Kunal KK and SK Mishra: Assuming Corporate responsibilities in Lawless Situations TWP105/2014-15

Assuming Corporate Responsibilities in Lawless Situations: Case Study of a News Media Organization

by

Kunal Kamal Kumar

Assistant Professor T A Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) Manipal Manipal 576 104, Karnataka INDIA Phone: +91-9902494054 Email: [email protected] ; [email protected] and

Sushanta Kumar Mishra

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore Indore 453 331, Madhya Pradesh INDIA Phone: +91-9752038027 Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

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Kunal KK and SK Mishra: Assuming Corporate responsibilities in Lawless Situations TWP105/2014-15

Assuming Corporate Responsibilities in Lawless Situations:

Case Study of a News Media Organization

In economies characterized by high levels of inequalities, there is a greater incentive for rich and powerful to manipulate public opinion through news media (Herman & Chomsky, 2002). As news media plays an important role in shaping people’s preferences and policy outcomes, it is luring for the rich to use it to their advantage (Petrova, 2008). The vast persuasive power of news media enthralls all: be it governments (Enikolopov, Petrova, & Zhuravskaya, 2011), non-government organizations (Zhang & Swartz, 2009), or business corporations (Gambaro & Puglisi, 2010; Reuter & Zitzewitz, 2006), each uses news media for furthering their causes (Schudson, 2003, pp. 16-32). Unfortunately, in economies with weak democratic institutions, the rich and the powerful use news media’s power of indoctrination of beliefs through selective or inaccurate information to further propel themselves up the ladder (Mcmillan & Zoido, 2004); in effect, deepening the inequality.

Cross-institutional reality monitoring is a decisive feature of any society and news media plays a critical role in this monitoring process (Johnson, 1998, 2007). The presence of news media reminds the politicians and the public officials that their actions are being watched and reported to their constituents (Cohen & Gans, 2004). Though it is not the job of the press to anchor public life or to provide the guidance that public need (Deuze, 2005; Patterson, 1997); should it not try to drive movements in a society going through a phase of political bankruptcy and social stagnation (Kohli, 1990, pp. 205-237)? At least the press should not put its anchors down! But this is what was happening in a state of India: as the twentieth century was putting around aura of dusk, one of the poorest states of India, and then the most lawless of all (Weisman, 1987), had already embraced darkness. The institutions had given away, and the news media had lost a sense of purpose: while some sided with the rich and the powerful, others remained as hopeless as the people whom they had vouched to serve. It was a state of crisis and instability: ironically, a time when people prefer to look to news media for information and guidance (Loveless, 2008). In such a situation, the birth of Prabhar Khabar came as a welcome respite – a game changer that gave a tagline to which it steadfastly stood: ‘Akhbaar nahi Andolan’ (not a newspaper; a revolution).

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We discuss the case of Prabhat Khabar (henceforth PK), a Hindi daily that fought hard to bring the news media from the clutches of the rich and powerful, unexpectedly succeeding in the process! Our study is based on organizational records and interviews with the top management of the organization. For the purpose of interviews, we also approached those employees of PK who have been associated with the organization since its inception. We conducted the interviews during the period 2012-13. We discuss how PK followed business practices that were innovative, contextually appropriate, and ethically correct. Through a detailed analysis, we critically examine how its practices not only helped it assume corporate responsibilities but also helped it maintain a market dominating position. In the modern world, where business organizations are often lost in dilemmatic situations wherein they have to make the hard choice of selecting either of the two options: ethical conduct or monetary gains; we believe the story of PK could be a guiding source of inspiration to solving such dilemmas. As PK’s growth happened in a market that was adverse to business activities, we believe that its story would provide a role model function of corporate conduct in emerging economies. Moreover, it would help organizations understand how to commit themselves to corporate responsibilities in unfavorable situations.

