Paper presented at 17th AMIC Annual Conference of
Asian Media Information and Communication Centre
From July 14—17, 2008, in Manila, Philippines
Theme of the Conference:
Changing Media, Changing Societies: Media and the Millennium Development Goals
Author:
Dr Kiran Thakur
Theme & Topic:
Media Industry Trends and Dynamics
Title:
New trends in Indian Newspapers: A case study of Marathi dailies in Maharashtra
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Submitted by:
Dr Kiran Thakur
Retired Professor and Head
Department of Communication and Journalism
University of Pune, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Address:
03, Indrayani
Patrakarnagar
Pune 411016
India
Phone:
Residence: 91 20 25650225
Mobile: 9373331733
e-mail:
kiran_thakur@yahoo.com
drkiranthakur@gmail.com
New trends in Indian Newspapers
A case study of Marathi dailies in Maharashtra
Introduction
Circulation of paid newspapers in USA and Europe has been showing a trend of decline for the past two decades. The World Association of Newspapers survey has said the circulation fell 3% in the U.S. and 1.9% in Europe in the year 2007. Asia, which is home to 74 of the world's 100 best-selling dailies, contrasted starkly with declining newspaper readership in the West. China and India are among the countries that have contributed to some degree of optimism in the publishing industry that has shown an increase of 2.6% worldwide last year.
The rising trend of increase in circulation in India is not due mainly to the growth of English newspapers as outsiders to India may think. On the contrary, newspapers in non-English (or vernacular) Indian languages have been showing a trend of increase in circulation and revenue for the several years. It is necessary to document how these newspapers have been able to sustain the growth in spite of the competition from the English press and television news channels. This paper is an attempt to document the status of newspapers in Marathi, one of the 22 official languages of India, as a representative study of the non-English press of India.
Briefly about India
India has a population of over one billion spread over 35 states (provinces) including union territories. each with a principal language spoken and read by its majority population. For example, Gujarati is the main language of the state of Gujarat and Tamil of Tamil Nadu. Hindi is spoken as the principal language in several states in the northern belt of India and also in other places in the country while Marathi is the language of Maharashtra in the western region. The publishers thus cater to the population of different languages bringing out with editions of newspapers in the plethora of languages from different centres.
Overview of Press in India
History of Indian press dates back to 1780 when James Augustus Hickey launched the newspaper Bengal Gazette or Calcutta General Advertiser in Calcutta (now Kolkata). It was a weekly writing about the activities of the British traders and officers of the East India Company. It closed down soon as it incurred the wrath of the British officers. Other newspapers came on the scene during the eighteenth and nineteenth century, some supporting the British colonial rule and others owned by Indians who opposed the rulers. Social Reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy brought out India's first non-English newspaper owned by an Indian, Sambad Kaumudi, from Calcutta in Bengal in 1820. He also published Miratul-ul-Akhbar in Persian language. The Times of India, now the flagship of the leading media group of the country, was launched by British owners in 1838.
Other dailies that appeared on the scene thereafter included The Statesman (also British-owned, Calcutta) established in 1875, The Hindu in Chennai (then Madras in today's Tamil Nadu state) in 1878 (both in English) and Malayala Manorama (Malayala language in Kerala state) in 1888. The Bengal Journal, The Oriental Magazine, The Calcutta Chronicle, The Madras Courier, The Indian Herald, The Bombay Herald and The Bombay Courier, were other publications brought out at other centres during the period.
In subsequent decades, Indian social and political leaders brought out publications from other provinces, notably from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. The publications, in English and the local languages of the respective regions, were generally divided in two broad categories, namely, pro-British and anti-British. The country was then a vast subcontinent that comprised the present India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Publishers brought out a few hundred copies that were sold in the areas close to the places of publication. Anti-British newspapers were subjected to oppressive laws of the rulers. This would lead to the closure of the publications and arrest of the editor publishers. Prominent newspapers of the period that continue to exist now include The Times of India, The Statesman, The Hindu (all English), Bombay Samachar (Gujarat), and Kesari (Marathi).
The period between 1857, when the Queen of England took over the reigns of the country, and 1947 when the British left India, saw birth and closure of a multitude of newspapers. Among the editors were freedom fighters like Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Kesari) and Mahatma Gandhi (Young India, Harijan and Navajeevan) who used the publications to spread their message. These papers were never mass-circulated, yet readers in all corners of the country eagerly awaited arrival of their copies.
Post-Independence scene
By 1941, India had about 4,000 newspapers and magazines in 17 languages. The number rose to 51,960 that included dailies and publications of all the periodicities, in 2001.
As on 31st March 2006, there were 62,483 registered newspapers with all periodicities on record of Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), as against 60,413 at the end of March 2005. The total circulation of newspapers increased from 15,67,19,209 copies in 2004-05 to 18,07,38,611 copies in 2005-06. As per the annual statements received at the RNI office during 2005-06, the number of dailies being published in the country was 2130. Their claimed circulation figure was 8,88,63,048 copies, 12.93% higher than that of the previous year.
After India became Independent in 1947, British owners of the newspapers like The Times of India also left the country, handing over the businesses to Indian companies. Editors of pro-freedom struggle Indian newspapers had anti-British stance till 1947. These newspapers gradually changed their approach; some became pro-establishment and the others adopted aggressive anti-establishment strategies. The publishers during the subsequent decades expanded their groups and chains with additions of new editions at other centres or new publications.
Turbulent 1970's: The decade of 1970s was a turbulent phase for media. The state-owned television channel was launched in 1972 and the press was unsure about the possible impact of the electronic medium on the newspapers. The press was subjected to censorship during the period of Internal Emergency clamped by the Indira Gandhi government in 1975. After the Emergency was revoked 19 months later, the Press appeared to have reborn with vigour.
Competition from TV channels and online news
Indian newspapers faced challenges from electronic media in a big way when colour television was introduced in 1982. The challenges and threats from the electronic media became more serious after the government allowed private channels to operate in the country under the new policy of privatisation and globalisation announced in 1991-92. The country witnessed emergence of channels launched by Indian and multi-national companies that brought in news and entertainment channels in English, Hindi, and other Indian languages. There was a talk of death of print media as the channels were there to provide news coverage in real time. A similar fear was expressed some time after Internet made its appearance in 1995. But these fears were ill founded as the Indian publishers proved in the first decade of the new millennium. The publishers exploited best of the two media and changed their management strategies to survive and make rapid progress in the business.
Briefly About Maharashtra
Maharashtra is among the industrially advanced states and has a population of 96,878,627. The state has a literacy rate of 76.9 per cent against the national average of 65.4 per cent and is next only to the state of Kerala which has the literacy of 90.9 and ranks as second literate state. The literacy rate is one of the major reasons why Maharashtra, as also Kerala, account for rapid growth of press as compared to other states of the country.
Maharashtra's capital is Mumbai and is situated on the coast of Arabian Sea. One of India's four metros, it is also described as country's Financial Capital.
The metropolis has a population of 11,914,000 as the per census of 2001 and has a vast readership for newspapers in English, Marathi, and other languages. The state has administrative divisions broadly known as Konkan, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Amaravati and Nashik, each of which are further divided into four to six districts. Each district, further decentralised as tehsils, has a sizeable readership for Marathi newspapers. Each of the 353 tehsils has several villages to look after. There are a total of 43711 villages in the state.
Marathi Journalism
The first newspaper in Marathi was Darpan launched in Mumbai on January six 1832 by Balshastri Jambhekar. It was a weekly. The first Marathi daily newspaper Sandesh (now defunct) was started in 1915. Although it was a daily, it was dominated by views, as was the case with weeklies of that period. Other dailies like Dnyanprakash followed but most of them also were viewspapers. Sakaal, launched on January 01, 1932, was the first daily publication focussed to publish a wide range of fresh news on local, regional, national, and international events. Sakaal's founder publisher editor N B Parulekar ran the newspaper on sound management principles without compromising on credibility and objectivity of news. He is described as Pioneer in Modern Journalism not only in Marathi but all other Indian languages. Sakaal survived even after his death in 1973 and grew to a higher stature. This is considered to be creditable to Dr Parulekar because several other daily newspapers and magazines of his time have disappeared from the scene one after another.
Maharashtra state now has 130 Marathi daily newspapers as per the Registrar of Newspapers for India annual report for 2005-06. Marathi holds third position with the 130 dailies, Hindi leading with 942 newspapers followed by 201 in English. In terms of circulation also, Marathi dailies have edge over newspapers published in the rest of 22 official languages of India, besides English. Circulation of Marathi dailies in 2005-06 was recorded at 1,05,37,174, which was next only to dailies in the state of Uttar Pradesh (1,34,92,557 copies) as per the data with the Registrar of Newspapers for India.
Advertisement revenue earned by Marathi press during 2005-06 was Rs. 5160 million, next only to English newspapers (Rs. 41360 million) and Hindi (Rs. 20890 million). The press in other Indian languages was way behind the Marathi print media in this respect also.
Among the top Marathi newspapers in Maharashtra is Maharashtra Times belonging to the multi-product multi-edition multi-centre media house of the Bennette Coleman Ltd with The Times of India as its flagship. It is published from the company's headquarters in Mumbai. Loksatta belongs to a similar media house, The Indian Express Group, and is published at its headquarters in Mumbai besides other centres Pune, Ahmednagar, Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Delhi.
Mumbai as publishing centre: Until a few years ago, Mumbai was Maharashtra's main centre for the Press in English and Marathi. Although Pune, Nagpur and other towns did have dailies, Mumbai's newspapers had a certain aura about them. The Mumbai press and to a lesser extent Pune's dailies enjoyed status among the elite readers, advertisers and newsmakers among politicians and officials in urban and rural Maharashtra. The newspapers outside these two centres were treated by the so-called elite national press, with apparent derision, as 'district' dailies and their staff as 'mofussil' (rural) journalists.
