Big penalty, small story

IN Media Watch Briefs | 23/09/2015

Capital markets regulator SEBI slapped what is apparently its highest ever fine on PACL, a Delhi-based real estate company, but for some mystifying reason all papers downplayed the story. The regulator fined this company Rs 7269 crore for not registering its collective investment scheme which mopped up thousands of crores from small investors. The closest it got to page one was a brief on top of page 1 in TOI and Mint's bottom of page one pointer to the story on page 12. ET put it on page 10, Business Standard gave it a single column on page 15, The Hindu skipped it, and Indian Express gave it page 21, the bottom of its economy page.

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Media Watch Briefs

Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.

Let the games begin

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.