15Media and the Database
Cheriyan Punnathara
1.0. Introduction
Academicians and journalists are often considered people belonging to two different genere. While a journalististic piece is considered as a less serious stuff by the academicians, academic output is often considered by media persons as "out dated" and "impractical". But these are two extreme positions. The reality lies somewhere in between.
There is always a time lag between access to 'data base' in the conventional sense, and news reporting. How do such perceptions take shape? This is primarily because of an objective dichotomy in demand for data, between the two professions.
The journalists live by the day, and often by the hour. Last year's economic data, for him, will most often be useless, dated. For the economist, it is an eminently useful tool, a piece of building block to build up a trend.
2.0. The Media's Demand for Data
The demand for data by journalists is of a peculiar nature. It is a derived demand. The reader wants information which is not only current, but also easily intelligible. If the journalist is not able to satisfy this, his product will neither sell nor be read. Neither the conventional database nor the academic treatises are often in a position to satisfy the urge for contemporary news and data of journalists. This forces the journalists to often pursue what is often seen as a most incongruous and bizarre source of data, the politician.
True, of some of the facts and data churned out by the politicians in their off-the-cuff remarks are not credible. But the journalists main source of information streams from written answers in Parliament, briefings with senior government bureaucrats and select and credible media briefings like the Economic Editors' Conference, which often prove to be a gold mine of information.
3.0. Between Facts and the Reality
Information of the kind mentioned above is picked up by academic circles as secondary sources of data which are still to be confirmed. True, most such information are subject to variation, however minuscule it might prove to be. It is true that they might rarely reveal outrageous variations. But the large-scale variations have been coming down over time. To the journalists they remain indicators of what is happening to the economy, and in which direction is it sailing.
Let us take another example. For the contemporary journalists, the Budget figures hold a lot of meaning. Long treatises, editorials and centre pieces follow the swings and direction of sectoral allocations. The country's resources and debt position are often analysed in detail. Such analysis often hold scant respect of the blue blooded economists, who most often view the allocation pattern as stemming from political compulsions. They are also aware that revenue data can be propped up to some degree by enhanced collection in the final run up to the budget. But they should also bear in mind that neither the sleight of hand nor the ulterior deception will stand the test of time. So, such practices are becoming rarer as time goes by. As the data scarcely begin to grow cold, the journalists discard them, which is when it begins to catch the fancy and interest of the academician.
4.0. How Demand-driven is Academic Output?
By the time the Budget figures transform, from estimates to revised estimates and to the final, such figures are discarded by the journalists. While these allocations progress down time, they begin to attract the interest and fascination of the economists.If the journalists find the revised budget estimates and final allocation tables dated, less needs to be said about the major source of economic research: the various Rounds of National Sample Survey statistics. There is an inherent time lag between the collection, compilation and publication of such data. By the time the NSS data are published, they hold scant attention of the journalists. But to the academic world, they continue to offer a wealth of information. But is this major dichotomy due to the differences in need as perceived by the two professions alone? No, the reason is something beyond just professional needs. Let me try to explain why.
5.0. The Straitjacket
The academicians still continue to be fascinated by the old economy; and secular behaviour of conventional 'sectors' like agriculture and 'industry'. They base their premises on database spanning several decades, where compatibility of data is critical. There is no space for budget estimates or revised estimates in these analysis. The academic community is still very comfortable beating the well-trodden path of the traditional economy, of computing the cost of production and distribution of individual industrial sectors, correlating the input costs of irrigation and the incremental production of individual crops.
In their pursuit of agricultural analysis and industry growth trends, the academicians tend to overlook the organic growth of other new sectors, which have begun to hold much sway and importance on the economy. This does not mean that the academic has been shying away from pursuing these sectors. It is just that much too little research and analysis has gone into the new economy sectors which have been stridently growing through the past few decades.
Why this beaten track? This is partly because the guides and mentors of the present day research scholars are invariably brought up in the old school of conventional economic doctrine and thought. Thus, the new generation of students invariably follows the beaten path and often does not venture out into what is perceived as new and innovative research projects.
Let us take the example of the contribution of emigrants to the cash flow analysis into Kerala and its impact on the economy. Emigration has been a feature of the Kerala economy for several decades now. There have been trends and phases of growth, slump and recovery in the pace of emigration and repatriation of earnings. The eighties are considered as a period of active growth of both emigration and repatriation. Data on the flow of repatriation were available from sources like the Reserve Bank of India as well as from the Union Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission publications for quite some time now. But it was after a long gap that the academic world began to take an active interest in this new and highly significant area. The first couple of significant research papers became available only during the last decade. But the truly worthwhile analysis of emigration and its impact on Kerala economy has come only during the current decade, two decades after the major spurt and growth in NRI deposits and remittances.
This was not all. The first couple of research papers that were produced on emigration and repatriation were found wanting. They talked of a major paucity of data while at the same time did not deploy the available data in any ingenious manner to elicit answers to some of the persistent questions which emerged on the sector. One should remember that data are not created overnight; nor should they be the creation of the official statistical machinery alone.
