When was the last time you read a critical story of any business group or business personality in Indian business media? I bet you won’t be able to recollect.
Well, I won’t blame you.
Business journalism has become a glorified version of public relation service for companies—much of the media is owned by companies and is run for companies and their interests The list of ‘Don’ts’ is far bigger than ‘Dos’ for journalists.
Let’s call it journalism of convenience.
Journalism don’t matter, money does!
About 90% of the Indian business media is owned by corporate entities. These corporates own the media for a reason–total control over what goes out as news in public.
Logically, working as a journalist in any of the big corporate-owned media companies will give you a different kind of training as a journalist through the following experiences and realizations:
- The top ‘Editors’ appointed by the promoters are carefully chosen not to cross the redline on any editorial matters that conflicts with corporate interests. The real editors are the top executives of each business group who ultimately takes a call (and give a call to the so-called editor in the media company) on what goes in print and what don’t.
- As a reporter or senior editor, you aren’t allowed to write anything critical about not just your direct owner group, but anyone linked to the group in any way–be it through marriage of a family member, a corporate partner or a major advertisement provider. All of this is a strict no.
- Business journalists, from the day they join the newsroom from journalism collages, are trained to follow the rules ‘corporate sensitivities’ while reporting. If the line is crossed, that essentially means the end of the road for that young journalist in that particular media company. The obedient top editors and their henchmen will eventually make sure that the reporter is out of the newsroom sooner than later if he or she is found as a misfit.
- The PR industry have a huge influence over the pliable editors on every single corporate news item in ways that is difficult to imagine. These PR leaders are respected and feared by the pliable editors the most and their mandate is to work in coordination to ensure corporate interest is not adversely affected.
- You will soon realise that the top editors you work with are far from the image of a ‘journalist’ with golden standards of editorial ethics and journalism standards that you once imagined.
- Most of the business stories that are published are either rewritten press releases or ‘leaks’ by the PR agencies to serve the corporate interest. There is no room for investigation against a business group that is in violation of a rule or engaged in an unethical practice.
- A majority of the new journalists accept the new reality and follow the tradition of corporate-PR-journalism so that they continue getting the salary at the end of the month. Asking questions will put you immediately in the watchlist. A good number of reporters come from lower middle class/ middle class backgrounds and desperately need the month-end cahs flows to sustain them in big cities.
The political part:
While corporate interference is one part of the problem, the other side is the silent influence of politics in newsrooms.
Most newsrooms have a silent diktat from the ruling parties both at the centre and the state not to go against them, particularly, the top 2-3 leaders. The corporate-political nexus is taken birth as a give and take lobby and is nurtured with crores of rupees of political funding in return of favourable policies and actions.
This lobby is so powerful that no media house can touch them beyond a point. Since the interests of both politicians and corporates are centered on money over everything else, there is always a mutual consensus to protect each other.
Unofficial media consultants of political parties:
There are editors who survive in the industry mainly acting as unofficial media consultants of political parties and corporate groups.
In return they get the good life– invitations to corporate events– that gives them a feeling that they are in the company of the rich and powerful. Some get paid as well or are rewarded with expensive gifts.
Such pliable editors push journalists to do two types of stories:
One, against the people acting against the interests of their masters. Two, praising every single small announcement made by their masters.
In this manner, when young generation of journalists are destroyed with propaganda and fear, it doesn’t augur well for the world’s largest democracy.
An independent media is the fourth pillar of democracy. It needs to have an independent mind of its own. The solution to such a sad situation are independent news platforms that don’t rely on corporate money but on reader support.
But figuring out the business model is the biggest challenge there.