‘Go to bed knowing you haven’t succumbed’

Business Standard, the financial daily edited by Sanjaya Baru, the former media advisor to the prime minister, carried an editorial last week on Ratan Tata‘s 2010 revelation that an “advice” to bribe a Union minister Rs 15 crore was what had put his group off from launching a private airline in the late 1990s.

“Name and shame, Mr Tata,” the editorial thundered:

“Very regretfully, this is no example of “whistle-blowing”, as some in the media seem to think. It would have been if Mr Tata had named the minister and made public his demands at that time.

“Even now, Mr Tata is blowing no whistle, he is merely whining and seeking to occupy high moral ground…. If business leaders of the stature of Mr Tata are willing to strike but afraid to wound, what can one expect of lesser mortals?”

Ratan Tata responded to the editorial in a letter carried two days later by BS, saying that he had made no statement claiming that a minister had approached him for a bribe, and that he was merely referring to a fellow industrialist who called the Tata group stupid for not meeting what he believed to be the minister’s “requirements”.

For good measure, Tata added:

“The Business Standard had, in years gone by, commanded my respect as a publication that reported news factually and stood above other publications that saw nothing wrong with misinterpreting news by taking statements out of context to serve their needs or linking news to advertising.

“Similarly, many of us have admired you, Dr Baru, as a journalist who would stand up for causes and be the moral conscience of the nation. I wonder what has happened to the Business Standard and to the Dr Baru that we all knew. If you still believe in presenting the public with facts as they are, I would expect you to publish my letter in its entirety, without editing out the parts that you do not like.

“I hope you can also say that you go to bed at night knowing that you have not succumbed.”

Sanjaya Baru’s response:

All news reports in the Business Standard are based on factual information. An editorial comment is the opinion of the editor. In this case the comment was based on published and unpublished information available with the editor. The Business Standard continues to adhere to the highest standards of journalism, believing that while facts are sacred, comment ought to be free but fair.

Caricuature: courtesy The Daily Telegraph, London

Also read: When editor makes way for editor, gracefully

‘The TV anchor; the ex-editor & TV personality’

It’s raining phone taps in India.

First Outlook* magazine reported that new technologies available with the UPA government enabled it to pluck mobile phone signals off the air and eavesdrop into conversations without seeking legal authorisation.

Then, The Pioneer reported that an authorised tap (since denied) had revealed PR honcho Neera Radia‘s nexus with A. Raja, the telecom minister in the thick of controversy over the auction of 2G spectrum.

Now, MiD-DaY tosses a couple of well-known journalists into the soup.

Quoting from 14 pages of documents that have been doing the rounds for months in Delhi, J. Dey reports:

“The documents talk about individuals influencing policy changes at the highest level. It also says that two senior journalists—one a well-known anchor of a national television channel and the other a former editor, columnist and TV personality—lobbied on behalf of industrialists to secure ministerial berths for friendly politicians.”

Yesterday, a newspaper editor, for whose publication the “former editor, columnist and TV personality” now writes a weekly column, put up the news on his Twitter account.

The Hindu put up the 14-page document purporting to be the transcript of the intercepted phone conversations on its website before taking it off.

But one of the two journalists mentioned in the documents has thought it fit to respond, again on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Tata Sons, which is represented by Neera Radia, has issued a press statement through her agency neucom consulting.

“The Tata group has had a long and fruitful association with Vaishnavi Corporate Communications and its chairperson Ms Niira Radia (sic), which has added substantial value to the group’s communications and public perception.

“All of Vaishnavi’s interactions with the government on behalf of the Tata group have been related to seeking a level playing field and equity in areas where vested interests have caused distortions or aberrations in policy.

“Further Vaishnavi’s interactions with the Government on behalf of the Tata group, have, in keeping with Tata values, never involved payouts or seeking undue favors.”

Newspaper facsimile: courtesy MiD-DaY

Read the full article: Tap worm in India Inc

* Disclosures apply