The trends available in tourism and its revenue flows were not much different. This is another sector which has been growing in importance for several decades, but again has been receiving scant attention from the research community. The inflow of remittances from NRIs and tourist spending come through the same channel of funds, balance of payments - invisibles on the current account.
For several years now, the quantum of inflow from tourism sector has been surging towards levels comparable to the annual remittances from NRIs. However, like in the NRI sector, the tourism sector also continued to be relatively ignored by the research community.6.0. The Journalist's Response
But the journalist community had taken it upon themselves to talk of the ebbs and flows of NRI remittances and the pace and trends in the outward and inward migration etc. for over two decades now. And, as and when good academic papers were available, the journalist community would report on them with alacrity. However, the good research papers on migration and remittance started to become available only from the late nineties.No doubt, much more needs to be done regarding the database that the journalist uses. There are the off-the-cuff remarks of the politicians who reel out figures and numbers by the dozen which often has to be taken with a big pinch of salt. But there are also the relatively more credible sources of data which can definitely come into the spectrum of the academic profession as well.
7.0. The Signs of Change
There was a clear divide between the academician and the journalists in the decades gone by. But, thankfully, that has begun to change in the recent past. These days, blue blooded academics like Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Amartya Sen and Ashok V Desai are finding their due place in the edit page of leading financial and general newspapers the world over.
It seems that the Rubicon has been finally crossed once and for all. The puritans among the academic community might call this an unholy alliance, the blue blooded academics marrying into vagabond journalism. But to a degree, it has given greater credibility to the journalistic profession. And in the process, imparted greater credibility to the data that the journalists use.
The entry of the academician into the field of journalists and their often dexterous use of current economic data has not only extended greater credibility to the writings and analysis of journalists, but has also imparted greater credibility to these data sources. For the economists, it has extended their credibility and visibility among the common man. Their ideas and concepts were getting to be popular among a wide spectrum of the population. It has definitely been a two-way street.
But there have been perceptible changes in the current economic data available to the journalists as well. Earlier there were several surmises that the journalists had to make to cull data from the Economic Survey presented in Parliament and to surmise the extent of remittances and inward flows from tourism revenue. While the figures often provided data for overall trends in the economy, there was bound to be some slight discrepancy in the actual figures.
As the data generating process in the Finance Ministry has become increasingly streamlined, several of these assumptions need no longer be made, in effect, giving greater credibility to the data often available from Government sources.8.0. The Narrowing Divide
Finally, the dichotomy between the data sources for the academic profession and journalists are poised to narrow down even further. With the advent of the World Wide Web and universal access to information irrespective of spatial or temporal disparity to all people, the advantage of journalists will be culled to a significant level.
But this does not mean that the academician can replace the journalists in the realm of financial reporting, nor the other way around. There used to be a saying in the Delhi circles regarding a premier news agency, "first with the news and first with the rejoinder". The journalists will continue to make mistakes partly due to the constraints of the data and partly because of their innate and imperative time constraints.
Meanwhile, the academician has the privilege of wading through realms of data and lumbering to slow and studied conclusions. The gulf between the two as far as data is concerned is poised to narrow down further. But the fact remains that one can only supplement the other, never replace him.9.0. What Need to be Done to Improve the Situation?
It is inevitable that as technology progresses, the world will become a smaller place. Access to information will become universal and the time limitation between availability and universal access to information will be reduced dramatically.
Yet, society will continue to require both the journalists to disseminate and interpret the news for common consumption and economists for detailed and analytical interpretations and trends for a very limited and selected audience. The role of neither of these streams will change dramatically. It is just that news and information will become more contemporary. As technology changes and the means of communication assumes new dimensions, the time between receiving the data and reporting on it will narrow down even further.
This is already evident in the case of Television and Internet journalism. Earlier, there was a 12-hour delay between the presentation of budget in Parliament and its access to the common man through newspapers. Now it has become instantaneous. Even as the budget is presented in Parliament, the visual media telecasts it live to national and international viewers. This has brought greater brevity to reporting.
Also, it has created a piquant situation. The time lag between access and dissemination of information has virtually been wiped out. If earlier, journalists were liable to be castigated for shortcomings due to time constraint, it has become all the more apparent now. Yet, through selective screening and specialised training, journalists are now better equipped to handle even this new formidable time handicap. As the basic tenets of journalism has been growing and changing, the new breed of journalists have also been adapting and adopting to the changing social scenario.
Reinforcing this trend further, people from diverse backgrounds and training have also been making their presence felt in the journalism arena. . From specialised people trained in economics for economic and business reporting to IT professionals for computer and IT related reporting, architects for reporting on design and interiors, the source list for journalism is quite diverse.
This advent of new technology has also provided academicians greater and quicker access to data. Today, he is virtually able to access the same set of data over the Internet as the journalist. But the dichotomy in approach and treatment of these data between the journalists and academician continue to remain. The academician still desires time tested and unimpeachable data. A tool which is evident in the scrupulous and diligent treatises that the community generally produces.
But with the advent of technology, contemporary data available off the computer monitor is getting is getting increasingly authentic and credible. Though it might be providing the last pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to the academic, it is still pertinent. In effect, the lives of both the academician and the journalists have changed with the temporal and spatial squeeze between access and availability of news and data.