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‘Radia Media' colloquium raises issues of ethics, privacy

The ethics of journalists involving themselves with corporate lobbyists, questions relating to the authenticity of the Radia tapes, the motives behind the release of the phone recordings, the initial silence of the mainstream media, concerns of privacy, and the role of social and online media were among the issues that came to the fore during a colloquium, ‘Radia Media,' organised by the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) here on Wednesday.

While the collective verdict on the involvement of journalists was that the behaviour was indefensible, students also drew the concerns raised by those media-persons into the debate.

Was there sufficient authentication of the source of the tapes, and enough verification before publication, students asked. Responding to this, Hartosh Singh Bal, Political Editor of Open magazine, which first released the phone recordings, said: “Who made the tapes did not matter. What you need to do is inform the public, and that itself is in the public interest.”

Mr. Bal said it was important to judge the story on journalistic merit, irrespective of whether there were vested interests.

N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, said it was not professional to attribute motives to the publication of information. The Radia tapes provided raw material, such as that WikiLeaks was providing now. “It is preposterous for a professional journalist to claim you cannot place raw material out there,” he said.

Online medium

Students of ACJ's new media stream pointed out that in the days immediately after the exposé, there were more bloggers and online reports commenting on the role of the journalists. Even those working with mainstream newspapers chose only their organisation's website to voice their opinion on the controversy, they pointed out. Does freedom from the pressures of advertisement interests on editorial content make the online medium a better forum for breaking news stories, the students asked.

Mr. Bal said that in India, the Internet was as yet unregulated. If advertisement interests have prevented a newspaper from covering the issue, it would only be a matter of time before that control is extended to the blogs on their website as well.

Mr. Ram said that a sense of kinship among journalists and a sense of competition among different media organisations could have been reasons for the initial silence in the mainstream media. The reach of the TV and print media was much greater, in the Indian context, considering that the number of Internet users was low.

Media corporatisation

With the focus turning to corporatisation of the media, and the importance of revenue models in mainstream media's editorial content, Mr. Ram pointed out that newspapers depend on advertisements for up to 85 per cent of their revenues. However, the editorial policy finally decided on what could be published, and what line could be taken.

Mr. Bal said it was impossible for any advertiser or corporate lobby to completely suppress the media. There will be organisations, newspapers that would go ahead and carry the story irrespective of advertisement or corporate pressures.

J. Gopikrishnan, special correspondent, Pioneer, who was among the panellists at the colloquium, earlier said he had been at the 2G spectrum exposé for nearly two years with very little response, before the Radia tapes burst on the scene and grabbed the attention of the entire nation.

Kevin Geary, BBC consultant at ACJ, raised a question on the legal process that allows wiretapping of telephone conversations, even as he drew a parallel between the publication of spending by Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom and the Radia tapes.

On the question why journalists involved in the conversations did not publish the story, Sashi Kumar, chairman of ACJ, said that while the pressures of 24-hour journalism might have prevented immediate publication or broadcasting, there was no defence for not having carried the story subsequently.

The overwhelming conclusion of the colloquium was that the Radia tapes, while bringing into question several ethical questions of media practice, would definitely provide an opportunity to introspect, reassess and actually strengthen the media.