The Hindu : Newspaper employees protest FDI in print media

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 27, 2002

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Newspaper employees protest FDI in print media

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI AUG. 26. On a day when several newspaper editors dwelt at length on the benefits of FDI in print media, major federations of newspaper and news agency employees came out with a joint statement protesting the move to allow foreign investment in the medium.

According to a statement issued by the All India Newspaper Employees Federation, it was regrettable that the Government continued to persist with its decision to allow FDI in print media, despite near unanimous opposition to it from MPs during the discussion on the subject in the last session of Parliament.

``The Government has failed over the last several years to ensure the implementation of even existing laws to defend the rights of working journalists and other newspaper employees as in the Working Journalists Act and even the very light regulations under the Registration of Newspapers Act like the appointment of editors. The Federation has also expressed concern about what it would do to small and medium newspapers which are ``the anchor of democratic discourse in the country''. Besides the Federation, the signatories to the statement are the Indian Journalists Union, National Union of Journalists (India), Federation of PTI Employees Union and UNI Workers Union.

Meanwhile, at a panel discussion organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry on `Living with FDI in Print Media', the general mood among editors was favourable to the decision to open the medium to foreign investment. In the opinion of the Editor of Business Standard, T.N. Ninan, FDI would help avoid the monopolistic situation prevailing in the print media today. ``Instead, a new element of competition would evolve where even small newspapers would be able to survive and the marketing strategy would be less monopolistic in comparison.''

Referring to the regulatory guidelines imposed by certain countries to ensure the freedom of the press, the Executive Managing Editor of Times of India, Dileep Padgaonkar, said if the situation warranted, India should also have similar guidelines. The Editor of Pioneer, Chandan Mitra, said the Indian print media had for long been treated like a ``handicapped child'' and it was time the medium was allowed to function like any other commercial organisation.

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