The Context of the Case Study

Back in the year 1780, when an expatriate Irishman James Augustus Hicky, published India’s first English newspaper from Calcutta (the capital of British India) little did he know that he had put on the foundation stone of the fourth pillar of democracy in the Indian subcontinent. India’s print media is one of the largest in the world with nearly 65,000 newspapers and periodicals in 123 languages and dialects. A vibrant economy coupled with an ever increasing literacy rate is continually pushing readership numbers to new levels: it is estimated that close to 150 million people in India read a newspaper as compared to 97 million Americans (Sterling, 2009, p. 748). While the newspapers in English language have traditionally dominated the urban sphere in India (Vincent & Mahesh, 2007), it is the newspapers in regional languages that give prominence to local issues and challenges, providing a medium of expression to local aspirations and grievances (Besley & Burgess, 2002). It comes as no surprise that newspapers in English language fall behind in circulation numbers to newspapers in regional languages. According to ‘Indian Readership Survey’ for the Fourth Quarter of the Year 2012 (IRS Q4 2012) the top ten English newspapers have a combined readership of 19.7 million as compared to 70.5 million in case of regional language TAPMI WORKING PAPERS

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newspapers. Given 40.22 % of India’s population speak Hindi language, Hindi language newspapers have become an important channel to reach out to the masses (Neyazi, 2011).

India is a federal union of states with each state having its own official languages: the states of Bihar and Jharkhand have recognized Hindi as their official language. Jharkhand was a part of undivided Bihar till November 15, 2000 when it was carved out as a separate state. Hindi dominates the administrative, political, and social sphere in both the states. In terms of circulation numbers, newspapers in Hindi language heavily outnumber English language newspapers in both states. In fact, there is fierce competition among newspapers in Hindi language: the problem intensifies as per capita incomes of people in these two states are among the lowest in the country. In such an environment, running a newspaper in Hindi language is not an easy task – but it is exactly this task that captivated Harivansh, the Editor- in-Chief of PK (a newspaper in Hindi language headquartered in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand).

Starting a business in a state that has seen innumerable insurgencies since India’s Independence is no little risk. But starting a newspaper in this environment, a state having very low level of literacy coupled with meagre per capita income, is something that would not make any business sense. Yet, in 1984 ‘Prabhat Khabar’ a newspaper was born in the state of Bihar (present day Jharkhand) as per the desire of a parliamentarian of the state. Right from its beginning, the newspaper faced extreme situations. Southern Bihar was going through a high period of insurgency, people had lost faith in the Government and demanded autonomy and statehood. In such a situation, a newspaper owned by a member of the ruling party was increasingly seen as the mouthpiece of the Government. The dusk had fallen – within five years of its inception, PK was sold to the Usha Martin Group, a business house that had no history of managing a news media organization. The new management was aware of the huge challenges – they were in charge of a company that many predicted was doomed to fail. Nonetheless Harivansh, along with K K Goenka (Managing Director), and R K Dutta (Executive Director), fought bravely against all odds. With resolute determination, strict discipline, and perfect teamwork they transformed the newspaper from a near-bankrupt newspaper having a cumulative readership of 600 in 1990, to a readership of close to three million (2.86 million as per IRS Q4 2012 figures).

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Today, PK is a top ranking newspaper in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand; it prints ten city editions and has a noticeable presence in the state of West Bengal. It also prints multiple weekly magazines that target specific sections of the society. For instance, ‘Panchayatnama’ which covers stories on farming and issues related to village-administration is specifically aimed at the rural population. Another weekly magazine ‘Avsar’ targets the youth population by providing weekly updates on education matters and emerging career prospects. The real success story though lies in the way the newspaper committed itself to ethical values: from exposing scandals that would put politicians and bureaucrats behind the bars, to giving voice to the downtrodden, the newspaper never compromised with ethics. To cite one example, PK ran a story on 16th of February 1992, exposing the fraudulent activities going on in the Department of Animal Husbandry of the Government of Bihar. The expose would have been forgotten if not for the continued news coverage of the scam: in the next one year, it published 70 news reports on the scam. It was a tough task fighting the government as Bihar government was being led by Laloo Prasad Yadav (Chief Minister) who had been hailed as the champion of the poor (Thakur, 2000): Mr. Yadav enjoyed huge political clout in the county, more so in the state of Bihar (Burns, 1997). But PK never gave up the fight; it had to pay the price in terms of revenue losses, high level of intimidation and even threats to individual life. After a prolonged struggle, the chief minister was arrested and sent to jail along with many top bureaucrats.

The field of journalism can be divided into two different schools of thoughts: on one side there are people who believe that media should treat the readers as consumers, this group promotes commercialization of news; the other group prefers to treat consumers as citizens and believes in civic journalism, this group promotes the traditional journalistic role of gate keeping and agenda setting (Underwood, 2001). It is the later school to which Harivansh belongs: under his guidance, PK has believed that newspapers are not simple information providers; rather they are there as a guardian, a teacher, and as a friend of the masses. It is this belief that has helped PK commit to corporate responsibilities, viz. responsibilities to the society and the environment.