Lokmat's impact: The situation changed when Lokmat was launched by Jawaharlal Darda from Nagpur, located at the other end of the state, away from the capital city of Mumbai and its neighbour Pune. He gradually expanded the daily's base bringing out editions from district towns and his successors have taken it to 13 centres, including Pune and Mumbai. Lokmat is now the highest circulated Marathi newspaper (1,250,000) and has daily publications also in Hindi and English. It has become the first media house that has launched a TV Marathi news channel, as it tied up with CNN-IBN.
Scope and Limitation of this study: This paper is a modest attempt to document the status of Marathi Journalism during the last decade that witnessed introduction of new technologies affecting the print and electronic media all over the world. Media exploited these technologies to attract more audiences and in the process increase their businesses. In India, it appeared initially that media groups only in metros with vast resources embraced the technologies. The media houses like The Times of India group were ahead of publishers in non-metros. Publishers with publications in non-English Indian newspapers, however, soon joined the race to grab their share of audiences and revenue. This trend is not limited to a particular state (province) among the 35 states or a particular language among the 22 official languages spoken in different regions in the country.
This is an attempt to record the new trends in Indian newspapers with a case study of Marathi journalism in Maharashtra. This may be considered as representative of journalism in other Indian languages in other states although documentation of the trends in other regions on the similar lines is necessary.
This paper is not based on an empirical study. The author has been a journalist and media teacher working in Maharashtra and thus, an observer of the developments in Marathi press for over 27 years. He interacted with some leading lights in Marathi journalism to prepare for this essay. They include:
Mr Prakash Pohare (Owner Chief Editor, Deshonnati, Nagpur), Mr Abhay Kulkarni (Corporate Editor, Sakaal group, Pune), Mr Anil Takalkar (Editor, Pudhari's Pune edition), Mr Mukund Sangoram (Loksatta, Pune Edition), Mr Kishor Kulkarni (Editor, Lokmat's online edition) and Mr Dilip Urkude (General Manager, Pudhari group).
Based on the interaction with them, coupled with the author's observations, following points on the Marathi press emerge:
Not poor cousins of the English press
The Marathi newspapers are not any more poor cousins of the English press. The publishers have adopted modern business practices to increase the reach of their publications and their sphere of influence and advertisement revenue.
Lokmat started spreading its network from Nagpur city to other districts of Nagpur and Amaravati divisions, then to districts of Aurgangabad and Pune divisions as it moved to the state's capital, Mumbai. This growth and spread were unprecedented in the history of Marathi press. Sakaal followed up in the same manner, moving from Pune to Nagpur. Pudhari has moved from its headquarters in Kolhapur to Pune and Ahmednagar in central Maharashtra. Deshonnati, which started its editions from Akola has moved to Nagpur and other places in the region.
Each newspaper has its pocket of influence and a niche. Almost every newspaper is growing. Following newspapers are among the leaders of the market: Lokmat (1,300,000 copies per day). Sakaal (978,000), Loksatta (350,000), Maharashtra Times (275,000), Pudhari (550,000), Deshonnati (200,000).
There are other dailies in the state with sizeable circulation in their respective jurisdiction as follows: Mumbai Chaufer (209,000), Navakal (135,000), Punyanagari (500,000), Gavkari (209,000), Ratnagiri Times (99300), Saamana (74,000), Kesari (38,000) and Tarun Bharat (169,000).
The Sakaal story
Sakaal is among the first newspapers not only in Maharashtra but also in India, to have adopted modern management systems and processes. It has deployed the latest technology made available through partners who are world leaders in their areas of specialisation. Some examples:
Smart Flow: It has adopted Smartflow, which is customised online content management system. It simplifies the tasks in the editorial management and makes the relevant processes virtually paperless. The system seamlessly networks the editorial departments of the publications brought out from ten main edition locations in the state. Any member of the staff can have a look at any of the 450-odd pages of 80 sub-editions being made at any point of time during the day. The Smartflow facilitates quick, secure and hassle-free exchange of editorial content with the group network. Connecting to news agencies and translation of English copy into Marathi has become an easy offer.
What Smartflow does for editorial department, SAP does for other domains in the organisation. With this, functions of scheduling, circulation, and production are streamlined. There is a dedicated link between the Editorial and Scheduling departments which ensures faster pagination. Scheduling of advertising has become easy because page status for any date in the future can be viewed. Any centre can accept and schedule advertisements for any edition anywhere.
Six Sigma has been an important part of the system in Sakaal. It is a management philosophy, which focuses on eliminating defects and problems, through practices that emphasize understanding, measuring, and improving processes.
The Sakaal group has joined the select band of world newspapers that make conscious efforts to decide on the contents and page design based on the outcome of readership surveys. Its important decisions include the change in the layout of its flagship daily after a detailed three-year exercise under the leadership of world-renowned design consultant Dr Mario Garcia.
Planning strategies in other dailies
Although all the Marathi newspapers have not yet adopted all the measures taken by Sakaal, those on the growth path acknowledge that increase in their business is due to the decisions taken on the basis of surveys, careful planning and integration of the operations of the editorial, advertising and circulation departments.
The leaders among the Marathi publishers take into consideration the outcome of readership surveys conducted independently across the country for evolving business strategies. Such surveys have offered rich data on demographic and topographic profile, and psychographic segmentation of the regions of the state. The publishers study the findings about consumption of the contents of newspapers vis-à-vis television channels and radio stations, purchasing power of consumers. Based on the findings of these studies, the publishers decide on the centres for their new editions, new publications or new supplements/pullouts/magazines.
New publications: Thus the state has witnessed emergence of pullouts for a city, and even suburbs of the cities. The publishers bring out weekly supplements for children who are potential buyers in the future and middle class/ upper middle class women because a growing number of them are becoming decision makers in the families. On the basis of the findings of the surveys, supplements on education and career guidance, real estate, health, and investment, art, culture, and entertainment are brought out. Special pages devoted to needs of secondary and higher secondary students appear as weekly columns around the year.
Some newspapers have a separate division for Event Management to tap revenue from builders, banks, hospitality industry, producers of consumer goods or life style, health, and hygiene products. Agrowon, claimed to be the first agriculture daily of the world, was launched by Sakaal after a survey established that there was a large number of farmers who would buy such a newspaper.
Newspapers have organised forums for women and competitions for school children. Sakaal has joined the global movement, Newspapers in Education, operational in 30 countries.
Convergence of media: Marathi publishers have joined the bigwigs in the country's newspaper industry to exploit the convergence of media. Lokmat became the first media house in Maharashtra to tie up with IBN-CNN for a TV channel exclusively for Marathi newscasts. Kesari has its own local cable television news channel in Pune. Pudhari now owns a FM radio station in Kolhapur for exclusive Marathi infotainment broadcasts for the city and district. Sakaal's television channel is expected to be launched in the year 2008.
Presence on the Net: On an average about ten per cent newspapers in USA and other countries in the developed world have Internet editions. This average is maintained in case of Marathi journalism also as 13 of the 130 dailies in Maharashtra, have their web editions. They are Dainik Aikya, Deshdoot, Deshonnati, Kesari, Lokmat, Loksatta, Maharashtra Times, Pudhari, Sakaal, Saamana, Belgaun Tarun Bharat, Tarun Bharat of Nagpur and Agrowon.
Tapping rural markets: India, like China, is a fast growing economy that has been attracting investors from abroad. India has a growing middle class population in cities and a huge untapped market potential in villages spread across the country. Producers of consumer durables, and now mobile phones, have begun aggressive marketing in such areas. Newspapers have also reaching these markets to serve the readers and earn ad revenues from these advertisers. Rural Maharashtra, in particular, has a wide base of progressive and rich farmers with purchasing power and willingness to spend. Thomson Reuters service to provide SMS service for agriculture information proved this point when over 10,000 cellphone user farmers subscribed to the Reuters Market Light service within just three months after the launch in October 2007.
Salient features of the current status
· No established Marathi newspaper has been closed down for lack of readers and advertisement revenue during the recent years.
· There have been no job cuts in Marathi media industry, on account of revenue losses, as have been reported in the developed countries from time to time.
· On the contrary, print and electronic media houses have been scouting for trained manpower at junior and senior levels.
· Schools of journalism, public-funded or in the private sector, have been growing in number during the first decade of this century. These schools find it difficult to meet the growing demands of the industry to provide fresh graduates for placements.
· Media houses compete with each other to lure skilled and experienced personnel. Journalists, as also management executives, are being offered higher wages that could not have been imagined some five years ago. Journalists and their organisations do not talk of salaries prescribed by the government-appointed wage boards because they earn more than what these boards had prescribed years ago. The publishers do not appoint journalists as employees any more, but hire them on contract for a specified period.
· Publishers of some English newspapers have for the first time in the history came down to the extent that they are ready to hire Marathi reporters who have had no experience in writing in English. If they are good as reporters, they can write in Marathi and sub-editors will translate the copy in English.
· The media houses have fierce competition among them. Each plans marketing strategies that may include discounts for annual subscription, gifts and lucky draw with prizes ranging from, say a television set to a car. Price war is common at the time of launch of an edition at a new centre or re-launch of the edition with a new look and format.
· There is at least one instance when a publisher countered the price war effectively with aggressive advertising campaign. The publisher, of Deshonnati, in fact doubled its price. His campaign sought to impress the readers that his daily provide better objective news and analysis and that it dealt with the issues dear to them. His paper's circulation increased then, and even when he increased its price further some time later after he introduced more supplements.
