Opinion - News Analysis   

Amid the pressures, editorial primacy

K. Narayanan

Maintaining the balance between the editorial content and the advertisement needs of a major newspaper is a delicate task. What kind of pressures does he face as Editor-in-Chief? N. Ram spoke in detail about how he and the editorial team have been trying to keep intact the Lakshman Rekha between editorial and advertisement. It is only a conceptual line and no wall exists between the two areas of operation of the paper. There is continuous interaction between the two where the pressures and constraints are aired and discussed.

The key factor in all this is a simple truth: serious journalism doesn't pay for itself. It has to depend on advertisement, which in the case of big Indian newspapers contributes 80 per cent of the revenue needed not only for sustenance but also to create a healthy surplus for development. With the fast developments in technology and increasing competition, development is a constant consideration if one is not to be left behind.

Newspaper advertisement is a buyers' market where the space vendors encounter very keen competition. But even in this unhealthy environment, The Hindu has been able to maintain its independence, more than other papers. It has a tradition it jealously guards; so the advertisers know where they have to stop. But can it hold on? While newspapers "are proving to be incredibly resilient against the onslaught of a wide range of media competition" (World Association of Newspapers report for 2005), one cannot predict what the future holds.

The Editor-in-Chief confirmed to me that he has never had to face any improper pressure from the marketing people or from the advertisers. Whenever there is a request for coverage, it is referred to the journalists concerned for action on merits. There may be requests at the local level, which are handled locally and it is not possible to keep an eye on all such happenings.

The only instances of the withholding of Government advertisements to show displeasure over the newspaper's independent, critical stance have been experienced in Tamil Nadu. Placing or withholding ads worth some crores of rupees has not made a jot of difference to the newspaper's stance or coverage, Mr. Ram told me, pointing out that that was a proud part of the newspaper's historical tradition.

The contents of an advertisement are left to the department and the Editor-in-Chief does not come into the picture. But special positions like "wrap around" are referred to him for clearance on a case-by-case basis. As a rule, they are not placed on the main news pages; and the attempt is always to make clear that it is in an advertisement. Somewhat different standards are adopted, in keeping with the editorial content, where supplements or the sports pages or the back page are concerned. These have been demands for special and odd positioning on Page 1, but these have been turned down.

Generally, the advertising proportion in a day's paper works out to about 38 per cent of total space for a page level of 32 including supplements. But the availability of space for news is uneven and does fluctuate. Local and regional advertisements, which are charged at lower rates, are more and so more pages have to be devoted to them. This results in less space being allotted to non-regional news, particularly national news, whose coverage therefore suffers at times. The late inflow of information regarding advertisement for local pages adds to the production problems. All these are being tackled.

As I said at the beginning, it is a fact that advertisements sustain a paper. But what provides credibility to a newspaper and differentiates it from other commercial products or commodities is the doctrine of editorial primacy.

To revert to readers' complaints about the quality and content of advertisements, there is not much public awareness of the work of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). It is a self-regulatory body set up by the advertising industry for the benefit of its members. Its rulings are generally observed by all members though, like the Press Council of India, it has no teeth.

Acting as an ombudsman, ASCI takes up complaints regarding advertisements from individuals and consumer groups that are active. Consumer interests are also represented in the Consumer Complaints Council set up by ASCI.

Every advertisement complained against is taken up for detailed scrutiny. ASCI pulls up errant advertisers who indulge in exaggerated statements and misleading claims and in the unethical practice of knocking out the competition.

ASCI can be contacted at: The Advertising Standards Council of India, 205 Bombay Market, 78 Tardeo Road, Mumbai — 400 034.

Tel: +91-22-23521066/23516863 Fax: +91-22-23516863

E-mail: asci@vsnl.com Website: www.ascionline.org

Whether advertisers indirectly influence the content is a question often discussed. It is possible that some subtle influence can work on a writer and affect the colour and contours of a story. But a trained journalist can spot these angles quite easily. It is finally a question of exercising journalistic judgment.

readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

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