Author - Rajdeep Sardesai

There was a time when editors were not seen or heard, only read. One of the best illustrations of the original 'ivory tower' approach was NJ Nanporia, a venerable editor at 'The Times of India' in the 1960s. Apparently, Nanporia was shopping in a local market when he found a certain gentleman smiling at him continuously. His curiosity getting the better of him, Nanporia asked the man who he was. Pat came the introduction: "I am your chief reporter sir!"

The story maybe part of the apocryphal archives of the Old Lady of Boribunder, but only highlights how editors in an era gone by rarely stepped out of their cabins. A far cry from today's television era where the editor-anchor is an instantly recognisable 'celebrity'. Self-effacing anonymity is almost a handicap in this age of personality cults that can encourage delusions of grandeur (note: this article is accompanied by a photograph of your columnist, something which would have seemed heretical a few years ago).

It's not just the self-image of the editor which has changed. There has also been a dramatic transformation in the persona of the public relations professional. In the late 1980s, one distinctly recalls how every Diwali we'd look at the business desk with a tinge of envy as the festival 'baksheesh' would arrive for the markets reporter from a rather sad-looking PR manager. The suitpiece has been replaced by I-Pads, but even more importantly, the lowly paid public relations executive has given way to smart-suited corporate communication MBAs.

Where once PR was identified with ensuring a single column space for a company handout, it's now been replaced by high-profile 'advocacy' campaigns designed to influence not just the journalist but the entire policy-making apparatus.

The Nira Radia tapes exemplify this shift. They suggest the arrival of the corporate 'lobbyist' as a distinct entity in the decision-making process, not just as some shadowy operator, but as an upwardly mobile, highly sophisticated mover and shaker. They also confirm that the period of the editor as a detached observer has given way to a more 'active' presence in the newsmaking process.

Unfortunately, instead of analyzing the implications of what this means for journalism and public policy, a section of the media has preferred to focus on individual journalists caught on tape, thereby losing sight of the big picture. That there are journalists who get seduced by wealth and power and with a low moral quotient end up as 'fixers' is one of the profession's worst-kept secrets.

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