Category: BLOGS

By Ranjona Banerji

Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Times Now and of ET Now, has been given Y category security because of a perceived threat from Pakistan-based terrorists, according to a news report in the Hindustan Times. This protection, yet to begin, will include 20 guards, two of which will be personal security officers. The Intelligence Bureau has detected this threat to Goswami and the Home Ministry has organised the security detail which is likely to be provided by the Maharashtra government. Goswami is apparently out of town and has not yet commented on this report, at the time of writing.

One must not grudge Goswami this protection. After all, there is a real threat to him, evidently accrued through his relentless pursuit of righteous journalism on Indian news television. Nor is Goswami the first journalist to receive such protection. Sudhir Chaudhury of Zee News is also a beneficiary, and he’s up a category on Goswami with ‘Z’.

However, in this, let us spare a thought for the thousands of journalists who are threatened, harassed, beaten up and murdered for doing their jobs, and who do not have the luxury of a TV studio or a rich employer or a benevolent government to help them. They continue out there in the field, doing their jobs and getting little thanks for that. They expose the underbelly of life, whether within their countries or out in the wider world.

The Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Red Cross keep track of journalists killed in the line of duty as well as those involved in conflict journalism. Journalists who cover human rights issues, ironically, are also under threat. India is deemed the ninth deadliest country for journalists, with 40 recorded deaths since 1992. The worst is Iraq (175), then Syria (101), Philippines (77), Algeria (60), Somalia (59), Pakistan (59), Russia (56) and Columbia (47).

The CPJ database started in 1992 and since then 1211 journalists have died worldwide through unnatural causes. In India, 27 journalists have been murdered since 1992. It is perhaps worthwhile for every journalist to support the CPJ. Jagendra Singh, UP-based freelance journalist, is the first face you see on the website. He died on June 2015 from burn-related injuries after a police raid on his home because of his stories which targeted powerful politicians. This is not an abnormal story in India although luckily for most, death is not always the outcome.

But working with intimidation comes with its own costs and often these are imposed by state forces. Practically every day the Bastar Solidarity Network sends out information about journalists who are harassed in Chhatisgarh for instance. These are journalists who are trapped in the conflict between the state and Naxal forces; journalists who are hounded out of their homes and their work places for daring to do their jobs. Who protects you when the state is the threat?

To question the police or the government in some sections of Indian society is now seen as being anti-national. And unfortunately, Mr Goswami’s own television pronouncements add to that belief that the state is supreme and journalists cannot question it. One is happy that he has been offered protection. Hopefully it may make him more sensitive to the problems faced by his peers, colleagues, seniors and juniors across the nation and the world as they try to do their jobs. Goswami has had the courage to take on Pakistani terrorists from his studio in Mumbai. But some journalists are out there on the battlefields, struggling everyday alone and unprotected.

This is perhaps as good a time as any to start a discussion within India on journalism and protection. The conservative view is that we do our jobs, regardless and at all times we should eschew state protection or help. But there are varying views and ideas which need to be discussed as the dangers become more pronounced.

I offer these links to further the discussion:

http://www.redcross.int/EN/mag/magazine2012_2/4-9.html

https://cpj.org/killed/

By Ranjona Banerji

The coverage of the US presidential election would really annoy our Indian patriotic news anchors. Most major media houses do not appear to be in favour of Republican Party “nominee” Donald Trump. Although there are allegations that Trump got $3 billion worth of free publicity from the US media, few are saying nice things about him. There is some truth in the dictum that even negative publicity is good, it does not really seem to be helping Trump, opinion polls-wise.

On a discussion on CNN after the last debate on October 19, commentators were not kind to Trump and his two supporters on the panel had a tough time defending him. If our patriot news anchors had been there, the anti-Trump commentators would have been dismissed as “anti-national” within seconds and their mikes switched off. Alas, these international news channels which are broadcast to India just do not behave like that. They have a lot to learn from our patriots especially since some of the commentators had heard of the US Constitution and precedence and democratic norms as followed in America. All novel concepts for some our patriotic news anchors.

