Intimidating news outlets is common practice in countries with an autocratic bent. Big international broadcasters are at particular risk. Reporters and editors are surely targetted with interrogations, formal and informal. While some autocrats might simply prefer to shutdown news outlets in disfavor, this easily leads to bad publicity, not to forget bad feelings. An in-between step is involving tax authorities. Broadcasters have lawyers, too.
The long-awaited restructuring of international broadcaster BBC services in India took place this week, reported Times of India (April 11) and others. To comply with India’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) law, a new company controlled by Indian directors – Collective Newsroom – has been established to produce and create programs in six languages native to India; Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. The four directors and 200 staff members are former BBC employees. The first and so far only client is BBC World Service, which holds a minority shareholding in Collective Newsroom, limited for foreign media to less than 26% by the FDI law.
BBC News India will continue to provide English-language services on broadcast and digital platforms. Between 80 and 90 staff members have been retained. They report to managers and editors at the London (UK) headquarters. The restructuring was first announced in mid-December.
A year ago February tax authorities searched (read: raided) BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai looking for financial irregularities. This action seemed to coincide with the broadcast on UK channel BBC 2 in January of a two-part BBC documentary reporting, in one part, on prime minister Narendra Modi’s “actions” during in the 2002 Gujarat riots that claimed more than a thousand lives, largely Muslims. The documentary – India: The Modi Question – was banned from broadcast in India, authorities invoking an emergency law, but “some Indians used VPNs to watch it,” noted the Financial Times (April 9). At the time, the authorities called the documentary a “propaganda piece.” Following that, India’s financial crimes agency began an official investigation into the BBC.
“Audiences in India can be assured that the BBC’s Indian language services and unique range of quality output will inform, educate and entertain audiences across our diverse and highly engaged country under the agreement between the BBC and Collective Newsroom,” said new Collective Newsroom chief executive Rupa Jha, in a statement. “We launch Collective Newsroom with big ambitions for audiences in India and beyond.”
With a ferocious election cycle in India set to get under way next week (April 19), press freedom advocates are literally begging the country’s political leaders to make hasty corrections. “Terrorism laws are being misused to persecute media personnel,” said Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) in a statement (April 12). “The police and tax agencies are constantly deployed to silence independent media. Journalists are routinely subjected to the scourge of disinformation campaigns, while access to India is restricted for foreign journalists.” The 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index ranked India at 161st of 180 countries, down from 150th one year on. India is ranked just slightly above the Russian Federation and Turkey.