Disclosure would be nice

IN Media Watch Briefs | 04/03/2015

Sunil Mittal of Airtel has been extensively reported in newspapers from Barcelona, commenting on the imminent spectrum auction. The Economic Times had both a front-page story and a half-page Q&A with him inside; Rediff, PTI, and the Times of India also had stories. Only the Hindu Business Line revealed how the correspondents got there: "at the invitation of Telenor". Telenor was to host a media seminar at its hospitality stand. No disclosures at the bottom of the story by the others.

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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.