So continuing from where I left off in the last post, I wanted to tell you why there were no sting operations in “those times”. Actually, I don’t want to be unfair to those times. There was a lot of fine investigative journalism. When I started reading newspapers, it was exciting times, because the Indian Express under Arun Shourie was taking on Rajiv Gandhi’s government. But no, there were no hidden camera stings, and the few who were taking on the government were some exceptionally brave souls. <\/p>\n
Let me go over the reasons why there were no hidden camera stings at that time. Some of them apply even today.
\n
\nCable TV did not exist:<\/b>
\nThe fact that Cable TV came into being in 1991 at all was a failure of regulation. The government had actually forgotten<\/i> to regulate Cable TV. Seriously! In 1991, it was a pleasant surprise to everyone that it was not in fact illegal to put up a satellite dish, and lay cables from there to homes. It was entirely by oversight that this was not illegal or heavily regulated. <\/p>\n
Newsprint was controlled:<\/b>
\nDid you know that? The government exercised control over the disbursement of newsprint. It could, and frequently did, use it to put pressure on newspapers to silence criticism, as the Indian Express learnt to its peril<\/p>\n
Advertisements:<\/b>
\nThe power of advertising IIPM wields is nothing compared to the power that the government wields – think of all the tenders, notices, job advertisements and PSU advertisements. The government could and did use the power to withhold revenue if someone picked up a fight with it. <\/p>\n
Unclear and intrusive laws:<\/b>
\nThere are so many laws in India that it is a given that every individual and company has violated atleast a few of them. So anytime the government wanted to harrass a newspaper, there would always be a way. For example, Arun Shourie found that the government opened income tax cases years old and they had to ship truckloads of documents in response to queries – I am not joking. There were really truckloads. Yes, he was a minister in the government that later on tried the same technique on Tehelka. I notice the irony. <\/p>\n
Competition was lacking:<\/b>
\nRemember that when Tehelka made its defence expose, it was a lone wolf and no one else supported it? The latest expose has been bankrolled by Aaj Tak. What has changed from then to now? One word – competition. The competition between news channels has made sting operations an acceptable part of their weaponry. This is a classic example of how the market functions – a maverick entrant into the market introduces something new, and others play catch up. Yes, in their attempt to catch up, some channels have done stings at the wrong places – they have intruded into people’s personal lives and stuff. But that is no reason to ban sting operations; and if the government got a chance, what do you think it would have banned – sting operations on Aman Varma or sting operations on its ministers? Anyway, the point is, because of a lack of competition, it was easy for the press to simply close ranks and be more Catholic than the Pope. <\/p>\n
No internet:<\/b>
\nIf it weren’t for Sam Pitroda’s liberalized telecoms policy, chances are that the internet, even when it was introduced in India, would have been as restricted as in China. The prevailing instinct was statist, to treat everything as banned unless explicitly allowed. <\/p>\n
Press note 18:<\/b>
\nThis was the ultimate weapon used by the government to keep editors in line. <\/p>\n
So Shivam, these were the reasons why investigative journalism was rare in India. You will notice that most of them have to do with the lack of a free market. You may think that it is the constitution that guarantees your free speech. But the constitution is just words. To make free speech possible, there needs to be a machinery in place, and that machinery is provided by the free market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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