS’ – Jagdeep S. Chhokar

* THE MIND RIGGING BY MEDIA:AN ELECTORAL OFFENCE AND CORRUPT PRACTICE

* PAID NEWS CULTURE AND INDIAN MEDIA – Nava Thakuria

* THE MEDIA AND PAID NEWS : WHO SHALL GUARD THE GUARDIANS? –Vipul Tripathi

* DOMINANCE OF ‘PAID NEWS’ MATTER OF GRAVE CONCERN :MRINAL PANDEY

* MEDIA ON SALE

* MEDIA AND THE MARKET -Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari

* THE MEDIUM, MESSAGE AND THE MONEY – P. Sainath

ADVERTISING, BOLLYWOOD, CORPORATE POWER – P. Sainath

India Current Affairs — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:14:18 +0000

Every issue is now reduced to a fight between individuals, heroic, villainous or just fun figures. So the complex issues behind the shunning of Pakistani cricketers by the Indian Premier League are reduced to a fight between Shah Rukh Khan and Bal Thackeray. (As one television channel began its programme: “Shah Rukh stands tall. His message to the nation …”). The agonies of Bundelkhand are not about hunger and distress in our Tiger Economy. They are just a stand-off between Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati. The issues of language and migrations in Maharashtra are merely a battle between Rahul Gandhi and Uddhav Thackeray. And the coverage is all about who blinked first, who lost face.Issues today have to be dressed up in ways certified by the corporate media. They have to be justified not by their importance to the public but by their acceptability to the media, their owners and sponsors.

That the terrible tragedy in Pune demands serious, sober coverage is a truism. One of the side-effects of the ghastly blast has been unintended, though. The orgy of self-congratulation that marked the media coverage of just about everything since January is now in pause mode. Maybe the flak they copped for their handling of the November 2008 Mumbai terror blasts has something to do with it. But there is, so far, some restraint. At least, relative to the meal they made of the 2008 blasts.

Otherwise, through January and early February, the media stood up bravely for freedom of expression and some other constitutional rights you’ve never heard of. They slew the demons of lingual chauvinism and worse. And they’re just spoiling for a fight with any other enemy of our proud democracy. Just so long as they can keep Bollywood in central focus.

The devastating rise in food prices (let’s skip the boring factors) and the mess in agriculture are a face-off between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. The pathetic squabble within the Samajwadi Party is virtually a television serial. A blow-by-blow account of Amar Singh’s valiant bid to retain his honour against Mulayam Singh’s yahoos. (Indeed, some Hindi channels have begun using the language of theatre to report it — Act II, Scene II. And there was one programme which Mr. Amar Singh ended humming verses from his favourite film song). The Bt brinjal story had mostly only one villain — Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. He had no visible adversary unless you pose the humble Brinjal as the hero. But that won’t work for television. The other, more sinister heroes in this media story preferred to function from behind the scenes, plying newspapers and channels with faked data and false information. Hell hath no fury like a powerful corporate scorned, as the Minister is learning.

Issues? The same media that passionately fought for freedom of expression for a month from mid-January had billed the 2009 Lok Sabha poll as one without issues. The country was actually burning with them, but they didn’t make good television either. More accurately, the dominant media hadn’t the slightest intention of covering them with any sincerity. The story of rising food prices remains one of the worst reported — no matter how much space it has been given. Sure, there have been exceptions — as in the case of some outstanding reports on Bundelkhand. But they’ve been just that. Exceptions.

If these last six weeks have been about freedom of expression, we have neither. Or, at best, a twisted freedom and a tortured expression. There is little freedom for thousands of journalists in the corporate media and the few editors who still believe we ought to be doing a better job of informing the public on the key issues of our time. There’s very little freedom for readers or viewers, too. For days on end, it didn’t matter which television channel you switched to, it was SRK on all of them. When that movie drew to a close, the ‘Rahul Gandhi storms Sena den’ film was released and sustained. A visit of some hours produced days of footage. But with the end of Mr. Gandhi’s visit to Mumbai, it was back to Shah Rukh Khan. Of course, viewers had the freedom to choose, which sets us apart from totalitarian states. They could choose any channel, from among many, to watch SRK saying exactly the same thing, at the same time. And they will be free to choose again when the figure is Amitabh Bachchan or Aamir Khan.

If what we’ve watched on critical issues these past weeks is expression, we’re through scraping the barrel. We’re drilling holes in its bottom.

Many corporate-owned media houses have sacked hundreds of journalists and non-journalist staff since late 2008. Hundreds of other journalists have suffered wage cuts. Of course, the ‘right to know’ of readers and viewers does not extend to this information. Why scare the poor lambs? And how can you tell them the truth about that while everyday crowing about the once-again booming economy? It might lead audiences to ask that dull, boring question: “If things are so good, why are you axing so many people?” Answering that means revealing the interests the corporate media have in the fate of the stock market. It means talking about their need to keep the shares of the companies they are linked to (or have heavily invested in) afloat and buoyant. That is regardless of how rotten they are within. No matter how their own shares in those companies were obtained. And no agonising over how unethical the means used to keep them heated. This was in part behind the fatwa issued by some newspapers to their staff banning the ‘R’ word last year. Recession is what happens in the United States. In India, it was a slowdown — and it’s already turning around brilliantly. The hundreds of sacked and ruined staff have little freedom to speak of. Even the professional communicators within them cannot tell their own audiences their story. Cannot tell them they were laid off, let alone tell them why.

