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ShareNEW DELHI: There's no accountability crisis in Indian journalism. That seems to be the consensus among editors of newspapers and news magazines that DNA spoke to following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's reported concerns over recent media coverage of the stock markets.
Last Wednesday and Thursday, several newspapers reported that the Prime Minister was watching the market's rise with concern. Some even reported that he had held discussions with senior officials of SEBI, RBI and some intelligence agencies. These reports led to a dramatic drop of 265 points in the BSE Sensex last Thursday.
But most newspaper editors denied that there was any general problem with reporting standards. "It's wrong to suggest that journalists are not accountable," said Vir Sanghvi, editorial director, Hindustan Times. "I can understand the Prime Minister's concern. Errors do occur. But there's accountability within journalism," Sanghvi added.
Speaking in Chandigarh, Manmohan Singh had raised questions about journalistic standards. "How many mistakes must a journalist make...before professional clamps are placed?" Sanghvi riposte: "Journalists make fewer mistakes than the average PMO man these days".
Business Standard's editor TN Ninan told DNA, "We are responsible to our readers. We'll tell our readers our views on the matter."
Prabhu Chawla, group editor, India Today, argued that the "media is under scrutiny every day. But politicians come up for scrutiny only once in five years." Chawla said that the "media is much more self-regulatory than politicians are. We know how to handle deviations."
On the other hand, politicians have the habit of withdrawing their statements every now and then, he pointed out. Whether it's the electronic media or print, "we are accountable to our viewers and readers," Chawla said, adding "we (in media) have survived many establishments, including the Emergency."
Editors of business newspapers ---- who were the focus of the Prime Minister's anguished comments ----- preferred not to comment on the issue at all. DNA tried speaking to The Economic Times editor Rahul Joshi, Business Line joint editor K Venugopal, Hindu group (which also publishes Business Line) editor-in-chief N Ram; and The Indian Express group (which also publishes The Financial Express) CEO Shekhar Gupta, but in vain.
