Ranjona Banerji: Has Times Now beaten Republic TV when it comes to non-journalism?

By Ranjona Banerji

Times Now, many reckon, has now outdone Republic TV when it comes to non-journalism. On Twitter, the popular name for Times Now is “Times Cow”. I do not know who invented that monicker but here’s a salute to them. You can be sure that Times Now is guaranteed to fulfil some strange Hindutva agenda as it provides one “BIG” question after another to the nation. I say this with due apologies to Arnab Goswami and Republic TV. The triumvirate of Rahul Shivshankar, Navika Kumar and Anand Narasimhan are now bombasts extraordinaire.

Times Now runs hashtags like “Modi Invincible”, when it “reports” on the Gujarat elections, whether it sounds like a PR agency for the Modi government and the BJP or it takes on the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. For instance, here’s a “BIG” question: “Is it now beyond doubt that Rahul Gandhi’s Congress is now on the brink of irrelevance?”

It is also definitely on the “side” of Hindus over other religions in India. “Are courts policing only one faith?” is a BIG question. Plus, every politician who does not belong to the BJP is usually portrayed as against Hindus. Anand Narasimhan (an anchor on Times Now, looking grimly at the camera) will discuss, says an ad, whether an Azaan (from a mosque) on a loud speaker is not air pollution while singing Amarnath Yatris (Hindus) are. This after a National Green Tribunal banned pilgrims on the Amarnath Yatra from singing, because of a fear of avalanches. Incidentally, there are laws on loudspeaker use in India. More honoured in the breach perhaps, but there are laws.

This is Times Now or Times Cow, however you would like to look at it. Even Goswami’s worst critics agree that his current channel is not always as irresponsible or lacking gravitas as his former channel. And as one person I spoke to put it, first Times Now had one person shouting; now it has three in louder, more raucous voices.

Then there are those who feel that Mirror Now, a sister channel of Times Now, is far superior to Big Brother. It is not as shrill or as biased, it looks at more “real” everyday issues, it allows space for all sides on an issue and it usually does not allow the yelling and screaming encouraged on most news channels.

And then, there are the newspapers. While the flagship Times of India sometimes shies away from controversial news – like an accident in Mumbai perhaps involving an Ambani or the mysterious death of Judge BH Loya as he was presiding a case involving BJP president Amit Shah, the Mirror Now newspaper is far braver.

Sometimes though – and this is from my experience with the Times of India – that is down to the individual editor. Some are bolder than others and some are cowardly. It bears repeating that while us at the Times of India in Gujarat reported on the 2002 riots without fear, fully supported by Delhi, the Mumbai edition almost ignored the riots until senior journalists fought with the then resident editor. As part of my responsibilities, I liaised with editions from all over India and they were all eager for the latest from Gujarat while planning their editions. The only calls I got from Mumbai were from the photo editor.

I often hold that The Times of India has one of the worst edit pages amongst English language papers in India, though I am told at the Hindustan Times comes close. I quote now from a TOI edit, on the Gujarat elections:

“If one wonders where the insecurity and scrappy tone on the part of the BJP stems from, one answer might be that a loss in Gujarat would set off a political earthquake, which the BJP wants to prevent at all costs. It has ruled Gujarat for over two decades now; with the national economic slowdown and jobs crisis affecting Gujarat as well, BJP fears that anti-incumbency is eating into its popularity. Rahul Gandhi ran a much smarter campaign than before and BJP is no longer able to take him lightly. Sometimes his mocking jibes and witty deflections seemed an excellent antidote to BJP’s over-the-top rhetoric, while he may have neutralised the religiosity factor by playing as good a game of “temple run” – even as he offers no long-term solutions to pressing problems.

“Moreover, the target of 150-plus seats set by Amit Shah may be a tough one for BJP; anything short of that will now be seen as a failure in BJP’s fortress.”

My advice to Times Now: why not read the Times of India now and then to get an idea on how journalism can work?