Thursday, June 16, 2005
Advent of Foreign Competition?
Facsimile Editions of Foreign Dailies May Be Allowed
As recent news reports have confirmed (see Rediff.com, The Hindu and Sify.com) it would appear that the UPA government has permitted foreign daily newspapers to begin publishing facsimile editions in India. As the Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy mentioned at a stock-taking symposium for the central government's performance, such dailies would not be allowed access to Indian news content and advertisements. And he went to lengths to clarify that the existing foreign investment cap of 26 per cent in the print media and news channels would continue, and hence fears regarding the growth of FDI in this sector were unfounded. The real question is, does this step forward, even if marginal, not represent a move towards allowing a broader scope of influence for foreign dailies in Indian politics and soceity? And on a related issue, what is the implication of Mr Reddy's comment that, "Indian editions are not being permitted at the moment because of apprehensions that the Indian newspaper industry will not be able to withstand the competition"?
In answering these questions, it is first instructive to consider what exactly a facsimile edition is. The trussel.com online Book Collectors' Glossary defines it as "An exact reproduction of an original [newspaper] depicting the text and the paper's physical appearance". If indeed the Government of India permits foreign dailies to print exact copies of their international editions, then it is possible that there will be no major change influence that media barons such as Rupert Murdoch could wield in democratic politics in India. But the point is that there are no enforcement mechanisms in place to punish foreign dailies that gradually begin to include more content on Indian news and analysis (even if it is not sourced from within India). No mechanism, that is, apart from debarring facsimile editions of errant publishers abroad. But how likely is this to happen? After 15 years of liberalisation and structural reform, if one thing is certain, it's that reform has always been piecemeal. And while policy retractions are not uncommon, when they do occur, it is only because of the lobbying or other political power of those who stand to lose from the reform itself. In this case, it may well be a sitation of Murdoch versus Sonthalia or some public interest litigation type, in which case the state has a vested interest in undercutting the power of the domestic media that is often its most strident critic. This is one serious problem with the policy 'model' followed by the UPA government regarding foreign dailies' facsimile editions.
The second issue relates to the Indian political establishment's view that the only reason that foreign print media should be kept out of the domestic arena is that presently, domestic papers cannot "withstand the competition" (Reddy). This again refelcts a seriously flawed position on the issue, because at the end of the day, one of the most vital repositories of substantive democracy in India is the free press. Thus it is not a question of withstanding competition at all. Rather, it is an inviolable right of not just media propetors and editors but every citizen of the country that the primacy of the domestic print media is not subsumed by foreign players with a clear agenda that in most cases reflects the silhouette of neo-liberalism and the Washington Consensus (in the specific case of development issues).
Unfortunately the entry into India of big media from abroad is all but a foregone conclusion not only because they possess the resources to buy their way in through the political powers-that-be but also because these very powers-that-be stand to gain from undermining domestic print media and their democratic watch-dog function. We live in dangerous times.
As recent news reports have confirmed (see Rediff.com, The Hindu and Sify.com) it would appear that the UPA government has permitted foreign daily newspapers to begin publishing facsimile editions in India. As the Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy mentioned at a stock-taking symposium for the central government's performance, such dailies would not be allowed access to Indian news content and advertisements. And he went to lengths to clarify that the existing foreign investment cap of 26 per cent in the print media and news channels would continue, and hence fears regarding the growth of FDI in this sector were unfounded. The real question is, does this step forward, even if marginal, not represent a move towards allowing a broader scope of influence for foreign dailies in Indian politics and soceity? And on a related issue, what is the implication of Mr Reddy's comment that, "Indian editions are not being permitted at the moment because of apprehensions that the Indian newspaper industry will not be able to withstand the competition"?
In answering these questions, it is first instructive to consider what exactly a facsimile edition is. The trussel.com online Book Collectors' Glossary defines it as "An exact reproduction of an original [newspaper] depicting the text and the paper's physical appearance". If indeed the Government of India permits foreign dailies to print exact copies of their international editions, then it is possible that there will be no major change influence that media barons such as Rupert Murdoch could wield in democratic politics in India. But the point is that there are no enforcement mechanisms in place to punish foreign dailies that gradually begin to include more content on Indian news and analysis (even if it is not sourced from within India). No mechanism, that is, apart from debarring facsimile editions of errant publishers abroad. But how likely is this to happen? After 15 years of liberalisation and structural reform, if one thing is certain, it's that reform has always been piecemeal. And while policy retractions are not uncommon, when they do occur, it is only because of the lobbying or other political power of those who stand to lose from the reform itself. In this case, it may well be a sitation of Murdoch versus Sonthalia or some public interest litigation type, in which case the state has a vested interest in undercutting the power of the domestic media that is often its most strident critic. This is one serious problem with the policy 'model' followed by the UPA government regarding foreign dailies' facsimile editions.
The second issue relates to the Indian political establishment's view that the only reason that foreign print media should be kept out of the domestic arena is that presently, domestic papers cannot "withstand the competition" (Reddy). This again refelcts a seriously flawed position on the issue, because at the end of the day, one of the most vital repositories of substantive democracy in India is the free press. Thus it is not a question of withstanding competition at all. Rather, it is an inviolable right of not just media propetors and editors but every citizen of the country that the primacy of the domestic print media is not subsumed by foreign players with a clear agenda that in most cases reflects the silhouette of neo-liberalism and the Washington Consensus (in the specific case of development issues).
Unfortunately the entry into India of big media from abroad is all but a foregone conclusion not only because they possess the resources to buy their way in through the political powers-that-be but also because these very powers-that-be stand to gain from undermining domestic print media and their democratic watch-dog function. We live in dangerous times.
# posted by Narayan Lakshman @ 3:27 AM 
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