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Media Ethics The Study of Indian Medias Reporting on India, Pakistan and the U.S. News

By Shambhu Sharan

Professor Nann Goplerud Mayborn School of Journalism University of North Texas JOUR 5310-002 Fall 2011
1. Background and Overview of India in comparison to the U.S.

2 India is socially, culturally, politically and religiously very diverse than the U. S. India has many social, economic and political problems, such as: dowry, caste, poverty, terrorism and violence. As India is a developing country, it has diverse culture, race and ethnicity. Many Indians work in the United States and consider it to be a place of opportunity. Although Hindi is the national language of India, many people do not speak the language. However, they speak their regional languages, which are dozens. English is the link language of the South and North India. According to cia.gov, India has 80.5% Hindus, 13.4% Muslims, 1.9% Sikhs and 1.9% others. Its total population is 1,189,172,906 as of July 2011. According to the Census of India in 2011, India ranks second among the worlds most populated countries. The BBCs Supriya Menon analyzed the disparity between two different India's in her reports on November 30, 2011. According to the UNs Human Development report 42% of Indias population live on less than $1.25 a day, which is the international poverty line. Compare to this combine wealth Indias Forbes lists 100 richest people who have $241 billion wealth. Disparity is obvious (BBC, 2011). According to the BBC, India remains one of the world's fastest growing economies, even though growth is still elusive for many tens of

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millions. This means poverty remains a huge challenge for the government. The structural biases of the development process favored urban areas over rural ones, metropolitan areas over other urban areas, English-speaking over those speaking other Indian languages, the middle and upper classes over the others who constitute the vast majority of Indians and the service sectors over other areas such as agriculture (Ansari, 2011). Newspapers were the main source of information before Indias independence and the British rulers regulated it. At present, the main source of news comes from the radio, television, newspapers and magazines. Many do not use social media and online news because they do not have computers. The Indian laws govern printing and publishing of newspapers, periodicals, magazines and journals. New Delhi is the head office of the Office of the Registrar to registering the print media. Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai are the regional offices. On July 1, 1956, the Office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India came to an effect on the recommendation of the First Press Commission in 1953 by amendment of the Press and Registration of Books Act 1867 (rni.nic.in). The diplomatic relations with the U.S. is now stronger, after the breakup of the former Soviet Union. India has been in conflict with Pakistan over disputed Kashmir, as both countries try to claim it. India and Pakistan fought several wars. China and India also had a war in 1962 (Time.com, 2010). 3

4 2. Historical Backgrounds of India and Pakistan India became free from the United Kingdom on August 1947. One day before its independence, Pakistan was separated from India and became a Muslim country. Indian leaders chose to follow as a secular democratic country. Before British came to India, Muslim kings ruled the country for a few hundred years. Hindus are the major population of India. The Muslims population is the second largest population. The Indian laws protect the Muslims as minorities. Hindus are divided among its castes, a ranking system. Indian and Pakistani media are biased when they report news about each other. The Indian media mostly publishes in Hindi, some in English and other regional languages. 3. Indian Medias Ethical Dilemmas Indian media has many ethical issues dealing with international and domestic issues. The BBC radio is very popular in India. People from villages gather and listen to the radio, then discuss about it. The BBC has online news in different languages for different countries, so it is well trusted within India. Although British corporation owns the radio, local people are hired for the radio stations. It also publishes online news and radio. The BBC Hindi focuses more in international news. However, the CNNs primary focus is local American news. Mr. Justice G. N. Ray, chairman of Press Council of India said, The greatest threat that the Indian press faces at present as a result of the globalization, is market driven economy. Serious decline in news values, lack of interest in real issues, sensationalism, trivialization, profit motive, consumerism are some of the unfortunate characteristics of the press today. It is rightly said that the press has become the other face of entertainment. 4

