India’s elections, which in mid-2009 brought 415 million voters to the 1.18 million ballot units in 834,944 polling stations and were mostly peaceful, may be one of the wonders of the world. But it is widely understood that in 2009 the free, fair, and democratic attributes of these elections have been compromised as never before by the large-scale, illegal, and scandalous use of money power — which, to a considerable extent, involved recycled dirty money garnered through corruption in executive and legislative office. The role of the Election Commission of India in curbing booth capturing, intimidation of voters, and some other kinds of electoral fraud has won public appreciation. But as P. Sainath points out in his article, “The medium, message and the money,” published in The Hindu on October 26, 2009, “it is hard to find a single instance of rigorous or deterrent action” by the ECI in the face of such a serious danger to the democratic process. That is a large question that needs to be addressed in depth and in all its complexity by the various players in the political system.
The new shame is the extensive and brazen participation of not insignificant sections of the news media, notably large-circulation Indian language newspapers in two of India’s largest States, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, in this genre of corruption -- which a politician speaking at a Hyderabad media seminar memorably characterised as a “Cash Transfer Scheme” from politicians to journalists. Sainath’s article exposes the phenomenon of “coverage packages” exploding across India’s most industrialised State during the recent Assembly election. Candidates paid newspapers different rates for well-differentiated and streamlined packages of news coverage. Those who could not or would not pay for the packages tended to be blacked out. The Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists has, on the basis of a sample survey conducted in West Godavari district, estimated that newspapers across the State netted Rs. 350 crore to Rs. 400 crore through editorial coverage sold to candidates during the 2009 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Some candidates even recorded the expenditure incurred in purchasing editorial coverage in their official accounts submitted to the ECI. With some senior journalists drawing its attention to this new-fangled cash transfer scheme in Andhra Pradesh, the Press Council of India has constituted a two-member committee to inquire into the matter. What to do about such a shocking breach of readers’ trust (which is unlikely to be confined to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra) by the so-called Fourth Estate will form the subject of a follow-up editorial.
Keywords: journalism, India elections, Election Commission of India, Fourth Estate, Press Council of India, politicians, journalists
Is this another report which will generate many column inches, but no action, and will the citizens of India continue to be short-changed by various govt agencies, as always?
I was a keen reader of the Times but recently i switched to The Hindu and i'm glad i did as i don't see other newspapers that will cover issues such as corruption within journalism. Keep up the good work guys!
I thank The Hindu for raising this debate through recent articles.While we are discussing here illegitimate advertisement during political campaign, the malice spreads beyond. Recently I have watched the electronic media overtly planting interview and news items for promoting films and cinema.Perhaps there are no legal remedies to these sins. I wish such articles take names of the publisher,columnists and editors. It may not be good enough to just to name the magazine or channel.
The Hindu, the Great! It is a well known fact that journalism is placed on sale, particularly prior to the General and State Elections. The dilemma has been, who should bell the cat? The Hindu, you have done it, Keep It Up! There is someone listens to the soul. You are the one. What has been the Election Commission Doing? People stand cheated under the garb of Observers Monitoring Polls. In such people are monitoring other things but polls. Have they ever reported to ECI about such phenomenae? Therefore, The Hindu: keep a track of all such events, bring it to public knowledge as well as the ECI. Press Council of India might have set up its Committee to investigate, there are methods and means to defeat it. It is a big fraud on peoples'trust.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for coming out with this article. Paid journalists are a real cancer to our society. Please keep on fighting against them
Brilliant exposure by The Hindu.
That the ECI blindly accepted the expenditure in purchasing editorial coverage in the official accounts submitted by some of the candidates
without any kind of scrutiny does not redound to the credit of that august body whose approach to the whole matter leaves a lot to be desired.It will also be interesting to know the findings of the
Committee appointed by the Press Council of India to inquire into the sordid affair.The participation of some large-circulation Indian
Language newspapers does tend to give the whole fourth estate not a very good name.
Patriotic citizens must form groups similar to some NGOs to bring pressure on the PCI, the ECI, MPs, MLAs and newspapers and the Editors’ Guild to do their duties in nation’s interests. Voters must be inspired not only to vote in large numbers, but also to vote after studying required politics.
