The Hidden Hand

There is a hidden hand behind a spate of “resignations” by prominent media personalities and it is not difficult to see who it belongs to. Hindustan Times editor-in-chief Bobby Ghosh, brought in by owner Shobhna Bhartia from the US, was told to resign days after he launched a page which tracked hate crimes. The Tribune editor Harish Khare “resigned” days after his paper’s sensational exposé of a security flaw in the Aadhaar database. The latest to join their ranks are Milind Khandekar (right), managing editor of ABP News, and the channel’s celebrity anchor, Punya Prasun Bajpai (left). Their resignations are believed to be connected to attempts by the central government to black out the channel’s flagship programme, Masterstroke, anchored by Bajpai. Khandekar was responsible for the channel’s recent coverage that had angered the Modi government. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had reacted angrily to the channel’s coverage of Chhattisgarh suggesting that the PM’s interaction with local women was choreographed. Chandramani Kaushik from Chhattisgarh had told Modi in her interaction with the PM that her agricultural income had doubled after she switched from cultivating paddy to custard apple (sitafal) farming. However, a report telecast by Masterstroke on ABP News had interviewed the same woman, who claimed that officials from Delhi had arrived to tutor her before her interaction with PM Modi, to falsely claim doubling of income. Since that day, viewers had complained that they were facing difficulties in watching the programme. Journalist Akash Banerjee tweeted: “So @milindkhandekar finally quits…This is what you call a #Masterstroke by the powers that lord over India…”

Survival Strategy

The print media in India is facing a crisis with the recent hike in newsprint prices which has meant an extra annual burden of Rs 4,600 crore for the industry. Several factors have contributed to the crisis—increase in raw material cost, fall of the Indian rupee against the US dollar and China imposing a ban on import of paper waste. The sharp rise in newsprint prices in the last few weeks is a major worry since newsprint represents nearly 30-40% of the total spend by the print media. The price rise has been in the region of over 50%. This time last year, the US dollar rate was Rs 64.16. Today, it is close to Rs 70. China also suddenly took a decision to slap a ban on import of paper waste for environmental reasons—much of it was from India. Most print companies are now looking at new revenue streams—events, cost cutting, and the latest, private treaties with clients to offset the reduction in advertising. HT Media’s recent announcement of its Q1 2019 consolidated results has shown an 86% drop in its net profit. In a recent note to the Press Council of India, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cautioned: “Many media groups are entering into these agreements called Private Treaties with companies which are listed or coming out with a public offer, for a stake in the company and in return providing media coverage through news, reports, editorials, etc.”

When it’s a question of survival, even the media can forget its calling.

House Calls

After the murder of Gauri Lankesh, and the three other journalists killed in suspicious circumstances in the line of duty in Bihar, Gujarat and Tripura, alarm bells went off in media circles. Organisations like the Editor’s Guild and Press Council of India registered strong protests. However, here’s the twist in the tale: in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said that the government has no data on the number of journalists killed because the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) does not collate that. Here’s the twist: Two months earlier, the same minister, speaking in the Rajya Sabha, said there had been 90 attacks on journalists over 2015-17. That information is in the public domain as well—UNESCO puts out such data as do many global organisations like Reporters Without Borders and the Press Freedom Index. The NCRB has been collecting data on attacks on scribes since 2014 but clearly chose to keep the figures secret, or else Ahir has more respect for the upper house than the lower one.