India

The absence of serious consideration of ethics in the Indian media.

By Siddhartha.

This morning I spoke to Professor Arun Subramaniam for the second time in one month on the subject of ethics in the Indian Media. Prof. Subramaniam teaches ethics in a leading media school in Bangalore. This is what he told me: “I am shocked at the almost complete absence of discussion or debate on the issue of ethics in the Indian media. Most journalist schools do not even teach it properly. This is worrying. Apart from some references by the Press Council of India there is hardly anything published. Maybe The Hindu is one newspaper that pays some attention to ethics. Most of what I teach in ethics is drawn from the values of the international media or the western media… not much from India”

So far neither the Press Council of India nor The All India Editor’s conference was able to draw a code of ethics for journalists. In 1966 The Press Council of India circulated some guidelines of ethics to about 10,000 newspapers and journals, but the response was not encouraging. In 1975 The All India Small and Medium newspapers association drew up a code of ethics, but their own general body did not pass it. In January 1976 about 17 editors drew up a code of ethics, to which they added an editor’s charter. They presented this to the Indian parliament, but this was not taken seriously because it was during the period of Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s brief dictatorship. Later, in 1982 The Second Press Commission recommended that it was not desirable to have a code of ethics for newspapers. The commission supported the Press Council’s idea that code could slowly evolve on a case by case basis. Newspapers must do their own regulation as far as ethics is concerned.

Highlights of the code of ethics put forward by the Press Council of India (revised in 2005).

  Fairness and accuracy in reporting is an important guideline. Avoid publishing inaccurate and baseless matter. Verification of news is very important.
  All sides of an issue must be reported to provide objectivity.
  Rumours should not be confused with facts.
  The press should respect the privacy of an individual, unless there is a serious public issue involved.
  In the case of an accusation made against somebody, steps should be taken to verify the same, and the views of the accused should also be published.
  Letters to the editor should be published regularly. Letters that do not support the editorial policy of the paper, or its point of view in a particular case, should also be published.
  The identity of a rape victim, or a minor accused of a crime, or subject to abuse, should not be published. No photographs of such persons should be published.
  The newspaper should not mention the name of religious communities involved in conflicts, as this may further aggravate the conflict.
  Reports on inter-religious and caste conflicts should not inflame further passion.
  Nothing vulgar, obscene or offensive to public taste should be published. This includes photographs.

The Press Council is too weak to enforce these ethical guidelines.

I am not saying that most newspapers do not observe some ethical principles, even if many sensationalise the news. The problem is that there is no way of enforcing ethics. Many newspapers and journals get away with unethical reporting that may indirectly create social conflicts, or ruin the reputations of people. In recent times newspapers and journals have also lost their sense of social responsibility. They prefer reporting what political leaders say, even when this has little significance. Reporting on consumer products, entertainment, film stars and cricket stars now occupies a lot of space. Issues related to poverty and the environment are not ‘fashionabe’.

The Press Council of India is meant to punish offending newspapers and journals. It can recommend to the government that advertisements are not given to such newspapers. If journalists have broken ethical principles the Press Council can theoretically revoke their accreditation. But in practice it almost never does this.

Article by Siddhartha.