"This company is not realizing the reputation damage with every development in the court", quipped a pharma journalist. What she was referring to was a court case filed by an MNC in an Indian court for patent on a cancer drug. The case was attracting high media coverage as an NGO and some Indian companies were opposing the move.
Reporting of a case proceeding harming the reputation of a global pharma giant? How? She further added, "The minute there is a word from the court on the case, some activist groups sitting in some other part of the world, immediately issues a note on patents and healthcare challenges in developing countries, which we in India also receive. I am sure these notes are received by journalists in other countries as well. Imagine a court case in an Indian city, opposing an MNC on a patent which will make the drug unaffordable to millions, reaching out to a global audience. This global company is tarnishing its reputation because of this case."
Long live the internet. No doubt, the paradigm of free flow of information has changed with the power of communication now in an individual's hand. The economically or politically powerful can no longer manage the news.
The power of globalised media has taken a new dimension. I have noticed a new trend recently. An activist group based in Europe or some other part of the world issues a report, which is picked by the Indian media and stories filed. What is astonishing is that the author of the report may be Mumbai based, while the report is issued from a group in a foreign country. The issue of action against pharmaceutical companies for industrial pollution around Hyderabad is a case in point. Some MNC's who have outsourced their clinical research work to India have also faced the music.
Unleashing the power of communication in people's hands - internet in true democratic style is also opening a Pandora's Box on newer and ethical challenges. Not long back, facing a rather peculiar situation was an Indian pharma company. An obscure website from the middle-east carried a negative write-up against the company (with some fictitious facts). The Indian media picked up the news (thanks to Google alerts) and started calling the company. Thankfully, I must exclaim! The PR team posed only one question to the journalist fraternity- "Would you trust the company or an obscure website?" The media displayed maturity and did not publish stories.
True, we live in a democracy where everyone has the freedom of speech and the internet is an open forum for everyone to express their views. However, apart from posing reputation challenges for large businesses and governments, there are a few other issues at stake- those of liberties, rights and honour. Accompanying every right is a corresponding responsibility. While I might have the freedom of expression in the country, I have no right to cause harm with my expression. An eve-teaser can not claim immunity under this right, because he is not only trampling the right of privacy but also impinging on the honour of a woman.
The recent incident involving a TV channel and a blogger is a case in point. While I don't support the tactics adopted by the channel, I do subscribe to their position that as a responsible media house they have checks and balances in place. The media organisation stands responsible for the news that it shows. Who controls the information on the internet? Any individual with an internet connection can put any information on the net, tarnish anybody's reputation and nobody can take any action.
The world today is debating the effects of greed, conspicuous consumption and non-regulated economic environment. Is it time for some discussion on the free market of communication on the net?
Pharma companies are constantly under the scanner, be it for product quality, environmental issues, ethical considerations in clinical research, overpricing, policy changes, trade partner protests, etc. Its time pharma companies devise strategies of managing reputation on the net.
Noumaan Qureshi, based in Mumbai (India) works in the Healthcare practice at one of India's leading PR consultancies.
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