Shutting out Indian writers

BY Suneetha B| IN Media Practice | 28/06/2009

"Since our goal is to become the top-quality content site on the web, we realize that, as a US-based company, we cannot accept writers from countries where English is not the primary language".

This intimation sent out earlier this month by the popular US based website Helium.com to most of its writers in India was understood by those who received it to mean that it was no longer interested in taking in their articles. English has taken many an Indian writer across the ocean. And with the advance of the web, bylines on ‘foren’ websites are something that freelance Indian writers flaunt. The above-average writer in India, who writes in English, is definitely a better option as content provider to the zillions of websites, than the average native English speaker. Or so we thought!

And the reason they have mentioned for this move in the mail is even more provoking:

"To prevent frustrations from all writers and to limit staff time spent trying to accommodate non-English-speaking writers, we have decided to stop accepting submissions from locations that may have a negative impact on the quality of our site."

 Indian writers have been asked to remove their previous content and any payment accumulated below $25 will have to be forfeited. 

The text of this letter has been circulated extensively on the web, and discussed so much in writer’s forums that it is like all hell has broken loose, especially in the wake of the ‘racist attacks’ covered threadbare by the Indian media. When Janice Brand, Vice President, Content & Community, at Helium was contacted for clarification whether it was the non-US writers or Indians who have been banned, she had this to say:

"To be clear, we have not closed our doors to non-US writers. Most of our writers come from the US, Canada, Australia/New Zealand and Great Britain. A minority portion of our members have registered from India and from the Philippines, and these two areas, where many are non-native English speakers, are the subject of our recent policy change. We are not allowing new registrants from those areas and have blocked many of the existing members."

Janice does quote some reasons that lead them to make this decision. The most prominent one is this:"Too often, the writers whose work we had to consistently remove for poor writing have been posting from India and the Philippines. Although we are removing the content of many of these writers, returning rights to their work and paying those who have earned in accordance with our stated policies, there are a number of writers we are working with to keep on the site. We have read through the submissions of each member to determine who should remain."

It is certainly the prerogative of a site to reject a bad writer, or bad writing, but when a country is identified as the source of bad writing and writers blocked en masse, the prudence, logic and the economy of the decision is rather suspect.  In fact, some of the writers who have been retained by Helium are talking about the action as ‘necessary, as there was a sudden influx of a huge quantity viral writing (with rickshaw wallah English) from Indian IP ( Internet Protocol) addresses,’ that too over a weekend.

Did all ‘rickshaw wallahs’ lose their jobs and take up content writing in English over the weekend? Considering that such ‘posting from Indian IP address jobs’ can possibly be done by some Indians over a weekend, from Indian IP addresses, just as a ‘paid project’, is no surprise. After all we are no strangers to sting operations on Indian journalists and writers.

 The other worrying rumour that the decision to cut out Indian IP addresses is being instigated by none other than an Indian in the Helium team is not a surprise at all, as we Indians have previously demonstrated we are always ‘more loyal than the king’.

In view of the huge outcry against the decision, some of the writers still on board are trying some damage control measures, working together to reinstate interested writers, an ongoing, albeit slow, process. Disappointed Indian writers like Tikuli Dogra, Vani Chugh, Birupakshya Dixit and blogger athulii have written to Helium or blogged, expressing their strong views on this decision.  I quote from one of their mails to Helium,

"Just like some of your Indian writers, I am sure many of your ‘native English writers’ do not have perfect English. While I was active on Helium, I flagged many pieces ridden with grammatical errors, cuss words, sms language and sometimes even US street language and all of them I can assure you were not written by the so called "non-native" English speakers!"

It is observed by many a commenter that the US is the source of all this mischief. The British scenario looks better, and in fact I came across one writer from India, Noel Gama, who has been repeatedly appreciated by the West for his prowess in English. He says he got to write his recent book, "Culture Wise India" without submitting a proposal or even a query - the publisher read his blog, liked his writing style and had to persuade him to accept the contract as he was reluctant because of the topic. The Writers Bureau has requested Gama to appraise a new copywriting course they are launching! They call him an expert!  Noel says that from his interactions with the British, Americans, Canadians and a few Australians, the British are more India-friendly. Old connections perhaps? Or is Noel a lone case?

The polarization that is evident over the globe these days, definitely has its origin in sagging economies and lost jobs. But life has to go on, and in another few years, who knows whether Indians would be putting up websites and inviting articles from non-native English writers? Perhaps then they might call it Indian protectionism! After all, the world is a global village only when it suits some countries, be it in writing, markets or whatever.