In black and white

Opening up the print media to foreign investment, an issue that has been hanging fire for far too long, is back on the Centre8217;s agenda. That is the impression given by Sushma Swaraj, minister for Information and Broadcasting. However, the government seems still to be testing the water nervously with one toe. The matter is under consideration, the minister says, in the light of the changed information scenario for which read, the global information revolution. Those words definitely invite a positive construction. But wait. She adds ominously that the government would approach the issue with extreme caution and that 8220;all sectors cannot be treated alike for liberalisation8221;. Taken together this suggests either that another outbreak of confused thinking is imminent or that some unspoken grave concerns are about to be trotted out again as the excuse for not allowing foreign investment in the print media.

It is time to look at some of the facts. Successive governments have vetoed the opening up the print media for no other reason than that they still had the power to do so. Had it been left to policy-makers to decide whether to allow foreign content on Indian television channels or foreign-owned channels to broadcast in India, it is a sure bet the matter would still be 8220;under consideration8221;. Mercifully, technology has taken many decisions out of governments8217; hands and freed access to information on television and the Internet. It is partly the itch of all governments to control information and partly pressures from entrenched interests that prevents a rational assessment of print media policy. The Nehru government8217;s resolution against allowing foreign media interests into the country was understandable in the context of that age, the 1950s, when the world was divided ideologically into two blocs and newly independent countries were trying to stabilise themselves. To carry similar concerns into the 21stcentury is ridiculous. Fifty years on India is a confident nation, its people, thanks to its vigorous democratic system, have learned to think for themselves and can cope with a plethora of political and other ideas. The day of paternalistic governments is over.

As has been pointed out before, safeguards can be used against political propaganda by foreign entities and obscenity in the print media. Majority shareholding and overall editorial control in Indian hands should be sufficient to prevent misuse of newspapers and magazines. What the government should be considering now is not Hamletian questions but practical ones about how best to regulate the industry without infringing upon the freedom of information. The reality is that shutting the door to foreign equity does not shut the door to foreign content in the print media or to legitimate revenue from foreign sources. All it does is denies the print media access to a source of new investment which may be needed to upgrade products. If the government still hesitates, it should, at the very least, state fully and publicly its reasons for not opening up the print media.