It isn’t unusual for a journalist in Chennai to encounter instances of casual bribery. Only, it happens regularly on their line of duty
In the
journalistic circles of Chennai, it is simply referred to as the “cover”.
Possessing
the subtlety of a government lobby and the crudity of paying for a harlot’s
services, the “cover” is, simply put, a monetary favour to a media reporter/
photographer in exchange for better coverage.
Cover and
thy shall be covered with glory, in print or on TV.
Mediamen in most press conferences and symposia in the city’s
glitzy star hotels (repeat:
most, not all; italicise, bold, underline) and even protests
by the bourgeoisie, including slum dwellers, are, invariably, handed over glossy
looking packages containing a host of gifts ranging from diaries to pens,
folders, pamphlets and literature about the event in question (also known
as the ‘press release’) and, of course, the “cover” – an innocuous looking
envelope containing currency. The handing of the cover is a process of
convenience: no eyebrows are raised; it is as essential as the greasing of
palms at the local government office for a document. In crude terms,
it is insurance, a surety, for positive — at least definite — media
coverage.
One incident would serve as a testimony. According to an account, the organiser of a presser, an industry executive and a newcomer to the city, was taken aback when certain scribes, TV and press reporters alike, stipulated to him the phenomenon in no uncertain terms and stormed out in a huff.
Decay of
morals, did someone say?
Lots may
have been written about paid news, the bubonic plague of the media, but no one
talks of the cover phenomenon, which may, of course, be referred to by other
words elsewhere. While the former is dependent on the publication’s allegiances
(surprise, surprise!), the latter can be a test of character for
scribes.
This
phenomenon, in my understanding, can be distilled down to the question: gift or
graft? While accepting tid-bits at such events surely do not amount to a crime,
the scope to enhance the grandness of the tid-bit (till it ceases to be one)
always exists. This is when the transgression into graft happens.
That this
is reading too much into hospitality and distorting it is a matter of
conjecture; however, the inducement a journalist faces, when in a ‘yet so near
and yet so far’ situation is for real. I must, however, reiterate that not all
organisers of pressers are ATMs for journalists and the latter a bunch of
salivating, money-minded chauvinists.
It may also be pertinent to note that the pay
packages of scribes of regional TV channels and dailies, in particular, is
a pittance when compared to their English counterparts. Such
organisations, on their part (although reminiscent of Goebbel’s — he, of
Hitler’s lieutenants — theory, I must remind that this is hearsay!) reportedly
encourage their employees to satisfy their financial needs via such events.
Behold, Krugman, Amartya Sen, mutual co-existence could never have been
illustrated better. And then there are stringers, scribes working in non-urban
centres, for whom “take a hike” is more a swear word than words printed on
their payslips.
Journalists,
as an occupational hazard, need to socialise (and I don’t mean of the Rani
Mukherjee in No One Killed
Jessica kind). Lunches or drinks at five-star hotels or tee-offs with
industry honchos offer us that rare opportunity to deconstruct them, for the
benefit of the public and publication. Tales also abound, of senior scribes who
would not even accept a glass of water at such events.
However, what
matters, above all, is public perception. If the public begins to slot us along
with the corrupt, need anything be said about the media’s credibility?
Forget the
next 2G or the CWG expose; if the Fourth Estate is to scrub India squeaky
clean, it will have to begin from its own Aegean Stables.
