MAPPING DIGITAL MEDIA: GLOBAL FINDINGS 14

MAJOR TRENDS
1. Commercialization
Rapid economic growth has driven remarkable growth of digital media consumption.
Expanding pay-TV and mobile telephony contrasts sharply with strikingly low rates of
internet usage.
The state has largely left the development of media technology to business. This has
delayed progress towards digital switch-over.
Spectrum allocation and regulation focus on pricing logic and commercial potential
(maximizing government rents), not on public interest considerations and institutional
independence.
Aggressive commercial goals color every aspect of the new media landscape, pushing up
ratings and circulations while dragging down journalistic standards and ethics.
2. Politicization
Blatant corruption aside, Indias fragmented policy apparatus creates fertile ground for
politicization and favoritism in decisions on resource allocation, technology choice, licensing
criteria, and ownership.
The nominally public broadcasters have further degenerated into government mouthpieces.
3. Pluralismn
India and Pakistan have traditions of robust public discourse. Digital media have multiplied
the voices and audiences that can participate. Marginalized groups express their own
vision online and air issues of importance to them, even though little lters through to the
national conversation.
Digital media make a signicant contribution to political and civil campaigns.
Big media companies have subsumed much of the critical blogosphere, providing platforms
for leading commentators, co-opting the more independent voices.
Digital Media in Asia:
India and Pakistan
Mapping Digital Media is a project of the Open Society Program on
Independent Journalism and the Open Society Information Program
Te project assesses the global opportunities and risks that are created for media by the switch-
over from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting; the growth of new media platforms as
sources of news; and the convergence of traditional broadcasting with telecommunications.
Tese changes redene the ways that media can operate sustainably while staying true to values
of pluralism and diversity, transparency and accountability, editorial independence, freedom of
expression and information, public service, and high professional standards.
Te project, which examines the changes in-depth, builds bridges between researchers and
policymakers, activists, academics and standard-setters. It also builds policy capacity in countries
where this is less developed, encouraging stakeholders to participate in and inuence change.
At the same time, this research creates a knowledge base, laying foundations for advocacy work,
building capacity and enhancing debate.
Covering 56 countries, the project examines how these changes aect the core democratic service
that any media system should providenews about political, economic and social aairs.
Te MDM Country Reports are produced by local researchers and partner organizations in
each country. Cumulatively, these reports provide a unique resource on the democratic role of
digital media. In addition to the country reports, research papers on a range of topics related to
digital media have been published as the MDM Reference Series.
Tese publications are all available at
http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/projects/mapping-digital-media.
EDI TORI AL COMMI SSI ON
Yuen-Ying Chan, Christian S. Nissen, Dusan Reljic,
Russell Southwood, Damian Tambini
The Editorial Commission is an advisory body. Its members are not responsible for the
information or assessments contained in the Mapping Digital Media texts
OPEN SOCI ETY PROGRAM ON I NDEPENDENT J OURNALI SM TEAM
Marius Dragomir, senior manager/publications editor;
Mark Thompson, policy projects ofcer; Meijinder Kaur, program coordinator;
Sameer Padania, program ofcer; Stewart Chisholm, associate director;
Gordana Jankovic, former director
OPEN SOCI ETY I NFORMATI ON PROGRAM TEAM
Vera Franz, senior program manager; Darius Cuplinskas, director
1 OS F P R OGR A M ON I NDE P E NDE NT J OUR NA L I S M 2 0 1 4
Digital Media
in Asia:
India and Pakistan
Graham Watts
Context
Whatever the many dierences between India and Pakistan, they have much in
common in their experience of digitization. Te most important factor has not been the
adoption of digital technology itself, but the eects on it of the economic liberalization
and deregulation that both countries have pursued, with occasional interruptions, over
the past two decades.
Te forces unleashed by liberalization (which include market-driven trends of
privatization, deregulation, and opening up to global trade and foreign investment)
have led to a rapid expansion of the two predominantly rural countries urban middle
class. Indias gross domestic product (GDP) per head rose vefold between 1991 and
2011. By comparison, over the previous 20 years (19711991) it increased by less than
half. Pakistans GDP per head rose threefold compared with a mere 50 percent increase
in the 20 years from 1971.
1
Tis rapid growth in turn laid the groundwork for a remarkable expansion of digital
media consumption. In Pakistan, for instance, consumer spending increased by an
1. See http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD.
JULY 2014
MA P P I NG DI GI TA L ME DI A GL OB A L F I NDI NGS 2
average of 26 percent a year between 2010 and 2012, more than three times the rate
for Asia as a whole.
