Mint on MidDay case

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From Mint

Why doesn't Indian media cover itself the way it scrutinizes others?

Media organizations refrain from giving credit or blaming each other, and critical issues plaguing the industry are often ignored

Sruthijith K.K. and Archna Shukla

New Delhi: For the past few weeks, Indian newspapers have seen a steady drumbeat of media stories on a case involving four employees of Mid-Day tabloid newspaper and their legal woes.

The fairly innocuous stories about a former chief justice of India and potential conflict of interests drew the wrath of the Delhi high court, which sentenced the employees, including three journalists, to jail terms because the stories, in the view of the court, impugned on the honesty of the Supreme Court. The Mid-Day employees are out on bail, pending an appeal.

While the stories are newsworthy, what is little noticed—and even less debated—is how unusual it is for Indian newspapers to talk about their own, and to name names.

That is because, industry observers note, there is often an unstated rule that prevails in most newspapers: media doesn't write on media and media organizations won't write about each other, either in praise or in criticism.

Indeed, almost all Indian newspapers simply ignore news that is first reported by another paper or, if the news is of such magnitude that they have to follow it, a few of them credit generic "media" reports, rather than name the paper that first reported the story. Most skip giving any credit—or blame—in cases where a reported story is wrong and a firm has come out and told a regulator, such as the Bombay Stock Exchange, about the incorrectness of the story.

To be sure, there are exceptions but, more often than not, such coverage is about freedom of press issues, such as the Mid-Day saga, where the print media is keen to protect one of its own from what it sees as judicial overreach. Or, in badmouthing television—either the entertainment end of it or the plethora of sting operations.

This general silence about its own is troubling to some observers, not just because of the traditional who is watching the watchdog issues, but also because the media industry, especially Indian print media, itself has become a huge business in recent years.

"Now that so much of public's money is flowing into the industry, media practices and organizations should be scrutinized like any other organization or sector," says Pramath Raj Sinha, until recently managing director and CEO of ABP Pvt. Ltd, which publishes The Telegraph newspaper and Businessworld magazine.

Many Indian media companies have been listed on the bourses as part of an advertising and circulation boom—especially in print—raising money from capital markets as well as through private equity and venture capital firms.

PCI for new media commission and media council

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Panaji, Oct 5
The Press Council of India (PCI) today pleaded with the Centre for immediate formation of a Media Council of India and a Media Commission, encompassing all types of media, to review their status and role in the explosively emerging information era.
Interacting with media persons after concluding the last sitting of the Council in its three-year term in this Goan capital city, the PCI Chairman Justice G N Ray also favoured giving more teeth to the council not to serve as a ''penal body'' but check aberrations in the media.
He said he had already recommended powers to direct the Centre for starving the delinquent newspaper of central advertisements for at least three months as a deterrent, particularly those who fail to relent and publish adjudications of the Council prominently.
With the emergence of the electronic media in a big way during the last 41 years of existence of the PCI, the country needs to bring to its jurisdiction the electronic media also by constituting the Media Council of India with immediate effect.
Otherwise, the Government can constitute a separate regulatory body for the electronic media. There cannot be a separate rule for one media and the other in a democratic society, he said.
Referring to tendencies to control the media and the journalists through appointments by way of contract jobs and other restrictions by the owners in this era of ''trivialisation, corporatisation and globalisation,'' the journalists themselves should raise their voice, he said.
The constitution of a media commission was a must to make an indepth study of the status of the media covering all types including the electronic. The last commission headed by Justice K M Mathew was constituted in 1982 which submitted its recommendations in 1984. The first was headed by Justice Rajadhyaksha in 1952.


Panaji, Oct 5
The Press council of India (PCI) in its meeting held under the Chairmanship of Justice G N Ray, over the last two days in Goa, has extolled the strong pillar of the democracy to welcome critical evaluation of its functioning to strengthen the confidence of the public in the system.

The Council made these observations during the discussions on the issue of contempt proceedings against Mid-Day before High Court of Delhi.
The Council recalled that it had only recently supported before the Parliamentary Committee the proposal ''to accept truth as a defence in any contempt proceedings against the media.''
The Council observed that even though the specific issue of Mid-Day was now pending before the Supreme Court and thus sub-judice, without entering into the merits of the case, it felt that the courts are expected to be more sensitive to the duties and functions of the press.
''Before taking any view, it may be considered whether the criticism per se undermines the functioning of the Court in the estimation of the public by demeaning the judges presiding in the law courts,'' the PCI said.
In a democratic set up all institutions are open to bonafidecritical evaluation of their functioning and such bonafide criticism in public interest only strengthens the quality of the functioning. Dignity of the court is maintained more by restraint and magnanimity, truly forming the basis of the media information has now been protected under the amended provisions of the Contempt of Court Act.
Therefore, media information based on truth and published in public interest constitutes defence in contempt proceedings. The Council reasonably expects that proper justice will be meted out to the concerned media in the appeal stated to be pending before it.
However, such publications should not be accompanied by publicity which are excessive. At the sametime, the press exercising such powers must agree to subject itself to an effective system of self regulation and public accountability to ensure fairness of conduct.
The Council expressed confidence that the Supreme Court of India,which is now seized of the matter, would give due consideration toall such aspects and its decision would give added impetus to the guarantee enshrined in article 19(1) of the Indian Constitution.



Panaji, Oct 4
Disposing a case against the New Delhi-based national daily Pioneer, the Press Council of India (PCI) today asked the media to observe journalist conduct to protect its own
credibility.
It also observed that the readers have right to know all sides of any issue of public importance, which is a natural corollary of the freedom enjoyed by the press in a democracy.
Directing the Pioneer to publish gist of its adjudication in a case filed against the paper by the Union Ministry of Finance, the PCI observed ''It is, however, not just desirable but essential that to protect its own credibility, the press regulates and guides itself by the universally accepted most basic tenets of journalistic conduct.''
The PCI, which met here today under the chairmanship of Justice G N Ray, adjudicated 55 complaints of violation of norms of journalisttic ethics and threats to the freedom of the press. Of these, 11 cases were related to threats to the press freedom and the rest violation of journalistic ethics.
Referring to the Pioneer case, the PCI said the newapaper had faulted on two counts. First, its report lacked accuracy on some counts which were material to the story and the course of
investigation.
Second, when these errors were pointed out in the rejoinder, the omission deprived the complainant an opportunity to clarify the matter and establish its bonafide before the public.
''The press has to remember that it is not a prosecutor in any investigation and should be guided by the paramount principles of a person's innocence unless the alleged offence is proved beyond doubt by independent reliable evidence.
''And therefore, even within the constraint of space, the material facts should find space in the rejoinder so that the public, as the ultimate judge of any matter, is guided by the complete and accurate facts in forming its opinion,'' the PCI observed.
In another case, the PCI advised the Maharashtra government to constitute a Press Accreditation Committee in confirmity with the Moel Rules.
Adjudicating another complaint against two Madhya Pradesh-based newspapers, the PCI found that the ''writings against the complainant officer were motivated by business considerations.''