D Subbarao’s term as the RBI Governor comes to an end on September 5, 2013. At a time when the country is going through an economic downslide and a chronically ill rupee continues to depreciate, who would occupy the RBI governor’s post is certainly a matter of interest.  And every time a high value sarkari post falls vacant, the media goes into a frenzy of lining up an array of names of possible contenders for it. Speculation becomes the order of the day for editors and reporters. But is it really just plain reportage or is it lobbying? How is it that two newspapers of national repute get two totally different sets of names? Are their sources so different or is there a hint of the publication’s preference?

The Indian Express and The Times of the India were the first two newspapers to have come up with names of possible contenders for the post. On July 9, TOI in a report titled Rajan leads race for RBI guv post said that the government’s chief economic adviser, Raghuram Rajan is most likely to replace Subbarao. The Indian Express in its report, RBI top post: Saumitra Chaudhuri frontrunner, vouched for Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri as the frontrunner. So, in case you are reading only one of these papers you are living in a perfect world sans zero confusion.

But, if you are reading both TOI and IE, this article would give you enough reasons to be confused and curious. Why does Indian Express name Saumitra Chaudhuri and why does The Times of India not name him? Both have written that they spoke to “reliable sources inside North Block”. How is there such a variation in reporting the names or is there a whiff of lobbying? Journalists won’t give a straight answer to this.

Newslaundry spoke to Subhomoy Bhattacharya of Indian Express to understand where they got these names come from. Bhattacharya said, “When you are talking to your source, he/she is giving you a point of view from inside, that may or may not end up being correct. In this particular case, there are only three names that are doing the rounds. However, we chose to highlight Chaudhuri because we learnt that he has strong chances of making it as the head of the country’s central bank”. Bhattacharya doesn’t deny the fact that lobbying can happen and names can be thrown up by sources keeping in mind their personal interests. He says, “There are times when some sources plant names just to scuttle someone else’s chances. And if the reporter goes blindly to his source without any understanding of the issue he is reporting on, chances are he could be taken for a ride”.

So who were TOI’s sources? Are they also reliable? We tried contacting Siddhartha of TOI but got no response from him.

Bhattacharya doesn’t believe that a reporter knowingly lobbies for a particular person for a particular post. Media commentator and economic expert, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta too seconds his opinion. “If a journalist is taking his/her source seriously then there is always the danger of going wrong. The journalist concerned may or may not be aware of the fact that he is being used by his/her source for pitching a certain candidate. Maybe the journalist is just a pawn in the bigger scheme of things”.

If that is the case, how does a reporter make sure that he doesn’t fall into such a trap? Bhattacharya says, “As a reporter you have to be informed and aware and have an in-depth understanding of the issue. You cannot land up at a place completely blind.  A reporter has to be alert enough to understand whether someone is planting a story or is giving a perspective. Believing your source is one of the occupational hazards of journalism. Your source can go wrong and it’s a risk you take as a journalist”.

And is there any benefit of taking such a risk? Now that Indian Express has named Saumitra Chaudhuri as the front runner and TOI’s money is riding on Raghuram Rajan, the run-up to the final selection has also turned into a race of whose candidate will eventually win? Do newspaper reports and the names thrown up by them have any bearing on the final outcome? Bhattacharya says, “Yes, it does. When a credible newspaper (read The Indian Express and The Hindu) reports on a certain name, it influences decision-making at the highest level”. But isn’t this lobbying? Who decides that The Indian Express is more credible than The Times of India? And how is lobbying by a more credible newspaper any different from that by a “less credible” newspaper?

Thakurta says that lobbying is a highly overrated phenomenon as it might not even have the desired result. He says, “A section in the North Block might want a certain candidate as the RBI chief because he is a loyalist of the finance minister. But once a RBI chief enters his office he is his own boss. Subbarao was known to be a very docile person as the finance secretary and very close to Chidambaram but he held his own against Chidambaram as the RBI Chief on several occasions”.

The bottom line is lobbying does happen but don’t blame the journalists for their naïveté if their source uses them to position someone for a top job. Does it work? It is possible that someone who was never a contender for a post or award becomes one just because someone reported he or she is. A bit like what’s been happening with Jagdish Bhagwati every year since as far back as 2004 (see list of articles below) in regards to the Nobel prize for Economics. It’s also a bit like Chetan Bhagat lobbying for the Nobel for literature, would you say? But then again stranger things have been known to happen.

Links of Jagdish Bhagwati being a contender for the Nobel Prize For Economics

1. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/book-review-of-in-defense-of-globalization-by-jagdish-bhagwati/1/195873.html (See image and caption)

2. http://business.time.com/2008/10/13/krugman_gets_the_nobel/

3. http://nriinternet.com/NRIappointments/USA/Non_Political/A_Z/B/Jagdish_Bhagwati/

4. http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/NM17/Jagdish-Bhagwati-likely-recipient-of-Eco-Nobel/Article1-159295.aspx