Saturday was World Press Freedom Day. A formal gathering was organised by Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), where journalists, human rights activists, journalist-turned-human rights activists, media scholars and diplomats came together to observe the day and participated in a dialogue. Several threats to press freedom such as the armed insurgency in Pakistan, trigger happy Filipino newsmakers, PR armies in India and rise of social media were discussed in detail.
This apparently was the first such event in the history of Singapore, which has not had a great reputation on press freedom. Cherian George, a former Straits Times journalist and editor of Media Asia, a quarterly peer reviewed publication by AMIC, pointed out that one needs a permission of the executive branch of the government to publish a newspaper, self censorship has been institutionalised through government's say in appointment of editors thereby stifling criticism, diluting debates and allowing the rulers to operate in an 'echo chamber'. The 90s era policy could turn out to be a "liability for the future," George said.
Gayathry Venkiteswaran from South East Asian Press Alliance, a Bangkok-based NGO, drew attention to elections as the point that exposes cracks in the media. Under normal circumstances, things appear to be okay. But, when election campaign reporting starts, these cracks become more and more pronounced, according to her.
She said media in the region had not been able to remain above issues, even in places where the press is considered to be relatively freer. "In their own political compromise and economic compromises, they became participants as well. They were not just an observer or reporter. They became part of what was unfolding,"
India media is about to wrap up one of the longest and shrillest periods of political coverage in recent history. During this period, it has often become the subject itself. It was accused of being partisan, and, worse, of being 'paid media.' Top journalists have faced the axe and some have seen cyber warriors hacking into their personal lives.
How does the Street see all this? Street Food analysed the performance of the top 10 news media stocks. Though some of the large print names are not listed, the sample has a fair mix of top TV and print players.
The Sensex gained 11 per cent since November, when the campaigning for state assembly polls gained steam. Ideally, stocks of media firms, which see spike in readership and ad revenues during polls, should beat it by a mile. Surprisingly only three of them did - TV Today with 35.7 per cent, Hindustan Media 23.19 per cent and Jagran Prakashan 18.28 per cent. Of the underperformers, DB Corp (9.65 per cent), Network 18 (seven per cent), TV 18 Broadcast and HT Media managed to take home some gains. SUN TV, NDTV and Zee Media are trading at prices lower than November.
The winners' story seem to reinforce the emergence of Hindi media, a press freedom day message can be inferred from the underperformers. Each underperformer has some political baggage, though the weight and content varies. This baggage peaks at SUN TV, which has direct association with a political family, and is significantly pronounced in NDTV, which has been a target of a social media campaign on links to a politician. Both have lost big and against the market trend.
It is safe to argue that the Street recognised that taking sides is bad for business and dumped these stocks for it. It is high time the analyst community devised tools to measure freedom and create an index for investors to better appreciate this crucial aspect in valuation of media stocks. Governance firms should also take note and talk about it, so that press freedom becomes a factor as important as say fiscal discipline or reforms in the Sensex valuation. If big money can be used to stifle press freedom, freedom can hit back in the same coin. At least, the Saturday tea party hangover has dared me to assume the freedom to dream so.
