[Reader-list] WSJ on the Indian media - "Want Press Coverage? Give Me Some Money"

[anupam chakravartty]

certain other truths about newspapers:

newspapers essentially buy newsprint from state.

one newspaper costs Rs 15, while its sold for Rs 3-4 to the reader.

free press is marginalised by the state and its functionaries.

a reporter essentially fears a rejoinder.




On 5/8/09, sukanya ghosh <skinnyghosh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Sad but true. It's no surprise to learn of coverage 'bartering' for
> politicians. Seems to me a logical enough step considering that most
> other news coverage can consist of bought spaces. The entertainment
> pages (which unfortunately bleed their way insidiously into most other
> pages) are established norms for this. It seems to me that a 'free
> press' in our country exists in a very marginal way. Someone I met once
> who worked for a leading English language daily told me very pompously
> that 'they' (read 'educated journalist'), had nothing to do with and
> were not to be associated with what the rest of the paper was saying.
> Their reach consisted of being confined to the editorial pages of which
> they were supremely proud of. Never mind that the paper has various
> other pages of 'news', many supplements and an incredibly bad Sunday
> magazine. Are we to be thankful that we have a page of actual reading
> material (some of it occasionally good) and assume the rest is all
> trash? Another leading daily in another city (also English) has in place
> various marketing bundles which allow you to 'purchase' news coverage.
> And these are not covert or shadowy backroom deals  - it's all very out
> there for the right buyers. We see newspapers, news channels owned by
> particular organisations who seem to spend a lot of their time exhorting
> the virtues of events / news pertaining to those organisations. And my
> pet grouse, all this while the arts sections keep shrinking in size day
> by day. Where trying to get coverage for an event / exhibition / book
> (no matter how significant) can lead to nail biting finish, wondering if
> the reporter (who has been given detailed press releases) will at least
> get the name right.
>
> The irony being of course that there is no dearth of news of the
> sensational variety if one were to attempt to report just facts in the
> case of Indian politics. But that would mean effort and interest. And
> that surely is lacking in our press coverages.
>
>
>
>
> Rana Dasgupta wrote:
> > Want Press Coverage? Give Me Some Money
> >
> > By PAUL BECKETT
> >
> > Ajay Goyal is a serious, independent candidate contesting for a Lok
> > Sabha seat in Chandigarh.
> > Never heard of him? Neither, probably, have a lot of people in
> > Chandigarh because when it came to getting press coverage for his
> > campaign he was faced with a simple message: If you want press, you have
> > to pay.
> >
> > So far, he says, he's been approached by about 10 people – some brokers
> > and public relations managers acting on behalf of newspaper owners, some
> > reporters and editors – with the message that he'll only get written
> > about in the news pages for a fee. We're not talking advertising; we're
> > talking news.
> >
> > One broker offered three weeks of coverage in four newspapers for 10
> > lakh rupees ($20,000). A reporter and a photographer from a Chandigarh
> > newspaper told him that for 1.5 lakh rupees ($3,000) for them and a
> > further 3 lakh rupees ($6,000) for other reporters, they could guarantee
> > coverage in up to five newspapers for two weeks.
> >
> > "We would do good coverage for you," he says they told him. All of those
> > who approached him either were from national Hindi language papers or
> > regional papers, Mr. Goyal says.
> >
> > “You want a front page photo for free? This is something people pay for.”
> >
> > In one case, he went along to see what would happen: a press release he
> > submitted full of falsehoods – claiming he had campaigned in places he
> > had never been, for instance – ran verbatim. One thing he has never seen
> > on his real campaign: a reporter there to cover the story.
> >
> > "It's disappointing," Mr. Goyal says. "What good is literacy and
> > education if people have no access to real news, investigation,
> > skepticism or a questioning reporter."
> >
> > At the nexus of corruption in India, the nation's newspapers usually
> > play either vigilante cop exposing wrongdoing in the public interest (on
> > a good day, at a few publications) or spineless patsy killing stories on
> > the orders of powerful advertisers. Many papers also engage in practices
> > that cross the ethical line between advertising and editorial in a way
> > that is opaque, if not downright obscure, to readers.
> >
> > But it is of another order of magnitude to see reporters, editors and
> > newspaper owners holding the democratic process to ransom. A free (in
> > every sense) press is an integral part of a vibrant democracy. A corrupt
> > press is both symptom and perpetrator of a rotten democracy.
> >
> > "I'm not saying all media is biased but there is a growing sense in
> > people's minds that a lot of the media is biased," says Anil Bairwal,
> > national coordinator of National Election Watch. "Some do it in a
> > sublime manner and some do it openly."
> >
> > So why are we surprised when the voter turnout is so low, despite the
> > much-touted surge of political awareness among the young and
> > post-Mumbai? It's all part and parcel of the public disgust with the
> > political system and the pillars of the Establishment that support that
> > system as well. For every newly-minted reform-minded, politically aware
> > voter, there are probably hundreds of jaded citizens who just decide the
> > heck with it.
> >
> > How widespread is the practice of pay per say?
> >
> > The best-known English-language dailies typically don't do it so
> > blatantly, candidates and others involved in the elections say. Rather,
> > those papers are more likely to hue closely to one major party or the
> > other, making it tough for candidates who don't fit the papers' view of
> > the world to be heard. But in the Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati media, to
> > name a few, the practice is widespread, candidates say.
> >
> > N. Gopalaswami, retired Chief Election Commissioner, says in an
> > interview, "This is not something that can be ignored. It is not just a
> > few apparent cases, it is much more than that."
> >
> > He has heard of newspapers proferring a rate card - one price for
> > positive coverage, another for not negative coverage. The commission
> > heard complaints in both 2007 and 2008 about candidates being charged
> > for coverage. Among them, the national Communist parties who don't have
> > the deep coffers to spend on campaigns.
> >
> > In Mumbai, a city appropriately geared to commerce, politicians are
> > faced with multiple payment options. Consider these phrases from
> > newspaper editors and brokers, which I culled from campaigners:
> >
> > "You want a front page photo for free? This is something people pay for."
> >
> > "If you want a picture in there or if you want a story, we have to be
> paid."
> >
> > "We're going to publish the interview, but you need to buy 5,000 copies
> > of our paper."
> >
> > "1.2 lakhs ($2,400) for the next two weeks and I will take care of all
> > that coverage."
> >
> > —Paul Beckett is the WSJ's bureau chief in New Delhi
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> --
> sukanya ghosh / +91 9831306925
>
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