AudiencScapes

By Sushmita Malaviya

The state of India’s press – which played such a pivotal role during the fight for Independence from the British – is now at a crossroads. While the sector has grown rapidly following economic liberalization, it is also struggling with unique constraints on its freedom. These include censorship of the new electronic media and undue influence yielded by corporations.

While the constitution does not explicitly mention the word "press," it does provide for "the right to freedom of speech and expression" (Article 19(1) a). This right is subject to restrictions, however, for a variety of reasons, including "sovereignty and integrity of India,” “friendly relations with foreign States” and “preserving decency.” In the latter part of this decade, the government has increasingly monitored and controlled the digital media sector, according to the U.S.-based Freedom House. And in April, the government amended the Information Technology Act of 2000 that could give it sweeping powers to intercept, monitor and block websites.

Concern over corporate influence

For the first half-century after its independence, media control by the state in India was a major constraint on press freedom. With the liberalization of the economy starting in the 1990s, however, private control of media has burgeoned, leading to increasing independence and greater scrutiny of government. At the same time, self-proclaimed media barons have emerged who have control over the media outlets because they own them. This has been the cause of great concern for those who have been watching the media over the years.

Until the turn of the 21st century, says Yogesh Vajpayi, the New Delhi-based editor for the New Indian Express group, “the Government and the fundamentalists groups were the main barriers of press freedom.” The scandal of the Nira Radia Tapes case -- in which a businesswoman was found to be using reporters, among others, to lobby for policy goals – revealed a new threat. Vajpayi calls it “the unholy nexus between big businessmen, powerful politicians, manipulative lobbyists and influential journalists.”

“In India a worrying trend as the media becomes a big industry is the tendency to tradeoff favors with the political class. The phenomenon of ‘paid news’ and revelations by Radia tapes confirm that the market forces are playing a dominant role in formulation of news content and even cover ups,” says Vajpayi.

Affirming this, the editor of Grassroots and Vidura (both development journalism journals), Shashi Nair, says, “It is the issue of paid news that India should be worried about.”

The rise of vernacular media

The struggle to achieve a truly independent media sector is ongoing, but there’s a lot to praise in Indian journalism. The editor of the Research Institute for Newspaper Development, Shashi Nair, who is based in Chennai says liberalization brought with it a culture of leading foreign newspapers bringing in their editorial teams into India. “The political slant of the newspapers is not really evident except in their editorials. Newspapers across the country are doing a good job in addressing local issues.”

The rise of vernacular media is breathing life into the print newspaper business. Since 2000, as many as 23 Hindi news channels have been launched since 2000.

Vajpayi believes the vernacular press enjoys the same degree of freedom as the mainstream media in India. “But they are more vulnerable because of their smaller scale of economy,” says Vajpayi. “Increasing intolerance of state governments, run by maverick politicians and crony bureaucrats has led a spate of attacks on them in various parts of the country. Their limited resources and reach inhibits them from seeking remedies available to mainstream media from such attacks.”

Caution over new media ethics

Despite a less than supportive regulatory environment for the free flow of information, Indians have embraced digital and mobile media. Reporting on websites is giving voice to underrepresented segments of the population, as AudienceScapes has reported.

“Cell phones and the Internet in general and texting and tweeting in particular have opened new frontiers for the media, “says Vajpayi.

Nair taps the brakes here, as he explains that, in his view, the new media frontier of the 21 century is not technology, but the challenge of getting reporters to report facts honestly and truthfully, without “corrupting it with opinion.” He believes keeping the element of bias out of reporting is one of the greatest challenges that Indian media houses face today.

Sushmita Malviya is a researcher and writer based in India
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