Assuming Corporate Responsibilities

Corporate responsibility is considered the epitome of corporate ethics (Enderle, 2004). In ‘the balanced concept of the firm’, a corporation is seen as a moral agent that has a balanced

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approach towards managing the three interrelated and equally important responsibilities viz. economic, social, and, environmental responsibilities (Enderle & Tavis, 1998). While economic responsibility of a firm focuses on preserving the profitability of business operations for its shareholders, a firm’s social responsibility requires it to treat its stakeholders in an ethical and socially responsible manner so as to contribute to a better society; the environmental responsibility of the firm further requires that it integrates environmental concerns in business operations so as to contribute to a cleaner environment (Dahlsrud, 2008). In the triple bottom line approach (Elkington, 1998), the three responsibilities are termed profit (economic), people (social), and planet (environmental). We now discuss PK’s business practices that helped it deliver the three corporate responsibilities in a balanced way.

Economic Responsibilities

Reducing Vulnerabilities

The clash between business imperatives and journalistic ideals is a recurring theme for any media organization. The dilemma to choose between one and the other leads to uncertainties that must be countered. One of the greatest uncertainties that news media organizations face is in terms of sustained revenue growth; the primary source of which are advertisements. For news media organizations, advertising is a central source of revenue (Doyle, 2002, p. 39). The easiest way through which governments ‘punish’ newspapers for covering their scandals is through cut-downs on government advertising (Di Tella & Franceschelli, 2011): PK got the same treatment; quite often it got advertisements far less valued than what even a least circulating newspaper (but a pro-government one) would get. A newspaper cannot survive on subscription revenues alone: advertisements are not only critical but the lifeline. This way, a press cannot be free if the principal source of advertisements is the government or the political parties: they demand censoring news in return for advertisements (Petrova, 2011). With diminishing advertisements from the government, PK knew that its revolutionary fight would soon end until it attracted new advertisers. For that it started a two-thronged strategy: expanding its base to include distant cities, and building a positive image of the local environment. If the cities could get an image makeover, older business establishments would flourish and new business establishments would come in, ultimately leading to an increase in customer income. An increase in customer income would positively affect circulation

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numbers (Abbring & Van Ours, 1994), eventually raising advertising revenues (Dewenter, 2003).

PK also helped local towns and cities gain an image makeover by putting them in limelight and identifying their historical and cultural importance. On the one hand, this initiative helped strengthen the tourism potential of the cities, in effect increasing the earnings of city dwellers; on the other, PK became the ultimate beneficiary as better economic status of its readers translated into richer advertisements. The decrease in dependence on government financed advertisements and a sustainable source of revenue meant that PK could engage in performing its journalistic duties with ease – a financial strain would have constrained its ability to engage the masses that it wished to serve. Moreover, the economic uplift of the local population acted as a strong foundation that would soon serve as a platform for social advancement of the masses.

Enhancing Productivity

As city editions help increase circulation numbers, PK started city editions in Tier II and Tier III cities. To keep its budget in shape, the city editions were started and sustained on a shoestring budget: it started offices in rented accommodation while the employees shared flats and cooked their food in communal kitchens. As the budget was low, printing machines that had become outdated and had at best only scrap value were bought and refurbished. The team that was responsible for running the new city editions worked resolutely for hours to compensate for workforce shortage. Due to budget constraints, PK could recruit only a limited number of employees. Nonetheless, by following austerity measures, PK was able to lower the need for money; once monetary demand was contained, the lure of government financed money, in the form of advertisements, was restricted. Another approach to lowering cost was to focus on increasing efficiency and effectiveness of organizational members; PK achieved this through employment of multitasking strategies and adherence to emerging technologies. Despite budget constraints, PK invested a lot on modern communication technology; the employees were given extensive training in handling computers and wireless instruments – while this led to a short term hike in expenses, in the long run it helped decrease costs as news could be processed fast. At PK, every reporter must learn the desk jobs so that they are aware of the needs and requirements of those who work behind the scenes (i.e. at the desk). Through lateral integration, PK tried to develop a synergy that

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helped build a strong and multi-skilled workforce. Such multitasking approach also helps in live processing of news: this way, PK found a unique way to develop a professionally competent and economically viable newspaper organization.

