Escalating Journalism The RIL Way

Journalists at Network 18 get assured of “editorial freedom” and then get an Escalation Officer

WrittenBy:Manisha Pande
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There’s been a sense of unease over the takeover of a certain media conglomerate by one of the country’s largest corporate houses. Since we all know who the two parties are, let’s cut to the chase.

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In January 2012, the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance India Limited (RIL) extended an undisclosed amount of loan to Network 18 in the form of optionally-convertible debentures. Two years later, by May 2014, RIL officially took over Network 18 by acquiring controlling stakes in a Rs 4,000-crore deal.

Needless to say, RIL acquiring a majority stake (78 per cent) in Network 18 Media and Investments Ltd has set alarm bells ringing among journalists, including those who are working in Network 18.

Network 18’s own publication, Forbes India — which it publishes in collaboration with Forbes Media – carried a piece just days after Reliance announced the takeover. It questioned whether the acquisition would mean the “death of media independence”.

It was perhaps to quell such anxieties about editorial freedom, or lack of it, under the new regime that Reliance decided to hold a town hall meeting with the staff at Network 18 and TV 18 in Mumbai early last week. The gathering had Rohit Bansal, news and communication director, and COO Alok Agarwal address editors and journalists in Network 18’s plush office in Matunga, Mumbai. But it was mostly Bansal who did the talking, emphasising RIL’s intention to go global with Network 18.

Sources tell us that RIL top honchos at the town hall meet went out of their way to dismiss apprehensions about the new regime and made it amply clear that the management will not interfere in editorial decisions and that reporters were free to report.

But what happens if they have a scoop on Reliance? RIL representatives were magnanimous enough and said Network 18′s journalists could go ahead and report on the group as long as Reliance was given 24 hours to respond. 24 hours!

Notably, Firstpost only carried an agency copy on the government slapping RIL with a fine of $579 million. CNN-IBN did not give much air time to the development, neither did IBN7.

So even as most media organisations are in a mad rush to break news, it was made clear to journalists that Network 18 in its new avatar is expected to sit on stories long enough to make sure they are accurate.

The pace at which news breaks today would make such a proposition a tad unrealistic. RIL has gone so far as to appoint an “Escalation Officer” for the newsroom. With all the PR and legal firepower at its disposal, stories that are “escalated” could end up as one-sided and petered down. What that means for journalistic independence, so persistently touted at the town hall meeting, is an easy gauge.

According to sources, the Escalation Officer will have the editorial power to reject stories and decide their fate. In most news organisations, editors and bureau chiefs already have powers to evaluate stories and decide on them. All vertical heads are expected to check stories to make sure they are consistent and factually accurate. Once a story passes through the editors, it makes little sense to have a third person review them again.

Media Director at RIL, Umesh Upadhyay – also brother of Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay — we are told has been appointed Escalation Officer although neither he nor anybody at Network 18 will confirm or deny this. When asked if management had indeed appointed an Escalation Officer, CNN-IBN Managing Editor Vinay Tiwari said he would not like to comment at all on the issue.

Upadhyay  is a prolific writer with opinions on most current issues, if his Twitter feed is anything to go by.

He thinks the Vedik-Hafiz meet was a complete non-story.

He’s even written a few articles.

Our sources tell us many journalists are uncomfortable with how the events have played out, not least because of the tone and tenor of Rajdeep Sardesai’s resignation letter. Those who saw the video of his farewell speech will have a better idea of his sentiment as he articulated them. His farewell speech in the IBN office was uploaded on YouTube and then taken down.

A Mumbai-based journalist commented, on condition of anonymity, that she doesn’t see Reliance India Limited (RIL) as a beacon of hope for the group. “If Sardesai’s resignation letter is anything to go by (in which he alluded to the fact that he is too old to change his belief in ‘editorial independence and integrity’), we need to worry”, she said.

“I will definitely know where NOT to look if I want some unbiased coverage on RIL.”

Interesting to note is that two anchors at CNN-IBN were slapped with legal notices after CNN-IBN and several other channels aired live a press conference held by Aam Aadmi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal and founding member Prashant Bhushan. This was in February 2014 when AAP was still in power in New Delhi. CNN-IBN too received a notice. (It was also reported that Sardesai was under pressure from RIL to drop the Google Hangout session with Kejriwal during the election season.)

Kejriwal, in the press conference, made accusations against RIL on gas pricing and announced that he had ordered the state’s anti-corruption unit to file an FIR against Ambani and senior Congress leaders like Veerappa Moily.

The notice sent by RIL to Network 18 journalists was a curious development since its takeover of the media channel — which happened about three months later – was already in the works at that time. But then we live in curious times as far as news media is concerned.

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