2
With the coming of digitization, therefore, both countries have enjoyed spectacular
growth in private sector media and telecoms, in particular cable and satellite television
and mobile telephony, which has been further fuelled by the fact that their populations
are exceptionally young. Nearly half of Indias 1.2 billion people and 55 percent of
Pakistans 190 million are under the age of 25.
3
India and Pakistans constitutional commitments to democracy have been undermined
by endemic political patronage, corruption, and business favoritism. Tis has been
made worse by the inertia of o cialdom, known as the license raj, which has long
infested policymaking, including all matters related to digitization. In Pakistans case,
these things have been complicated by the armed forces persistent meddling. Ethnic,
caste, and religious divides lurk in dark corners of both countries and indeed across
their territorial and electronic borders.
Introduction
Te most notable trend has been a voracious appetite for television news in several
languages across all regions of both countries, making television by far the primary
source of news. It is di cult to know which came rst, supply or demand, given the
magnetic force of sensational and frenzied 24-hour breaking news. More than a third
of Indian households (overwhelmingly in the large urban conurbations) have cable or
satellite television, and numbers of mobile subscribers rose from about 15 percent of
the population to more than 80 percent in ve years.
4
In Pakistan, more than half of
households (again, predominantly in the big cities) have cable or satellite television and
70 percent of the population have mobile phones.
5
Te strong growth in pay-TV and mobile telephony contrasts sharply with strikingly
low rates of internet usage. Just over 2 percent of Indias population have internet
2. F. Mangi, Pakistan loving Fat Burger as fast food boom ignores drones, Bloomberg.com, 7 January 2013, at
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-07/pakistan-loving-fatburger-as-fast-food-boom-ignores-u-s-drones.
html.
3. See http://www.indexmundi.com/factbook/compare/india.pakistan/demographics.
4. See http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/reports/mapping-digital-media-india.
5. Gallup, Pakistan, 2010 proprietary data, unpublished.
3 OS F P R OGR A M ON I NDE P E NDE NT J OUR NA L I S M 2 0 1 4
subscriptions,
6
and Pakistans nearly 20 percent, although substantially ahead of Indias,
is still only half that of China.
7
Whereas satellite television and, to some extent, FM radio, have brought a wider
choice of both language and content to both countries, large numbers of people
(in Pakistan, half the population) have no alternative to the terrestrial delivery of
(mostly government-serving) programs by the state-owned (nominally public service)
broadcasters.
1. Risks
In both countries, the state has largely stepped aside and passed the media technology
baton to business. Te result has been that they are far behind in the digital switch-
over stakes (neither has gone beyond broadly outlined intentions) and their nominally
public broadcasters have further degenerated into grey government mouthpieces
through a paradoxical mix of neglect and protection.
At the same time, nimble and highly competitive private sector media organizations
have consolidated their analog era dominance in the broadcast, online, and mobile
worlds in which business interests meet political patronage. Te absence of adequate
cross-media ownership limitsand in the case of Pakistan their relaxation in 2007
has allowed further consolidation of that dominance.
Aggressively pursued commercial goals color every aspect of this new media landscape,
pushing up ratings and circulations while dragging down journalistic standards and
ethics. Te result is often a news agenda in which attracting audiences becomes the
driving force behind content, usually a mix of cricket, entertainment, celebrity, and
crime, with politics thrown in when it is especially egregious or combative.
Indian media companies have gone farthest through such practices as paid news
(undeclared advertorials) and private treaties (advertise with us and well give you
good coverage in exchange for equity in your business). Journalists cannot alienate
companies (or governments and local authorities) that advertise a lot, and in any case
some media organizations are simply part of a vast business group with interests in
6. See http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/reports/mapping-digital-media-india.
7. Gallup, Pakistan, 2010 proprietary data, unpublished.
MA P P I NG DI GI TA L ME DI A GL OB A L F I NDI NGS 4
many sectors and nd themselves being required to promote and defend those business
interests.
Meanwhile, the big media companies have subsumed much of the critical blogosphere
by providing platforms for leading commentators, thereby co-opting the more
independent voices heard on social media in other countries. Most social media activity
is thus limited to social networking and entertainment. Where more serious issues
do come up, the newly empowered middle classes tend to talk to themselves about
their own problemssuch as urban crime, poor services, and corruption that annoys
themhighlighting the profound digital divides in both countries.
