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

Sat May 9 12:00:07 IST 2009

Perhaps reports feared rejoinders earlier when it was considered a black
mark on their standards and professionalism. Nowadays, newspapers are pretty
brazen in defending their reportage. Some even have special pages for
readers' comments and the reporter's defence of some biased reportage. Rank
inaccuracy is a different matter and hopefully reporters can still be shamed
by inaccuracy.

But the issue of coverage for money in this election is bang-on. I could add
something a senior editor of a Marathi newspaper said : that even if his
paper supported a particular political party, candidates of other parties
could hardly complain as they simply paid for equal coverage...

Clearly, politics had nothing to do with it...this was pure business!

Geeta

On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 12:30 PM, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>wrote:

> 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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