The groups must hold periodical debates on issues of nation’s interests involving as many citizens as possible. Most of the people say that politics is the last resort of the scoundrel. They must be told the reason that because most of the people shy away from discussion on politics, that it becomes that way. The groups must start a newspaper on a co-operative basis and as many persons as possible must be inspired to participate in that. The groups should watch and prevent the sale of journalism. Senior educated citizens must take a lead in forming such groups. The groups must persuade governments to see that newspapers devote at least 10 % of its space for readers’ views rather misusing all the space for imposing managements’ or editors’ views on readers. Newspapers must be made to follow a code of conduct. At present there is a code of conduct, but the PCI, often, dos not strictly enforce it. The groups must watch the PCI and see to it that newspapers violating the norms and journalistic code of conduct are refused advertisements by governments.
These are inherent problems with democracy. People will try to en-cash every situation. Media too is managed by members of the public only. With the introduction of so many channels and the stiff competition to gain viewership, many are going unethical.
JOURNALISM FOR SALE infact is not new.From the moment News media has gone into the hands of people with vested interests,journalists have sold their soul to the managements and written against a political party or a politition as dictated by owners.Why then suddenly this foul cry.Now that the change is that the journalists have started making money by writing who ever sponsors such stories. The same journalist resorts to write contradictory stories . One can see in this foul cry ,again a sinister move on the part of managements as some journalist gone against the brief from managements and planted stories in their papers which are against their interests.
The Election Commission should put down rules about what disclosures must accompany paid articles, in a way similar to how foodstuffs are packaged with nutrition information.
For example, some language like, "this article was paid for by Party XYZ" must appear before the byline.
Then readers of the articles can judge for themselves whether they want to believe what is being written.
There should be an independent probe into media-politician nexus in all States in the country. RTIs would be useful to find out who pays whom and for what.
Jigme N Kazi
Editor, Sikkim Observer
"Pen is mightier than sword and the ink is holier than a martyrs blood"
should not become a mere slogan. At least we have few dailies to expose the reality.
I would like to share my experience here. During the poll season I was sending blogs regularly highlighting the atrocious nature of few parties. I received a mail asking me to join in their bandwagon and to write topics given by them and, there was a note that I would be appropriately paid. There was also an intimidation to stop writing if I refuse the offer. But I continued my mission.
This is the lure for an unknown writer like me.
Shafee Ahmed Ko Chennai
Atleast there a paper , who speakes about media politics.......
Keep it up THE HINDU
Yes, truly it is just the tip of the iceberg. I am looking forward to the follow up editorial, for the solution. But I personally believe that the problem is fairly simple - Delineate 'News agencies' and 'Information agencies'. And bring in a law, which strengthens and safeguards the constitutional objective of the 'Fourth Estate'.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be long before market economics reduces it to the 'Media Estate' - a mouthpiece of Mammon.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. It is not confined to the 2009 election alone. It is doubtful if the ECI or PCI can do anything effective. Only a higher political consciousness among newspaper readers would be able to deter the perpetrators. That, unfortunately, takes a lot of time.
The editorial is as bold as the article written by Mr. Sainath and minces no words in exposing the debasement and degeneration in the 'noble' Fourth Estate. 'Cash-for-transfer' expression speaks volumes of the malaise. It also explains about 'gifted jounalists' and 'noted journalists' and the like. The very meaning of 'gifted' and 'noted' changes when news reports and stories look like patent plants to achieve specific agenda. It is 'commissioned' journalism as different from public service journalism.
Not only in the 2009 elections but also in the elections held earlier the misuse of man, money and muscle power were taken to the notice of the ECI. Photos were published in the fourth estate about the distribution of money to the voters. But no action was taken about the defaulters. This clearly shows that the ECI is either not allowed to function as an independent body or it is a puppet in the hands of politicians. This is not good for a healthy democracy. This trend should go on. ECI should take bold and stringent action against politicians who indulge in malpracties to clinch power. A strong ECI is sure to bring down corruption during elections. On the other hand the ECI should also be armed with more powers.
The 'editorial scam" indulged by the fourth estate is a fraud committed on the people in general and the people of this country in particular. It is a negation of democracy.
The article "Journalism for sale" in The Hindu, Oct 30,2009 rightly points out the sale of print and electronic media to politicians. It is true that shrewd politicians are not leaving any stone unturned to win elections. Though the article didn't mention unscrupulous alliances of media to particular political groups but it is very ubiquitous in today's politics. The Hindu should be appreciated for its non-alignment to political parties or personalities even in these days where politicians can bulldoze anybody on their way.
The Election Commission of India's website states this : "The Election Commission appoints a large number of Observers to ensure that the campaign is conducted fairly, and that people are free to vote as they choose. Election expenditure Observers keeps a check on the amount that each candidate and party spends on the election."
The gross failure of institutions like the ECI and the media in checking the corrupt practices is what diminishes a citizen's faith in democracy.Shame on them!
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