Leave aside escaping a recession, India Shining is back. The cover story of a leading weekly gushes over the fantastic ‘rural resurgence’ that is, in fact, saving all of us. Farmers are doing just great. Drip, micro-sprinkler, and other micro irrigation, the stories in it suggest, played a major role in this hidden-from-the-human-eye revival. This resurgence is seen more in urban media than in rural India. And the proliferation of such stories across the media spectrum reflects, in part, the strenuous media efforts of a major Maharashtra-based company. A corporate group that spends a fortune on propaganda and whose interests in this line of irrigation are pushed by some of the most powerful members of the Union Cabinet. Oddly, stories such as these come out even as the government’s own projections for growth in agriculture are dismaying.

The main ‘rural resurgence’ story hit the stands the same day the National Crime Records Bureau officially brought the 2008 data for farm suicides on to its website. The 16,196 suicides that year brought the tally of farmers’ suicides since 1997 to 199,132. That’s the largest single, sustained wave of such suicides ever recorded in history — anywhere. Guess nobody told them about the resurgence. Farmers in 2008 did know of that year’s loan waiver, but it didn’t stop large numbers of them from taking their lives.

The ‘rural resurgence’ story comes after any number of the government’s own committees, commissions and reports suggest that it revise poverty figures upwards. Whether it’s the Suresh Tendulkar committee, the BPL Expert Group, or earlier the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised sector. Or a U.N. study which reports that 34 million more Indians remained poor or joined their ranks in 2008 and 2009, because of the ‘slowdown.’ That is, 34 million more than would have met that fate prior to the 2008 crisis. It matters little if Census data show us that 8 million cultivators quit agriculture between just 1991 and 2001. (That is, on average, well over 2,000 a day, every day for 10 years.) Or that the 2011 Census just months from now will show us how many more have fled agriculture since then, un-seduced by the rural resurgence. Never mind the facts. One giant private irrigation company stands to make its already huge fortune bigger. Good for growth.

The ABC of Indian media roughly translates as Advertising, Bollywood and Corporate power. Some years ago, the ‘C’ would have been cricket, but that great sport is fast becoming a small cog in the large wheel of corporate profit. (In the IPL, the ABC of media converge, even merge.) And, of course, everything but everything, has to be bollywoodised. To now earn attention, issues have to be dressed up only in ways certified by the corporate media. They have to be justified not by their importance to the public but by their acceptability to the media, their owners and sponsors. The more entrenched that ABC gets, the greater the danger to the language of democracy the media so proudly claim to champion.

COURTESY: THE HINDU

‘FORTUNE INDIA’ APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION

India Current Affairs — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:19:51 +0000

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has approved publication of Indian edition of the foreign magazine ‘Fortune’ under title “Fortune India”, dealing with News and Current Affairs by M/s Business media private Limited, subject to the following conditions:

(i) That the Indian company shall obtain requisite approval to enter into financial arrangements (such as royalty payment etc.) with the owners of the foreign magazines as per the rules and regulations of the Government of India issued in the matter from time to time.
(ii) That at least 3/4th of the Directors on the Board of Directors of the Indian company M/s Business Media Private Limited and all key executives and editorial staff should be resident Indians.

(iii) That the applicant company shall obtain prior clearance from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting of all persons not being resident Indians who are proposed to be inducted in the Board of Directors/Key Executives/Editorial Staff of the company.

(iv) That the applicant company shall inform the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting within 15 days of effecting any change in the composition of resident Indian Directors, key executives and editorial staff. Such a change would be subject to post facto approval of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

(v) That the applicant company shall be liable to intimate the names and details of any foreigner/NRI/PIO proposed to be employed/engaged in the Entity for more than 60 days in a year, either as Consultant or as regular employee or in any other capacity. The Entity shall be liable to dispense with the services of such persons if subsequently found to be not cleared from security angle.

vi) That the applicant company shall inform about any subsequent change in the License Agreement/Financial Arrangement with the foreign entity for publishing Indian edition of the foreign magazine.

(vii) That M/s Business Media Private Limited shall comply with all the relevant laws and guidelines applicable to Indian Newspapers and their publishers.

(viii) The publisher would have to ensure compliance with all relevant Indian laws on the subject, failure of which would result in revocation of this approval.

(ix) That clearance as required under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 be obtained from the Registrar of Newspapers for India.

(x) That clearance as required from Project Approval Board in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry regarding royalty payments to Time Inc. 1271 Avenue of the America, New York, NY 10020-1393 shall be obtained by M/s Business Media Private Limited.