Contents and layout
· The newspapers have changed their ways to write verbose news stories and features after surveys reported that readers find long stories boring. Now most news stories are around 300 words each and articles/opinion pieces limited mostly to 600 words, but not, in any case, more than 1000 words as was the case in the past. If news stories are more than 300 words, they are split into two. The secondary among the two is carried on a different page.
· Special attention is paid to page layout. Use of white space is liberal. Photographs are cropped to make the contents appear dynamic and not static.
· Front-page and several other pages of a newspaper are printed in colour as a tool to woo the buyers at the stalls.
· Participation of readers in the contents is increasing thanks to citizen journalism, opinion polls through Internet editions, feedback through e-mail and SMS, chat rooms, blogs and the time-trusted landline telephones. One daily used to invite urban readers to SMS names of their native villages so that reporters would write about the scene there.
· Most newspapers have provided their field staff (reporters and marketing/sales executives) with mobile telephones. Journalists even in the districts are seen using camera-mobile phones to take snaps and mail the photos to editorial desk in the city.
· Journalists in the field and the editorial desk are becoming net savvy as they use Internet for references and background information.
· The publishers have appointed stringers at tehsil places. All the tehsils in Maharashtra now boast of being covered by the stringers. Many of them string for more than one newspapers. It is not uncommon that newspaper's circulation and ad agents work also as stringers at tehsil and district towns.
· Many newspapers used to look like 'fish' markets some two decades ago as reporters would flock only late in the evening to file stories even if the events had taken place early in the day. With the computer-aided systems in place, and better time-management drills, this situation has changed for better.
· The newspapers use PageMaker, QuarkXpress or InDesign to prepare pages if they do not have their own software. In most cases, centres are linked to production headquarters where pages are prepared. The links help reduce loss of time in preparing the final pages. Outstation correspondent or local reporters are trained to prepare the pages and mail them to the HQ. This is intended to reduce workload of the sub-editors.
· Proof-readers are not appointed any more, as the sub-editors are expected to proof-read the text.
· A newspaper in the past used to be known by the name of its editor. The tradition is fast disappearing in English and Marathi newspapers. In most cases, the dailies are known by the name of the owner-editors or by the publishing companies. One important reason for this is that an employee editor has become only one of the several key-executives of the publishing company. Editor's job is more of a coordinator of the activities of the desk and newsroom, and as a link between management, circulation, and advertising departments.
Critics' Views
· Critics argue that all the newspapers look alike because of similar layout, liberal use of photographs and printing on newsprint that also appears to be of similar quality and look.
· The newspapers ape the TV news channels in terms of presentation of news, photographs, and graphics. These channels seem to set the agenda, with their breaking stories and live coverage, for the next day's newspapers.
· The newspapers have followed the TV channels in offering infotainment rather than debates on serious issues facing the region. Development stories, which were rare earlier, are rarer now, as the newspapers appear to give more thrust to soft stories, lifestyle, glamour, and infotainment besides sensational crime stories.
· There are fewer articles discussing serious issues on implication of the contemporary politics. Issues affecting the working class, women, children and tribals are treated very casually.
· A lot of space is utilised for the features and photographs of activities of the event management division.
· Insignificant issues are played up to fill in the space in city/suburban supplements.
· Decentralisation of news into pullouts for the concerned geographic areas has deprived readers elsewhere in the state of even important coverage.
· There is no effective quality control over language used by the reporters particularly because they are expected to prepare the pages as well. Errors of correct usage of grammar and spellings are commonplace as effective software for spellchecker in Marathi language is not yet available. Absence of proof-readers who used to act as the last gatekeeper has added to the problem further.
Conclusion
The case study explains why newspapers in regional languages in India have shown upward trend in circulation and revenue. The publishers have been able to compete with the television news channels and the English newspapers of the metros. Systematic surveys of the markets have helped them take decision about launch of new editions and introduce new publications and supplements to win over different segments of readers such as children, youth, and women. The publishers have embraced new technologies of computers, Internet and have gradually been exploiting the advantage of the convergence of media.
The case study has limitation in that it deals with only Marathi language press. It can be representative of the press in other Indian languages. However, it is recommended that the language press in other states be studied on the basis of qualitative and quantitative research.
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About the Author:
Dr Kiran Thakur
Professor and Head (retired)
Department of Communication and Journalism
University of Pune (July 01, 2001 to March 30, 2007)
o Joined Marathi newspaper Sakaal as sub-editor–cum-reporter in 1969 while studying at this department
o Worked with United News of India (1971 to 1987), The Indian Post (1987 to 1990), The Observer of Business and Politics (1990 to 2000)
o Was visiting faculty for over two decades after which joined academics full time in 2001
o Worked as Member of Academic Council and Senate, University of Pune, and Member of Research and Review Committee, Chairman of the University’s Board of Studies, Communication and Journalism
o Member, Research and Review Committee, Communication and Journalism, North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, Maharashtra
o Member, School Board, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi
o Founding Member, Asia Media Foundation
o Member, Steering Committee of University of Pune FM Radio station, Vidyavani (2004-07)
o Carried out study for PhD on Online Journalism in India in its initial phase: 1995-98
o Carried out a UGC-funded Major Research Project on ‘Profile of Readership of Internet editions of Indian Newspapers’
o Authored biography: Dr N B Parulekar: A Pioneer in Modern Journalism in Indian Languages. Published on March 30, 2007.
o Was Executive Editor of 'Press in India: on the threshold of 21st Century', the volume brought out by Dr Nanasaheb Parulekar Centenary Commemorative Volume, Sakaal Papers Trust
o Edited four English non-fiction books during 2007-08
o Authored book on Online Journalism in India (under print) and Handbook of Press in Pune
o Was Content consultant for a dozen web-sites in English and Marathi
o Was consulting editor of www.punecity.com and www.netguruindia.com (2000)
o Was twice President of Pune Union of Working Journalists and founder Trustee Secretary of Pune Patrakar Pratishthan (Pune Journalist Foundation) that constructed a five-storied complex for journalists with an investment of Rs. 90 lakhs in 1998
o Presented papers at conferences in Moscow and Hyderabad on Online Journalism in India
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Thursday, 14 May 2009
Friday, 1 May 2009
Sakaal Times Editor quits
Mr Dhananjay S Sardeshpande, the Editor of Sakaal Times, has left the Pune daily with immediate effect. He has not given details beyond e-mailing the following message to friends and well-wishers:
Dears all,
This is to inform you that I cease to be employed with Sakaal Times or Maharashtra Herald with effect from 01 May, 2009.
As such, please refrain from sending me any communication relating to the functioning of the two newspapers, especially at sakaaltimes.com.
My Gmail account will, however, continue to function.
Best wishes,
--
Dhananjay S. Sardeshpande,
Pune.
His gmail, incidentally, is dhananjay.sardeshpande@gmail.com
Dears all,
This is to inform you that I cease to be employed with Sakaal Times or Maharashtra Herald with effect from 01 May, 2009.
As such, please refrain from sending me any communication relating to the functioning of the two newspapers, especially at sakaaltimes.com.
My Gmail account will, however, continue to function.
Best wishes,
--
Dhananjay S. Sardeshpande,
Pune.
His gmail, incidentally, is dhananjay.sardeshpande@gmail.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Prof B P Sanjay is Vice Chancellor of new university in Tamil Nadu
Last week, I realized how disconnected I am from the academics, as also my parent profession of journalism. This was when I noticed, while in Delhi for a meeting, that Prof B P Sanjay was being congratulated by everybody around. Sheepishly, I asked him why.
It was for his new assignment: He has been nominated Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Tamil Nadu, established by the Central Universities Ordinance 2009.
Although he has taken charge of the new post weeks ago, I came to know about it so late in the day! Hence my lament.
I am delighted, like scores others in the Communication Studies domain that Prof Sanjay has been chosen to be the founding father of a Central university. There are only a few Communication scholars or journalists who eventually became vice-chancellors of established universities.
For Prof Sanjay, the assignment is tougher because he has to build a university brick-by-brick, literally. His address printed on his visiting card tells us how challenging his new job is. It is: Collectorate Annexe, Tiruvarur 6110001, Tamil Nadu. He is operating from a camp office, using a landline 91 4366 240240.
He had been at the helm at Delhi’s Indian Institute of Mass Communication, and until recently was Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Centrally-funded University of Hyderabad. With such rich academic and administrative experience, he is sure to take the new university to great heights.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Peer Support?
Sourced from http://thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=3796&mod=1&pg=1§ionId=25&valid=true
Holding a mirror to the MIRROR
Was it a peer support to an offending newspaper because others too have been careless – even reckless – in how they approach a story?
MAHESH VIJAPURKAR wonders why other media did not report the demonstration against the TOI.
Page 12 of the April 18 edition of MUMBAI MIRROR had an entire page devoted to criticism of its reportage of the alleged gang rape of a foreign student of a reputed institution in Mumbai. The headline was sensational, as sensational as the reportage that was objected to by ten readers whose views were published: Mirror is sensational * (AND OUR READERS DON'T MEAN IT IN A GOOD WAY).
The newspaper admitted that it has been "flooded with letters asking if it was indeed necessary to run the statement of the victim, a public document, in all its graphic detail." The questions raised, it said in the introduction to the set of ten views was that its intention was not to sensationalize and harm the interests of the victim. It went on to admit that, judging by the reader response, the newspaper had "misjudged" and apologized for offending reader sensibilities.
That was indeed a big climb down. The space accorded to the story, the prominence, despite the location being an inside page, was commendable. Obviously, the MUMBAI MIRROR made only partial amends for its error and that is not enough. It had not named the victim but left no doubt as to where she could be found – a student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), a white and her age. Even in a large city like Mumbai, that was enough set of coordinates to spot her.
