Indian press frets over bias after Network18 takeover

Before Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries completed a deal to take control of media group Network18 Media & Investments in early July, two top editors stepped down.

In farewell letters to staff, both mentioned press freedom. Neither directly linked the decision to the change of ownership, but news of their resignations prompted heated debate over the significance of one of India's most powerful companies buying up some of the country's leading news-rooms.

On July 7, the Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance is the sole beneficiary, completed the acquisition to take control of Network18, home to news channels CNN-IBN and CNBC-TV 18, Forbes India and first post.com, among others.

"Editorial independence and integrity have been articles of faith in 26 years in journalism, and maybe I am too old now to change!" wrote one of the two, Rajdeep Sardesai, who was editor-in-chief of IBN 18 News Network, including CNN-IBN, a respected English-language news channel.

On July 21 another editor, Nikhil Wagle, of regional channel IBN-Lokmat, which is part of the same group, also resigned, complaining of persistent editorial interference by the new owners.

"Every day you can find some example of interference by Reliance - direct interference in news," Wagle said. "They don't send any mail. They give oral instructions. They give hints."

Reliance said it did not interfere in editorial decisions.

"There has never been contact between Reliance and journalists of Network18," a spokesman said in an e-mail.

Reliance looms large

The hand of big business in India's media, as in other parts of the world, is nothing new.

But few private firms loom as large as Reliance, India's third biggest company by market value and an industrial juggernaut owned by the nation's richest man, Mukesh Ambani.

Ambani, like other prominent members of India's business community, has been a supporter of Narendra Modi, India's recently elected prime minister who stormed to power on the back of promises to kick-start economic growth.

Reliance's takeover of Net-work 18 raised concerns that the new ownership might introduce a bias toward Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party in its news outlets' coverage.

The company's track record of issuing legal notices related to defamatory content to the media amplified broader unease that reporters were being exposed to powerful backers' whims and that self-censorship was on the rise.

CNN-IBN and other Net-work 18 outlets remain among the most esteemed news brands in a country with a vast and lively press.

They now share the challenge faced by news organizations around the world that cover large companies or powerful individuals who own them.

Such acquisitions do not necessarily hamper journalistic independence, some experts argue.

"The US media is in a small number of hands, and still produces the best journalism," said Nikhil Moro, outgoing associate journalism professor at University of North Texas.

In an e-mail to Reuters, a Reliance spokesman said the company will seek to protect "the credibility of all news net-works".

But some former and current Network 18 journalists say Reliance's influence in the newsroom has already been felt.

Days after the deal, when Amit Shah, a close ally of Modi, was appointed head of the BJP, instructions from Network18's new management to steer coverage away from criminal charges pending against him passed between senior members of the network's newsrooms, two sources said.

Reuters could not independently verify the instructions or precisely how they were communicated.

Shah has denied charges of murder in connection with the 2005 killing of a man police said was an Islamic militant on a mission to assassinate Modi, as well as the deaths of his wife and a witness.

Umesh Upadhyay, recently appointed president of news at Network18, strongly denied suggestions that the group's journalists are pressured to act against their own judgment.

"What happens in a news-room is a sacrosanct editorial function," he said.

"Network18 is a very solid news organization. I am very proud of the teams that are working there."

(China Daily 08/04/2014 page11)