Media opportunities

The Prime Minister has done well to clarify that his government intends to open up the media sector. Speaking in the capital a few days ago, and again in Mumbai on Wednesday, Dr Manmohan Singh has clearly held out the promise of reform in a sector where even the most limited opening up was subjected to intense debate and polarised opinions.

But as a report in this newspaper today tells us, Reuters, one of the world's largest media organisations, is moving something like a tenth of its global manpower to India.

Clearly, the media sector has enormous opportunity for growth and diversification""and job creation. The opportunities for using the knowledge base and skills of English-speaking professionals, who can do at a fraction of the cost what is done in other markets, create a whole new world of outsourcing possibilities which should be fully exploited.

Also, some of the investment rules could do with change. For instance, there is no particular reason why foreign direct investment should be allowed, but not portfolio investment by foreign institutional investors.

This change is now proposed for TV news channels, but what applies to TV should apply equally to other forms of media. Equally, there is no particular reason why reputable titles published elsewhere should not be allowed to get printed in India.

This is completely banned at the moment, and the subject of a court dispute in one contentious case.

The fact is that if proper scrutiny is done before allowing entry, the existence of international titles in the Indian market will add to the diversity and richness of India's media market, make global titles available here at a fraction of their current cost, and in general help develop higher professional standards. Readers will benefit, and many jobs will get created.

What about the old concerns about national security and sovereignty? The security issue was always a red herring, given the fact that all manner of international television and radio channels beam into India round the clock""without national security being affected.

In any case, this is easily handled by applying selection criteria to ensure that only the most reputed international players get a toehold in the print media market.

Suspect publications from Pakistan, China, or any other region considered undesirable in this context, can be easily kept out. The sovereignty issue is not a serious problem because no publication can hope to survive and prosper in the Indian market if it adopts anti-Indian editorial positions.

Indeed, giving global media organisations a greater stake in the Indian market will sensitise them more to Indian viewpoints, and get India greater mileage in the international media.

In short, the group of ministers that is proposed to be appointed for studying the issue, should get down to its task without delay.