Offstumped – Commentary on Indian Politics

Karnataka Home Minister Dr. VS Acharya has set the cat amongst the pigeons with his proposal to constitute an Ombudsman for the Media in Karnataka.

What we want is that the media should be responsible while reporting any issue. The media first gives judgment and then verifies facts. To stop such premature reporting, we are considering creating an ombudsman.

The proposal which is merely an idea at this stage has provoked predictable reactions from the media

No government in the last 60 years in the state has put a gag on the media. But the BJP government, after coming to power just eight months ago, is planning to curtail the freedom of the press?

With even a retired Judge MF Saldanha joining the debate

“An ombudsman is equivalent to Lok Ayukta and is a statutory post. The government cannot set up a second ombudsman on any nature,” he said.

Addressing reporters here on Monday, Saldanha likened the idea of ombudsman by Acharya to watch over the media in Karnataka to the press censorship imposed during the Emergency. The legally designated body to control the press is the Press Council of India (PCI), Saldanha said and added that no government can set any body that infringes on the right of the PCI or undermines its authority.

So what exactly does the Press Council do ?

In its own words

It is a statutory, quasi judicial body which acts as a watchdog of the press. It adjudicates the complaints against and by the press for violation of ethics and for violation of the freedom of the press respectively

 So how relevant is the Press Council of India, in this day and age of electronic media and the Internet where news is reported, fabricated, colored, disseminated and critiqued at the speed of light ?

Well at least at first glance, it is clear that the Press Council of India is an antiquated anachronism. While it has a token website most of the content seems to be frozen in time with no updates after 2007.

While the website specifies a process for filing a complaint it is clear that it pertains only to “Newspapers” which in itself is not saying much for every newspaper these days is not just an Internet News Portal and a Social Networking Forum of instant weblogs but is also a multi-media news channel via YouTube and other video distribution sites.

The website also does not provide an electronic means to submit a complaint nor the means to track the status of a complaint. The Annual report however provides details of complaints adjudicated, a cursory sampling of which confirms that the Press Council’s ambit is limited to the “Print Medium” and does not include either the electronic media or the Internet Portals of newspapers.

So one can safely say that despite Justice Saldanha’s bluster on “freedom of press” the Press Council of India,is neither setup nor capable of dealing with Media Bias in this era of 24×87 news channels and instant dissemination of breaking news via the Internet.

In fact the “Objects and Functions of the Press Council” laid out in Chapter III of the PCI Act of 1978 make it abundantly clear that its focus is limited to the print media and news agencies that disseminate news to the print media.

Objects and functions of the Council

13. ( 1 ) The objects of the Council shall be to preserve the freedom of the Press and to maintain and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India.

(2) The Council may, in furtherance of its objects, perform the following functions, namely :

(a) to help newspapers and news agencies to maintain their independence;

(b) to build up a code of conduct for newspapers, news agencies and journalists in accordance with high professional standards;

(c) to ensure on the part of newspapers, news agencies and journalists, the maintenance of high standards of public taste and foster a due sense of both the rights and responsibilities of citizenship;

(d) to encourage the growth of a sense of responsibility and public service among all those engaged in the profession of journalism;

(e) to keep under review any development likely to restrict the supply and dissemination of news of public interest and importance;

(f) to keep under review cases of assistance received by any newspaper or news agency in India from any foreign source including such cases as are referred to it by the Central Government or are brought to its notice by an individual, association of persons or any other organisation.

Provided that nothing in this clause shall preclude the Central Government from dealing with any case of assistance received by a newspaper or news agency in India from any foreign source in any other manner it thinks fit;

(g) to undertake studies of foreign newspapers, including those brought out by any embassy or other representative in India of a foreign State, their circulation and impact.

5 of 1908

Explanation- For the purpose of this clause the expression “foreign State” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 87A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908;

(h) To promote a proper functional relationship among all classes of persons engaged in the production or publication of newspapers or in news agencies.

14 of 1947

Provided that nothing in this clause shall be deemed to confer on the Council any functions in regard to disputes to which the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, applies;

(i) to concern itself with developments such as concentration of or other aspects of ownership of newspapers and news agencies which may affect the independence of the Press;

(j) to undertake such studies as may be entrusted to the Council and to express its opinion in regard to any matter referred to it by the Central Government;

(k) to do such other acts as may be incidental or conducive to the discharge of the above functions.

A cursory reading of the above list ought to make it clear that this enabling Law is antiquated and the Press Council as a watchdog has lost its relevance in the Information Age of 21st century. Yet the media and some “so called legal experts” think they can hoodwink us by trying to pass off the Press Council of Media as being an adequate check on media bias.

While the conduct of the media has been shameful and clearly prejudiced and an Ombudsman is very much in order, Offstumped does not believe that the Ombudsman ought to be an agent of the State. While welcoming Dr VS Acharya’s mooting of the debate on media bias, Offstumped believes that any Ombudsman ought to be an agent of the people.

This can be done in one of many ways. Many newspapers have created the role of a Public Editor as an Independent ombudsman to adjudicate on questions of bias. Private entities in the United States routinely track and measure Media Bias in a competitive landscape. 

All of this however is unlikely to completely eliminate Media Bias as is abdundantly clear in the manner in which most media in the United States conducted itself through the Presidential Campaign recently. The ultimate weapon against Media, is the freedom of Consumers to choose one outlet over the other. It is precisely this freedom that has seen the rise of Talk Radio and Fox News as an alternative to what is perceieved as Leftist bias in the American Media.

While  media bias is something we may have to live with, it is far better to have a biased media that is honest and transparent about its partisanship rather than a sanctimonious media that attempts to pass off its bias as moral correctness.  Unfortunately the Indian Media lacks the courage and conviction to come clean on its deeply held prejudices and hidden political agenda. But another State appointed Ombudsman may not be the answer.

Offstumped would like to appeal to Dr VS Acharya to not waste the BJP Government’s energy in the pursuit of creating another agency of the State to check Media Bias, but instead he must encourage Citizen’s groups to bring pressure on Media Outlets as consumers of news to evolve a code of conduct and to create private media watchdogs to call out Media Bias as and when it happens.

Filed under: betrayal of aam admi, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, CNN-IBN Boycott, DesiPundit, jeetega-bharat, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Manmohan Confidence Vote, Uncategorized