Spectrum allocation and regulation policies pay more attention to pricing logic and
commercial potential (maximizing government rents) rather than public interest
considerations and institutional independence, which partly explains why there
has been little public consultation on these issues. Competition is good and more
competition is best.
Blatant corruption aside, Indias fragmented policy apparatus also creates fertile ground
for politicization and favoritism in decisions on resource allocation, technology choice,
licensing criteria, and ownership. Furthermore, in India, because of the considerable
power wielded at the state level by local politicians and their business allies, extra-legal
pressures are brought to bear on broadcasters and content makers who produce or
distribute critical content.
In Pakistan, violent extremist organizations and militant groups increasingly use
social networks and video-sharing platforms to spread hate content and to recruit new
members. Journalists get caught up in the deadly divides between various sectarian
groups and the security forces. In fact, it is the most dangerous country on earth to be
a journalist.
2. Opportunities
India and Pakistan have traditions of robust public discourse. Digital media have
played a big role in increasing the number of voices involved and the audiences that
can hear and see this discourse. In the analog era, an educated urban elite waded
through an exchange of views in excruciatingly lengthy newspaper op-eds (occasionally
spread over several days) written in stilted Victorian English or its equivalent in the
vernacular languages.
5 OS F P R OGR A M ON I NDE P E NDE NT J OUR NA L I S M 2 0 1 4
To their credit, many of the same media companies took the digital bull by the horns
and, among other things, delivered 24-hour news interspersed with live interviews and
vigorous talkshows and commentaries that have massively multiplied the numbers of
those who follow the newsand also, incidentally, those who produce it.
While in both countries a lot of the journalism that has come with this burgeoning
news-consuming culture has been shallow and unprofessional, there has also been much
innovation and new opportunities created. For instance, cross-media ownership allows
important stories to be given a longer shelf-life across more platforms. And even content
that is not published or broadcast by mainstream media outlets because of pressure
from the state, advertisers, political parties, or the bias of the media organization itself is
increasingly available to the public. Tis is because some journalists upload their content
to blogs and video-sharing sites. In Pakistan, a group of professional journalists manages
Saach.tv, a news website that aims to address the many shortcomings of mainstream
television channels, and restore basic values of news objectivity and fairness.
8
In India, the so-called sting method of exposing corruption has received considerable
attention following what is probably the most noteworthy case in 2001, when the
website Tehelka.com laid bare a web of bribery in the defense ministry and government
through spycams and reporters masquerading as arms dealers. Tere has been a patchy
record of credibility and accuracy related to sting operations over the years, but they have
contributed signicantly to knowledge about the brazen and extensive nature of o cial
corruption and they have amplied demands by civil society organizations for cleaner
government. Tis is partly to do with the fact that exposs of this kind have forced their
way onto the agenda of the more cautious mainstream media in both countries.
Beyond specic investigations, digital media have made a signicant contribution to
political and civil campaigns. In 2007, a blog that brazenly named itself the Emergency
Times coordinated and reported on protests against the imposition of emergency rule
by the then military strongman General Pervez Musharraf. It posted photos and videos
captured on mobile phone cameras as well as live SMS2blog updates from rallies and
other pro-democracy meetings. Since the government had blocked broadcasts of such
meetings, this kind of citizen journalism became the only source of information about
the campaign. Due to the deployment of other digital media and street protests, the
campaigners triumphed when the general stepped down and went into exile a year later.
8. See http://www.saach.tv.
MA P P I NG DI GI TA L ME DI A GL OB A L F I NDI NGS 6
Since then, the emboldened media have exposed o cial corruption, highlighted poor
service delivery and other governance issues in urban centers, and brought attention
to human rights violations by militant groups as well as by the army and intelligence
agencies. Te independent digital news media have also played a vital role in relief
eorts during humanitarian crises sparked by natural disasters or the mass displacement
of people from north-western Pakistan as a result of clashes between militant groups
and the army. News reporting from ood-hit areas in 2010 and 2011, which aected
up to 20 million people, helped the government and donor agencies to coordinate
relief and reconstruction eorts.
In India, the most signicant online activism has been the India Against Corruption
(IAC) campaign launched in April 2011 on Facebook, Twitter, and a dedicated
campaign website.
9
Te IAC marked a watershed not only because of its scale, the
campaign also had roots in o ine activism. Tis marked a crucial dierence from most
middle-class initiatives that germinate online. Te struggle continues.
Coverage of the issues that matter most to the many religious and/or regional ethnic
and language minorities in both countries has improved because of the proliferation
of privately owned vernacular television and FM radio channels. Te internet has also
provided the space for other marginalized groups to at least express their own vision
and air issues of importance to them, even though little lters through into the national
conversation and the state broadcasters have largely failed to exploit the opportunities
provided by digital media for greater inclusivity.