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Mainstream newspapers are increasingly turning to strategies that tend to erode news values and the independence of editorial functioning. Journalists today are more loyal to the market, owners, advertisers rather than to the journalistic ethics. The BBC reported on December 3, 2011about two well known journalists Vir Sanghvi, former Advisory Editorial Director of HT Media Ltd and Barkha Dutt, a star reporter and anchor of the biggest English-language cable news network, involvement unethical conversation with a corporate lobbyist Niira Radia. Central Bureau of India, an intelligent agency taped the conversation. Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari addressed to the journalists of India in the Indore Press Club on July 15, 2011. India is among the few democracies without active media watch groups engaged in objective analyses of the media, discerning prejudices and latent biases, and subjecting the media to a dose of their own medicine, Ansari said. For an industry that has over fifty thousand newspapers and hundreds of television channels, systematic media criticism is non-existent. Ansari said India has not had an informed debate on the issue of multiple ownership and cross-ownership nor a cogent national media policy that covers print, radio, television, cable, video and film industry, internet, and mobile telephony. 4. The U.S. reporters ethical concerns and experience reporting from India Jim Landers, Washington correspondent of The Dallas Morning News reported from India in 1992, 1995 and 2005. He shared his reporting experiences while reporting

6 from India and the U.S. He worked in Mumbai, Delhi, Jodhpur, Srinagar, Amritsar, Bangalore, Goa and Ayodhya. Mumbai is the economic capital and the center of Bollywood. Delhi is the political capital. Amritsar is the holiest place of Sikh religion. Ayodhya is one of the holy places of the Hindus. Srinagar has been a major issue between India and Pakistan. Srinagar, Amritsar and Ayodhya are the city of religious conflicts between. Goa and Jodhpur are tourist places. Bangalore is an Information and Technology center. Landers said his first visit to India dealt with human rights issues regarding the status of women, and the rise of Hindu extremism the resulted in the Babri mosque attack. I found the Indian press indispensable on both of these questions, Landers said. My later trips involved ethnic tensions, education, medical tourism and information technology. The first and last trips were some of the best reporting trips of my career. It is much easier for a reporter to interview U.S. government officials than the Indian government. Landers found few ethical concerns while he reported from India. In India, I found it easier to get to people in the first-line of government, the local police and courts, than it is sometimes in the United States, Landers said. Higher officials are easier to access in America than in India, though I was not turned away on my last efforts in India to reach some cabinet-level officials. Overseas reporters find it difficult to cover religious conflicts. In Ayodhya, Babri Masjid, Muslims mosque was destroyed by the Hindus, which created riots in India. Lander found it difficult to interview different religions and ethnic groups of people.

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I felt like an outsider who's curiosity was generally welcomed, I suppose, Landers said. I felt threatened in Ayodhya in 1992, but no where else. Landers said most of the time; he pursued stories that had a local connection to Dallas. That's what has taken me twice to Bangalore, for example, where I saw what Texas Instruments is doing in India, Landers said. I've written about Bollywood because it is fascinating, ethnic conflict because it is universal, medical tourism because many Americans are uninsured, education because Indian graduates of IITs have started many companies in America, etc. Landers said because of the help of Indian journalists, he was able to move between and gain interviews with different ethnic groups. India is such a big country, it is easy to be completely absorbed by its own news, Landers said. The same is true in the United States. U.S. media have become more parochial over time, however, while India's larger papers still have a strong international focus. Indian and the U.S. media are very different. I like the people reporting Indian news, by and large, Landers said. What I was able to read of the Indian press -- only the English-language press -- seemed pretty good to me. Landers said he did not feel any particular ethical concerns in his Indian reporting. I did not pay for news, or access to news, Landers said. I paid people who helped me pursue stories and translate. India's coverage of the United States, like ours of

8 India, focuses on a very few issues. There is a fair amount of skepticism and sometimes hostility toward U.S. officials, but that may sometimes be warranted. Regarding Indian media covering the Pakistan news, Landers said, This is one area where the Indian media can fall off a cliff of speculation. It is not as conspiracy-minded as the Pakistani press, but it does go pretty far. Lander believes Indian media would improve with more access to sources and stories in Pakistan. I would add only that some of India's reporters show remarkable courage, Landers said. Those I am familiar with seemed ethical [journalists]. 5. Indian media and the U.S media Indian Media gives more importance to the U.S. news. Indian news channels have their own angles to report the news. Indian media mostly rely on revenues from advertisements from corporations, government and businesses. They have bias while reporting against them. India has lot of corruptions, such as bribery. Journalists are paid very little in India. In Indian press conferences, journalists can eat and accept gifts, which are not considered unethical, while in the U.S. accepting gifts and eating at the event are considered unethical. Indian reporters are not trained about media ethics as the U.S. media reporters. The objective of regulation in democratic societies such as the USA, France and others is to enhance diversity, competition, and localism among media outlets and to promote public interest with a focus on upholding constitutional values, protecting minors, and limiting advertising, Ansari said. Intrusive content regulation is minimized because

