Indian media frenzy over student claims in Australia
Updated
More controversy has broken out in India over revelations that Indian students are being ripped off by unscrupulous operators in Australia.
The Four Corners programme last night detailed how students had paid tens of thousands of dollars for sevices they claim they never received and how allegations were made to the relevant government authorities but their complaints were ignored. The latest incident has seen the Indian media slip into tabloid high gear.
Presenter: Sally Sara, ABC South Asia correspondent
Speakers: Wendy Carlisle, ABC Four Corners journalist; India TV presenters; students
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SALLY SARA: This is the kind of coverage Australia has been receiving from the Indian media. Last night, one of India's most popular news channels broadcast a special half hour program on student attacks and education scams in Australia. It was simply called, Yes, It's Racism.
INDIAN TV PRESENTER: Welcome back, you're watching this special show, Yes, It's Racism. Not that we had any doubt.
SALLY SARA: The program reported on the attack against an Indian journalist working undercover for the ABC's Four Corners program. Four Corners journalist Wendy Carlisle told ABC News it appeared the attacker may have been Indian.
WENDY CARLISLE: Someone came up and just hit her and ran off. The, uh, our reporter says it appeared that that man was an Indian man.
SALLY SARA: But that fact has been scarcely reported in India and the allegations of racism in Australia have continued.
INDIAN TV PRESENTER: The Australian media, on the other hand, tried to play down these attacks, sometimes even labelling our coverage as being aggressive.
SALLY SARA: Indian media outlets have been broadcasting excerpts from last night's Four Corners program, including the case of disgruntled students from the Sydney flying school, Aerospace Aviation.
STUDENT 1: In the matter of four or five months I could only get 17.9 hours of flying.
STUDENT 2: I got only 50.9 hours of flying.
SALLY SARA: The popular Indian news channel Times Now said it had broken the story of the flying school more than a week earlier.
INDIAN TV PRESENTER 2: At first what we reported was questioned in the Australian media. Now, they're following it.
SALLY SARA: In fact, the Australian media had already started reporting on initial concerns about Aerospace Aviation before Times Now broadcast its story. But the Indian channel wasn't about to back down and defended its overall coverage of Indian student welfare in Australia.
INDIAN TV PRESENTER: Remember, your channel was the first to pick up the story and stay with it, despite a massive PR exercise launched by the Australian Government.
INDIAN TV PRESENTER 2: Racism so brutal, so horrific, so undiluted in its venom that it's shocked the country once we began reporting it.
SALLY SARA: Many of the other Indian media outlets have been measured in their coverage. But the controversy over student attacks has consumed hours of air time and damaged Australia's reputation.
The education market is Australia's third largest export earner and is worth up to $15 billion. The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his deputy Julia Gillard are both expected to make visits to India later this year in an attempt to repair bilateral ties.