(xi) That the Government of India, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting shall have the right to suspend/withdraw/cancel the permission to the company for a specified period or for whole time, if the conditions specified in the grant of permission is violated or in public interest or in the interest of national security. (xii) The company shall stop publication of the Indian edition of the magazine whenever approval for such publication is suspended / withdrawn / cancelled by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

(xiii) That the applicant company shall permit the Government agencies to inspect the facilities required for publishing Indian edition of foreign magazine, as and when required.

(xiv) That M/s Business Media Private Limited shall supply copies of every issue of the magazine “FORTUNE INDIA”, each to Director, Research Reference & Training Division, M/o Information & Broadcasting, Room No. 447, Phase-IV, Soochana Bhawan, Lodhi Road, New Delhi and to Director (IP), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Room No. 760, ‘A’ Wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi so as to reach within a week of their publication.

Prior to this, ‘Spectator India’ and ‘Forbes India’ had also been permitted by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for publication in India.

SELLING NEWS OR BUYING SILENCE?

India Current Affairs — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:08:43 +0000

The newspaper world has been cast into turmoil over the last few weeks. First, there was the furore, within media circles, over The Times of India group deploying ‘paid content’ — or what in plain words means — selling news.

The group has a division called Medianet complete with a rate card for the sale of news.

For lay readers, it must be clarified that the sale of news is different and distinct from paid advertisements, advertorials or special supplements, all of which are clearly identified as ‘sponsored features,’ while paid news is not.

Such spurious news has included gushing endorsements of flop movies, fashion and lifestyle products and the promotion of hotels and restaurants that enter into a payment arrangement with the organisation.

The reader has no clue that the adulatory report is nothing but a paid advertisement masquerading as objective reportage or opinion.

FOR MORE READING CLICK HERE. . .

ARE STING OPERATIONS ACCEPTABLE? – Prof.K.Nageshwar

India Current Affairs — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:26:38 +0000

Sting operations by various television channels are a subject of debate over media ethics with the number of news channels increasing day by day, one or other television channel conducts a sting operation across the country. Some target corrupt officials. Some other sting operations chase politicians in power. Some expose the wrong doings of public life. Many such operations invade private life of high and mighty. In an age of sensationalism the sting operations have become effective means of capturing the audience. The myriad hour, multi channel television boom is propelling the phenomenon of sting operations.

The sting operations have thus become part of daily practice of professional journalism. Hidden television cameras, secret operations, trapping the individuals concerned all are part of the game. This has become almost a specialization in television journalism especially investigative reporting. It raises many ethical, moral and professional questions. The Tehelka expose which saw top BJP leaders caught on cameras accepting bribe has become a controversy for alleged use of unfair means in the process of carrying out the sting operation. More recently, the sting operation that unraveled the cash for votes scam raised questions on parliamentary practice. The cash for questions scam brought to the notice of the world how our parliamentarians work. The sting operation that exposed the sex scandal of former Andhra Pradesh governor ND Tiwari revealed how vulnerable even the top leaders to this new journalistic weapon.

The critics of sting operations often accuse this as an invasion of privacy. The critics also point out to the fact that in certain cases this practice is used as means to black mail the rivals. Often doubts are expressed by the victims of sting operations over the veracity of the tapes. And refer to the possible tampering. It is also true that sting operations are many a time result of political , business or professional rivalry rather than a serious commitment to uphold values in society. Highly placed media sources reveal that some sting operations do not reach the audience due to underhand deals an shady settlements .between the media operators and the people who are caught on the hidden cameras. Perhaps, yet an another sting operation is required to expose the media sting operations. There are legal inadequacies in dealing with the phenomenon of sting operations by television channels.

Well, all these allegations can not be totally denied. The corrupt society can certainly throw up corrupt media.

But, sting operations certainly are serving public purpose in many instances. The sting operations have to be welcomed if they serve a public purpose what ever may be the motive behind conducting these operations. Should means justify the ends or ends justify the means. This is a long heard philosophical debate. I think both means and ends should be justifiable. However, it is rather idealistic to think of totally free and fair media independent of any pulls and pressures.

Given this debate, some broad conclusions can be drawn on the arguments and counter arguments over the sting operations by television channels.

First, these sting operations should definitely serve a larger public purpose. People in power can not escape public scrutiny in the name of right to privacy. Parliamentarians cannot get immunity from public scrutiny through media in the name of privileges. Moral and ethical dimensions of media are embedded in the larger public purpose the media operations serve. Sting operations for settling scores or targeting personal lives for sensational purposes or undermining some ones interests can not be acceptable. Strict adherence to public cause and purpose should be the basis for any media sting operations.

Second, sting operations should be sparingly used. It can not become a routine media practice as if covering a press conference.

Thirdly, sting operations should be used only when it is impossible to collect information through normal journalistic practices and the media organization or the concerned journalists should have exhausted these means.

Suitable legal and regulatory mechanism should be in place to prevent misuse of such an effective tool in the hands of media to uncover the shadow society. The media should evolve its own code of conduct and self regulatory mechanism to standardize the practice. Professional methods of sting operations and the ethical edifice of this practice should form part of the training programmes of journalism schools and in-house media training centers. There should be closer and effective scrutiny of sting operations to make it healthier and professionally sound.

