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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Link By Link, A Chain For Watchdogs-Anuradha Raman

Link By Link, A Chain For Watchdogs-Anuradha Raman

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published Published on Mar 31, 2013   modified Modified on Mar 31, 2013
-Outlook


The UPA government seems too keen on giving the press council what Katju seeks

Powerful Enough?

Among the powers the PCI now wields are the following:

Power to censure, warn and admonish on receipt of a complaint, after giving the publication a chance to be heard
The same powers as a civil court to summon and enforce attendance, examine persons under oath
Can direct publications to publish apology or particulars of an inquiry
Lay down norms for reporting

Besides, there are some 30 Acts governing the work of journalists

***

In these times when political estrangement is in fashion, Press Council of India (PCI) chairman Markandey Katju and MoS for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari make for compatible bedfellows. Within days of assuming office 18 months ago, the former Supreme Court judge had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On behalf of a statutory body created to "preserve the freedom of the press" and "mainta­in and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies", Katju was seeking more powers. And presto! Tewari, who's been at I&B since Oct­o­ber, has told the Rajya Sabha that the UPA government is considering giving the PCI more teeth by amending the 1978 Act that governs it. A government on its last legs tinkering with a press law ena­­cted in the post-Emergency years...the tone, tenor and timing, the echoes of a similar lurch towards regulation in Britain last week, all sounds sinister.

If the proposals get the approval of the council's 28 members and also Par­li­a­m­ent, the PCI will get a serious leg-up from being a "toothless regulator". It will get to adjudicate on violations of "ethical standards" and "public taste"-nebulous entities at the best of times. It will play judge, jury and executioner.

If the proposals are cleared, the PCI will get the power to:

suspend distribution of publications for specified periods;
suspend the accreditation of individual editors/journalists;
temporarily suspend the registration of publications;
ask government to stop giving ads to repeat offenders;
impose fines on erring publications and journalists.

It is a major shot in the arm for Katju, who has consistently held that self-regulation is not workable and has repeatedly riled publishers and journalists with his loose comments. He started off his innings by asserting that "the majority of media people are of poor intellectual level" (he has since expressed regret to the Indian Newspapers Soc­i­ety). More recently, he has talked of minimum qualifications for journalists.

However, what is at hand is the more serious issue of policy. And the big concern is whether the UPA government, which has battled a perception problem owing to slew of scams and scandals in its second term, has, in an election year, quietly outsourced the task of reining in the media to a more-than-willing PCI, whose chief has from day one thirsted for an expansion of his reach to include television.

Most journalists caution against granting sweeping powers to the PCI. The council, they say, is already empowered to guide the press has powers that need to be exercised. And there are at least three dozen, if not more, laws, both civil and criminal, that apply to journalists. So is there really any need for more laws? K.S. Sachidananda Murthy, resident editor in Delhi of The Week and one of two industry members on the PCI, says, "It's worrying that what is ensh­rined in the Constitution-freedom of expression-is being tampered with." Veteran editor S. Nihal Singh adds: "To empower the press council at a time when its chairman loves to be in the public eye, and specially when no one takes him seriously, would not be a wise move. The move to empower the council needs to be debated."

Most other journalists, too, cautioned against the move: they say that the council, as it is, has enough powers. While the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, Article 19 (1)(a) also imposes limits on that freedom. Journalists do not enjoy any special privileges or immunities, so they are not immune from existing laws. From time to time, the council sets guidelines for reporting on sensitive matters.

Says Pradeep Phanjoubam, editor, Imphal Free Press, "Not many know of the pressures that newspapers work under, especially in insu­rgency-prone areas." The PCI has no representation from such zones, save for one. "If, for instance, we publish a report from an anti-national organisation under pressure and the editor's accreditation is cancelled, how does one justifiy the action without an understanding of the issue?" he asks. As it is, governments have unilaterally frozen ads to critical newspapers in Kashmir without a squeak from the mainland.

"If I am not mistaken," says A.T. Jayanti, chief editor of the Deccan Chronicle, "the PCI Act already allows the council to recommend that governments stop advertising in media groups that violate ethics of journalism. It was invoked against a leading daily as it had stopped attending the council's hearings. But there is no need to get needlessly agg­ressive and controversial and debar journalists or suspend accreditations. I doubt the move will find much support even with members of the ruling party. And Katju's demand for basic qualification defies imagination as freedom of expression and speech does not hinge on your educational qualifications."

Rajeev Sabade, a member of the committee set up by Katju to examine the feasibility of prescribing minimum qua­lifications, says, "It is desirable to have eligibility criteria for every journalist though it is a fact that there have been many journalists without any formal education in journalism but exc­elled in this profession." He says the fact that it is easy to register a newspaper makes it possible for people with all sorts of motives to take up media work. He also spoke of how, in Maharashtra, when journalists were under attack and needed to be protected, the government said it had no legal means to decide who was a genuine journalist. Though this protective role has been assigned to the PCI, some editors feel that under Katju, it does not seem to be working enough to uphold freedom of expression and instead seeks to exert control.

Says K.N. Tilak Kumar, editor of the Deccan Herald and the current president of INS, "The letter and spirit of the statutes governing the council is that this quasi-judicial body has to work with media organisations to promote and ensure high standards of journalism. As an independent body, the council is required to work with and for the press to regulate itself. Any other way of looking at the council's role can seriously compromise the freedom of the press, which is a cornerstone of functional democracies around the world." But Kumar also states that while there is nothing wrong in Katju's thinking out loud, he doesn't need to exchange notes with the government. "I am not sure if in the present instance the chairman's articulations are a reflection of the council's thinking on the issue."

Vijay Naik, a PCI member, general secretary of the Editors' Guild and consulting editor with Sakal, says: "Twenty years ago, a view was taken that there should be a difference bet­ween a police chowki and the PCI and the council was empowered to admonish, warn and ask the government to stop ads to papers which refused to comply when found violating the code of ethics." But many are in no doubt that Katju and Tewari's efforts will turn the PCI into a police chowki.

Urmilesh, who anchors Media Manthan on Rajya Sabha TV, a programme that debates ethics in journalism, thinks more important matters are being missed. "This is a kneejerk res­ponse to a deeper crisis afflicting media credibility, one that will not go away by merely laying down the requisite qualifications for journalists. There are serious issues of ownership of the media that nobody wants to raise." While the government mulls over its options, in Britain, the move to set up a regulatory body following the recommendations of the Leveson inquiry committee which enquired into the phone-hacking scandal is being vigorously opposed by the press (see box on pages 8-9).

Former editor and MP H.K. Dua says, "The PCI needs powers to implement its decisions but they have to be deb­ated first. Also, the teeth should not bite into the freedom of the press." Katju probably wants to say that the teeth are only for showing. He is entitled to his views but there are doubts that he might be articulating the government's position and aiming to fulfil the government's dream.

By Anuradha Raman in Delhi

Outlook, 8 April, 2013, http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?284676


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