And in spite of my kind words, here are some excoriating comments on CNN’s style from the Columbia Journalism Review. The sort of hard-hitting critiques we need more of in India:

http://www.cjr.org/covering_the_election/cnn_trump_analyst_lord_lewandowski_mcenany.php

**

In India meanwhile although our patriotic news anchors might also want to join “Hindus for Donald Trump” or whatever that organisation is called, they are stuck with matters Indian like Karan Johar’s new film which stars, gasp!, a Pakistani actor. Thanks to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and all the free publicity it gets (anyone calculated that?), we have our patriotic knickers in a twist. Obviously none of our patriotic news anchors have given us the official position on this subject because that would mean, well, questioning the government and, even worse, actual work. We do know that the Union Home Ministry will allow the film to be released.

And also, in some strange turn which led to an understanding of news, a terrible fire in a hospital in Bhubaneshwar, where 21 people died has received wide television coverage. The conspiracy theorists might point out that Bhubaneshwar is the capital of Odisha which is not a BJP-ruled state but let us not be so unfair. The fire was horrific as was the attitude of the hospital authorities, showcasing that particular brand of murderous callousness that is so common in India. Therefore, we are grateful to Times Now and Shri Arnab Goswamiji for focusing on this.

Makes a change from yelling generals, if you want to cynical about Times Now’s news sense which I often want to be.

Looking for more Trump news this morning, I found a small news report on NDTV about some massive bank fraud in India, where some 32 lakh or 3.2 million debit cards have been compromised. There was an interview with a defrauded person in Hyderabad and a scroll which had the Union Finance Minister being quoted as saying there was no need to worry. That is because we are nation of over one billion people so 3.2 million cards is nothing. Or, that this is a story that has to be pursued further as soon as everyone wakes up. I’m hoping that the second sentence comes true.

By Ranjona Banerji

Swarajya is a rightwing magazine and website started to provide a platform to the conservative and rightwing point of view in India. There’s nothing to disagree with so far. The guiding light behind Swarajya (“Read India Right” is its motto) is apparently the Swatantra Party, started by giants of the Indian firmament, C Rajagopalachari and Minoo Masani. Rajaji played a key role in India’s freedom movement and Masani remained, until he died in 1998, an outspoken liberal voice.

I had interviewed Masani a number of times when I worked with Mid-Day. Not only was he a charming raconteur, he was also a sharp and consistent thinker. The best story he told me about him and Rajaji was this. Rajaji asked him once, “Are you a believer in mumbo-jumbo?” Masani answered he wasn’t. “Then you will find it very difficult to survive in Indian politics.” Masani laughed uproariously because he could not and did not survive as a politician in India.

How does a magazine which claims to have its ethos in the thinking of Rajaji and Masani veer so clearly towards the BJP and RSS in its writing? Mumbo-jumbo anyone?

However, this column is not about that. It’s about two reasons why Swarajya was in the news recently. The first was for buying the website Opindia and including it in its “portfolio”. This from Swarajya’s announcement: “Swarajya Group, which currently operates influential media brand Swarajya Magazine, is delighted to announce that OpIndia will be the newest addition to its portfolio.

“OpIndia.com is a trailblazing, digital-only publication founded by @bwoyblunder and Rahul Raj (@bhak_sala). Within a short span of time, it has created a huge social media footprint and commands a fiercely loyal band of young audience through its witty, provocative and passionate brand of writing and reporting.”

“Witty” I assume is a synonym for “abusive” and “reporting” I am guessing is assumptions and accusations made by people who are not reporters, not journalists even in fact. That this should come from a magazine which has on its staff a former editor of Outlook and a former editor of DNA and firstpost.com is questionable. Opindia’s only agenda so far has been to “expose” the media for being pro-Congress, pro-Left and not pro-BJP, which Opindia clearly believes is the only “pro” to be. Perhaps that is what passes for “provocative” in Swarajya-Land?

