In India \'Paid News\' Soars With Competition

Sajjad Hussain/Agence France-Presse - Getty ImagesNaveen Jindal, managing director of Jindal Steel and Power and a member of Parliament, in this March 5, 2012 file photo.

On Indian television news, hidden cameras are often used to catch a politician accepting a bribe or a big business giving one. A recent “sting” operation also had a conglomerate's executives on camera, but it was the journalists who got stung.

They film appears to show journalists saying they would stop unfavorable coverage of a steel company's suspected involvement in a coal scam if about $18 million o f advertising revenue was committed to their news network. The journalists claim the film was doctored, but late on Tuesday, they were arrested for criminal conspiracy and extortion â€" charges unusual, and shocking, for journalists in India.

India has thriving and noisy news media; hundreds of English, Hindi and regional news channels offer round-the-clock coverage of news. India's television business has been on steroids the last 20 years since the government liberalized broadcasting. But analysts say that many TV networks struggle in turning a profit because of cutthroat competition for the same pool of advertising dollars.

“There are too many new entrants,” said Sevanti Ninan, the editor of The Hoot, a Web site devoted to media criticism, arguing that even the big players “are financially vulnerable.”

Media watchdogs have been critical of a paid news phenomenon that has soared along with this growth of media. In the past, there have also been reports about paid news coverage of political parties and candidates during state and national elections, as well as more routine blurring of news and advertising content in major publications. This has all led to a debate of ethics in journalism in India. With  arrests Tuesday, a debate of criminality in journalism has also been brought into the picture.

Analysts say the case reeks of the toxic mix of news with business and politics.

The television editors of channels Zee News, Sudhir Chaudhary, and Zee Business, Samir Ahluwalia, came under the spotlight when the company Jindal Steel and Power, one of India's major steel producers, filed a complaint in October. Both the editors are heads of news as well as business operations of their channel.

The steel company accused them of trying to extort money to stop news coverage of allegations of the company's involvement in a $34 billion coal mining scandal that has engulfed the countr y in recent months. That scam, dubbed Coalgate, has centered on the opaque government allotment process that enabled well-connected businessmen and politicians to obtain rights to undeveloped coal fields. The steel company also produced a CD to back their claims.

Zee company officials, however, counter that the steel company was trying to bribe them to slow their coverage. The chairman of the steel company, Naveen Jindal, a lawmaker with the ruling Indian National Congress party and one of India's richest industrialists, was reportedly under investigation in connection to the coal scam.

“In pursuit of seeking truth in the Coalgate scam, we have had several interactions with Jindal and with his officials. He chose to display an edited/ doctored CD where only selected portions are shown. Mr. Jindal has a history of unfairly targeting those who dare to confront him with the truth,” Mr. Chaudhary and Mr. Ahluwalia said on their Web site last month.

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, an independent journalist and educator, said the arrests of senior journalists would have been unlikely if people who don't have Mr. Jindal's influence were involved.

“He happens to be a member of Parliament. He happens to be a member of the ruling party,” Mr.  Thakurta said.

On Wednesday, Zee network maintained its innocence and described the complaint of Mr. Jindal's company as “fraudulent and contrived.” In a press conference, the chief executive of Zee News, Alok Agrawal, and the company's lawyer said that the arrests were orchestrated to deflect attention on the coal scam and were an attack on press freedom.

“Just because they are editors, it doesn't give them immunity,” Rajeev Bhadauria, director of human resources at Jindal steel told NDTV news channel, saying that freedom of the press had nothing to do with it. “They are the rotten apples and need to be weeded out.”

Mr. Jindal declined to comment to the Indian news media.

Analysts, while declining to comment on the specifics of this case as it is still under investigation, note that it's not uncommon for stories in the Indian news media to be held back because of pressure from industrialists.

“There's no sense of right and wrong among big media houses,” said Ms. Ninan, adding that although there are exceptions, “The grip of big business is growing. It does not make for very courageous journalism taking place on matters of corruption.”