Coop-owned media in India; Prospects and Opportunities

With more than 8 lakh cooperatives covering more than 90 % of the villages, the
cooperatives in India have a significant share in all the areas of socio-economic
activities in India. 

Though media is considered the 4 th pillar of democracy, and
cooperatives are democratic and autonomous organizations, they have a
negligible presence in the field of media. The fact remains that media in India
remains primarily corporate-run, and cooperatives in this regard, do not fit into
the scheme of things.

In the wake of increasing government control over media, an independent
people- oriented and managed model of journalism which is best represented by
cooperatives, has yet to emerge in India. What are the reasons behind this?
Firstly, awareness regarding the benefits of cooperative model amongst the
masses is very less. A negative perception of cooperatives amongst the masses is
still dominant. Lack of effective communication strategies with emphasis on
public campaigns to create awareness for cooperatives amongst youth and
general masses is a big hindering factor. Though initiatives in creating awareness
about cooperatives amongst the youth in schools, colleges and universities have
been taken, but cooperative education and training programs do not have much
practical orientation in motivating youth to set up cooperatives successfully in
new areas of activities including media.
The holding of COOPATHON event by ICA-AP in the last few years has created a
conducive climate for young entrepreneurs in India to come up with more
platform cooperative- based proposal ideas with emphasis on technology
infusion. The media-oriented proposals will definitely emerge in the times to
come. It is indeed heartening that SEWA, a women cooperative federation, is
actively involved in a platform coop project, more particularly related to building

up a beauty services platform cooperative. The success of this project will have
many take-ways for starting a coop media project of such type.
Secondly, the cooperative organizations in India have yet to take initiatives to
promote cooperatives in the field of media, though National Federation of Film
and Fine Arts Cooperative which is primarily involved in producing films and
documentaries on cooperatives, can take up this task on a pilot basis. The
successful cooperative organizations like AMUL, IFFCO, etc which have a pure
cooperative character, and function in accordance with cooperative principles and
values, can promote setting up of coop-owned media ventures. For example,
starting of a cooperative newspaper which has been a major recommendation at
coop media conferences has not been implemented as yet. A coop media venture
can very well start this newspaper, with a digital version, as the movement with
large number of cooperatives, wide network and reach can definitely build up it’s
image through a newspaper.
Now coming to the vital question of funding of media, public-funded media is
prevalent in India, but this leads to regulatory and financial control which curtails
press freedom. There are public broadcasts which tend to become a mouthpiece
for government and enjoy little journalistic credibility. While funds may not be a
problem with primarily corporate-run media, this remains a big problem for
media which is primarily run on advertisements or regular sales, which often face
the pressure of funds.
The subscription-based model of media is emerging fast in India as digital news
media is emerging fast with focus on breaking important news stories. Some of
these platforms make some of its content freely available, while the rest is
available only to the subscribers. The examples here are- Wire, Scroll, News
Laundry, etc. Some of the established print media newspapers like Times of India,
Economic Times, Hindu have switched over to subscriber-news based model
based on their digital editions. As far as coop media publications are concerned,
these are primarily-institutional driven, and thrive on institutional funds, or some
advertisements. No doubt, they do not enjoy full freedom and have to work
within the guidelines of these institutions.

At a time when subscription based model of journalism is emerging fast in media,
with emphasis on digital editions, this provides a good opportunity for
cooperative media ventures to emerge. For finding subscribers, you have to go to
the people and convince them with your good work so that they can become your
subscribers. A cooperative media venture with strong roots in the communities,
and having equal stakes of all the members, based on the subscription model,
can be a good alternative to corporate-run media ventures, as cooperatives based
on their membership strength and participatory character can provide
journalistic freedom. However, for this to materialize, the cooperative sector in
India has to take a lead, and promote such ventures so that they become role
model for mainstream journalism.
Today Indian journalism faces a big trust deficit, so there is definitely a strong
case for emergence of coop-owned media ventures as cooperatives offer a
business model based on values of democracy, equity and solidarity. The
community media, more particularly community radio ventures, have not made
much impact due to govt ownership, their links with big business, political
linkage, etc. At a time when rural journalism in India is not much developed,
though rural digital media ventures like https://www.ruralvoice.in/ have come
up, a cooperative owned model can be of much use because cooperative model
has a strong rural orientation..
In India, the coop media ventures of others countries like Associated Press,
https://www.thenews.coop/global/ may be studied in detail, and they can be best
modified suiting Indian conditions by coop-owned media ventures. Similarly, coop
media organizations of other countries should also visualize ways to expand their
operations in India considering the fact that there is a big opportunity to utilize
the coop model for better journalistic credibility and giving the journalists a sense
of ownership. There must be a paradigm shift in journalism in India through
cooperative model in the times to come.