3. Digital Champions
In footballing terms, the match between India and Pakistan is a no-score draw. Both
countries have taken such a long time to decide how and when they might seize the
opportunities that digital technology oers to improve their tired state broadcasters.
It might be said that India scored rst in the most ironic way with the exposure in 2008
of jaw-dropping malfeasance in the allocation of 2G mobile frequencies, a process
at the heart of digitization policy. Tough the fallout continues in the courts to this
day, a judge cancelled 122 mobile telecoms licenses as a result of the revelations that
emerged, as it happens, not via digital media, but in two old-fashioned print magazines.
9. See http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.com.
7 OS F P R OGR A M ON I NDE P E NDE NT J OUR NA L I S M 2 0 1 4
Taped conversations, which implicated journalists among many others, were made by
police investigating a tax case, not in some courageous act of digital technology-aided
investigative journalism.
Once the story broke, however, it spread everywhereand digital media played their
part. But the biggest thing about it was that it revealed in great detail the byzantine web
of intrigue and corruption at the heart of Indian government and business and no one
could stop the story coming out. Tere is something progressive about that.
Pakistan equalized with its Lawyers Movement, a much less complicatedand
equally far-reachingcampaign aided by all forms of digital media that eventually led
to the fall of military strongman General Pervez Musharraf.
Both countries, of course, score highly with the proliferation of news content on
satellite and cable television, multiplying by millions those who are informed about
current events and who follow the debates in their society.
Beyond that, however, there is little that might be described as progressive or fast
developing. What possibly gives the game to India in this contest are two initiatives that
are designed to address the questions of widening access and narrowing the digital divide.
One is the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) that dates back to 2003
and was initially designed with telegraph and xed phone line provision in mind.
Generated from a portion of private operators fees, the fund is intended to help with
the expansion of mobile telecoms infrastructure in rural areas, often where this task,
shouldered by the public sector telecoms operators, would be deemed commercially
non-viable.
It might come as no surprise, however, that the Consumer Online Foundation, a
watchdog, said in June 2012, that the Government has failed to utilize the resources
raised for the purpose of developing infrastructure in the telecom sector.
10
Te second initiative is the roll-out obligation for 3G provision whereby operators are
required, for instance, to ensure that within ve years (by 31 August 2015) 3G will be
oered in at least 50 percent of districts (local administrative divisions), of which at
least 15 percent should have a 50 percent rural population.
10. See http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/uso-fund-not-being-utilised-by-govt/
article3576363.ece.
MA P P I NG DI GI TA L ME DI A GL OB A L F I NDI NGS 8
Again, this appears to be making little dierence. Te Department of Telecommunications
still has not drawn up a list of rural districts because it is undecided about whether to
follow the 2001 census or the 2011 census gures to prepare the list.
11
Tis is a pertinent case study of the abject failure of India to do much that is either
fast developing or progressive. It would have been nice had Pakistan been any better.
11. See http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/doubts-over-roll-out-obligations-of-3g-spectrum-
winners-continue-113052200892_1.html.
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For more information contact:
MAPPING DIGITAL MEDIA
OPEN SOCIETY PROGRAM ON INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM
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Mapping Digital Media is a project of the Open Society Program on
Independent Journalism and the Open Society Information Program.
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1 Public Interest and Commercial Media: Digital Trends Carlos Corts
2 Public Media and Digitization: Seven Theses Damian Tambini
3 Journalism and Digital Times: Between Wider Reach and Sloppy Reporting Ying Chan
4 News Choice and Ofer in the Digital Transition Jelena Surulija Milojevi
5 Telecoms and News Iulian Comanescu
6 Access to Spectrum: Winners and Losers Marko Milosavljevi and Tanja Kerevan
Smokvina
7 Distributing the Digital Dividend Christian S. Nissen
8 Business and Ownership of the Media in Digital Times Martijn de Waal
9 Digital Media in the European Union Justin Schlosberg
10 Digital Media in the EU Enlargement Countries Justin Schlosberg
11 Digital Media in the Former Soviet Union Rita Rudua
12 Digital Media in Latin America Fernando Bermejo
13 Digital Media in South-East Asia Graham Watts
14 Digital Media in Asia: India and Pakistan Graham Watts
15 Digital Media in the Arab World Aboubakr Jama
16 Digital Media in Africa: Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa Russell Southwood
JULY 2014