Wednesday 29 December, 2010

A question of ethics

From where are today’s young journalists and those aspiring to get into the profession going to draw their inspiration? This is an oft-asked question nowadays, by well-meaning news publishers, editors and journalists. Part of the answer is that it is clearly going to be an uphill task for young and upcoming journalists to retrieve the goodwill of old and earn the respect of readers and those who are written about.


There is no doubt that with media gaining an unsavoury hue in recent weeks, the focus by the management in parts of the media, for the short-term at least, will be on cleaning the stables as it were. Another pertinent question is whether the clean-up operations will continue for long and whether after Radiagate has moved from the front pages of newspapers, some journalists will be tempted again by lure of proximity to power and perhaps money and other attractions to “string a source along”… to no actual good as we have all seen


One person who has come out clearly against all forms of lobbying or currying favour is N Ram, editor-in-chief, Kasturi and Sons (publishers of The Hindu). On a Karan Thapar show hosted by CNN-IBN immediately after the sordid details broke out, he stressed that were the tainted journalists employed by the BBC, The Guardian or The New York Times, they would have lost their jobs. Obviously, The Hindu, too, would not have tolerated such behaviour, he seemed to suggest. Why can’t we set the bar higher, he asked and went further to emphasise that all journalists must be governed by a code of ethics, or by codified rules.

Corruption is as old as the hills, as old as the oldest profession in the world. India happens to be one of the countries where corruption is most rampant. Corruption in the media in India is also nothing new. It is not as though the Radia tapes have opened out a whole new world that was hitherto unknown. What it has brought into the focus is the fact that even some of the superstars of media are dabbling in dangerous territory.

When I was heading the PR function in a large south Indian corporate group many years ago, I had come across fake journalists, those who brandished fake visiting cards to gain entry and helped themselves to dinner and cocktails. It was much later that I made it a point to debar entry to press conferences of all suspicious ‘journalists.’ The sad part is that very few, if any at all, PR and corporate communication practitioners make an effort to weed out the corrupt. For many, the more numbers at a conference the merrier. The management (of companies) in most cases is in the dark or has no clue. I made it a point not to dish out to reporters gift cheques or cash in envelopes. I insisted on gift hampers – products the company manufactured. There were some who asked for special gift hampers to be sent home.


Radiatapes or not, this is the sort of malaise that all well-meaning publishers, editors, PR practitioners and communicators must strive to eradicate. And this is what I emphasised to the participants at a media workshop organised by the Centre for Social Initiative and Management in Chennai recently. More than learning the nuances of good communication, it is imperative to work the right way – to be devoted to credibility, transparency and ethics. Nobody should be able to point a finger at you for a reason you cannot convincingly explain. At the end of the day, when there is credibility, you earn goodwill and respect.


Another worrying aspect is the power wielded by large corporate houses and its top executives and the link they have forged over the years with bureaucrats, politicians and journalists. It also brings into focus the aspect of whether a well-meaning editor in a top newspaper really wields enough clout to weed out the rotten apples or is he or she subservient to the management. How many editors are unwilling to accept a subservient role? And must the management of newspapers, for example, dictate what must go into its pages? These are issues that must be debated, not only in television studios where the same select few appear, but at other forums where the common man or reader can have a say. After all, newspapers and media owe their existence to the people of the country, don’t they?


Media was once considered the fourth pillar of democracy and twenty or thirty years ago journalists took pride in being independent or neutral, though there were occasional offenders. During the Emergency, the media played a significant role and asserted its authority. Two or three newspapers even blanked out editorials to send a silent message to the government, that curbing the freedom of the press was not appreciated. Press freedom was thus zealously guarded by the journalist and the media. It was, according to former chief election commissioner T. S Krishnamurthy, “the best period for media in India”. According to him, over the years journalists got tempted by certain developments. Not only were journalists making money on the sly, there was also management and corporate lobbying. They started contacting political candidates. Payment was very often clandestinely made to individual journalists, or made in kind.


