Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
tacts, and to being persuaded not to run controversial stories. Many journalists welcomed
favours offered by politicians and businessmen, often with 'brown paper envelopes' and
other gifts. One company, which is known to be the most adept at managing political and
public opinion, is widely believed to have journalists (as well as politicians and civil ser-
vants) on its payroll.
I also told this story: 'When I was first in India for the
Financial Times
in the 1980s, S.P.
Hinduja, the elder of the infamous Hinduja brothers, failed to persuade me to ghost-write
articles for him, hinting at fat fees. When I returned in 1995, he and his brothers tried, again
unsuccessfully, to get me to ghost-write a book on governments that they had dealt with
around the world. Together with other journalists, I was later given a small TV set after a
press conference [held in Mumbai's Taj Hotel where I was staying] by the Hindujas' cable
TV company. I returned the set so fast [once I had got back to my room and saw what I had
been given] that I forgot to note down what model it was, so could not put a value on the
implied bribe.'
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Such cameos are not in themselves very dramatic; but they illustrate one aspect of the
sharp decline that has taken place in the standards of Indian journalism. The quality of the
media has worsened, and the opportunity for companies to influence it has increased, with
the growth of what is called 'paid news' where politicians and businessmen pay for favour-
able coverage. It surfaced as a scandal in 2008-09, with many reports of politicians paying
for favourable stories in a general election, with newspapers and TV stations taking the ini-
tiative and offering such coverage in return for substantial payments.
This was especially prevalent with Hindi-language local and regional newspapers and
leading paper of my state printing baseless reports on its front page day after day, I called
them up and offered money to print the right picture. The paper in question apologized.
They even returned the money taken from my rival to publish news items against me,' said
of India
, and was followed by others including the
Hindustan Times
and the Bhaskar group,
India's largest local-language newspaper publisher. This was taken a stage further with a
system called Private Treaties, where Bennett Coleman accepts smallish equity stakes in
companies in lieu of payment for its advertisements. It allegedly gives those companies fa-
vourable editorial coverage, though it denies the allegation.
The lines of ethics and professional standards have therefore become blurred in the me-
dia, as they have throughout India's public life with the spread of extortion, fraud and oth-
er forms of corruption. There is considerable public discussion about how this should be
changed, but little sign of much significant happening.
