NEW DELHI: Will the influx of foreign news agencies sound the death-knell of PTI and UNI? Is it high time the Indian news agencies became competitive or is it that they do not have the resources to take on the challenge?

The split was evident at a discussion on the “Threat from Western Media,” organized by All India Newspaper Editors Conference.

Union Minister for Human Resources Arjun Singh initiated the discussion with an assurance that any decision to allow foreign agencies into the country would be taken keeping the interests of the people and the country in mind.

“Voice of America (VOA),

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and other foreign broadcasting companies have been sweeping the world. We are still dependent on Western Media. Third World countries should work towards becoming self-reliant in the field of information now,” the Minister said,

He added that the Government cannot take a stand to “shut out everyone,”

Newspapers pay a news agency one paisa per copy while even a hawker gets 25 paisa per copy. The Government does not give adequate funds either, said K.G Jogickar, the former Press Secretary to former Prime Minister Morarji Desai,

When the newspapers and the Government are not prepared to help the agencies, how one can expect to increase the reach of the agencies, he asked, reacting to a statement made by Arjun Singh calling upon agencies to increase their reach.

Newspaper proprietors become members on the Board of Directors of news agencies, Joglekar said. The Board of Directors should be a body of independent men and should include more people from news agencies he added,

Expressing a similar viewpoint, Dr. Ved Pratap Vaidik, Editor, PTI Bhasha, said that the agencies face such a severe resource crunch that it is not possible to compete against foreign agencies.

“We can’t send our reporters to cover international events or can’t post our correspondents wherever required for lack of funds,” he said,

“The Government does not help either, Let the two news agencies be merged and let them not go on a loss. Parliament should pass a law to ensure their competitiveness. No foreign agency will be able to threaten us, if we set own house in order,” Vaidik added.

While the Government kept vacillating on opening a new channel on Doordarshan, the BBC, CNN and Asia-Sat nearly “invaded” the country, former Union Minister Vasant Sathe pointed out.

The Government can’t stop the foreign media from coming in. It is time the Indian Media and news agencies came of age and stop seeking protection, he said. The agencies have to compete to survive.

Self-reliance cannot be achieved only through lip-service, It can be attained through sheer hard work, he said, quoting at length from the success stories of countries like

Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. Is the Government a charitable organization, he asked. There are so many demands on the Government, unless agencies and organizations learn to stand on their own feet they can make little headway, he concluded.

Article extracted from this publication >> May 15, 1992