New Delhi, July 27 -- "Can we set a date for the collaboration?" a public relations executive asked me recently about fixing an interview slot with a business leader they were representing. Something about the question ticked me off instantly, but I put it down to my creeping middle-aged crankiness and being forced to exercise my terrible scheduling skills to consult my chaotic calendar. It was only later that I put a finger on the real source of my annoyance: the word "collaboration".

Let me put this down for the record: journalists don't collaborate. They ask, question, probe, even interrogate. Features journalists like myself don't often work on scams and exposes, but still, when we meet a business leader, we are not merely looking to...