How Establishments Curtails Reporting on Business in India. An EGI Conclave on Media Controls

The Editors Guild of India (EGI) organised a conclave titled ‘Media Controls: Regulations, Denial of Access and Curbs on Press Freedom’ on April 14, 2023. Moderated by Anant Nath, editor, The Caravan, the session featured Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, senior journalist, and TN Ninan former editor, Business Standard. During the session, Ninan said it is vital for data to be available to journalists, since “being well-informed can make a journalist unchallengeable”. Thakurta pointed out that big companies often “ignore” questionnaires sent by journalists and then “challenge” published reports. “Independent reporting on business on large corporate entities and corporate conglomerates has never been easy. Why? Simply because of the big bucks -armies of public relations officers and it is quite easy for them to get journalists and invite them to fancy hotels and restaurants. There’s a good way of not ensuring that uncomfortable truths are not brought up in the public domain”, Thakurta said.