THE HOOT READER
Media Practice in Twenty-First
Century India
Edited by Sevanti Ninan and Subarno Chattarji Oxford;
361 pages; Rs 650
There is a neat, precise air about The Hoot Reader. It reminds me of my no-nonsense aunt and her dicta on discipline. As you get into it, The Hoot Reader turns out to be a neat, precise, well-thought-out book on the shenanigans, proclivities and weaknesses of the Indian media. It is a finger that is wagged at us, and is wagged very well. That may make the book seem didactic, but it isn't. It has several flaws, but, largely, it holds up a mirror that reflects with uncanny accuracy the deep dark corners of the news industry and professional journalism.
For anyone who has been part of the media business for the last decade, Sevanti Ninan's thehoot.org is essential reading. The founder-editor of The Hoot has been a columnist for various newspapers, including The Hindu, and has written several books on the Indian media. The website was set up in 2001 under the Media Foundation, a 34-year-old body. It was born because while "the subcontinent has plenty of media, it does not have enough scrutiny of the media," according to the website. The Hoot does all kinds of stories that mainstream papers, magazines, websites or television channels don't. Whether it is the paid news scandal or how caste operates in India's newsrooms or the reality of sting operations, thehoot.org has covered it all.
The Hoor Reader picks the best journalistic and analytical pieces from The Hoot and puts it in a book. And it mostly works - as a chronicler of both contemporary history and media practice.
The pieces are clustered around themes such as caste in the media, debating media ethics (a particular strength of The Hoot), law, justice and the media, and new media, among 11 groups. There is a piece about how caste operates in newsrooms in Bihar and why it has made the media irrelevant to politicians in that state. It is an eye-opener; it reveals the biases that operate within what seems a largely left-liberal profession.
My favourite bits are in the articles centred on "debating media ethics". They tackle uncomfortable questions that all working journalists face. How soft should you become on a senior person, because you are afraid you will lose access? Do what sting operations achieve justify the means? There is hardly any training, a policy document or an ethics statement that covers many of the eventualities that journalists face on the ground while reporting on a host of issues, ranging from terrorism to business. As you read piece after piece about what the media did after a terror attack or a major event, you realise how terribly inadequate the Indian media is - materially, morally and intellectually.
There is one article on how the media treated Dhirubhai Ambani and his Reliance industries with kid gloves - either because advertising was at stake or because the media got gift vouchers, or simply because they were afraid. Much of what The Hoot Reader says in this part resonates strongly.
Think about it. What was the last business scam that the media broke? The Radia tapes, for instance, were planted by someone and picked up by the media. There has been almost no investigative story that has torn apart a company's finances. Not a single business paper in India has been able to do it. This is either because the expertise needed to delve into balance sheets and annual reports is way beyond editorial budgets, or because the papers are afraid of being sued under laws that could land the editor and publisher in some obscure court in an obscure town for the rest of their lives, or for the fear of losing advertisers. In what context, then, does the media discuss its freedom and the attendant responsibilities?
The Hoot Reader also points out something critical that most observers of the media miss: that in India the media regulator and the policy maker are essentially the same - the ministry of information and broadcasting. Now add to this the fact that the government is also a big advertiser in newspapers and magazines. The conflict of interest that this situation creates is tremendous.
The flaws? One big irritant: it takes such a dark, depressing view of the media in India. Has nothing good ever come out of the media? Has the media done anything good? Has it ever been a positive force? If the Indian news media is plagued by bad reporting, conflicts of ethics, caste, business and other such things, then what would constitute an ideal world? Are there publications or journalists in India who do a balanced job? What, or who, are they? And could we also read on The Hoot some of the stuff they have done?
Apart from that, this is a good book and a lesson in journalism for everyone, whether they are trainee reporters or senior editors.
(Disclosure: Sevanti Ninan is the wife of T N Ninan, chairman of Business Standard Ltd)