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those who are aggrieved can resort to legal means in the knowledge that the justice delivery system will address their grievances in a reasonable time period. The Indian media was involved in a scandal, and receive criticism because of unethical practices of top journalists. The Indian media should play a progressive role similar to the one played by the European media, Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman of Press Council of India said. This it can do by attacking backward and feudal ideas and practices like casteism, communalism, superstitions, oppression of women, etc. and propagating modern rational and scientific ideas, secularism, and tolerance. Katju said, 80% of Indians are living in horrible poverty. India has massive unemployment, skyrocketing prices, lack of medical care, education, and barbaric social practices like honor killing, dowry death, caste oppression and religious bigotry. Instead of seriously addressing these issues 90% of the coverage of Indian media goes to entertainment, such as lives of film stars, fashion parades, pop music, disco dancing, cricket or showing superstitions like astrology. The real issues before the people are the socio-economic issues, and the media is seeking to divert their attention to the non issues like film stars, fashion parades, disco, pop, cricket etc., Katju said. Does a hungry or unemployed man require entertainment, or food and a job? India does not have censorships on electronic media. The Press Council of India governs only the print media. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission

10 regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. CNN has branches in India and overseas by different names. CNN IBN is the Indian version of the news. The news channel reports the national and regional news of India in English. When Pakistani terrorists attacked Mumbai, CNN IBN had live broadcast. Even people were able to watch online. CNN U.S. version news gives very few important Indian and Pakistan news. They relate their news with the local people of the United States. The Indian media reports about the facts and the local and national government do not report the death and casualties correctly. In the case of Bhopal gas disaster, media were trying to speculate, which were not ethical. The government did not give correct figures of death and injured people. Indian media reporters have not had very much access to bureaucrats and government leaders to find out the facts. It takes longer to collect information from the offices. The Times of India published the news with a headline, Bhopal gas tragedy: 27 years on, death toll still unknown, on October 29, 2011. The article said, Twenty seven years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, no one is sure just how many it had actually killed. When Indian media reports about riots, they do not mention name of the dead and injured people. On other occasions, the Indian media does not hesitate to show the dead and injured. TV stations repeat the same sentences over and over and show the dead people over and over.

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Many reporters try to benefit for being journalists. They try to influence officials and get business licenses, which is unethical. Indian media copycat a show from the U.S. media Who wants to be millionaire. Indian Sony TV has started a similar show in Hindi, Kaun Banega Karorpati. Many religions have their own TV stations, newspapers and online news networks. They have their own agenda to propagate their religions. Same thing applies with political parties with also. They propagate their ideologies to influence the public to win elections. Religious leaders also participate in political elections and some of them became the leaders. 6. Indian and Pakistani medias ethical concerns When Indian reporters report about Pakistan news, they do not have many sources to balance the story. Same thing applies with Pakistani reporters. A Pakistani reporter was considered to be killed by Inter-Services Intelligence who reported about the terrorist organizations link with the ISI. The Times of India reported the news with the headline US links Pakistan's ISI to journalist killing: Report on Jul 5, 2011. However the source name was not mentioned. According to The Times of India, One of the U.S. officials quoted by the Times described the actions of the ISI -- which has historic ties to Islamist militants in neighboring Afghanistan and disputed Kashmir -- as barbaric and unacceptable. Dawn.com, a Pakistani newspaper report on October 27 said, 2011 Pakistans military strongly denied on Thursday a BBC report that alleged the Pakistani military, along with its intelligence arm, supplied and protected the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda.

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12 Makhdoom Babar, the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Mail published an article with the headline, Does CNN Know How Many of Its Indian [Journalists] Have Intelligence Links? The sub-headline says, Indian agents managed to enter PTV, Pakistans state-run channel. The news tends to provoke the U.S. and India. Be it US attack on Iraq or be it a terror attack in India, the media is immensely used to propagate ones views and perception, Babar says. The media endeavors are extensively manipulated to change the world opinion in own favor and against the enemy. Almost all the governments have given a free hand to their respective intelligence agencies to manipulate media and fund the media organizations and individuals to gain the required results. No matter if it is the CNN journalists embedded with US troops invading Iraq or the venom emitting Indian journalists and TV anchors targeting Pakistan after the Mumbai carnage, the intelligence hands are always there to direct them and to fund them. The British introduced cricket to Indians before its independence. When India and Pakistan cricket players play cricket, Indian and Pakistani media cover it very differently. Indian and Pakistan media are biased by their headlines and sport news. Most Indians and Pakistanis watch the game leaving all the work aside even they live abroad. When there was a semifinal match between India and Pakistan, a South Asian radio, Funasia radio The BBC Sports section published the news with the headline Sachin Tendulkar misses out on historic 100th century on November 25,2011. Tendulkar is an Indian player and media focus on him while reporting the news. BBC said, The Mumbai crowd, who were packed into the Wankhede Stadium in anticipation of Tendulkar's achievement, were left stunned as their idol came so close to the feat that has been expected of him since the World Cup earlier this year. 12