PAID NEWS’ UNDERMINES THE FOUNDATION OF JOURNALISM – Rajdeep Sardesai

India Current Affairs — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:00:37 +0000

Journalists as a tribe tend to be cynical and self-righteous in equal measure. The cynicism leads us to believe that the glass is always half empty. Our self-righteous streak drives us into spasms of rage when we are accused of lowering ethical standards. The ‘paid news’ crisis calls for neither an overdose of cynicism nor another bout of self-righteousness. What is required is a robust pragmatism that accepts the problem confronting the profession, but also sees it as an opportunity to restore falling credibility.

We need to realize that ‘paid news’ is not some overnight phenomenon that began with election ‘packages’. Film and sports journalism, for example, has been forced to blur the lines with public relations for some time now. Corporate India has also been a step ahead of political India: ‘private treaties’ by which a newspaper enters into agreements with business groups to ensure favourable coverage in return for an equity stake in the company has been in existence for several years now. A political candidate who pays for favourable media coverage is not guaranteed victory, a corporate house through a ‘private treaty’ is almost guaranteed lasting immunity against journalistic ‘objectivity’.

FOR FULL TEXT:

PUTTING PAID TO ‘PAID NEWS’ – Jagdeep S. Chhokar

India Current Affairs — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:16:45 +0000

A new phenomenon called “paid news” has entered the Indian lexicon. This is the fraud being perpetrated by the political establishment and some unscrupulous sections of the media during elections, by publishing thinly disguised propaganda material as news. Serious concern has been expressed by a lot of people but it is not clear as to what exactly can be done, how, and by whom.

FOR FULL TEXT:

THE MIND RIGGING BY MEDIA:AN ELECTORAL OFFENCE AND CORRUPT PRACTICE

India Current Affairs — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:12:43 +0000

- Professor Madabhushi Sridhar

Director, Center for Media Law Studies & Policy

NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad

If newspaper writes a false story, it is undoubtedly an unethical act. But if media propagates falsity during elections, it could be either electoral crime or corrupt practice. The paid-news syndrome is no more an issue of impropriety, but it is a case of massive perpetration of crimes under Representation of Peoples Act 1951 and Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Whole authority to govern is derived from the votes of the adult citizens of the country. This democracy is inalienable basic feature of Constitution of India. The concept of democracy as visualized by the Constitution presupposes the representation of the people in Parliament and state legislatures by the method of election². Any influence that hijacks public opinion and affects exercise of right to vote in free and fair manner eats the roots of democracy. Though the political parties and candidates are free to propagate for the voting support, they are precluded from misguiding, spreading untruth, selling impossible promises, using caste or religion or regional feelings, using public money and power and ultimately influencing the voter with allurements of money and sedation of liquor to vote in their favour. All these unreasonable influencing factors were declared illegal. Punishments and disqualifications were also prescribed.

Constitutional Obligation of Election Commission

As Article 324 vested in the independent Election Commission of India, the authority of superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and conduct of, all elections to Parliament and state legislatures, and to the offices of the President and Vice-President of India, it is the imperative duty to ensure free and fairness of the polls avoiding any kind of undue influences, because that alone secures the health of democracy. In pursuance of these functions the entire state bureaucratic machinery is kept under the control and supervision of the Election Commission of India during the process of elections. This power devolves on District Collectors, who as Chief Electoral Officers are supposed to prevent any thing that stops the voters from thinking independently.

Freedom of content

No doubt, the media proprietors have freedom and authority to chose the contents of their page or channel or decide the portion of their space for advertisements³. The Supreme Court of India⁴ has stuck down the statutes and executive orders of the Government when the State tried to introduce controls on the contents of newspapers, and restrict the space allotted to advertisement saying at least 60 per cent should be of news. It was considered as state’s unreasonable interference with the autonomy of newspaper to decide how to fill their pages, which was violation of the freedom of press guaranteed by the Constitution.

What is happening?

The syndrome of PAID NEWS that crept up into poll scene during 2009 is nothing short of ‘criminalization of political parties’, ‘massive booth rigging’, ‘electronic voting machine manipulation’, or ‘massive distribution of liquor and money a few hours before polling. It is wrong to say that money for news item is just an unethical practice of camouflaging advertisement as news item, or error of passing off the ‘falsity’ as news event. Heavy monetary packages to campaign for candidate is more than an election crime in which the media men were hand in glove with criminal politicians.

The trend reflects the fatal combination of trinity the Media, Money and Mafia. Politicians used to hire muscle men with huge amounts of money and train them in booth rigging either by hook or crook. Some times they purchased all poll personnel, who usually are teachers and clerks, so that all ballots are polled into their favour wiping out the other contestants. If both the candidates are powerful in muscle and money besides influential, they used to ‘rig’ in proportion to their ‘strength’. Now the rigging never occurs, not simply because of using EVM, but because candidates are training media pens instead of mafia guns to ‘rig’ the minds of people with constant opinion bombarding to constrain them to vote them. It is the new opinion rigging crime committed by both politicians with their gun men and pen men.

