Did the New York Times’ job posting for a business correspondent in India merit the uproar it elicited?

PAROMITA DAS

While news outlets may have spread misinformation about the posting, business journalists all agreed it was ‘strange.’

The New York Times’ was hunting for a South Asian business correspondent stationed in India sparked outrage, with the publication accused of seeking a candidate with “anti-Modi” and “anti-India” inclinations.

Here’s the exact paragraph from the job posting that sparked the uproar:

“India’s future is presently at a crossroads.” Mr.Modi promotes a self-sufficient, robust nationalism centered on the Hindu majority in the country. That vision contradicts the ecumenical, multicultural ideals of modern India’s forefathers.

The government’s increasing efforts to monitor online speech and media debate have highlighted challenging problems about how to balance security and privacy concerns with free expression. Technology is both a boon and a curse.”

The fury did not stop with social media; it spread to television channels, where anchors hosted primetime debates accusing the international publication of seeking a biased candidate.

The Times “spelled out” that the candidate must be “anti-Modi and anti-establishment,” before discussing the NYT’s “far older anti-India stance.” DD News and Zee News also debated the purported effort by the Western media to tarnish India’s image.

Not to be outdone, viewers on Republic TV were welcomed with the hashtags #NYTimesExposed and #NYTAgendaExposed flashing on their screens. The post was dubbed “an obvious act of propaganda against Modi.” Before editor ArnabGoswami held a primetime debate on the job posting, the channel stated that the New York Times’ “cloak of ethical journalism is off,” the “motivated western media’s prerequisites are clear,” the “pre-condition to run down India is now written in black and white,” and “masked under editorial integrity is clearly an international plot to engineer sentiment against the democratically elected dispensation in India.

What is true, though, is that the job posting was out of the ordinary for a media organisation. Interestingly, while the posting was still up until, when Newslaundry checked on, it had been withdrawn by the New York Times.

It also contradicts the NYT’s regular employment advertising. For example, a current position for a staff editor in Hong Kong has no information regarding the region’s tensions with China, the national security law, or the pro-democracy movements that have dominated the region over the last two years. This ad for an investigative correspondent in Asia, based in Seoul, also makes no mention of the region’s political scenarios.

There are outliers, but none as thorough as the posting by a business correspondent in India. The New York Times stated briefly for the Southeast Asia bureau chief position based in Bangkok that the region is “a complex geopolitical puzzle, with autocracies, democracies, and dictatorships” and “a region of contradictions, with great opportunities, deep inequities, and deeply resilient people,” which raises no eyebrows given that this is a role for a bureau chief encompassing 11 countries.

A job posting in Washington, DC for a domestic correspondent covering the Food and Drug Administration mentions the department’s “regulatory shortcomings” and “flawed oversight” of e-cigarettes.

So, were the Times correct in publicising a job for a business journalist in India? Should media outlets make an attempt to hire “anti-establishment” journalists?

Here’s what some business journalists and editors had to say about it.

‘The NYT’s standards have fallen short.’

With such a posting, the New York Times falls short of its own high editorial standards, according to VenkyVembu, former associate editor of the Hindu Business Line.

“There is a distinction between news and views, and one of the cornerstones of the news section is to keep an open mind about things,” Vembu explained. “However, this appears to put blinkers on the possible correspondent.”

Vembu believes it is appropriate for an organization to hire op-ed writers who have strong opinions on the existing political establishment.

“I can’t assign motive to the New York Times, but to subject these variables in hiring a business correspondent shows that they have fallen a little short of the highest standards that they hold,” he said.

On the condition of anonymity, a former editor of a business daily stated that such a job posting was unusual when hiring a correspondent for any beat. Given the uproar produced by other organizations in the past when they were hunting for right-of-center editorial talent, he indicated that the wrath directed at the NYT was fair.

“I wouldn’t expect this in a commercial ad for a journalist,” he remarked.

For some, the fury was misplaced in relation to what the job posting actually stated. With Zee News and Wion spending hours indicating that the job posting wanted an anti-Modi and anti-India applicant – even though it did not clearly state so – the matter received far more attention than it deserved.

“I honestly believed this was a storm in a teacup,” remarked a former business magazine editor. “I couldn’t find anything in the posting that was anti-Hindu or anti-Modi.”

According to the posting, India is striving to “challenge China’s economic and political might in Asia” under Modi, and there is “a drama playing out along their contentious border and within national capitals across the region.”

“As a country, we would undoubtedly prefer to compete with China in terms of economic and global gravitas,” the editor remarked. “Do we want to compete with China?” Of course, we’ve had it for a long time, not just recently. Will this lead to tensions? Naturally, it will.”

Aside from that, the editor inquired, what was contentious? “Muscular nationalism is not a terrible thing if it pushes you to preserve the interests of your country.” It’s true that enormous corporations and digital behemoths throughout the world regard us as a tremendous potential market. Many critics, including myself, have noted that there is a significant and growing income disparity.

Income disparity is rising and becoming a unique problem right now, and it is expected to rise even more after Covid.”

The editor stated that the dispute erupted as a result of the New York Times’ coverage of India’s Covid crisis, which he described as “quite harsh.” He went on to say that famous right-wing activists and news outlets who were angered by the job advertisement also disliked newspapers like the Guardian, New York Times, and BBC “because they are not universally laudatory about India and the Indian government.”

“NYT’s fundamental problem was trying to describe India in one column,” he concluded. You would not need to specify this if you are searching for a journalist or editor who is well-versed in the region.”

According to SevantiNinan, a media pundit and founder editor of the Hoot, the ad did not appear to be for job advertising for a business reporter.

“It reads more like a job description for a bureau head than a business correspondent,” she added, referring to the requirement for experience in creating a network of journalists, among other things. “The line on nationalism and policing free speech appears to be queering the pitch for the type of reporting it desires.”

While the paragraph on Modi’s nationalism was unique, it did not explicitly reveal a bias in the possible correspondent, according to business journalist SuchetaDalal.

“It would ordinarily be quite dubious, but the advertisement hasn’t explicitly stated that they want a journalist with a specific bias,” she added. “On the other hand, the document is undoubtedly outlining the difficulties involved right away.” And we must admit that being a journalist nowadays presents significant challenges.”

Jarshad NK, a former business editor and current dean of the Asian College of Journalism’s business journalism department, said the job announcement was unusual because a possible applicant would certainly understand India’s dynamics before submitting.

“Obviously, the person who is coming to the job is going to conduct the research,” he explained. To the New York Times’ employment listings in other countries

“Typically, these postings are written by bureau employees. It appears weird, because why would you put these things in a job posting?”

“If I were a recruiter, one way I would measure is how effectively they’ve done the research,” he added. “Why would they reveal it in a posting?”