Spin doctoring In Andhra Pradesh
A new newspaper Sakshi’s (launched on March 24, 2008) arrival on the print media scene of Andhra Pradesh has created ripples which set a new record of controversies that transcended all others in the past, not because the paper belongs to Mr. Y. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the son of present Chief Minister Dr.Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy, but due to its strange approach to professional standards (not to be confused with ethics of journalism as discussed by Karen Sanders*) of journalism.
First, the paper belies the popular belief that media acts as a fourth estate and exposes the corruption and the failures of the government. Further, any paper new or old, gives a wide coverage to a number of problems affecting the various cross sections of the society, including farmers, women, students, employees, different vocational groups, rural groups, etc. As such the Government, whoever might be in power, would be the focus area for any media Of course a paper does not only give publicity to the government schemes programs and policies, but also criticizes it constructively and effectively as to benefit both the government and target groups.
However Sakshi is a paper with a difference for it has set ingenious professional standards of journalism by adopting a new set of conventions and practices which are delineated below:
Sakshi’s record of sorts
1. It claimed a circulation of 12 million copies on the day of the start a claim not verified by any standard agency like ABC or IMRB or IRS or INS. (Sakshi "Dhanyavvadaalu". Y.Jagan Mohan Reddy’s note. First Page 27.03.08). It means overnight the readership in Andhra Pradesh doubled, the readership of other papers being unaffected.
2. It was perhaps the only newspaper in
3. It was perhaps the only paper for which a GO was issued on April 3, 2008, separately by none other than Chief Minister himself, authorizing the release of the advertisements dispensing with the certification by any agency such as ABC/IMRB/INS or IRS which is a mandatory procedure stipulated by any State or Central Government under the existing laws. (Eenadu Page 5, 14.04.08). In the first 15 days, 8,508 sq.cms space was filled up by the advertisements released by State Directorate of Information and Public Relations.
4. It targets the opposition leader Mr. N.Chandrababu Naidu, who was rejected by the masses of the state in the elections held in 2004-- lock stock and barrel. (Sakshi papers dt:
5. It directly attacks Mr. Ramoji Rao and Mr.Vemuri Radhakrishna by names, both being the owners and the Editors of the rival papers-- Eenadu and Andhra Jyoti-- and have been in existence much before Sakshi arrived on the scene. (Sakshi papers dt.: 29/03/08, 01/04/08, 05/04/08,
6. It is the only news paper which has the luxury and privilege of being defended tooth and nail whenever opposition groups made allegations against Sakshi by none other than the Ministers of the State such as Mr. Raghuveera Reddy Minister of Agriculture Mr. Shabbir Ali, Minister of Electricity, Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy the Chief Whip in the Assembly, etc. They, instead of the management, defend the news paper regarding its funds and bloated shares as investments from the reputed industrial houses such as
7. It claims to be objective in its reporting but the language and diction it uses in its captions are very rude and directly attack Chandra Babu Naidu (‘Janku Gonku leni ‘Babu Bonku’ means Unhesitating shameless Babu lies: Sakshi 17.04.08) or Ramoji Rao (Kota digina Ra(mo)ji means Ramoji’s climb down: Sakshi 20.4.08 ). Such a reporting style is unheard in the annals of journalism.
8. It directly meddled in marketing (distribution costs for the delivery boys and the day to day price of Eenadu paper) by writing stories instigating the paperboys to revolt against the low distribution costs they were paid and by demanding Mr. Ramoji Rao directly to bring down its price to two rupees for which Sakshi is sold ("Good Morning, ido andamina morning"—Sakshi 18.04.08, Sakshi 20.04.08).
9. The paper claims to be impassionate and fearless in reporting the truth but clearly indulges in spin doctoring in favor Congress and Dr. Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy either by eliminating any adverse reports against him or reporting such adverse reports (CAG indicting Government on misappropriation of funds meant for irrigation projects such as Yellampalli, etc.) with least important headlines in the inside pages innocuously. ("Bhoo Ketayimpulapi CAG Churakalu—APIIC Teeruto 304 kotla nashtam": Sakshi 29.03.08-first page anchor item in the right hand corner).
The present paper therefore deals with each of the above issues in the light of new wave of professional standards this paper is likely to set in the year which is an important year for the incumbent government in view of the elections due around May 2009.
Methodology
Since
The methodology followed is based on the guidelines and broad framework of design and planning set out by Thomas R Lindolf and Bryan C Taylor in "Qualitative Communication Research Methods" (2002: 66-117). For ethics in journalism, the author relied his interpretations on the basis of the interpretations offered by Karen Sanders in Ethics and Journalism (2003).
As for the theorization of the ideas discussed here as ‘spin-doctoring’ the author largely relied upon the work of Professor P. Eric Louw who argued in his famous work-the Media and the Political Process—that ‘objective journalism’ is a fallacy and self-deception and that it is not possible for any journalist in the political reporting to be absolutely objective He has contrasted the empiricist view of a journalist with the constructivist view of the journalist in this work (2005:17) Drawing parallel between the political theories of democracies and the media processes he introduced terms called policy impression management policy and hype elite-politics and mass politics information rich media and information poor media insiders (politically active elite politicians in small groups) semi-insiders (People aware of elite politics and groups privy to policy decisions but not part of it) and outsiders (voters).
