As a media professional and a media watcher – i can’t help but be deeply disappointed & disillusioned by the conduct of the media over the last 5+ years. It is almost as though they have collectively sold out.

that disillusionment became anger with the coverage of 26/11 – I believe, and that belief has been vindicated by the David Headley trial – that irresponsible media coverage aided the terrorists and cost Indian lives. I did the only things I could – wrote about it, taught about it, and I stopped watching news.

As someone working in the media – one always knew that “paid news” existed – but there were clear rules. it was ok for page 3 parties and separate supplements. It needed to be demarcated.  Rumours had beguan almost 12 years ago about film reviews being purchased. I know good people who have lost jobs for honest reviews. we laughed and said – who cares about film reviews in any case — it is trivial in the greater scheme of things. But, silence  about the basic erosion of values – becames a cascade before you realised it…

And, that cascade was the Paid News phenomenon vis-a-vis elections … There was a scandal. there was an inquiry. There was a report. and that report got suppressed. Not by the Government but by the media itself.

It amused me to see all the smugness while Indian newspapers reported on the News of the world – that paper crossed the line and was shut down. Who will shut you down ??

And that is essentially is my  column in today’s DNA

Why did the News of the World tap and bug, generally break the law and invade privacy? Primarily to break stories before their competitors could. More sensation means more subscribers. More subscribers means more advertisers. And more advertisers means more revenue, and hopefully more profits. The thing to remember is despite their protestations to the contrary, the media is a business. And like all other businesses it is driven by the profit motive. If it isn’t profit driven — unless it finds a very rich patron with lots of money to burn — it will shut down. And, this holds for the media in India as well.

In India, the news media at large has been hit by a series of bolts. The paid news issue and Radia Tapes are two of the most prominent not talked about issues in the Indian media. The former was about news companies taking money to run news, and the latter was about news personalities using their clout to try and subvert the working of the government of India. Of the two, the paid news scandal is worse, because it is all pervasive — from the smallest newspaper to the largest news channel. There are few in the media who have the kind of clout that is needed to influence government, in the manner in which it was revealed in the Radia Tapes.

The paid news scandal is very simply about journalists and news media owners asking for money from politicians participating in the electoral process for favourable coverage in their newspapers and news channel

So? what is the penalty for being ‘bikaoo’  – and what right do these people have to question anyone ?? seriously.

the buried Press Council report on Paid news can be found here.