Ansari says "paid news" could tarnish polity, destabilise economy

Vice-President M Hamid Ansari today warned that the recent practices of leveraging political and economic content in the media for overt and covert revenue generation had the malevolent potential to tarnish the polity and even destabilise the economy.

Delivering the inaugural M C Varghese Memorial Lecture here this evening, Mr Ansari said this had led the Editors Guild and the Press Council to investigate the phenomenon of electoral malpractices of "paid news" and "coverage packages".

The lecture series has been instituted by the Kottayam-based Malayalam newspaper group Mangalam in the memory of its founder, the late Mr M C Varghese, who rose from a newspaper boy to head a large newspaper group.

Mr Ansari said the winds of the economic liberalisation in the country had brought with them the elements of the market economy which have changed the DNA of Indian media organisations.

In this context, he referred to the rampant growth of broadcasting media, principally television, along with new delivery modes such as satellite TV, Cable TV, Mobile TV, IPTV and so on.

He said he print media, too, had grown and Indiaa was today estimated to be the world's second largest print market.

"The phenomenon of convergence between news media, entertainment and telecom has meant that the demarcation between journalism, public relations, advertising and entertainment is rapidly eroding," he said.

Mr Ansari said that, amongst the pillars of democracy, it was only the Fourth Estate that had an identifiable business and commercial persona.

"Today’s media organizations are large business entities with thousands of employees and huge financial and other assets. Thus their primary professional duty to their readership has been diluted by the commercial logic of catering to the interests of the shareholders of the holding companies," he said.

He said the commercial success of media organisations had become a function of advertising revenues rather than subscription and circulation figures. The advertisers have thus replaced the recipients of media products. By the same logic, circulation figures, meant to attract advertising, became more important than content, he noted.

The Vice-President said the pursuit of profit had altered the profile of the media entrepreneur.

"Today, a media enterprise is seen as a necessary subsidiary for a growing business enterprise, a political party and even individuals seeking to leverage public influence for private gain. On the other hand deception, opaque flow of political information, or slanted economic data prevents political and economic actors from exercising rational and well considered choices. They impede the democratic process and could lead to public disenchantment," he cautioned.

Mr Ansari said the public purpose of journalism that guided newspapers in an earlier era had changed.

"In a changed and changing world, it would be useful to remember that vibrant journalism in a democracy is watchdog journalism. It monitors the exercise of power in the State and stands for the rights and freedoms of citizens. It informs and empowers citizens rather than entertains and titillates them. Vibrant journalism is based on professional ethics and should be the rule rather than the exception it has come to be," he said.

Mr Ansari drew attention to three questions on which introspection was necessary:

· Is there a public debate on issues of concern to the common citizen?

· Is sufficient media space given for the concerns of the marginalized, the dispossessed and the vulnerable?

· To what extent has our media contributed to upholding the social and political objectives of the Constitution?

NNN