They pointed out to the Times of India group that Section 228 (A) of the Indian Penal Code does not allow disclosure of the identity of such victims. Even if the person is not directly named, but sufficient details are provided as to the name of the institution etc. that would amount to assisting in zeroing in on the victim's identity. The demonstrators had a specific point to make: the newspaper apologized to the "sensibilities of the readers" and not the victim. It owed such an apology to her.
That is why it did not soothe the community of women who rightly decided to take the issue further. The day this item was published, eight women's groups, including female students from the TISS demonstrated before the offices of the Times of India which owns the MUMBAI MIRROR.
Though this demonstration was directed against the MUMBAI MIRROR specifically, its import has to be digested by all the media. Strangely, this demonstration was not reported in any of the half a dozen big Mumbai newspapers I read everyday, including Marathi newspapers, the next day. Television news channels were of course preoccupied with the election trivia, including their exclusives like Priyanka Gandhi-Vadera's views on her mother and brother as if that mattered a lot.
Was it a peer support to an offending newspaper because others too have been careless – even reckless – in how they approach a story? Or was it the fear that if they too point out the mistake of another, the fingers could be pointed at them next time? Several newspapers have had not minded naming the victims, including minor girls, of heinous offences. There is scarce a newspaper which has not offended in this fashion at one time or the other and got away with it. To my mind, a report on the demonstration would have sensitized the news crews of all publication to the need to be careful while reporting such cases.
The exception, however, was The Hindu which carried a story with a picture and abundant quotes from those demonstrating before the Times of India building and one is glad that it did. After all, newspapers tend to forget that victims have their rights too and that one is protection of their identities. It is expected that child victims and women victims, regardless of their age are not to have their names or pictures published. It goes beyond mere protection of privacy; it hinges on how the society would react to them when it gets out that they were raped.
In this context, it has to be pointed out that newspapers, at least in Mumbai, need to curb their excesses when reporting crime. As pointed out earlier in a comment on use of language, I had pointed out how even the minor precaution of the use of the word alleged is lacking in newspapers though it helps disclaim responsibility to an extent for retailing a view or fact of which they are not aware of first hand. This is minimal requirement, we were told in our journalism schools in the early 70s.
For the past few weeks, however, the Times of India has started using 'alleged' in italics which is a welcome thing.
News media, especially and including the television news channels, have a tendency to be the prosecutor and the judge rolled into one and often I have heard from the journalistic community to which I belong that "it happened, so why not report it"? It is not as simple as that. The immense damage such an attitude causes the hapless victims are so enormous that often an apology does not mitigate the hurt caused.
It is true that often the victims are people who may never even have managed to read what is said about them so the question of them seeking a retraction or filing a suit does not seem even remotely possible. One of the reasons is lack of appreciation of their own rights or ability to seek redress directly or via the court of law. But that does not allow the media houses to run amok: it has a responsibility because it is a fourth pillar. Often, they tend to forget that.
Holding a mirror to the MIRROR
Was it a peer support to an offending newspaper because others too have been careless – even reckless – in how they approach a story?
MAHESH VIJAPURKAR wonders why other media did not report the demonstration against the TOI.
Page 12 of the April 18 edition of MUMBAI MIRROR had an entire page devoted to criticism of its reportage of the alleged gang rape of a foreign student of a reputed institution in Mumbai. The headline was sensational, as sensational as the reportage that was objected to by ten readers whose views were published: Mirror is sensational * (AND OUR READERS DON'T MEAN IT IN A GOOD WAY).
The newspaper admitted that it has been "flooded with letters asking if it was indeed necessary to run the statement of the victim, a public document, in all its graphic detail." The questions raised, it said in the introduction to the set of ten views was that its intention was not to sensationalize and harm the interests of the victim. It went on to admit that, judging by the reader response, the newspaper had "misjudged" and apologized for offending reader sensibilities.
That was indeed a big climb down. The space accorded to the story, the prominence, despite the location being an inside page, was commendable. Obviously, the MUMBAI MIRROR made only partial amends for its error and that is not enough. It had not named the victim but left no doubt as to where she could be found – a student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), a white and her age. Even in a large city like Mumbai, that was enough set of coordinates to spot her.
They pointed out to the Times of India group that Section 228 (A) of the Indian Penal Code does not allow disclosure of the identity of such victims. Even if the person is not directly named, but sufficient details are provided as to the name of the institution etc. that would amount to assisting in zeroing in on the victim's identity. The demonstrators had a specific point to make: the newspaper apologized to the "sensibilities of the readers" and not the victim. It owed such an apology to her.
That is why it did not soothe the community of women who rightly decided to take the issue further. The day this item was published, eight women's groups, including female students from the TISS demonstrated before the offices of the Times of India which owns the MUMBAI MIRROR.
Though this demonstration was directed against the MUMBAI MIRROR specifically, its import has to be digested by all the media. Strangely, this demonstration was not reported in any of the half a dozen big Mumbai newspapers I read everyday, including Marathi newspapers, the next day. Television news channels were of course preoccupied with the election trivia, including their exclusives like Priyanka Gandhi-Vadera's views on her mother and brother as if that mattered a lot.
Was it a peer support to an offending newspaper because others too have been careless – even reckless – in how they approach a story? Or was it the fear that if they too point out the mistake of another, the fingers could be pointed at them next time? Several newspapers have had not minded naming the victims, including minor girls, of heinous offences. There is scarce a newspaper which has not offended in this fashion at one time or the other and got away with it. To my mind, a report on the demonstration would have sensitized the news crews of all publication to the need to be careful while reporting such cases.
The exception, however, was The Hindu which carried a story with a picture and abundant quotes from those demonstrating before the Times of India building and one is glad that it did. After all, newspapers tend to forget that victims have their rights too and that one is protection of their identities. It is expected that child victims and women victims, regardless of their age are not to have their names or pictures published. It goes beyond mere protection of privacy; it hinges on how the society would react to them when it gets out that they were raped.
In this context, it has to be pointed out that newspapers, at least in Mumbai, need to curb their excesses when reporting crime. As pointed out earlier in a comment on use of language, I had pointed out how even the minor precaution of the use of the word alleged is lacking in newspapers though it helps disclaim responsibility to an extent for retailing a view or fact of which they are not aware of first hand. This is minimal requirement, we were told in our journalism schools in the early 70s.
For the past few weeks, however, the Times of India has started using 'alleged' in italics which is a welcome thing.
News media, especially and including the television news channels, have a tendency to be the prosecutor and the judge rolled into one and often I have heard from the journalistic community to which I belong that "it happened, so why not report it"? It is not as simple as that. The immense damage such an attitude causes the hapless victims are so enormous that often an apology does not mitigate the hurt caused.
It is true that often the victims are people who may never even have managed to read what is said about them so the question of them seeking a retraction or filing a suit does not seem even remotely possible. One of the reasons is lack of appreciation of their own rights or ability to seek redress directly or via the court of law. But that does not allow the media houses to run amok: it has a responsibility because it is a fourth pillar. Often, they tend to forget that.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Influence of Pressure Groups on the Media
By B.R.P.BHASKAR
Swadesabhimani K. Ramakrishna Pillai, an all-time great of journalism, belongs to a rare breed of journalists whose resolute assertion of the right of free expression lies at the root of such freedom as the media enjoys today. No right is real unless it can be exercised. No right is real until it is exercised.
In the early years of Independence, the stewardship of the Press was in the hands of a generation of journalists who had grown up in the restrictive atmosphere of World War II, when rigorous censorship was in force. They did not make full use of the freedom of the Press, which became available to journalists as part of .the freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed by the Constitution to all citizens of India.
Since freedom of the Press is part of the freedom of speech and expression, it follows that journalists in India do not have any freedom that is not available to other citizens.
There are occasions when a person who seeks to assert a right is called upon to pay a price. If you are not ready to pay the price, you forfeit that right, and you become an instrument for denying that right to others too. Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai is an editor who cheerfully paid the price that was demanded of him.
Along with the name of the illustrious editor of Swadesabhimani we must remember the name of the equally illustrious owner of that newspaper, Vakkom Abdul Khader Maulavi. The Maulavi had edited Swadesabhimani with distinction for a year before he handed over its stewardship to Ramakrishna Pillai to devote his attention to other publications that he had launched, particularly those seeking to reform the Muslim society.
The relationship between Vakkom Maulavi, the owner, and Ramakrishna Pillai, the editor, denotes an ideal state of affairs, which has not been achieved again in this country since then. That the Dewan was annoyed with Ramakrishna Pillai’s merciless criticism was widely known. When the princely regime assumed the power to extern a subject who incurred its displeasure, everyone knew that Ramakrishna Pillai was the target. He made no effort to buy peace. And Vakkom Maulavi made no effort to restrain his fiercely independent editor.
Ramakrishna Pillai, who was ahead of his time in political thought, lagged behind on a crucial social issue of that period: Dalits’ admission to schools. He was not against giving Dalit children access to education. He favoured setting up of separate schools for them as in his view they were not on the same intellectual level as children of the advanced sections. When he wrote lines to that effect, unknown to him, a young Dalit named Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was making his way through college in Mumbai, beating fellow students of all castes.
That Ramakrishna Pillai was out of step with progressive thought in this respect does not in any way detract from the fact that he was way ahead in political thought.
Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai was not content with teaching himself the tenets of journalism. He sought to disseminate the high principles of the profession widely, as is borne out by two of his many publications -- “Pathradharmam”, a collection of essays, and “Vrithaantha Pathrapravarthanam”, a treatise on journalism.
Early in its history, the Press came to be recognised as an instrument of power. How else could Edmund Burke point to the Press Gallery in the House of Commons in 1790 and say, “yonder sits the fourth estate,” more important than the other three? The use of the term implied that, like the three estates of the realm, the Press was a part of the power structure. In this light, the clash between Dewan of Travancore and the Editor of Swadesabhimani can be seen as a conflict between rival power centres.