Social Responsibilities

Identity Development

A journalist’s relationship with his fellows or his readers is trust based: it is expected of him that the news that he provides and the views that he expresses are legitimate, accurate, and designed to serve a public cause. In economically and socially backward states like Jharkhand and Bihar, this would translate into establishing a close connection with the local population through development of proximate relationships. Trustworthy relationship in turn demands investment of time from each party. For a newspaper, this would mean successful engagement with the public that it wishes to serve. Since PK was working tirelessly to serve the local population, whose taste and concerns were different from those offered by national newspapers, the need to develop a unique identity to which the local population could relate was felt quite early. However, the task was not easy – armed with marketing-budgets that far exceeded the PK’s annual budget and following aggressive push-selling strategies, PK’s competitors were heavily armed to give stiff competition. Moreover, they had the backing of big corporate houses that meant opulent cash flow that could have easily forced a weak competitor to retreat. But PK took the competition to an altogether different level: it reached out to the masses, to those whose voices were not being heard by the big players. In order to portray a unique identity, PK focussed on developing a local connection with its readers. It gave prominence to local issues so that it could develop local feel and character.

PK changed its own form and structure to cater to the local needs: for instance, while most media houses portrayed national level celebrities in their annual calendar, PK started displaying the photographs of local heroes and depicting their achievement. For instance, the annual calendar for the year 2008 was dedicated to Dashrath Manjhi, a tribal man who had singlehandedly carved a way through Gehlour hills in Bihar in memory of his wife. Incidentally, the story of Dashrath Manjhi was first reported by PK on 29th December 1991. A local hero making it to the annual calendar would motivate others to work for social causes that the ‘hero’ represented. It was not long before Prabhat Khabar became the newspapers of the masses – a paper to which the local population could proudly relate.

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News Media as a Social Cause

Media does not report news that is naturally ‘newsworthy’ in itself (MacDougall & Reid, 1987, p. 16): instead, through a careful filtering process of what constitutes good news (based on newsmen’s sense of new values), journalists report news stories (Hall, 1978, p. 53). This way, the sense of news values or professional ideology is an important determinant of a journalist’s commitment to eradicating social inequalities. At PK, Harivansh made it clear that he would never compromise with the values of the field. He communicated to the employees that PK would neither stand as a source of infotainment, nor shall it publish paid stories for monetary gains. Under his leadership PK, has maintained what has always been the socially constructed distinction between news and entertainment (Carpini & A.Williams, 2001). Harivansh defied the old marketing gimmick of making ‘consumer is the king’, thus defying the notion of infotainment yet remaining a profitable business. It also invested huge amounts of money in doing social-audit of the newly carved state of Jharkhand in 2004 which helped identify governance related problems at the state and regional levels. More than thirty thousand respondents participated in the social audit. The report of the audit was published systematically for a record hundred days highlighting social issues concerning the state of Jharkhand. The publication timing was strategically chosen as state legislative elections were to be held in February 2005. Post elections, PK published a ‘state of governance’ report highlighting administrative issues and concerns.

PK also ran special editions on major cultural activities, thus helping the local population learn more about its culture; this way PK helped integrate the local population (a large part of which were tribal) with the larger population. Even today, PK publishes a hundred-paged special annual edition to mark Jharkhand’s foundation day. The special edition highlights the issues, challenges, and the achievement of the people of Jharkhand. PK reporters are also trained and motivated to reach deep into the villages so that news stories from rural areas get fair representation, this helps in bringing the power of news media to those who are socially and economically marginalized.

Social Campaigns

When most papers were turning into tabloids, PK focused on giving due importance to local issues. Moreover being a newspaper that was locally centred (headquartered in Ranchi, Jharkhand), it had the opportunity to cover local stories and give them prominence:

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something which the national dailies could not afford because of their national character (George & Waldfogel, 2006). Studies have evidenced that local newspapers help increase political participation at the regional level by giving prominence to local issues; the local news media also helps provide an identity to regional groups that would otherwise remain marginalized because of their unfavourable standing in terms of their socio-economic or numerical status at the national level (George & Waldfogel, 2008; Oberholzer-Gee & Waldfogel, 2009). This way, PK helped stir the political stagnation in the state of Jharkhand.