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Funasia have listeners from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and India. The radio is an entertainment channel. However, the radio hosts broadcast religious programs on every Saturday for the Hindus, Muslims and Christians. The radio also gives 30 minutes news on weekdays related to India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the U.S. Most radio programs are paid programs. The stations earn money from advertisements, sponsorships and businesses. When any Indian gets a reward and honors by the U.S. government in research, Indian media highlight them in their news. Indian media have very much influence of the western media. Indian media have changed a lot. Indian media do not hesitate to publish or broadcast offensive scenes, photos and videos. Indian media give importance to sensational news without enough evidence. Most of the time they do not have enough sources. In the case of Swami Nithyananda, a Hindu monk and founder of Nithyananda Dhyanpeetham, local Sun TV channels broadcast his obscene video with two women several times. Media focused Nithyananda for months. A court case of is pending accusation of asking bribe from Nithyananda by the TV channel (One India News). 7. Medias responsibility and accountability Indian media has mostly Indian stakeholders. Different region of India states publish news in different languages. The BBC publishes news in 27 languages of the world. However, it publishes news for Indians in Hindi, Bengali and Tamil. Urdu broadcast radios stakeholders are Muslims and people of Pakistan. Indian medias journalistic purpose

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14 is to tell the truth and minimize the harm to the stakeholders. Journalists are the watchdogs of society and their duties are to help society by reporting the facts. Most of the Indian media are biased when they report the news of their own countries. The governments use media as the propaganda tools to promote their agenda. Media should be selfregulated and follow media ethics. Indian media should include other countries values and should not provoke their own citizens by publishing sensational news. Indian medias stakeholders are people, living in India and overseas. Government, police, community, court, city, children, family, neighboring countries and business related countries are the stakeholders. Indian media should tell the story without too much graphic photos and videos of dead bodies and injured people. The media reporters should not favor anybody. They should interview other countries stakeholders while reporting. They should not be biased with religions, organizations, gender, sex and ethnic groups. Indian journalists should be guided by their ethical principles because they are accountable to public.

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APA References: BBC. (November 30, 2011). Poverty remains a huge challenge for the Indian Government. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-15973322

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16 BBC. (November 25, 2011). Sachin Tendulkar misses out on historic 100th century. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/15884992.stm BBC. (2011). BBC Languages. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/languages/index.shtml BBC Hindi. (December 1, 2011). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/business/2011/11/111130_banls_markets_psa.shtml Cia.gov. (2011). India. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html Funasia. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.funasia.net/ India Lawyers. (2011). Media Ethics Debate Justice Markandey Katju clarifies. Retrieved from http://indialawyers.wordpress.com/category/media-ethics/ Landers, Jim. (October, 29, 2011). The Dallas Morning News Washington Correspondent. Email Interview. One India News. (July 13, 2011). Sun TV man asked Rs 100 cr on doctored tape: Nithyananda. Retrieved from http://news.oneindia.in/2011/07/13/swami-nithyananda-charges-sun-tv-over-doctoredvideo-aid0101.html Press Council of India. (2011). Retrieved from http://presscouncil.nic.in/HOME.HTM Pakistan Defence. (2011). Does CNN Know How Many Of Its Indian Journos Have Intelligence Links? Retrieved from http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/33762-chinese-indian-media-lack-ethicschina-daily-2.html RNI. (2011). Registrar of Newspapers of India: Government of India. Retrieved from https://rni.nic.in/about.asp The Hindu. (July 16, 2011). Indian media in a challenging environment. Retrieved from http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2230638.ece The New York Times. (December 3, 2010). A Journalist in India Ends Up in the Headlines. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/world/asia/04india.html The Times of India. (December 19,2010). Nehru's stubbornness led to 1962 war with 16

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China? Retrieved from http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-1219/india/28271241_1_boundary-

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