Very quickly, the Press went beyond its original mission of gathering and disseminating information, and assumed the role of moulder of public opinion. The power that newspapers enjoy collectively and individually is, in fact, rooted in their ability to influence the public. The greater a newspaper’s capacity to influence its readers the greater the power it wields.
There is no simple formula to determine a newspaper’s ability to influence the public. A large circulation ensures a wide reach but it does not guarantee a correspondingly great ability to influence the reader. Credibility is a critical factor that has a direct bearing on the newspaper’s ability to influence its readers. A newspaper with a high degree of credibility can make a far greater impact than one that may be read more widely but does not enjoy the same measure of credibility. A sad part of the intense competition in both the print media and the electronic media today is that in the eagerness to extend their reach media institutions do not give due importance to the credibility factor.
Since newspapers have the ability to shape public opinion, it is only natural that outside elements should seek to influence them with a view to furthering their interests. The government and organized political, economic and social interests do so routinely. Many of them have public relations outfits whose activities sometimes go beyond acceptable limits and intrude into the realm of media management. Small groups championing specific causes try to cultivate the media to enhance their popular support and improve the chances of success.
It is quite legitimate for an interest group to attempt to enlist media support with a view to moulding public opinion. However, media institutions must be watchful at all times. They must assess, on a continuing basis, the intentions of those who are attempting to influence them and be ready to respond positively or to resist resolutely as is appropriate.
Pressure groups are today recognised as a part of the democratic process. But media institutions must distinguish between groups whose interests are in accord with those of the society and those whose interests are at variance with those of the society. There are groups that offer alternatives to the political process by providing opportunities for expressing opinions and a desire for change. Such groups strengthen the democratic process by giving voice to the voiceless and articulating progressive ideas. They deserve support and encouragement. There are also groups that seek to promote narrow interests which run counter to the wider interests of the society. The media must exercise due caution to avoid playing into their hands.
Apart from the motivation of pressure groups, the methods they employ also merit continuous scrutiny. Good intentions cannot justify wrong methods.
The media has an uneasy relationship with the state at all times. Sometimes the state uses its coercive power crudely, as Travancore state did in Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai’s case. But more often it uses power subtly. Sometimes media institutions and media personnel are brought round by instilling fear.
Apart from the state, political parties and other organised groups also have the ability to pressure media institutions and media personnel. Many parties have bought the loyalty of media persons with no record of political activity by offering them seats in Parliament. Ramnath Goenka went to the Lok Sabha as a Congressman from the Madras state in 1952. He was back in the house in 1971 from Madhya Pradesh as a Bharatiya Jana Singh nominee. The Shiv Sena gifted a Rajya Sabha seat to Pritish Nandy. It will be naïve to imagine that newspaper owners like Goenka and editors like Nandy earned their seats on the strength of political convictions.
There is a popular belief that small media institutions, being financially insecure, are more vulnerable to pressure than large ones. This is not necessarily true. There are many instances of small newspapers standing up to pressure and of big newspapers giving in because they have much to lose.
It is not enough to discuss the influence of pressure groups on the media in terms of first principles. We must take a close look at the conduct of institutions and individuals on both the sides to get a fair picture of ground realities
The Emergency of 1975-77 is a watershed in recent Indian history. It marked a low point – in fact, the lowest point -- in working of the media. The words of L. K. Advani, Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the Janata Party government, on the conduct of the press during the Emergency are still quoted widely. He told media persons: “When asked to bend, you were willing to crawl.”
The Jana Sangh had a daily named “Motherland” in New Delhi before the Emergency. Its editor, K. R. Malkani, a well known ideologue of the Rashtreeya Swayamseval Sangh, was arrested when Emergency was declared and the paper ceased publication. Most of its staff members could not get alternative employment because the newspaper’s known closeness to the RSS. When the Emergency was lifted and the Janata Party, in which the Jana Sangh had merged, came to power, they thought the newspaper would resume publication. As this did not happen, they sought the intervention of the Minister for Information and Broadcasting. Advani told them the party did not feel the need for a newspaper of its own any more as The Indian Express and the Times of India were now available to it. Obviously bending and crawling were not over.
Coming close to home, there is reason to suspect that political pressure played a part in the exit of the Editor of Mathrubhumi, K. Gopalakrishnan. The management’s decision not to give him a fresh contract came after the State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had publicly identified him as a hostile element in the media. The party leader observed later that though the editor had changed the paper’s policy had not. M. P. Veerendrakumar, Managing Director of the newspaper company, said, “Mathrubhumi is not a constituent of the Left Democratic Front”. Veerendrakumar, who is State President of the Janata Dal (S), a constituent of the Left Democratic Front, was clearly insinuating that the CPI (M) had taken away the Lok Sabha seat from Kozhikode, which he had won twice, because it was displeased with the paper.
Wanton use of physical force against the media by the police and by musclemen under the control of various political parties takes place from time to time. Those responsible for such violence are not brought to justice. The ubiquitous television camera makes it easy to identify the miscreants, but the authorities are not keen to use the facility.
Commercial and industrial interests are able to exert financial pressure on the media. Large corporate bodies with huge publicity budgets can and do influence newspapers and television channels. With media institutions unabashedly accepting profit as the sole measure of success, they have acquired more clout than before. Commercial propaganda now finds its way even into the news columns regularly. Some newspapers are ready to let them into the editorial columns too.
Along with political action, such as organized protests, and lobbying, media advocacy forms part of the range of strategies adopted by non-official agencies to achieve their goals. Groups that the people, the authorities and the media recognize as legitimate have greater chances of success than the rest. Civil rights groups, trade unions, and professional associations are among those that are widely recognized and accepted. Sometimes small pressure groups come together to improve their ability to influence decision-making.
Today, all over Kerala, small groups are engaged in campaigns to assert the people’s right to clean air and clean water. Many of them feel that they do not receive adequate media support because of the clout of the powerful commercial interests they are pitted against. Such media attention as they receive is largely the result of individual journalists’ sympathetic attitude to their cause.
There have been some successful environmental campaigns in the State in the recent past. The most notable among them is the campaign that forced the State government to abandon the Silent Valley hydroelectric project. The media played no significant part in it. By and large, they were on the side of the politician-bureaucrat-engineer-trade unionist nexus which made determined efforts to push through the project. More recently campaigners have been able to force the rayon factory at Mavoor near Kozhikode to close down and the soft drinks plant at Plachimada near Palakkad to suspend operations.
There are some inherent problems in the media’s approach to issues of this kind. It is not unusual for corporate giants to press home their natural advantage as big advertisers. Sometimes the media fights shy of honest presentation of facts for fear of reprisal by them. Occasionally media persons carry the fairness principle, which enjoins upon them to balance their reports by giving equal importance to all sides involved in a controversy, to the absurd limit of equating right and wrong.
Like political parties who pander to large groups, viewing them as so many votes, the media too takes numbers into account sometimes, viewing large groups as so many readers or viewers. Such an approach certainly makes commercial sense but the media must remember that it has to subject pursuit of profit to the overriding consideration of upholding the high standards of the journalistic profession.
The manner in which the Indian Medical Association’s Kerala unit forced the largest circulated Malayalam newspaper to heed its voice holds an object-lesson on the relation between the media and organized groups. Annoyed by a Malayala Manorama report, which contained references to unsavoury practices prevalent in the medical profession, the IMA demanded retraction. The newspaper ignored the demand. When even reminders did not fetch a response, the IMA advised doctors in the State to stop buying the newspaper. Over the next few months, about 1,000 doctors subscribing to the Manorama dropped out. Thanks to the newspaper’s close monitoring of market trends, it noticed the development. It called in IMA office-bearers for talks and assuaged their feelings by publishing an article emphasizing the good work done by the medical profession.
Even when pressure group activity is legitimate, the media must not lose sight of its responsibility to provide equal access to all. If some groups are able to make themselves heard more loudly, worse still if they are able to shut out other legitimate voices, merely because of the physical resources that they command, it will adversely affect the media’s role as the eyes and ears of the society.
Is the media equipped to hold the scales even between contending forces in society? Is it able to distinguish between right influences and wrong influences?
A representative newsroom is the best guarantee of fairness. This is today widely recognized today in the United States, which, after a long period of racial discrimination, turned a new leaf recently by electing a non-white President. India has a much longer history of discrimination but the Indian media has yet to recognize the importance of a representative newsroom.
It was the report of a commission which inquired into two racial riots that prompted the American Society of Newspaper Editors to take up a Diversity project in 1978. The commission had observed that the newspapers, which did not provide fair coverage of racial issues, must share the blame for the social strife. Thanks largely to the ASNE’s strenuous efforts, representation of racial minorities in the US media has improved significantly in the last three decades, and the organization hopes to achieve racial parity by 2025 if not sooner.
In 1998, the ASNE adopted a mission statement which reaffirms its “commitment to racial parity in newsrooms and to full and accurate news coverage of our nation’s diverse communities”.
Robin Jeffrey, in his book “India’s Newspaper Revolution”, mentions that when he asked a Delhi journalist how many Dalits worked in his newspaper, he could not give a ready answer. The journalists later made inquiries and found that there was no Dalit in his paper.
The composition of the newsroom has a bearing on media coverage. The so-called national television channels based in New Delhi provided extensive coverage to the anti-reservation agitation staged by students of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Not far from the site of their agitation, Dalit students mounted a counter-agitation in support of reservation. It did not receive the same attention.
The Indian media must look inward and recognize the need to build representative newsrooms so that it is able to do justice to the various elements that make up the composite society that we live in.
(Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai Lecture delivered at Department of Communication and Journalism,University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, March 25, 2009)
Swadesabhimani K. Ramakrishna Pillai, an all-time great of journalism, belongs to a rare breed of journalists whose resolute assertion of the right of free expression lies at the root of such freedom as the media enjoys today. No right is real unless it can be exercised. No right is real until it is exercised.
In the early years of Independence, the stewardship of the Press was in the hands of a generation of journalists who had grown up in the restrictive atmosphere of World War II, when rigorous censorship was in force. They did not make full use of the freedom of the Press, which became available to journalists as part of .the freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed by the Constitution to all citizens of India.
Since freedom of the Press is part of the freedom of speech and expression, it follows that journalists in India do not have any freedom that is not available to other citizens.
There are occasions when a person who seeks to assert a right is called upon to pay a price. If you are not ready to pay the price, you forfeit that right, and you become an instrument for denying that right to others too. Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai is an editor who cheerfully paid the price that was demanded of him.
Along with the name of the illustrious editor of Swadesabhimani we must remember the name of the equally illustrious owner of that newspaper, Vakkom Abdul Khader Maulavi. The Maulavi had edited Swadesabhimani with distinction for a year before he handed over its stewardship to Ramakrishna Pillai to devote his attention to other publications that he had launched, particularly those seeking to reform the Muslim society.
The relationship between Vakkom Maulavi, the owner, and Ramakrishna Pillai, the editor, denotes an ideal state of affairs, which has not been achieved again in this country since then. That the Dewan was annoyed with Ramakrishna Pillai’s merciless criticism was widely known. When the princely regime assumed the power to extern a subject who incurred its displeasure, everyone knew that Ramakrishna Pillai was the target. He made no effort to buy peace. And Vakkom Maulavi made no effort to restrain his fiercely independent editor.
Ramakrishna Pillai, who was ahead of his time in political thought, lagged behind on a crucial social issue of that period: Dalits’ admission to schools. He was not against giving Dalit children access to education. He favoured setting up of separate schools for them as in his view they were not on the same intellectual level as children of the advanced sections. When he wrote lines to that effect, unknown to him, a young Dalit named Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was making his way through college in Mumbai, beating fellow students of all castes.
That Ramakrishna Pillai was out of step with progressive thought in this respect does not in any way detract from the fact that he was way ahead in political thought.
Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai was not content with teaching himself the tenets of journalism. He sought to disseminate the high principles of the profession widely, as is borne out by two of his many publications -- “Pathradharmam”, a collection of essays, and “Vrithaantha Pathrapravarthanam”, a treatise on journalism.
Early in its history, the Press came to be recognised as an instrument of power. How else could Edmund Burke point to the Press Gallery in the House of Commons in 1790 and say, “yonder sits the fourth estate,” more important than the other three? The use of the term implied that, like the three estates of the realm, the Press was a part of the power structure. In this light, the clash between Dewan of Travancore and the Editor of Swadesabhimani can be seen as a conflict between rival power centres.
Very quickly, the Press went beyond its original mission of gathering and disseminating information, and assumed the role of moulder of public opinion. The power that newspapers enjoy collectively and individually is, in fact, rooted in their ability to influence the public. The greater a newspaper’s capacity to influence its readers the greater the power it wields.
There is no simple formula to determine a newspaper’s ability to influence the public. A large circulation ensures a wide reach but it does not guarantee a correspondingly great ability to influence the reader. Credibility is a critical factor that has a direct bearing on the newspaper’s ability to influence its readers. A newspaper with a high degree of credibility can make a far greater impact than one that may be read more widely but does not enjoy the same measure of credibility. A sad part of the intense competition in both the print media and the electronic media today is that in the eagerness to extend their reach media institutions do not give due importance to the credibility factor.
Since newspapers have the ability to shape public opinion, it is only natural that outside elements should seek to influence them with a view to furthering their interests. The government and organized political, economic and social interests do so routinely. Many of them have public relations outfits whose activities sometimes go beyond acceptable limits and intrude into the realm of media management. Small groups championing specific causes try to cultivate the media to enhance their popular support and improve the chances of success.
It is quite legitimate for an interest group to attempt to enlist media support with a view to moulding public opinion. However, media institutions must be watchful at all times. They must assess, on a continuing basis, the intentions of those who are attempting to influence them and be ready to respond positively or to resist resolutely as is appropriate.
Pressure groups are today recognised as a part of the democratic process. But media institutions must distinguish between groups whose interests are in accord with those of the society and those whose interests are at variance with those of the society. There are groups that offer alternatives to the political process by providing opportunities for expressing opinions and a desire for change. Such groups strengthen the democratic process by giving voice to the voiceless and articulating progressive ideas. They deserve support and encouragement. There are also groups that seek to promote narrow interests which run counter to the wider interests of the society. The media must exercise due caution to avoid playing into their hands.
Apart from the motivation of pressure groups, the methods they employ also merit continuous scrutiny. Good intentions cannot justify wrong methods.
The media has an uneasy relationship with the state at all times. Sometimes the state uses its coercive power crudely, as Travancore state did in Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai’s case. But more often it uses power subtly. Sometimes media institutions and media personnel are brought round by instilling fear.
Apart from the state, political parties and other organised groups also have the ability to pressure media institutions and media personnel. Many parties have bought the loyalty of media persons with no record of political activity by offering them seats in Parliament. Ramnath Goenka went to the Lok Sabha as a Congressman from the Madras state in 1952. He was back in the house in 1971 from Madhya Pradesh as a Bharatiya Jana Singh nominee. The Shiv Sena gifted a Rajya Sabha seat to Pritish Nandy. It will be naïve to imagine that newspaper owners like Goenka and editors like Nandy earned their seats on the strength of political convictions.
There is a popular belief that small media institutions, being financially insecure, are more vulnerable to pressure than large ones. This is not necessarily true. There are many instances of small newspapers standing up to pressure and of big newspapers giving in because they have much to lose.
It is not enough to discuss the influence of pressure groups on the media in terms of first principles. We must take a close look at the conduct of institutions and individuals on both the sides to get a fair picture of ground realities
The Emergency of 1975-77 is a watershed in recent Indian history. It marked a low point – in fact, the lowest point -- in working of the media. The words of L. K. Advani, Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the Janata Party government, on the conduct of the press during the Emergency are still quoted widely. He told media persons: “When asked to bend, you were willing to crawl.”
The Jana Sangh had a daily named “Motherland” in New Delhi before the Emergency. Its editor, K. R. Malkani, a well known ideologue of the Rashtreeya Swayamseval Sangh, was arrested when Emergency was declared and the paper ceased publication. Most of its staff members could not get alternative employment because the newspaper’s known closeness to the RSS. When the Emergency was lifted and the Janata Party, in which the Jana Sangh had merged, came to power, they thought the newspaper would resume publication. As this did not happen, they sought the intervention of the Minister for Information and Broadcasting. Advani told them the party did not feel the need for a newspaper of its own any more as The Indian Express and the Times of India were now available to it. Obviously bending and crawling were not over.
Coming close to home, there is reason to suspect that political pressure played a part in the exit of the Editor of Mathrubhumi, K. Gopalakrishnan. The management’s decision not to give him a fresh contract came after the State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had publicly identified him as a hostile element in the media. The party leader observed later that though the editor had changed the paper’s policy had not. M. P. Veerendrakumar, Managing Director of the newspaper company, said, “Mathrubhumi is not a constituent of the Left Democratic Front”. Veerendrakumar, who is State President of the Janata Dal (S), a constituent of the Left Democratic Front, was clearly insinuating that the CPI (M) had taken away the Lok Sabha seat from Kozhikode, which he had won twice, because it was displeased with the paper.
Wanton use of physical force against the media by the police and by musclemen under the control of various political parties takes place from time to time. Those responsible for such violence are not brought to justice. The ubiquitous television camera makes it easy to identify the miscreants, but the authorities are not keen to use the facility.
Commercial and industrial interests are able to exert financial pressure on the media. Large corporate bodies with huge publicity budgets can and do influence newspapers and television channels. With media institutions unabashedly accepting profit as the sole measure of success, they have acquired more clout than before. Commercial propaganda now finds its way even into the news columns regularly. Some newspapers are ready to let them into the editorial columns too.
Along with political action, such as organized protests, and lobbying, media advocacy forms part of the range of strategies adopted by non-official agencies to achieve their goals. Groups that the people, the authorities and the media recognize as legitimate have greater chances of success than the rest. Civil rights groups, trade unions, and professional associations are among those that are widely recognized and accepted. Sometimes small pressure groups come together to improve their ability to influence decision-making.
Today, all over Kerala, small groups are engaged in campaigns to assert the people’s right to clean air and clean water. Many of them feel that they do not receive adequate media support because of the clout of the powerful commercial interests they are pitted against. Such media attention as they receive is largely the result of individual journalists’ sympathetic attitude to their cause.
There have been some successful environmental campaigns in the State in the recent past. The most notable among them is the campaign that forced the State government to abandon the Silent Valley hydroelectric project. The media played no significant part in it. By and large, they were on the side of the politician-bureaucrat-engineer-trade unionist nexus which made determined efforts to push through the project. More recently campaigners have been able to force the rayon factory at Mavoor near Kozhikode to close down and the soft drinks plant at Plachimada near Palakkad to suspend operations.
There are some inherent problems in the media’s approach to issues of this kind. It is not unusual for corporate giants to press home their natural advantage as big advertisers. Sometimes the media fights shy of honest presentation of facts for fear of reprisal by them. Occasionally media persons carry the fairness principle, which enjoins upon them to balance their reports by giving equal importance to all sides involved in a controversy, to the absurd limit of equating right and wrong.
Like political parties who pander to large groups, viewing them as so many votes, the media too takes numbers into account sometimes, viewing large groups as so many readers or viewers. Such an approach certainly makes commercial sense but the media must remember that it has to subject pursuit of profit to the overriding consideration of upholding the high standards of the journalistic profession.
