Recollections of a Communicator: Improving media outreach, old wine in a new bottle

New Delhi, Nov. 27 (ANI): I was pleasantly surprised to read in a capital daily that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has sent a communication to the different ministries underlining the need to improve media outreach regarding government initiatives. It was stated that the government felt the need to adopt a more proactive communication strategy to reach out to the people.

The need for a proactive communication policy was felt when the country became independent and the government set up the Press Information Bureau (PIB). Efforts were made soon after to authorise the PIB to function effectively by framing rules to ensure that officials of the organisation had access to information about the policies and programmes of the government and communicate it to the media.

Initially, newspapermen were appointed as information officers of the PIB. Among them, we are familiar with Mr. Kuldip Nayar, who was the spokesman for the Home Ministry, and later headed a news agency. Other notable journalists who served as communicators included Prem Bhatia, B.K.R. Kabad, G.G. Mirchandani and D.R. Mankekar.

To ensure that the bureaucracy imparted information to the information officers, the government drew up, with the advice of communication strategists in the West, Technical Publicity Rules (TPR), which gave directions for sharing information with PIB officers.

Whatever be the status of the information officer of the PIB, he had access to all officials of the ministry to which he was attached. He had the right to disseminate information. According to rules, the decisions of the government could be communicated to the media by the minister or the secretary of the department, besides the information officer.

Soon, it was realised that there was a need for special training to be given to the information officers. The government then set up the Indian Institute of Mass Communication on the recommendation of a team of internationally known mass communication specialists from UNESCO and the Ford Foundation.

In the early sixties, the government decided to set up the Indian Information Service (IIS), which was one of the All India allied services.

The officials appointed to the service received initial training at the Civil Services Training Institute in Mussoorie. They interacted with colleagues there from other All India Services, before moving to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) for further special training.

The Technical Publicity Rules, which are to be followed by all departments of the government, have been reviewed to ensure that they are abreast of the changes in the media scene.

From my experience, as a young information officer, as also the head of the PIB, it was not easy for a communicator to be part of the bureaucracy in the Government of India. While the ministers share the information, the officials needed the authorisation to do so, and this, is provided under the Technical Publicity Rules.

When Parliament is in session, it a common practice to have a briefing session for the minister, particularly on starred questions. The information officer is authorised to be present at the briefing session to enable him to communicate with media persons in the press gallery of the Parliament.

I remember as head of the PIB, I was invited to the IAS Training Institute in Mussoorie to interact with the trainees of the All India Services. I wonder whether the practice is continuing.

The Indian Information Service office also manages the News Services Division of the All India Radio, the Doordarshan, the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, the Publication Division and the Directorate of Field Publicity which organizes communication campaigns.

The Information Service also heads the defence wing of the Press Information Bureau, which has a mix of Service Officers.

Even though the Technical Publicity Rules clearly state that the officials should share information with the Information Officers, until the latter establishes a trust, the officers are reluctant to share the information. I have seen this throughout my four decades of service in the government. Once the trust was established, I had the advantage of getting to know the government decisions, why they were taken and got the background necessary to brief the media.

The charter of the PIB has been to present material to the media as 'news stories', to exclude rigorously 'puffs' for government activities. Whenever necessary, the information officer suggests that the minister should address a press conference. Of late, this practice has increased as the audio-visual media is looking for a 'byte'.

As spokesman for the government, I had access to four Prime Ministers-Rajiv Gandhi, V.P. Singh, Chandrashekar and Narasimha Rao-and also had, often, an office in South Block.

There has to be a realisation that while politicians are good communicators, dissemination of information is a specialised job and special skills are required. We have the machinery, but often it gets rusted.

It is the PIB's duty to tell departments whether a 'news story' will have credibility or not. The information officer, who is trained as a journalist and is in regular touch with the media representatives, would be able to advise the government. Many a time, the government has not accepted the advice. To give instances, no amount of publicity was able to justify the decisions taken during the Emergency in the seventies, the Blue Star Operation and the Indian Peace Keeping Operations in Sri Lanka in the eighties.

In the final analysis, one should be aware communication is a specialised profession.

To start with, it is time the government gets a few copies of the Technical Publicity Rules printed and circulate it to all departments. Update the rules, if necessary, to keep it abreast of the changes in the media scene, particularly in the audio- visual and social media.

Mr. I. Ramamohan Rao is a former Principal Information Officer of the Government of India. He can be reached on his e-mail raoramamohan@hotmail.com .