From the report it appears that the politicians have taken a holier-than-thou stand and attacked media organisations. Is it not true that part of the problem would not be there if politicians do not to pay to get favourable coverage during elections? There seems to be a mutual back-scratching relationship between politicians and media barons. At one level, politicians cutting across party lines are unanimous that paid news is bad not just for the media but also for the political class. Because as Sushma Swaraj (of the BJP) pointed out “yeh bimari se mahamari ho gayi hai, aur hum sab bhuktbhogi hain” (from an illnees, it has assumed the proportions of an epidemic, and we are all victims of this malaise). Now why are they victims. Because by paying money, you are not only getting articles published in your favour, you can also run down you political opponent. So it has become a free for all. And the Press, instead of disseminating information, has become an extortion agency. But the politicians do not want to offend the media. Because they need the media. Sushma Swaraj revealed that money was demanded by media for her election coverage, but she refuses to name the media organisation. Your report does not present a fool-proof solution to curb the practice of paid news. How do you think this malaise can be effectively tackled? Srinivas Reddy and I were two journalists who were asked to investigate and document this malpractice. We did not conduct a sting operation on money being paid to media under the table. We did not have the powers of the income tax department to conduct search and seizure operation. Nor did have the power of CBI or the police department. We did not obtain what can be described a smoking gun evidence. But we put together a huge volume of circumstantial evidence, and this has not been denied. I challenge anybody to prove that we were not fair or balanced. All sections of the society have to play a role to check this menace. Media should understand that if it does not have credibility it will cease to exist. Go to villages, people still believe that journalists can not only highlight their problems, but can also redress them. If this credibility goes, what will we be left. We should all unite to ensure that this trust on media and journalists does not become a victim of a greed of profit of some media organisations.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 23:47:00 +0000
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