In order to draw the attention of the civic authorities to local issues, PK started giving prominence to local issues: it would run stories in a persistent manner prompting the administration to take action. For instance, consumption of country-liquor (locally brewed illicit spirit that could have more than 50 percent alcohol concentration) is a major challenge in India as it leads to medical and social problems (Benegal, 2005). In April 2005, women of Hazaribagh (a district in the state of Jharkhand) formed a group to stand against their liquor- addicted husbands. As a group they also took on the liquor-mafia; PK gave prominence to this story. It also published stories educating the people about the harmful effects of alcohol consumption. The employees of PK got actively involved in the campaign against illicit- liquor and personally visited places where alcohol consumption had shown its adverse effect on the social fabric of the community. Soon the campaign took shape of a movement and the government was forced to act. Movements need news media for three major purposes: mobilization, validation, and scope enlargement (Gamson & Wolfsfeld, 1993). PK helped the movements by providing all three. Issues like women’s fight against illegal and spurious wine brewing centres would have remained feeble if not for the continued reporting that lasted for months: ultimately the people took to the streets and the government was forced to take action. In the same way, PK highlighted issues like corruption in recruitment processes, supply of spurious medicine to government hospitals, and critical issues like hunger-death. In the year 2004, people belonging to Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand were dying of hunger. It was a case of mass-negligence on part of the government. The government projected that the death were due to some mysterious disease. PK put up all its strength to highlight the case of gross misgovernance. Finally, the Supreme Court of India intervened citing the press reports.

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started a 15 days campaign titled ‘Ghoos ko Ghoonsha (blow to bribe)’ wherein it reached out to the people educating them how to fight corruption through the Right to Information Act 2005. During election times, it would run articles on how the poor people were being beguiled by the cunning politicians. For instance, during 2009 elections in Jharkhand, PK ran ‘Change India Campaign’ to sensitize people about their duty to vote responsibly. Similarly it ran ‘Jago Voter Abhiyaan (voter awareness campaign)’ during 2010 elections in Bihar. Such campaigns helped create political awareness among the masses as they got better informed about their rights and responsibilities.

Talent Nurturing

To advance the field of journalism, the media houses must come forward in unison and train the stringers/reporters as unskilled and non-professional stringers/reporters would only prove detrimental to the whole field. Moreover as the field of journalism has been changing fast with the advent of new technologies and formats like online media, it is better to impart training skills through an all-inclusive interdisciplinary approach (Kraeplin & Criado, 2005). As only skilled reporters are expected to work in an effective and efficient way, PK started its own school of journalism ‘Prabhat Khabar Institute of Media Studies’ to skill a whole new generation of reporters locally.

As a matter of social responsibility PK extended its training facilities to the stringers, most of whom could not afford formal training because of their economic condition. Training the stringers has proved to be a double win for PK: while PK stood gained by having a skilled workforce, at a larger level this helped the field of journalism per se through development of a skilled and devoted workforce. In a few years’ time, PK helped develop a talent force among the tribal people who could not even dream of associating themselves with news media organizations. PK also focussed on identifying and nurturing talent among tribal writers; the readers loved to read their writings as they covered grassroots issues and their writing had a distinct cultural flavour that could not be found in the writings of city-based reporters. This had economic implications for PK as well in terms of an ever-increasing readership base. To illustrate, Dayamani Barla, a woman tribal reporter wrote consistently about tribal issues concerning inadequate compensation in lieu of land acquisition. Living her life in abject poverty, she continued writing in PK and rose to be one of the most important tribal voices at the national and international levels (Yadav, 2013). PK thus acted as the voice

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of the socially marginalized tribal people who were increasingly being threatened by the illegal collusion between corporate houses and the political forces – the cause of conflict being the vast natural wealth of Jharkhand.

