Why does the regional press always seem to get a raw deal?
The reasons are historical as well as cultural. Journalism in India began with an English paper, Hickey's Gazette , not a language daily. Through more than 100 years of British rule, the English press was close to the establishment and, therefore, privileged in many ways.
Is the situation still the same?
Yes. The general tone of the English press is pro-establishment because after Independence, it demanded and got a large piece of the power cake. After all, it had played a key role in the freedom struggle. When you are close to the establishment, you have access to information that becomes news. Which explains the preponderance of political and government news in our papers.
What is the cultural reason?
For 5,000 years, India has always had one language for the elite, and others for the masses. Today, English is the language of the ruling class. Like Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic in different periods of our history. Poets who wrote in the various dialects had no place in the royal courts of yore. Today, it's the same with the regional language press, which is not taken seriously by the establishment even if national politicians do.
Does the English press have its ears close enough to the ground?
The English-language press does not understand grassroots politics quite as well as it did 10 or 15 years ago. Today's average politician comes from a background that is very different from the background that English-language journalists belong to.
Doesn't that imply that language papers are closer to the grassroots?
Yes, they are. But unfortunately, they lack perspective. Their vision is limited. They think they are serving a limited clientele. The English dailies, in contrast, believe that every story they do will shake up the country. The confidence level is much, much higher.
Isn't the confidence misplaced?
It is easier to move the masses when you write in their mother tongue—it's the language they 'feel' in. So, to cite an example, the Ananda Bazaar Patrika will always wield greater influence in West Bengal than The Telegraph or The Statesman . But English is the language of the decision-makers. Not just of the bureaucrats, but also of the movers and shakers of the economy, especially after the economic liberalisation. After 1991, the English press has become much stronger than it has ever been since the British left India.
Is it ethical for the English press to lift stories from regional papers?
The problem is that credit is never given. Correspondents of national English dailies in Bhopal, Lucknow, Chennai or Calcutta read the local papers and then do rehashes two days later. Once one national daily runs a story, the others follow suit.
