Letters: Time to introspect

Vanita Kohli-Khandekar’s column, “Rise of print media and drop in press freedom” (May 10), presents only a partial picture of the Indian media. The author rightly celebrates the success of the Indian media, especially print media, bucking the global trend. She attributes its success to rising literacy rates, cost-effectiveness and comfort of home delivery of newspapers.
 
Her demand for unfettered freedom for investigative journalism, extending even to irresponsible reporting and smearing of reputations of people, businesses and organisations, however, is flawed. Just as the press has the right to accuse, the accused have recourse to law.
 
The criminal complaint against Outlook magazine and the take-down notice to The Wire — which a Bengaluru court decided in favour of Rajiv Chandrasekhar ex-parte — are constitutional ways to check the media’s over-exuberance and supercilious arrogance.
 
Equally tedious is the author’s stance on the Indian media’s inability “to do great journalism” because of what she says is “lack of freedom”, without apportioning any part of the blame on the practice of paid content (euphemistically referred to as private treaty arrangement), at least in sections of the media. She cites The Hoot’s India Freedom Report but avoids any discussion on the World Economic Forum’s report based on a survey by Edelman Trust Barometer, which described the Indian media as the second-most distrusted institution in the world after Australia. It is a comment on our times that social media has acquired credibility almost on a par with the mainstream media.
 
It is time to introspect and reflect, instead of blandly passing judgment on Arnab Goswami’s style of journalism. Ajay Tyagi   Guwahati

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