Advertorials, News and Advertisements:

(i) News, (ii) views and (iii) advertisement was old classification of media content. Now it is (i) advertorial (no more editorial), (ii) news (events) (iii) news as advertisements and (iv) advertisements.

The basic norm was that there should be strict separation between news and views which was violated day in and day out. The thin line between ‘news’ and ‘advertisement’ was blurring till recently but totally disintegrated. News was supposed to be regarded as factual reporting of events, and generally the newspaper would not be liable for the truthfulness of the contents of the advertisement unless they contain defamatory or obscene material. Now untruthful news is appearing as ‘event coverage’ which in fact was an advertisement.

The much advanced Andhra Pradesh media has dubious distinction of being the pioneer in paid news syndrome. In 2004 elections the traces of this cancer was noticed in some districts, where in the reporters and advertisement executives collected huge amounts of money to write favourable stories. Where the subeditors or little higher position holders noticed the ‘treachery’ they were also given the share. Earlier, it was limited to a couple of newspapers in a few districts. By 2009, this corruption was institutionalized, newspapers fixed targets for each district bureau, collected huge amounts of money, depriving the reporters of the benefit of exclusively claiming the proceeds without any information. Each and every political party candidate was forced to enter into some package deal with the tabloid newspapers as the continuous campaign of winning stories of their rival candidates created a psychological edge and left a worrying factor in their cadre. Every candidate has to shell down a minimum of Rs. 5 lakh for not writing adverse reports and publishing favourable reports. The space and frequency of exaggerated false favourable reports is directly proportional to the size of the package money.

The deal for undue Influence

Every such item tells the readers that such a candidate is forging ahead leaving others far behind, people are receiving the candidate with great regard. They use expressions like ‘brahma ratham pattaru”, or “prachaaramlo doosuku velli pothunnaru’, “mahilalu mangala harathulu padutunnaru’, ‘yuvatharam utsahamsto urakalu vesthu kerinthalu kottindi’, which are most of the times absolute falsities. The lack of truth in it could be verified with in the same page where the newspaper publishes another similar story about the rival candidate in the same page or the other page or next day. It is also reported that some pages of district edition tabloids were changed twice or thrice every day to accommodate ‘success trail’ of different candidates in the same constituency. One report about successful campaign of candidate ‘x’ would be confined to a particular area or that those pages are made available only to such a candidate, while another edition with a different page writes about enthusiastic campaign of candidate ‘y’ and get that circulated as directed by that candidate. The headlines in mofusil newspapers of big broadsheet dailies claiming that victory was assured have reflected the dishonest payments behind such writings. Some of such headlines are: “Vijayam Lanchaname” (= victory is just a formality)⁵, “Bhaaree Majority Dishagaa” (=heading towards massive majority)⁶, “Ye nota vinna bapiraju gelupu maate” (=every one says Bapiraju will win)⁷.

These stories claim that a particular candidate would win. Surprisingly, the newspaper did not hesitate to carry three or four such stories ascertaining the victory of the candidates contesting same seat in the same page. One ‘paid-news’ proves the other wrong. Even if there is a single story stating that victory is sure, it could have an undue influence on other parts of the constituency and they may also decide to vote in his favour as he is winning anyway. The Election Commission has prohibited exit-poll opinion survey by any media before the polling process is completed. This is based on the principle that winning news of one party at one place should not influence voters in different part of the state to favour winning party. If the media takes money to say a particular candidate is receiving unprecedented support from the people, it could send an influencing signal to others to vote for him. This frenzy campaign based on fabricated stories of increasing people’s support is misuse of freedom of expression both by candidates and journalists. Thus there is a need to take serious action against paid-misinformation during the polls. What is to be realized is that while generally reporting falsity is question of ethics, circulating falsity on payment during polls is an offence.

In selling absolute falsity or ascertaining the victory of a candidate as daily news in package deal, there is a concerted effort to unduly influence the voters in almost all constituencies. The newspapers had offered different packages such as

1. regularly writing favorably on front page,
2. writing favorably in regular succession on front page with color photo,
3. writing regularly with color photos all through the campaign session, ie, from date of nomination to date of polling with interviews, news analysis, campaign trails etc.
4. a package to write favorably and also to do negative campaign against his rival candidates.
5. an informative interview of the candidate with photos on condition that they should purchase 25,000 copies of the newspapers besides some consideration.

The electronic media too followed the trend set by Telugu moffusil print media and sold the slot of space and time of their channel to the political party or the candidate showing the surging crowds to his address from ratham or roadshow. Nowhere the media made any effort to indicate that it was a sponsored programme or sold out slot or an advertisement.