"When it comes to political reporting this is blamed on the work of spin-doctors—ie demagogues who work to prevent journalists from finding all the ‘facts’ Spin-doctors have become a convenient scapegoat. They are viewed as practitioners of the dark arts who work to obstruct objective journalists doing their job. And there is some validity in this portrayal However this portrayal is only half the story. The other half the story is the role of journalists themselves play in constructing a view of the world more akin to the shadows in Plato’s cave than a mirror. The book will argue that political reporting has been PR-ized, ie. spin-doctors have learned to ‘steer’ the portrayal of the news. However PR-ization involves a symbiotic relationship between a range of people including spin-doctors public opinion pollsters politicians and Journalists. The practices of objective journalism are implicated in the process of obscuration because spin-doctors have learned to use the practices of mainstream liberal journalism to help them construct the view of the world they are trying to portray (2005:5).
Main Aspects of the Study
1.Direct and excessive reference to Opposition Leader Mr N Chandrababu Naidu.
2.Direct and excessive reference to Editor in Chief Mr Ramoji Rao of Eenadu and Editor in Chief Mr. Vemuri Radhakrishna of Andhra Jyothi.
3. Defense offered in support of Sakshi by the Ministers and the Chief Whip other than Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Raja Sekhar Reddy
4. Direct reference to some of the stories published in Eenadu and Andhra Jyothi alleging fraud corruption and collusion between government and contractors or fraudulent approach of government in the guise of pro-farmer policies, etc.
5. Avoiding direct reference (in the first page) to CAG reports/SC or HC judgments which indicted the government on its expenditure/land deals and the hikes in the budgets the government tacitly allowed favoring contractors which was published in other news papers such as Vaartha, etc.
6. Publishing stories that mislead the public deliberately (eg. TRS and TDP secret pact; Jadcherla SEZs story published in Sakshi April 18, 2008 and later disproved by the E-TV live telecast and by a fact finding committee of civil liberties activists).
Definitions of the main terms of the study
For the purpose of the study as structured in ‘the main aspects of the study’ the following terms have been defined as below:
Direct Reference: means the paper suo moto itself carries a news report under its agency head ‘newsline’ without quoting any official of a political party or minister, etc (eg Chandrababu Bonku—Chandrababu Lie: Sakshi17.04.08; "Nindu Sabha lo babu rubaabu"—Babu’s Goondaism in Open Assembly: Sakshi April 3, 2008.
Content: i. Direct reference to individuals not to their policies or ideas or ideologies. ii.Some of these references lacked in formal respect usually paid to the dignitaries or industrialists iii. The tone and tenor is taken into consideration in such references construed as personal attacks.
Spin doctoring: As defined above in the methodology coining headlines and constructing sentences as to favor one and discredit some other is construed as spin-doctoring. Here in the given analysis Sakshi ‘s spin doctoring statements favoring Congress or Dr. YSR and discrediting Chandrababu and Ramoji Rao are analyzed. These include suppression of nepotism corruption and favoritism. In fact it is through these channels the spin-doctors gain access to inside news rooms. In the present analysis spin doctors are politicians-turned investors in Sakshi.
Hypotheses
H1 Sakshi sets new professional standards in spin doctoring.
H2 The objective or empiricist view of the world by a journalist perhaps may no longer be possible or relevant to Telugu print media or electronic media.
H3 It is easy to interpret any headline or intro today as spin doctored rather to prove it to be an objective.
H4 Ethics of Journalism hitherto known may no longer be relevant to examine the current news content reporting.
Analysis and Discussion
Circulation, Advertisements, Costs of the paper, and Spin-doctors
The newspaper’s claim that it enjoyed a circulation figure of 12 million copies on the opening day is something stupendous and unbelievable (Sakshi
Some of those strategies include a radical change in the lay out of the paper selection of appropriate fonts prioritizing the news items cartoons and photographs etc Even the language of the paper has been refreshingly new and distinct from the traditional language employed in those newspapers The timely delivery and frequent reader surveys--item-wise--had enabled the Eenadu to settle down with more attractive stories and heads/subheads. Further Eenadu has established its own marketing agencies and through which it ensured delivery across the state even in remote areas of the State where the traditional newspapers never reached on time. Though Eenadu had quickly taken over all other traditional newspapers it had taken several long years before it claimed the largest circulated Telugu Daily on its masthead a fact that was confirmed by various readership surveys such as ABC or IMRB. In fact such a certification is a prerequisite for release of advertisements from the Government or private sector side. It was Eenadu which later introduced several new concepts, as is the Times of India, such as regional bulletins, color pages, color mastheads, Sunday magazine booklets, etc which were later followed by all other news papers including traditional news papers like Andhra Prabha, Andhra Patrika and Andhra Jyoti. (Vanita Kohli 2003). By any comparison it cannot be said that the present format of Sakshi even today is better than Eenadu, however great Maria Garcia is.
On the contrary the Chief Minister as well as the Ministers of the Cabinet rank started claiming the circulation figures of Sakshi as 11 million on the floor of the assembly and even outside and to sustain these claims the government even released advertisements from the day one at par with Eenadu (Eenadu April3 2008). The matter did not end here. To provoke Mr Ramoji Rao direct articles started appearing in Sakshi (April 18 and
The reason for such a demand was however understandable. Earlier, Mr Chandrababu the former Chief Minister and the leader of Opposition on the floor of the Assembly, during the no-confidence motion moved against the Congress government, precisely raised the very issue -- how could Sakshi a multi colored 30-page pullout be sold at rupees two? ("Avineeti Bandhu Preeti" Eenadu
Few days later, Mr. Chandrababu held a press meet and even disclosed the documentary evidence that was in his possession to show that the names and addresses of some of the investors were even fake. The TDP leaders even showed to the media the Government’s new GO, released a week after the launch of the newspaper on