Corporates biggies with stake in electronic or print media may have to give a disclaimer of ownership if the Government accepts the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
TRAI, which has completed consultations on the issues of media ownership and cross-holdings with stake-holders, is working on guidelines to minimise conflict of interest especially where non-media corporate houses control electronic and print media.
The guidelines could include mandatory declaration of ownership by corporate groups on the channel or publication that they own so that subscribers are kept in the loop.
“We want non-media corporate owners to transparently reach out to consumers so that they know the potential areas of interest. There is definitely a need to distinguish between non-media corporate owners and media corporate owners as media corporates were in the business of media to begin with and only gradually may have diversified into other areas,” TRAI Chairman Rahul Khullar said.
conflict of interest
Considering media management is essential for corporate reputation, there could be a potential conflict of interest if corporate houses own media, another official said. “You would definitely not expect a news channel owned by a corporate with interest in oil and gas giving a neutral view on the Government’s decision to increase gas prices,” he said.
With a raging debate on paid media in the print space, the official said that there is a case for shunning paid media even in TV channels, the official said. One way to maintain transparency in case of corporate ownership of media is to declare on the channel or publication itself the name of the owner of the company.
“For instance, in the US everybody knows that Fox channel is close to the Republicans and therefore treat news and analysis given out on the channel accordingly. Similarly, if people in the country know that a particular channel is owned by a particular business group, they would be more discerning while analysing content on the channel,” the official added.
In its consultation paper on issues relating to media ownership, TRAI stated, “A number of corporate sector entities are entering the media sector. Corporates can use media to bias views and influence policy making in a manner so as to promote their vested interests while generating business revenues for themselves.”
TRAI officials said that a couple of open houses were carried out during the consultation process in smaller cities as such instances have also been found in regional media.
cable monopolies
The regulator is expected to come out with its recommendations in the next two months. Recommendations on other broadcasting issues including prevention of cable monopolies as well as its accreditation mechanism for television rating agencies in the country are likely by August.
Also on the cards are recommendations for content aggregators. Aggregators sell bouquets of channels to distributors such as cable companies and DTH service providers. Government officials say that content aggregators do not come under any regulations. A draft regulation on aggregators will be released by the regulator for comments.