Crime against Democracy

If it is mere merger of news with commercially paid information, or just commercialization of the media’s influence, or vulgar display of bias towards a particular caste or political party or the candidate, it could be a case of ‘ethics’ or ‘breach of code of conduct’, or ‘impropriety’ etc. But selling the space and time (by print and electronic media) to propagate falsity is something far above the unethical practice which puts the media on par with poll-criminals. It is not only an offence against the professionalism and ethics but a crime against democracy besides being a punishable crime under Representation of People’s Act and Indian Penal Code. The syndrome is just not the concern of Press Council of India but real challenge to Election Commission of India, whose sole aim is to conduct free and fair poll, because media sold ‘free’ news and its freedom for packet, and also spread wrong information to seduce the voters to like a particular candidate. Here again an ethical question arises as the same newspaper, same local bulletin and same page projected the rival candidates for similar amount of money with same quantum of falsity. With extremely rich candidates contesting elections or extremely enriched legislators seeking re-election were having no dearth of money; the media’s targets were easily achieved⁸.

Extortion by Media

Some candidates who are not very rich, or fighting elections on their own strength or peoples’ support, complained of extortion by media⁹. The Hindu reported on this during the Lok Sabha elections, where sections of the media were offering low-end “coverage packages” for Rs.15 lakh to Rs.20 lakh. “High-end” ones cost a lot more¹⁰. The State polls saw this go much further. National Election Watch 2009 reported: Your chances of winning an election to the Maharashtra Assembly, if you are worth over Rs.100 million, are 48 times greater than if you were worth just Rs.1 million or less. Far greater still, if that other person is worth only half-a-million rupees or less. Just six out of 288 MLAs in Maharashtra who won their seats declared assets of less than half-a-million rupees. Nor should challenges from garden variety multi-millionaires (those worth between Rs.1 million-10 million) worry you much. Your chances of winning are six times greater than theirs, says the National Election Watch (NEW).

Corrupt Practices

Under Section 123 of Representation of People Act 1951, bribery, undue influence, appeal on the ground of religion, caste, etc, publication of false statement relating to a candidate, free conveyance of voters, incurring of election expenditure in excess of the prescribed limit and seeking assistance of government servants are the corrupt practices. Later in 1989 booth capturing is also added as another ‘corrupt practice’ in the law. In the present context, media sold space and time to perpetrate undue influence, publication of false statement relating to winning chances of a candidate, and in the process the candidates spent huge amounts of money for coverage packages which is one of the corrupt practices. These aspects have to be considered, investigated and prevented by the machinery of Election Commission of India, as and when such things are happening. The Commission should not leave it to be decided at the time of hearing of election petition, which means that the state would allow perpetration of corrupt practices and then wait for ‘proof’ of the same before the election tribunals. If this is allowed, the elected politicians, who purchased ‘news’, will take great advantage of it, the statement of Ashok Chavan is an example.

When the Press Council of India asked Maharasthra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to depose on the allegations of indulging in paid news crime, he had to face the media, where he conveniently tried to escape saying ‘appropriate forum to respond is the court of law the election petitions are tried’¹¹. This means that unless the allegations are meticulously proved, it is almost impossible to handle ‘paid news’ offenders, who might by that time reap the benefits to get into the ‘power’. One truth in his statement is that it needs to be tried in court of law. Whether Chavan’s election was challenged on grounds of ‘paid news’ wrongs? If not, it should be. In Andhra Pradesh, election tribunal (High Court) admitted an election petition by a candidate who contested and lost election alleging that massive media opinion rigging was cause of his defeat.

After declaring the candidates elected, only remedy left is challenging the validity of election and punishing for the poll offences. But by the time the verdict reaches final stage and assuming his conviction would be confirmed, the candidate must have served two terms minimum, before the ‘justice’ delivered. If the rival candidates do not choose to trouble himself in prolonged legal battle, the elected would amass wealth during his term and gets ready for a renewed attack in next election wherein he could purchase more space and sponsor more falsity. Thus the Election Commission has more responsibility in preventing this unfair information war on the side of paying candidates against the vulnerable voters of this country.

Poll Crime (1): Unduly Influencing Voters

Unduly influencing the media is an election crime: Such a propaganda for money camouflaged as a news item has to be examined to see whether it unduly influenced the free exercise of electoral right, which is defined as a crime under Section and 171C of Indian Penal Code and as undue influence under Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. While the RP Act explains undue influence in general terms and supplemented with an example that threatening a candidate or elector with injury, or consequence of divine displeasure if not favoured would constitute the undue influence. Section 171C of IPC also refers to similar language used in Section 123 saying interference or attempt to interfere with free exercise of any electoral right.

Whoever voluntarily interferes or attempts to interfere with the free exercise of any electoral right commits the offence of undue influence at an election. (171C(1) The punishment for the offence of undue influence is prescribed under Section 171 F of IPC, which says punishment of imprisonment up to one year or fine or both could be imposed. In both legislations the first part is general definition, which could include any attempt to unduly influence. While the subsections in both laws give an example for undue influence, it is not limited to these examples only. The subsection (2) starts with ‘without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of subsection (1)’. This means that any undue influence not contemplated by this law also might be offensive. This includes media’s interference through paid news. Voter can be influenced with good deeds and statements, healthy campaign explaining achievements and prospects, but that should not be undue. It refers to abuse of influence. (Bachan Singh v Prithvi Singh, AIR 1975 SC 926). The Supreme Court said in Shiv Kripal Singh v VV Giri AIR 1970 SC 2097: “What amounts to interference with the exercise of an electoral right is ‘tyranny over the mind’.