The manner in which the Indian Medical Association’s Kerala unit forced the largest circulated Malayalam newspaper to heed its voice holds an object-lesson on the relation between the media and organized groups. Annoyed by a Malayala Manorama report, which contained references to unsavoury practices prevalent in the medical profession, the IMA demanded retraction. The newspaper ignored the demand. When even reminders did not fetch a response, the IMA advised doctors in the State to stop buying the newspaper. Over the next few months, about 1,000 doctors subscribing to the Manorama dropped out. Thanks to the newspaper’s close monitoring of market trends, it noticed the development. It called in IMA office-bearers for talks and assuaged their feelings by publishing an article emphasizing the good work done by the medical profession.
Even when pressure group activity is legitimate, the media must not lose sight of its responsibility to provide equal access to all. If some groups are able to make themselves heard more loudly, worse still if they are able to shut out other legitimate voices, merely because of the physical resources that they command, it will adversely affect the media’s role as the eyes and ears of the society.
Is the media equipped to hold the scales even between contending forces in society? Is it able to distinguish between right influences and wrong influences?
A representative newsroom is the best guarantee of fairness. This is today widely recognized today in the United States, which, after a long period of racial discrimination, turned a new leaf recently by electing a non-white President. India has a much longer history of discrimination but the Indian media has yet to recognize the importance of a representative newsroom.
It was the report of a commission which inquired into two racial riots that prompted the American Society of Newspaper Editors to take up a Diversity project in 1978. The commission had observed that the newspapers, which did not provide fair coverage of racial issues, must share the blame for the social strife. Thanks largely to the ASNE’s strenuous efforts, representation of racial minorities in the US media has improved significantly in the last three decades, and the organization hopes to achieve racial parity by 2025 if not sooner.
In 1998, the ASNE adopted a mission statement which reaffirms its “commitment to racial parity in newsrooms and to full and accurate news coverage of our nation’s diverse communities”.
Robin Jeffrey, in his book “India’s Newspaper Revolution”, mentions that when he asked a Delhi journalist how many Dalits worked in his newspaper, he could not give a ready answer. The journalists later made inquiries and found that there was no Dalit in his paper.
The composition of the newsroom has a bearing on media coverage. The so-called national television channels based in New Delhi provided extensive coverage to the anti-reservation agitation staged by students of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Not far from the site of their agitation, Dalit students mounted a counter-agitation in support of reservation. It did not receive the same attention.
The Indian media must look inward and recognize the need to build representative newsrooms so that it is able to do justice to the various elements that make up the composite society that we live in.
(Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai Lecture delivered at Department of Communication and Journalism,University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, March 25, 2009)
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Media Persons In Northeast India : Living On The Edge
By Nava Thakuria
--
Media persons in Assam and Northeast India have to perform their deities under tremendous work load but with low return in terms of salary and other legitimate facilities. The trouble torn region has witnessed a media boom in the last decade, but the media persons including the journalists continued to be the victim of exploitation by their respective employers. Many times, the low patronage from the management put the journalists in most vulnerable situation.
In fact, working in the insurgency stricken- region is becoming increasingly dangerous for the journalists. The ongoing insurgency and unrest among the youth of this region, where over 30 armed outfits had been fighting New Delhi for various demands varying from sovereignty to self rule, put tremendous challenges to the working journalists based in the region. They are subjected to numerous threats from insurgents, surrendered militants and even the anti-insurgent security personnel time to time. The statistics reveal that the trouble torn region, surrounded by Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Burma and Bangladesh has lost over 20 dedicated editor-journalists in last two decades. And surprisingly, not a single perpetuator had been punished till date.
The bygone year witnessed two assassinations of reporters in a single month.. The brutal murders of a Manipur based scribe, Konsam Rishikanta on November 17 in Imphal and an Assamese reporter, Jagajit Saikia by miscreants in Kokrajhar on November 22 came as shocking news for the media fraternity of the region. Condemnations were poured from various international organizations like Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters sans Frontiers, International Federation of Journalists with Editors Guild of India and other Northeast based media persons organizations.
The Journalist's Action Committee, Assam, an umbrella organization of scribes sent a memorandum to the Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil asking for justice. The media rights body also organized a massive protest rally on the premises of Guwahati Press Club on November 25. Soon after the meeting, hundreds scribes and other attendants joined in a procession to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) to hand over the memorandum to the President. Following the callous approach of the DC, the agitating journalists even staged a brief demonstration in front his office.
There is no denying fact that the journalists, who remained vocal against the exploitation faced by the workers in other sectors, have to work in most unsafe ambience. They are denied their due economic benefits recommended by the statutory wage boards constituted by the government and even the relevant labour laws. As most of them work without proper appointment letters, they enjoy little job security. Similarly the insurance coverage for the media persons continued to be awful.
Understanding the importance of such support for the media persons, the pioneer pressmen's organization of the region, Guwahati Press Club has taken a significant initiative. The forum for the working journalists in the prehistoric city has recently appealed the media group owners of the State to provide health and life insurance coverage to their employees. In a formal letter, signed by its secretary and disbursed on January 9, the press club argued that such a benefit would encourage the employees including the journalists to work with more commitment and dedication.
"We observed that not more than 10% journalists and media persons in Assam are being entitled for the benefit of health and life insurance coverage," said in the formal letter to the media groups, adding that they were 'fully aware of the importance of such insurance benefits to media persons in the present socio-political context' of the region. The letter also informed that if for any reason, the managements were not ready to take the initiative immediately, they might join supporting such an attempt to be taken by the press club in the coming days.
The virtual capital of Northeast, Guwahati witnesses the publication of more than 20 morning dailies, half of those are in the Assamese language. Most of the dailies are published from more than one centre, whereas three Assamese daily newspapers claim to enjoy around 1,00,000 circulation. Lately, three satellite Television news channels have emerged from the city, adding hundred more working journalists to the team of the sentinels.
Christian Missionaries initiated journalism in Assam in 1845 with the launch of 'Arunodoi'. Till 1979, the print media in Assam was merely another facet of social work. Two pioneers of Assam, namely RG Barua and Deveswar Sharma, published the dailies Assam Tribune', Dainik Asom' and 'Dainik Janambhumi' till the seventies. The historic Assam agitation in 1980s' changed the social life and living of the Assamese community, which resulted in many new values confronting the people of Assam. Amidst all the turmoil and social chaos, the local media witnessed a rapid boom in Nineties.
Until 1979, newspapers and magazines in Assam were largely focused on social themes, with the editor and the reporter treating journalism as an instrument of social change. The student agitation of the 1980s changed the face of journalism. Print journalism became more aggressive and focused on investigative reportage. Amidst all the turmoil and social chaos, the local media flourished. Today, almost all the prominent Assamese dailies – 'Asomiya Pratidin', 'Dainik Janambhumi', 'Amar Asom', 'Dainik Agradoot', 'Asomiya Khabar', 'Dainik Batori', 'Dainik Janasadharan', 'Dainik Asom', 'Edinor Sangbad', 'Aji' - have multiple editions to reach more readers in remote areas.
Both the print and visual media have created 8,000 direct jobs, and provided indirect employment to 20,000 throughout the state with a population of 26 million. One can guess there are over 500 working journalists in the city, most of whom are associated with Guwahati Press Club.
Though the print media boom is spectacular, there are people, who are apprehensive about the outcome. "We are witnessing the boom since early Nineties, but quality journalism remains elusive in our region. I agree the local media is facing a tough challenge from both national newspapers as well as the electronic media. But still there is room for regional newspapers to play a constructive role in socio-economic growth in this part of India. Unfortunately the existing dailies have failed to make any mark in this respect," says Ajit Patowary, a Guwahati-based journalist.
However Prakash Mahanta, the general secretary of Journalist's Action Committee, Assam makes a different point, "Journalists here have to work under tremendous pressure from the managements. As we do not have different beats in reporting, journalists have to cover all the important issues including political, economical, social, and cultural. So it is quite impossible for a journalist to juggle so many assignments."
A recent meeting at the press club, organized by the representative of National Federation of Newspaper Employees, demanded a basic minimum salary and other economic facilities for the working journalists of Assam. Speakers including Hiten Mahanta, Ranen Kumar Goswami, Mukul Kalita, Naresh Kalita, Pankaj Dutta, Sabita Lahkar (all are Guwahati-based senior journalists) expressed anger at the disappointing condition of the media persons of Assam, where most of them were compelled to work without the relevant facilities, recommended by various provisions including the Indian Labour Act.
"This is very unfortunate that media persons in Assam have to work with a salary starting with even Rs. 2000 with absolutely no job security. Many times, the journalists (including the editors) are used by the proprietors of media groups for their business (other than media) interest. So in such a chaotic situation, we can hardly expect a fair journalism in the State," commented DN Singh, an Assam based senior journalist.
"You can find more than 70 % newspaper employees in Assam, who are deprived of basic minimum facilities such as appointment letter, leave, provident fund, ESI etc," says Rupam Baruah, the president of Journalists' Forum, Assam. He also added, "They are emotionally exploited by the management and subjected to no job security. There is no other way than fighting for our dues as recommended by the statutory wage board."
--
25 January, 2009
Countercurrents.org
--
Media persons in Assam and Northeast India have to perform their deities under tremendous work load but with low return in terms of salary and other legitimate facilities. The trouble torn region has witnessed a media boom in the last decade, but the media persons including the journalists continued to be the victim of exploitation by their respective employers. Many times, the low patronage from the management put the journalists in most vulnerable situation.
