Media Vichar Manch

More on BPO report, business press

The issue continues to rage. Got a call from an ex-colleague from CNBC TV on Tuesday. "Why did you write this up now when the report came out last year?" , "Is'nt it sensational to say BPOs are sweatshops?", "Dont you think that surviellance is necessary for the critical work they are handling?", "How can you say it is repression of labour?" - I was bit perplexed. Am talking to a journalist from a television channel (with long years of print experience, that too in HT) or a CEO of a BPO from Gurgaon who thinks that call centres are the best things to have happened to Indian youth and economy!

Having worked in a pink business paper and a buiness television channel, I can say that most business journalists tend to think and react to situations like businessmen or so-called corporates. They forget that their primary job is to inform their audiences and not to protect interests of Sector A or Sectyor B, or to boost India's image for FDI investors. This friend of mine asked me: "why this refernce to Roman salve ships?" I said that was part of the report and to leave it out because it would create an image or perception problem for BPO industry, would be journalistic dishonesty. Business journalists have to be constantly reminded that they are in the job of news, and not public relations or advertising.

It is not as if journalistic spirit is dead - a few have told me that they would have written it exactly the same way had they laid their hands on the report. As AKB pointed out in last night's CNBC discussion, as newspaper can not publish any research report in full, selection has to be made and it was done in this case. I still fail to understand why the CNBC and others following up the HT reports are targeting the media or the paper, instead of discussing merits of the issues raised! It is a classic case of shooting the messenger.

posted by Dinesh C Sharma @ 2:52 PM