Cover photo of The Spectator magazine June 13, 2009 issue

The Registrar of Newspapers in India had approved the title in April 2009.

The Spectator is owned by the publishers of the The Daily Telegraph, the Barclay brothers. Spectator India is the second foreign magazine to be launched under the ‘news and current affairs’ section after Forbes India, which was launched by Network18 Group.

Telegraph Publications Pvt. Ltd, a unit of ABP that publishes The Telegraph in Kolkata, was granted the permission to publish the Indian version of The Spectator on July 3, 2009, by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

Spectator India will be a monthly magazine that will carry articles related to Indian politics, arts and culture.

The Spectator was first published in July 6, 1828 and since then has informed its readers about current happenings, arts, literature and everyday issues though in a more conservative vein.

An Australian edition of The Spectator was launched in late 2008.

Apart from Spectator India, the ABP group also plans to launch the Indian edition of Fortune magazine. In October 2007, the ABP Group has said that it had entered into an agreement with Time Warner to publish the India edition of Fortune by February 2008.

International newspapers who are looking to launch local editions got the go-ahead from the government in January 2009. As per the policy changes, international newspapers could now publish facsimile editions.

The government now allows 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) subject to prior government approval for the publication of the facsimile editions of international media outfits on the condition that the investment is made by the owner of the original newspaper.

Other international newspapers that are planning to launch India editions are The Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, and Financial Times.

The High Court order also ordered Melanie Kirkpatrick, a deputy editor of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, to pay 10,000 dollars in legal costs on top of an earlier judgement against publisher Dow Jones Publishing Company (Asia) Inc. She was also accused of allowing the articles to be published. The articles, according to the satement “impugn the impartiality, integrity and independence of the Singapore Judiciary.” Melanie Kirkpatrick is based in New York, USA.

There were contempt charges against two other editors of the WSJ too which were dropped after Melanie Kirkpatrick’s conviction.

“Public interest requires that the individuals who were responsible for the publication of the offending materials be also held accountable for their actions,” the statement by the court said. The two editorials and a letter by Singapore opposition leader, Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party, published in the Wall Street Journal Asia in June and July 2008 formed the matter of concern before the Singapore court.

Judge Tay Yong Kwang, however did not impose a fine above 25,000 dollars, as demanded by the attorney general on Kirkpatrick. This is not the first time Kirkpatrick has been in the spot for such an issue. Way back in 1985 she was in contempt of the court in Singapore for an article in the Wall Street Journal Asia. The court found it to be “written contrary to the best journalistic practices that one would have expected from an international  newspaper.”

However the defence appealed to the court that melanie Kirkpatrick “had no intention or desire to undermine any institution in Singapore, including the Singapore Judiciary and its individual judges.” However Kirkpatrick had the support of journalists and the journalist groups. “We urge the High Court to reverse this decision in order not to jeopardize the freedom of foreign journalists to express their views about the situation in Singapore,” Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said earlier this week.

In addition to this Dow Jones & Co, owner News Corp. Dow Jones’ spokesman in Asia, Joe Spitzer was also ordered to pay 30,000 dollars in legal costs.

“Neither Ms. Kirkpatrick nor Dow Jones agrees with the substance of the charges or the contempt judgement. Dow Jones is committed to defending the right of The Wall Street Journal Asia to report and comment on matters of international importance, including matters concerning Singapore.” the statement from Dow Jones said. Terming it as harmful to the country’s image, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders urged the judge to stop the proceedings against Kirkpatrick. They also said that it displayed to the world the country’s “chronic inability to tolerate criticism”.

It’s not new. Our business media is routinely taken for a ride by corrupt businessmen and their PR hatchetmen. However, this case is a class apart.

On December 21, Business Standard carried a news report, which was faithfully “followed up” by other business newspapers in Mumbai and the rest of the country. The report centred around a certain letter, purportedly written by markets regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India). The letter was addressed to Pyramid Saimira, a Chennai-based theatre chain. The letter asked the promoters of the company to make an “open offer” to the shareholders of the company.

As per rules, anyone buying more than 5% stake in a company within a year is expected to make an open offer to its ordinary shareholders, offering to buy shares (upto 20% of the total outstanding shares of the company) at the same price. It seemed, from the letter, that the promoters did not make the open offer, and hence violated Sebi’s Takeover code.

At the time of the news reports coming out, the Pyramid Saimira shares were trading at Rs 60. If the Sebi letter and the news reports were true, the promoters would have been forced to make an open offer at Rs 250. “Share at Rs 75. Open offer Rs 250,” screamed the headline in DNA Money. With reports chorusing the impending offer at Rs 250, the shares of the company shot up.

Pyramid Saimira admitted to receiving a couriered letter from Sebi and confirmed the news. It seemed everything was in order.

However, a couple of days later, Sebi clarified that it had never sent any such letter. And Pyramid Saimira too woke up to realise that the “Sebi” letter was forged. By this time, the share price had gone up to Rs 83 from the previous Rs 60s. And as the price went up, someone  – later revealed to be Nirmal Kotecha, a company co-promoter – heavily sold his shares. And exited at a profit before the stock came crashing when it came to light that the reports were fake and there was no Sebi letter and hence no open offer at a high price either.

Where did the media get this fake letter from? Business Standard said in a front page mea culpa that it got the letter from one Ashok Jainani of Khandwala Securities. Let’s not forget that news media never reveal their sources, whether the reports are right or wrong. (in BS words: Like other media organisations, Business Standard was duped by a forgery. We apologise to all our readers, to Sebi and to Pyramid Saimira) Rather than admitting to the failure of their own fact-checking mechanisms, the report sought to pass the blame to an analyst. Other media outlets had received the letter from one Rakesh Sharma, a PR agent. Lets also not forget that business media routinely eat of the hands of the PR industry.

The police have since arrested PR guy Rakesh Sharma, and questioned Nirmal Kotecha who sold his shares when the stock had gone up. Investigations are on, but there is still no clarity on who forged the letter, who transmitted it among the media and how our venerable business media gleefully swallowed the letter without even a simple fact-checking with the corporate finance department of the market regulator Sebi.

Dow Jones has received approval from the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) to launch the fax edition here. Twice before, FIPB had turned down the Dow Jones application.

The approval for Dow Jones is a not a blanket one. The policy on approving foreign investment in facsimile editions of foreign newspapers is still under debate.

As per current policy, foreign investment in allowed in Indian news media only up to 26%. The rest of the stake and the management has to vest with Indian hands.

In 2004, Dow Jones and the Times Group had signed an agreement to launch The Wall Street Journal in India in a 26:74 joint venture, with Bennett & Coleman holding the majority stake. Indian journalist Suman Dubey was to be the editor of the venture. The plans, however did not take off.

It is not clear when the WSJ facsmile edition for India will be launched. The edition will, clearly, not have any local advertisements. The product will be fully owned by Dow Jones Inc.