Environmental Responsibilities

Sensitizing the Public

While it is expected of business organizations to make profit, it is an obligation onto them that their business activities leave the natural ecosystems no worse off in the process (DesJardins, 1998). PK is mainly a print-based news media organization; while its primary product is news, that product is delivered through the medium of paper. As is the case with print-based media organizations, PK may be held responsible for felling of trees for production of wood-based paper. One way to assume this responsibility is to buy paper only from those pulp and paper companies that act responsibly to the environment. This seems a distant possibility in the Indian context as there are a very limited number of paper producers and most news media organizations use government-sourced subsidized paper. In order to disseminate its environmental responsibilities, PK went for short-term as well as long-term strategies. As a short term measure, it generated public support against the use of non- recyclable plastic products like polyethylene, the extensive use and their unmanaged disposal of which leads to environmental hazards: plastics release and assist the transportation of environmental contaminants (Teuten et al., 2009). In 2010, PK ran news articles that detailed how improper disposal of plastic was arresting the recharging of the ground water aquifers, and how it could lead to increased toxicity of land and lowering of the ground-water level. Subsequently, in 2011, PK ran a ‘Save Water Campaign’ to sensitize people about the diminishing water-levels and increasing toxicity of water. The stories gave minute details on how drastically the water level had dropped in sixteen districts of the state and were affecting close to seventeen thousand villages. It also ran stories on how the land mafia was encroaching upon the water bodies: to corroborate its claims it published historical satellite imagery of the encroachments. In order to generate positive action from the political corridors of power, PK organized rallies as part of the Save Water Campaign. The campaign saw coming together of top politicians of the state belonging to different political parties who unitedly committed to address the water crisis. As a result a special task-force was created to look into the impending issues that affected water wastage and storage.

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Saving the Environment

The tribal land in India is protected by the government, in that they may not be put to commercial use. However, that still does not stop the unlawful elements in society from exploiting the land of the tribes. Illegal timber logging and increasing conversion of forest land to pastureland were two major problems that the tribes of Jharkhand faced. As commercial wood extraction and cattle ranching ultimately leads to deforestation (Geist & Lambin, 2002), PK ran several stories highlighting these problems from time to time in order to expose how the timber mafia often worked in collusion with local police and administrative officials. To cite an instance, in September 2013, PK ran stories highlighting how timber mafia was using the city of Devghar as a base for timber storage. While the police was informed of the illegal activities, they took no action. As a steward of the public, PK made sure that the illegal activities were stopped: it published news stories and raised the issue to higher corridors of power; the administration ultimately had to take action.

While commercial wood extraction and cattle ranching involved local players, national players were eyeing the larger industry-exploitable resource of the tribes – the vast mineral wealth of Jharkhand. Mining is a contentious issue in tribal areas as it ultimately leads to destruction of forest land and mass displacement of the indigenous tribes. Mining destroys forest cover and affects the tribes in terms of making them landless, homeless, jobless, and exposing them to many risks such as health-risk and risk of marginalization (Downing, 2002). Nonetheless, there are ways to minimize the losses, for instance a higher compensation, that takes into account the fair market value of the environmental assets and includes displacement costs, should be provided to the displaced people. Additionally, once an area has been mined, the mining agent should work out for reforestation and rehabilitation of the indigenous people back to their ancient land. Such activities can only happen if the mining agents show a genuine concern for the people and the environment. In cases where the mining contracts itself have been won through bribes, social and environmental commitment is expected to be low.

The mines in Jharkhand were being allocated arbitrarily by the government; Madhu Koda, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, himself pocketed more than US $1 billion in bribes (Miklian & Carney, 2013). As the government itself was to be blamed for the lawlessness there was no other way than to expose the government: PK took on the government with a revolutionist

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zeal. It ran several studies on how corruption under the Madhu Koda government had reached newer heights. In 2007, it ran several stories detailing how senior administrative officials had amassed huge wealth disproportionate to their earnings. By July 2008, PK had targeted individual ministers in the government who had hoarded massive wealth through illegal allocation of mines. Owning to surmounting pressure of corruption charges, the Chief Minister had to resign in August 2008. Meanwhile, PK kept on exposing the scams as it could get hands on new documents detailing the illegal practices. The results were positive – while most mine allocation were cancelled by the Indian Judiciary, the Chief Minister himself landed in jail.

Tapping Knowledge of Indigenous Tribes

The whole idea of reaching out to local people in order to sensitize them about environmental issues would have remained a distant dream if PK had not focused on a fundamental issue – inclusion of the indigenous tribes for maintaining environmental ecology. The state of Jharkhand, where PK has a dominating presence, has one of the highest tribal population in India; the state has been India’s richest mineral wealth producer since mid-nineteenth century (Ghosh, 2006). A significant portion of the tribal population remains cut-off from the larger world. Nonetheless, they are the guardians of the forest land and have the understanding of the forest ecology. Many of the tribes have ancient knowledge that needed to be tapped for understanding and maintaining the ecological balance (Das, 1991). PK took the initiative of reaching out to the indigenous tribes and providing them a platform to share their traditional wisdom and critical concerns. To gain access to these people and to identify the issues that affected them the most, PK started recruiting a large number of tribal people for reporting and desk editing jobs. To cite an example, a young tribal reporter, Harold S. Topno started the column ‘Jangal Gatha (the story of the forest)’ in order to tap local knowledge of the tribes. Through the active engagement of the tribal population, PK was able to bring them back to mainstream politics – a journalistic duty was served. While these people helped identify core issues that mattered most to the local population, PK was able to spread its readership as the tribal population loved reading a newspaper to which they could relate.

