付费新闻?印度新闻业的变化

Paying for News?The Changing Face of Journalism in India

与西方国家形成鲜明对比的是,新闻业作为一种商业在印度日益发展壮大。这不仅是过去20年来印度具有读写能力的人口从52%上升到74%的结果,也是因为3亿中产阶级的购买力,成为拥护新自由主义的最大受益者。在这个世界上人口最多的民主国家中,短短的20年间,广播已经从由高度管制的国家广播垄断(直到1991年)发展到近800个电视频道。与此同时,报刊的发行量大大增加,使印度成为世界上最大的报业市场,每天都能卖出1.1亿份报纸。研究者基于最新的政府和行业数据,与印度顶尖的记者和媒体评论员进行深度访谈,在此背景下提出,尽管新闻业作为一个产业在不断发展,但是专业水平和道德水平却被侵蚀,因为市场力量决定了编辑的优先考虑事项,这毫无掩饰地体现在"有偿新闻"现象中。

In sharp contrast to the Western world,journalism as a kind of business is thriving in India,not least as a result of rising literacy(in the past two decades,it has grown from 52 to 74per cent of Indias population)and the purchasing power of the 300-million strong middle class,major beneficiaries of enthusiastic embrace of new-liberalism.In the worlds largest democracy,broadcasting has been transformed,from a highly-regulated state broadcasting monopoly(until 1991)to nearly 800 TV channels within the short period of 20 years.In parallel,a massive expansion in newspaper circulation has taken place,making India the worlds largest newspaper market,with 110 million copies sold every day.Drawing on latest government and industry data,and contextualizing this with in-depth interviews with leading Indian journalists and media commentators,this article suggests that although journalism as an industry is growing,its professional and ethical standards have been eroded,as market forces dictate editorial priorities,witnessed most starkly in the phenomenon of'paid news'.