In fact, working in the insurgency stricken- region is becoming increasingly dangerous for the journalists. The ongoing insurgency and unrest among the youth of this region, where over 30 armed outfits had been fighting New Delhi for various demands varying from sovereignty to self rule, put tremendous challenges to the working journalists based in the region. They are subjected to numerous threats from insurgents, surrendered militants and even the anti-insurgent security personnel time to time. The statistics reveal that the trouble torn region, surrounded by Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Burma and Bangladesh has lost over 20 dedicated editor-journalists in last two decades. And surprisingly, not a single perpetuator had been punished till date.
The bygone year witnessed two assassinations of reporters in a single month.. The brutal murders of a Manipur based scribe, Konsam Rishikanta on November 17 in Imphal and an Assamese reporter, Jagajit Saikia by miscreants in Kokrajhar on November 22 came as shocking news for the media fraternity of the region. Condemnations were poured from various international organizations like Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters sans Frontiers, International Federation of Journalists with Editors Guild of India and other Northeast based media persons organizations.
The Journalist's Action Committee, Assam, an umbrella organization of scribes sent a memorandum to the Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil asking for justice. The media rights body also organized a massive protest rally on the premises of Guwahati Press Club on November 25. Soon after the meeting, hundreds scribes and other attendants joined in a procession to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) to hand over the memorandum to the President. Following the callous approach of the DC, the agitating journalists even staged a brief demonstration in front his office.
There is no denying fact that the journalists, who remained vocal against the exploitation faced by the workers in other sectors, have to work in most unsafe ambience. They are denied their due economic benefits recommended by the statutory wage boards constituted by the government and even the relevant labour laws. As most of them work without proper appointment letters, they enjoy little job security. Similarly the insurance coverage for the media persons continued to be awful.
Understanding the importance of such support for the media persons, the pioneer pressmen's organization of the region, Guwahati Press Club has taken a significant initiative. The forum for the working journalists in the prehistoric city has recently appealed the media group owners of the State to provide health and life insurance coverage to their employees. In a formal letter, signed by its secretary and disbursed on January 9, the press club argued that such a benefit would encourage the employees including the journalists to work with more commitment and dedication.
"We observed that not more than 10% journalists and media persons in Assam are being entitled for the benefit of health and life insurance coverage," said in the formal letter to the media groups, adding that they were 'fully aware of the importance of such insurance benefits to media persons in the present socio-political context' of the region. The letter also informed that if for any reason, the managements were not ready to take the initiative immediately, they might join supporting such an attempt to be taken by the press club in the coming days.
The virtual capital of Northeast, Guwahati witnesses the publication of more than 20 morning dailies, half of those are in the Assamese language. Most of the dailies are published from more than one centre, whereas three Assamese daily newspapers claim to enjoy around 1,00,000 circulation. Lately, three satellite Television news channels have emerged from the city, adding hundred more working journalists to the team of the sentinels.
Christian Missionaries initiated journalism in Assam in 1845 with the launch of 'Arunodoi'. Till 1979, the print media in Assam was merely another facet of social work. Two pioneers of Assam, namely RG Barua and Deveswar Sharma, published the dailies Assam Tribune', Dainik Asom' and 'Dainik Janambhumi' till the seventies. The historic Assam agitation in 1980s' changed the social life and living of the Assamese community, which resulted in many new values confronting the people of Assam. Amidst all the turmoil and social chaos, the local media witnessed a rapid boom in Nineties.
Until 1979, newspapers and magazines in Assam were largely focused on social themes, with the editor and the reporter treating journalism as an instrument of social change. The student agitation of the 1980s changed the face of journalism. Print journalism became more aggressive and focused on investigative reportage. Amidst all the turmoil and social chaos, the local media flourished. Today, almost all the prominent Assamese dailies – 'Asomiya Pratidin', 'Dainik Janambhumi', 'Amar Asom', 'Dainik Agradoot', 'Asomiya Khabar', 'Dainik Batori', 'Dainik Janasadharan', 'Dainik Asom', 'Edinor Sangbad', 'Aji' - have multiple editions to reach more readers in remote areas.
Both the print and visual media have created 8,000 direct jobs, and provided indirect employment to 20,000 throughout the state with a population of 26 million. One can guess there are over 500 working journalists in the city, most of whom are associated with Guwahati Press Club.
Though the print media boom is spectacular, there are people, who are apprehensive about the outcome. "We are witnessing the boom since early Nineties, but quality journalism remains elusive in our region. I agree the local media is facing a tough challenge from both national newspapers as well as the electronic media. But still there is room for regional newspapers to play a constructive role in socio-economic growth in this part of India. Unfortunately the existing dailies have failed to make any mark in this respect," says Ajit Patowary, a Guwahati-based journalist.
However Prakash Mahanta, the general secretary of Journalist's Action Committee, Assam makes a different point, "Journalists here have to work under tremendous pressure from the managements. As we do not have different beats in reporting, journalists have to cover all the important issues including political, economical, social, and cultural. So it is quite impossible for a journalist to juggle so many assignments."
A recent meeting at the press club, organized by the representative of National Federation of Newspaper Employees, demanded a basic minimum salary and other economic facilities for the working journalists of Assam. Speakers including Hiten Mahanta, Ranen Kumar Goswami, Mukul Kalita, Naresh Kalita, Pankaj Dutta, Sabita Lahkar (all are Guwahati-based senior journalists) expressed anger at the disappointing condition of the media persons of Assam, where most of them were compelled to work without the relevant facilities, recommended by various provisions including the Indian Labour Act.
"This is very unfortunate that media persons in Assam have to work with a salary starting with even Rs. 2000 with absolutely no job security. Many times, the journalists (including the editors) are used by the proprietors of media groups for their business (other than media) interest. So in such a chaotic situation, we can hardly expect a fair journalism in the State," commented DN Singh, an Assam based senior journalist.
"You can find more than 70 % newspaper employees in Assam, who are deprived of basic minimum facilities such as appointment letter, leave, provident fund, ESI etc," says Rupam Baruah, the president of Journalists' Forum, Assam. He also added, "They are emotionally exploited by the management and subjected to no job security. There is no other way than fighting for our dues as recommended by the statutory wage board."
--
25 January, 2009
Countercurrents.org
Friday, 19 December 2008
Covering Iraq is deadliest job for reporters, again
(CNN) -- Iraq proved to be the deadliest beat in the world for reporters for the sixth year in a row, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.The organization's annual year-end analysis tallied 11 journalist deaths this year in Iraq, down from 32 in both 2007 and 2006. Another 22 deaths in Iraq were being investigated to see whether they were work-related.
Those who died in Iraq were local journalists working for domestic news organizations. Among the victims were Shihab al-Tamimi, head of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, who died from injuries sustained in a shooting in Baghdad. Soran Mama Hama, a reporter for Livin magazine, was gunned down in front of his home after reporting on prostitution and corruption in Kirkuk.
Two media support workers died also in Iraq during the year.
Since the Iraq war began in March 2003, 136 journalists and 51 media workers have been killed, the organization said.
CPJ said the decline of deaths in Iraq was largely responsible for bringing down the worldwide death toll. This year, 41 journalists died in the line of duty worldwide, compared with 65 in 2007.
Journalists told the CPJ that they attributed the decline in Iraq to a variety of factors, including an increase in U.S. troop levels, the turning of Sunni tribal leaders against al Qaeda and a declining Western media presence in Iraq, according to the organization.
The organization said the numbers also reflected a shift in global hot spots to Asia and the Caucasus.
Thirteen journalists died covering fighting in the south Asian countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and India, the report said.
Three reporters were killed in Thailand, and another three died in five days of fighting among Georgian, Russian and local forces over the disputed region of South Ossetia.
Seven journalists died covering combat. Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana was killed by an Israeli tank shell in Gaza though he was wearing a jacket marked "Press."
The report said Israeli military authorities said the tank crew acted appropriately.
Mexico is the most dangerous place for reporters in the Americas, the CPJ report said.
On a street in Villahermosa, the capital of the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco, Mexico, radio host Alejandro Zenon Fonseca Estrada was shot dead. Four other Mexican journalists were killed under unclear circumstances during the year, the report said.
Another seven Mexican journalists have been reported missing since 2005.
(Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/18/journalists.killed/index.html)
Those who died in Iraq were local journalists working for domestic news organizations. Among the victims were Shihab al-Tamimi, head of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, who died from injuries sustained in a shooting in Baghdad. Soran Mama Hama, a reporter for Livin magazine, was gunned down in front of his home after reporting on prostitution and corruption in Kirkuk.
Two media support workers died also in Iraq during the year.
Since the Iraq war began in March 2003, 136 journalists and 51 media workers have been killed, the organization said.
CPJ said the decline of deaths in Iraq was largely responsible for bringing down the worldwide death toll. This year, 41 journalists died in the line of duty worldwide, compared with 65 in 2007.
Journalists told the CPJ that they attributed the decline in Iraq to a variety of factors, including an increase in U.S. troop levels, the turning of Sunni tribal leaders against al Qaeda and a declining Western media presence in Iraq, according to the organization.
The organization said the numbers also reflected a shift in global hot spots to Asia and the Caucasus.
Thirteen journalists died covering fighting in the south Asian countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and India, the report said.
Three reporters were killed in Thailand, and another three died in five days of fighting among Georgian, Russian and local forces over the disputed region of South Ossetia.
Seven journalists died covering combat. Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana was killed by an Israeli tank shell in Gaza though he was wearing a jacket marked "Press."
The report said Israeli military authorities said the tank crew acted appropriately.
Mexico is the most dangerous place for reporters in the Americas, the CPJ report said.
On a street in Villahermosa, the capital of the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco, Mexico, radio host Alejandro Zenon Fonseca Estrada was shot dead. Four other Mexican journalists were killed under unclear circumstances during the year, the report said.
Another seven Mexican journalists have been reported missing since 2005.
(Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/18/journalists.killed/index.html)
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