As per both the laws (RP Act of 1951 and IPC) not only any interference, but also an attempt to interfere with free exercise is defined as an electoral offence. If the content of each of such pamphlet in the guise of news item is examined, the possibility of direct or indirect interference or attempt to interfere on behalf of candidate with the free exercise of electoral right would be discovered. In this case of package deals, the reporter or publisher were acting on behalf of the candidate as either of them took money to write such a news item during the election. Media, receiving money to influence the minds in this context either interfered with or attempted to interfere with, along with the paying candidate. A headline read: “Andari Deevenalu anjibabuke” (All blessed Anjibabu)”. It attempts to show that the candidate has divine blessings to win¹². Another headline: “Papinee Vaalladi; Votlu Abbayigari Abbayivi”, (though others distributed money, votes will poll in favour of Abbayigari Abbayi). While first headline influences votes using the divine reference, second headline throws an allegation that others distributed money, but the candidate who paid that media would win. These two statements could make the newspaper accused of crime under RP Act and IPC.

Poll Crime (2): Spreading Falsity

Publication of false statement is both corrupt practice and electoral offence. To be precise, the circulation of falsity during election is a clear offence. There is a need to investigate into camouflage-news-selling during elections and prosecute the offenders, whether it is poll agent or media person. Because, every such paid news contained false reporting might lead to violation of several other legal provisions, such as Section 123(4) of the Representation of people’s Act, 1951. Section 123(4) defined that corrupt practice as under:

The publication by a candidate or his agent or by any other person which the consent of a candidate or his election agent (this expression include media which publishes statement taking money which amounts to consent of candidate or his agent), of any statement of fact which is false, and which he either believes to be false or does not believe to be true, in relation to the personal character or conduct of any candidate or in relation to the candidature, or withdrawal, of any candidate, being a statement reasonably calculated to prejudice the prospects of the candidate’s election.

This is most crucial definition the media is expected to know and prevent. Within scope of this definition the paid news, critical remarks about personal character or conduct of any rival candidate, falsity about others and false projection of a candidate also would squarely fall. The truth or otherwise of such comments need to be established and if proved to be false, the candidate and the newspaper reporter or printer could be prosecuted under section 171 G of IPC also. This section says: Whoever with intent to affect the result of an election makes or publishes any statement purporting to be a statement of fact which is false and which he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, in relation to the personal character or conduct of any candidate shall be punished with fine. Thus interpretation of ‘falsity’ decides the criminality of publication. Media is vulnerable here too.

Poll Crime (3): Not indicating and sending ‘Paid News’

The newspapers have been the pamphlets of the politicians during elections. They performed job of a job-work press where the pamphlets are printed. As per section 127A of Representation of People’s Act 1951, every pamphlet has to print the names and addresses of the printer and publisher thereof. Subsection 2(b) of 127A says that every publisher shall send one copy of such publication to the Chief Electoral officer in the capital and to the District Magistrate in case of a district publication. Any person who contravenes this provision shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees or with both. The newspapers might have not violated Section 127A (1) as they generally publish the printers and publishers address every day. But by not sending a copy to the District Magistrates, clearly marking which part of their newspaper was in the shape of a pamphlet or advertisement, they have committed a crime under Section 127 A(2)(b) which should invite a separate punishment. This section is aimed at providing a regulatory control to the governmental machinery to check unabashed false campaign during elections. Pamphlet will operate as a source and proof of false propaganda of the political party or candidate. By not sending the clearly marked publication copies to the District Magistrate these newspapers-turned-pamphlet printers denied machinery the chance of regulation and thus committed a violation of RP Act.

Poll Crime (4) Excessive Expenditure

These sold news columns will amount to exchange of illegal money between the political parties or candidates and journalists. The income tax authorities have enough power to demand for accounts and tax for this amount. The political party or candidate has to reflect this expenditure in his election expenditure. After adding this expenditure for purchasing news columns if the amount spent exceeds the limit prescribed on expenditure, the consequential legal actions should be taken against such a candidate as per Section 77 of Representation of People’s Act 1951. Media, through RTI applications, recovered the statement of election expenditure by the Chief Minister Chavan which show ridiculously low amount for advertisement, i.e., Rs 5379 only. Both his election expenditure, and the campaign with falsity were not true. These are the provisions which empowered the Election Commission of India to prevent unhealthy criminal practices like ‘paid news’, before declaring the candidates polling highest number of polled votes as winner.

Poll Crime (5) Invalidating Election

In the second phase the false reporters could be convicted and election could be declared invalid. Because this ‘corrupt practice’ of candidate through newspaper reporter or publisher by ‘sold news column’ has materially affected the prospects of a candidate or adversely affected the prospects of rival candidate, it could become a ground for declaring election as void under section 100 of RP Act, 1951.

