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POLITICALLY
CORRECT
Freedom
of Reach
After
all these years, it doesn't behove the print media to oppose foreign investment
By
P. Chidambaram
 I
have often quipped that "when reforms began in 1991 there were two
and a half reformers in government"! That number hasn't changed much
in the past 10 years. For instance, in the current A.B. Vajpayee Government
I can count no more than four ministers who are committed, in varying
degrees, to reforms.
 The
print media has been very different. Particularly, the English-language
press. Our leading newspapers are, by and large, family-owned. Nevertheless,
from day one they extended powerful support to reforms. Support came not
merely from columnists and contributors, but also through editorials,
cartoons, news headlines and analytical reports. It was the print media
that also exposed the warts of liberalisation: the securities scandal,
crony capitalism, the near meltdown of UTI's US64 and so on. Sucheta Dalal's
accounts of the shenanigans of the Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) are deserving of a Pulitzer prize.
The print
media has been an articulate advocate of foreign direct investment (FDI)
in industry, services, even agriculture. Its arguments were: FDI will
bring in much-needed additional capital, new technology, the best management
practices and that it would raise accounting standards as well as help
Indian industry (and services and agriculture) to benchmark itself against
worldwide competition. These arguments are unexceptionable and the print
media has helped successive governments win the case in favour of more
FDI. I was delighted when the CPI(M), at its special conference in Thiruvananthapuram,
reluctantly endorsed FDI in certain "core sectors". Thank God,
they did so before the end of the century.
The print
media was also largely responsible for throwing open television to both
Indian and foreign broadcasters. When otherwise well-meaning people baulked
at the entry of foreign broadcasters, it was the print media which took
up the cause of Rupert Murdoch. We now have Star, Sony and channels that
broadcast in French, German and Arabic. These changes were, of course,
unstoppable but we should give credit to the print media for foreseeing
the inevitable.
Some newspaper
houses ventured into the liberated world of television and burnt their
fingers. Yet, their ardour for a free, competitive and vigorous television
industry has not dampened. Currently, it is the print media which is leading
the campaign in favour of direct-to-home (DTH) television.
Living
With It: For many years, the print media in India has lived with foreign
publications. For example, the Reader's Digest has been printed in India
for decades. Nobody feared that it was an invasion by the foreign press
into India. Nobody thought of it as a foreign dragon that threatened the
"free speech and expression" reserved by the Constitution for
Indian citizens. Nobody spent anxious moments worrying about the "foreign
equity" that owned the Reader's Digest published in India.
Other foreign
magazines-and some newspapers-have been freely available in India for
many years. Time, Newsweek, Life, National Geographic and Good Housekeeping
have never been considered life-threatening. We now have Cosmopolitan
and Elle, and few regard them as vultures that will consume Indian culture.
There are significant numbers of subscribers for the Asian Wall Street
Journal, International Herald Tribune and The Times. All magazines and
newspapers are now freely importable, if one can afford the price. Besides,
one can freely access them on the Internet.
Given these
facts, it is difficult to believe that a large section of the print media
is opposed to FDI in the sector. The only rational explanation for this
irrational opposition is that newspaper owners and publishers have formed
their own "Bombay Club". The Bombay Club syndrome captures the
last-ditch effort of well-ensconced capitalists to ward off competition.
To them, competition is life-threatening. That is absolutely true. Look
at the names of the "distinguished business houses" that have
fallen like nine pins in the face of competition. On the other hand, for
every loser there have been numerous winners. The biggest gainer has been
the consumer, and in many cases the producer of raw materials and components
has also been a gainer.
After a
lull, the debate on the entry of foreign investment into the print media
has started again. It is distressing that the Press Council of India should
have taken sides in this debate. The council is the watchdog of a free
and fair press, and it ought not to convert itself into a protagonist
of protectionism.
I wish to
say three cheers for the print media, but I have to hold back the last
hurrah until it gives up its irrational opposition to the entry of FDI.
The debate must move on to the rules and regulations which should apply
to the ownership, management and editorial independence of newspapers
and magazines.
(The
author is a former Indian finance minister and a TMC leader.)
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