The News Minute| October 15, 2014| 9.00 am IST
New 24-hour news channels are coming up in many states, most being started by groups that have not traditionally been into the media business. As more such channels sprout, questions are being raised about ownership, editorial and policies. One such channel that is yet to start beaming on air in News 7, a Tamil news channel based out of Chennai. Even before its launch, News 7 has been in the news for various reasons.
Owned by Alliance Broadcasting, run by the family of mining baron Vaikuntarajan and family, the channel has appointed an Editorial board to act as a buffer between the editorial and the management.
The chairman of the Editorial Board is retired Judge of the Madras High Court, Justice Venkataraman. Allegations have surfaced questioning the appointment of Justice Venkataraman on the Editorial Board as he had heard many cases relating to illegal mining during tenure as a HC judge.
News7Tamil has denied these allegations. "He has never heard any cases related to VV minerals, the company owned by Vaikuntarajan. We have stuck our necks out by appointing an editorial board," says Rajesh Sundaram, Editor-in-Chief of the channel.
To the question on why an editorial board was constituted, Sundaram who has previously worked with many national media outlets gave this reply. (Full text below)
"Any corporate entity that commits to invest over 50 crore rupees in a 24 hour news channel is seen with suspicion. The public perception is that the channel would become a mouth piece of the owners and would only reflect their political and corporate interests, slants and biases.
In light of the recent acquisition of some major news networks by corporate entities and the sharp focus this has brought on editorial integrity, many journalists I know are worried. Worried both as journalists and as viewers.
Some would say the television station I work for now is no different... it is owned by a corporate entity, and like other corporate entities that own media, it has its own share of controversies and diverse business interests.
But News 7 Tamil is different.
The difference is the firewall that has been created between the owners and journalists. This firewall is our Editorial Board.
Unlike other TV news stations, the editorial team at News 7 Tamil are accountable to the Editorial Board and not to the ownership. Nick Walshe, who has worked at various senior editorial and managerial capacities at Al Jazeera, BBC and ITN and Mr. Bhagwan Singh, Executive Editor of the Deccan Chronicle were the first to be invited by the channel management to be part of the Editorial Board. As the News Head, I am also part of the board.
The three of us drafted the channel's Editorial Policy and the Terms of Reference for the Editorial Board. These documents ensure that the channel follows the highest standards of ethical journalism at all times. Both the Editorial Policy and the Terms of Reference of the Editorial Board are public documents.
The Terms of Reference ensure that none of the Editorial Board members except the channel News Head is a paid employee.. Apart from travel and stay arrangements and a small allowance for attendance, the Editorial Board members do not receive any salary or retainer.
Each of the total of 7 members ( except the News Head ) has a fixed one year term that can only be extended once. Any extension needs approval from a majority of the remaining board members.
The Board is not toothless. It has the powers to enforce the editorial policy and adjudicate on complaints of bias and violation of the editorial policy by the general public. It also has the authority to seek a published apology from the editorial team in case a complaint related to violation of the channel's editorial policy is proven after an investigation.
As per the Terms of Reference, Walshe, Singh and I were mandated to nominate other members of the Editorial Board.
The team invited former Madras High Court judge Justice K Venkataraman, London based author and poet Meena Kandaswamy, Columnist and Lawyer Preeti Mohan and former Anna University Vice-Chancellor and UPSC member Dr. Balagurusamy to be part of the firewall.
Justice K Venkataraman was unanimously elected Chairman of the board at a meeting of the board 12th of October. After going through the Terms of reference and the Editorial Policy all of them agreed. With this, News7Tamil is perhaps the only television news channel in India with an empowered Editorial Board.
There are doubting Thomases and cynics, and we respect their view. They will get answers to their questions about our neutrality and ethical standards soon enough.
Going ahead, I know there would be challenges, we are sure we will weather any storm guided by our editorial policy and Editorial Board. "