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Discussion

PK’s fight for creating an institution of free press that was devoted to fighting inequalities was possible through the simultaneous creation as well as destruction of institutions: as we discern, the creation of the institution of free press was possible only through destruction of the institution of government control over the press. Further, as institutions must be maintained for completion of their strategic intent, the expansion of PK was carried out in a way that showed excellent competence of carrying out institutional work for the sake of maintaining institutions: the stories of how Ranchi edition was started on a shoestring budget and how it fought all extremities to come up as a top ranking newspaper in the state of Jharkhand has been widely circulated among its members through formal and informal routes. In destructing, creating, and maintaining institutions, Harivansh and his team members have shown excellent examples of strategically right purposive action, i.e. institutional work (Lawrence & Suddaby, 2006), that helped them fight inequalities and serve their journalistic duties. Often the sole backing that they got in the fight was through their belief and commitment to news values and the congruence between their belief and actions, a prerequisite for success in such environments (Amis, Slack, & Hinings, 2002).

The story of PK is unique: it did not see the challenges as a stumbling block; rather it saw a unique opportunity and benefited by application of innovative practices. The top management did a commendable job working out the strategies suitable for the particular contexts, consequently ending up with practices that were designed to counter the uncertainties and paradoxes that a news media organization faces: whether to target ethics or money; to cover local or national news stories; take side of the government or to expose its frauds; reach out to tribal population or to concentrate on the urban population. PK faced multiple challenges since its inception, but the real challenge was creation of a customer base. Being a Hindi newspaper, it found it hard to target the rich class. Moreover, the ethics of journalism kept it reminding that it must serve the downtrodden and help create mass awareness about issues that affected them. But there stood a big cultural divide between it and the people it wanted to serve. The vast local population, of which the tribal people comprised a significant majority, was largely disinterested in reading newspapers. The newspapers rarely ran stories to which the locals, especially the tribal people could relate; yet they wanted someone to help them, someone to listen to their woes. PK wanted to give them a voice, but the cultural, linguistic and the economic divide was too strong. PK helped bridge this divide through application of TAPMI WORKING PAPERS

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multiple business practices that were not only innovative, but also confirmed to the ethical values of the field of journalism.

Furthermore, PK’s business practices also helped deliver its corporate responsibilities in a highly poised manner. If we look closely, we would find that the three corporate responsibilities feed into the other. For instance, while development of a unique identity was important because of market concerns that helped PK deliver its economic responsibilities, it also helped dispense social responsibilities by providing a common identity to the indigenous population and minimizing their marginalization. Further, as the indigenous people were brought to the forefront, their knowledge could be tapped to maintain environmental ecology. Thus, the focus on identity development also helped PK carry out its environmental responsibilities.

Conclusion

Today, PK has found its way in both rich and poor households. It has found a wide readership base that includes diverse cultural communities. Moreover its roots in ethics have remained intact: in a recent enquiry initiated by the Election Commission of India, the Press Council of India found all the major dailies except PK to have indulged in the unethical practice of ‘paid news’; several poll candidates owned up to bribing the dailies for favourable news items (Sainath, 2013). The story of PK also tells us how budget constrained organizations can take up big players without compromising on ethical values. The long term strategies that PK applied were important for sustainable growth. There was time when PK lost to its competitors in the short term by not investing huge amounts in marketing gimmicks or by opposing government policies and exposing scams; but in the end, its commitment to ethics would pay in the long run. Carroll (1991) argued that the way corporates can commit themselves to social responsibilities is to stick to ethical values and follow moral management in a way wherein the company and the community goals are interdependent. The present case reaffirms that notion, and depicts how an organizations’ commitment to its role-related work (in the case of Prabhat Khabar, performing journalistic duties in an ethical way) leads an organization to dispense all three corporate responsibilities in a balanced way.

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