Poll Crime (6) Disqualification

On proof of this corrupt practice of the candidate, he would be disqualified from contesting election, according to Section 8A of RP Act, 1951, and along with him, those who committed this corrupt practice would forfeit the right to vote Section 11-A of the Representation of People Act, 1951. The machinery of Election Commission should probe into the allegations leveled by the journalists union and Loksatta Candidate and impose disqualifications on candidates from contesting and journalists from voting in coming elections.

Breach of Advertisement Code

If what is being written is believed to be an advertisement, then also it makes the newspaper liable. Besides being criminal, it is also breach of prescribed codes. The Cable Television Networks Rules 1994 prescribes ‘Ten Commandments’ to advertisers on Cable services. The Rule 7 says that advertising carried in the cable service shall be so designed as to conform to the laws of the country and should not offend morality, decency and religious susceptibilities of the subscriber. No advertisement shall be permitted which;

(i) derides any race, caste, color, creed and nationality,

(ii) is against any provision of the Constitution of India;

(iii) tends to incite people to crime, cause disorder or violence or breach of law or glorifies violence or obscenity in any way; etc.,

Other Rules say: No advertisement shall be permitted the objects whereof are wholly or mainly of a religious or political nature; advertisements must not be directed towards any religious or political end.

All the newspapers must voluntarily disclose as to how much money they made and amount of space they sold to the political parties. They have to account for that money and pay income tax and declare it before the Chief Election Officer or District Magistrate. The candidate should reflect that expenditure in his poll expenses report.

Every District Magistrate in his capacity as Returning officer or District Election Officer has to issue a notice to each newspaper and contested candidate to furnish details of the sale and purchase of news columns and also submit the copies of the publication for verification of falsity or other wise of the reports and their influence on the voters. If the influence is adverse and would materially affect the result, necessary action should be taken.

Even under the general law, for giving a false affidavits showing receipts or expenditure of less amounts, such candidates and journalists could be prosecuted. Question is the lack of will and courage to punish the widespread political criminals joining hands with media persons.

Recommendations:

The Duty of ECI:

The Election Commission of India should act stringently against those committing electoral corrupt practices and crimes at two stages:

1. During the election process the ECI is immune from Judicial, Legislative and Executive interference. It assumes all the three positions. It has to prevent over spending, spread of falsity and undue influence.
2. After the polls are over, the ECI should continue to direct the officers through the Governments to prosecute the offenders before the courts of law, though none filed the election petitions.

It is the responsibility of the Election Commission of India to curb this undue influence perpetuated by the Political Parties and candidates through the Media because it is their constitutional obligation to facilitate free and fair poll. These are crimes of false reporting, undue influence, and corrupt practice, poll crimes for which both journalists and the politicians must be prosecuted.

The Duty of PCI

While the ECI perform the duty to curb and punish electoral crimes and corrupt practices, the PCI (Press Council of India) has to keep on admonishing unethical media during elections. The PCI should constitute a special task force in each district during elections, to receive complaints, make preliminary study and report to Election Commission of India, to take action.

The Press Council of India could also censure the persons, whether from media or politics, involved in this murky deal and release press notes immediately besides putting all that information on websites. Having tasted huge amounts of money, the media might not heed to professional and ethical advises or felt ashamed for censure. The wide publicity of that censure might bring a feeling of shame, at least. However the prosecution would be more effective.

There is no need to amend the law or Constitution; it is enough if the IPC and RP Act are effectively used to prosecute. However, the IPC provisions need to be amended to enhance punishment and amount of fine for the electoral offences and corrupt practices. Once the complaint is received and press clipping show the prima facie liability, the law should presume that media and contestant has indulged in ‘paid news’ and the burden should shift on to accused to prove their innocence. If the content of news item is explicit with exaggeration or ascertainment of victory the presumption of liability should arise.

Besides punishing the crime of undue influence through paid news, it is important to protect the sanctity and fairness of elections by preventing undue influences, for which the election conducting machinery should be alert and keep open its eyes and ears to receive the complaints from civil society and prompt in acting effectively to ensure free elections through checking mind-rigging by politicians through media. Press Council of India also has to exercise all its power by building strong opinion among the people to raise the protest against the syndrome of paid news.

THE MEDIA AND PAID NEWS : WHO SHALL GUARD THE GUARDIANS? –Vipul Tripathi

India Current Affairs — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:41:31 +0000

The media watches everyone but itself, commented an argumentative friend the other day.

How many ‘sting operations’ has the media done on any of its own, say on the ‘Paid News’ controversy?

I was at a loss.

The morality of sting operations is a debatable topic but the larger point demanded a response.

The media does investigative stories practically every week but does it deliberately avoid turning the gaze inwards?

Is everything as it should be with the Indian media – newspapers or television channels?

Even with the relatively free, noisy media we have it is difficult to answer that in the affirmative.

A fellow journalist recently lamented the declining standards of questions at a press conference by a Bollywood star.

CONTINUE READING HERE. . .