“The media has tasted the fruits of paid news,” said Krishnamurthy, recently addressing members of the Public Relations Society if India in Chennai, and gave the example of a Bombay-based newspaper that did not disclose information sought by the Election Commission. “They have started systematically exploiting the loopholes. It’s a pity that this development is undermining democracy. In a country which was so much proud of its values, where so many leaders sacrificed their lives for freedom, it is unfortunate. This has become popular because there has been a media boom, high growth of literacy, influence of print and electronic media, and the price for paid news is becoming more and more attractive,” he pointed out.


For all well-meaning publishers, editors and journalists in India, Radiagate has not only come as a rude shock, it is also in some ways a defining moment, a turning point in a profession. Change must come, change for the better, by gradually discarding all the rotten apples and the muck that has come to stay. Will it be possible at all, is another question worth asking.

Sashi Nair

Seminar on copyright and piracy issues

Building the graphic arts community


On 6 January 2011 at 2pm at the IIC Annexe, IppStar along with the newly formed CGIP will conduct an interactive seminar on copyright and piracy issues for Indian printers and publishers. (CGIP stands for the Community for Governance of Intellectual Property). The afternoon event is supported by the Delhi Master Printers Welfare Association.


The seminar which is free of charge will be led by the managing partner of Survan Attorneys-at-Law, Siddharth Arya, and feature panelists from the Indian Society of Authors, as well as the software and printing industries. Naresh Khanna, one of the founders of IppStar, which celebrates ten years of its existence in 2011, will also take part. Call: +91-9811664040.

‘Women changing India’ exhibition and book

25 October New Delhi. BNP Paribas India is celebrating its 150th anniversary in India this year and to mark this milestone, the bank commissioned and put on a major photography exhibition by the Magnum Photo agency on the theme of ‘Women changing India.’ The exhibition held almost simultaneously in Mumbai and Delhi will subsequently travel serially to Kochi, Chennai and Kolkata from November to December. It is accompanied by a book of photographs and essays by Indian authors, focusing on the vital role that women play in India today. Next year BNP Paribas will take the exhibition to Paris, London, Brussels and Milan.

This project, initiated by BNP Paribas, combines the talents of Magnum Photo Agency and Zubaan, a Delhi-based publishing house specialising in books for and about women in South Asia. Six subjects covered by six well-known Magnum photographers — Martine Franck, Alex Webb, Patrick Zachmann, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Olivia Arthur, and Raghu Rai highlight the cultural and geographical diversity of women’s lives in India. Photographs and accompanying comment by well-known Indian authors speak to the changing roles, aspirations, opportunities and challenges that Indian women face, whether they live in villages or cities, whether they are students, taxi drivers, lawyers, movie directors or business leaders. The Women Changing India coffee table book published by Zubaan and printed by Pragati Offset is available for Rs 2000 – although there was a steep discount offer at the launch.

At the launch of the exhibition and book release at the Habitat Centre in New Delhi on 23 October 2010, Baudouin Prot, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas said that the bank values its legacy in India and is active in Indian micro-finance and supports microfinance institutions, which allocate loans to entrepreneurs, most of them being women. Through SBI Life, a joint venture between BNP Paribas and the State Bank of India, it is also creating micro-insurance products such as Grameen Shakti and Grameen Super Suraksha, designed for self-help groups, 90 per cent of which are created by women. These products provide low-income populations with access to life insurance at extremely attractive rates. Geojit BNP Paribas has opened retail brokerage offices in several Indian cities that are dedicated exclusively to, and staffed entirely by, women.

Several of the women featured in the book were present at the Habitat exhibition opening including the painter Anjolie Ela Menon. Another subject Sivakami -- a government employee who resigned her job to become a full time activist — spoke of the paucity of women legislators in both the parliament and the state assemblies. With great dignity and eloquence she argued before the assembled glitterati the need for women activists to play an increasing role in the legislation of laws.

Although nobody in their right mind would praise almost any European or American bank’s performance in the past few years, the Women changing India exhibition and book wisely recognise Indian women. Together with Magnum and Zubaan, the bank has created a substantial visual and narrative document that upholds the better side of commemorative public activity and book making. — Naresh Khanna