There is no doubt that Indian media needs a better definition of Left, Right and Centre. Most Indian media houses position themselves as all things to all people. Or, like Bennett Coleman, you have the flagship Times of India, the Mirrors and Times Now speaking to different constituencies under one banner. Why not just come out and say what you are?

The “liberal” idea though is lost in Swarajya and never existed in Opindia and yet Liberal is what Masani was. Today, there is no political party in India which is an open supporter of capitalism or the free market. Every party agree with it a little bit and carries on with protectionism of some sort. Social and religious conservatism are also helped by most political parties, covertly or overly. And the word “liberal” itself is used an insult by sites like Opindia.

And so on to the second point. Swarajya has a strong “code of conduct” and plagiarism policies. Unfortunately as Twitter revealed this week, some of these have been lifted from Livemint’s website, both verbatim and with some minimal tweaking.

Here’s Swarajya:

http://swarajyamag.com/code-of-conduct

And here’s Livement:

http://www.livemint.com/Object/oY1eoxhTWFNTebOv7Pmg3M/mintcode.html

Not on, Swarajya. Surely, you can do better? For the sake of Rajaji and Masani at least?

By Ranjona Banerji

Without a doubt, the fight within the Tata conglomerate has dominated news and discussion this week. The sudden replacement of chairman Cyrus Mistry, the return of Ratan Tata, the allegations made by Mistry, the counter-allegations made by Tata: this is bigger stuff than the battle of the Ambani brothers had been once. Bigger because it was not quite expected and though Ratan Tata himself swept Bombay House clear of all JRD Tata satraps once, the fightback from Mistry has been quick and ruthless.

Without a doubt, it was the media which built Ratan Tata up as India’s top CEO. India’s economic liberalisation happened in 1991. JRD Tata died on November 29, 1993. Ratan Tata’s ascension did not come without heartache but the media was smaller in those days and 24-hour news television barely on the mandatory watch-list. Since then, as Ratan Tata invested here and there and across the world, his reputation in the media grew. The acquisition of Corus in the UK, of Jaguar and Landrover and the announcing of the people’s car in the Rs one lakh Nano all emphasised a dynamic and forward-looking Tata Group. And in the media also means in the public eye.

Since investigative journalism in the business world is non-existent and corporate sucking up is essential to ensure the flow of advertising, all reports were largely on the goodie-goodie side. This love affair with all things business and all things Ratan Tata however became rocky not because of good business journalism but because of general journalism.

The first sign of trouble was in 2008 and the Tata Nano project in Bengal and Mamata Banerjee’s strong objection to seemingly dodgy land acquisition practices in Singur by the CPM-led state government which was apparently not questioned by the Tatas. The resulting shoddy compensation to farmers led in part to Banerjee’s historic win in 2011, ousting the Left Front from Bengal after 34 years. Ratan Tata in a huff took his project from Bengal to Gujarat, announcing that he was going from the “Bad M” (Mamata Banerjee) to the “Good M” (Narendra Modi).

It says much for the media that the treatment of farmers in Sanand, who also lost their land to the Nano project with mean compensation, was barely reported. It is also worth noting that when the Tatas (under the eagle eye of Darbari Seth) acquired land for the Haldia Petrochemicals project in Bengal, compensation was given at the highest legally permissible rate and more, rather than being organised at cheap discounts through the state government. Ratan Tata later pulled out of Haldia Petrochemicals, giving control to Purnendu Chatterjee.

The Supreme Court, much later, pulled up both the Tatas and the Bengal government, for the procedures followed in the Singur land acquisition.

But the biggest loss to reputation came during the release of the Niira Radia tapes, by Open and Outlook magazines in 2011. Rumours of these explosive tapes had been floating for a while but few realised quite how damaging they would be to so many reputations in the media, the corporate world and the government.

The tapes – conversations by PR person Radia – can be seen as part of the “2G scam” and suggested that several telecom majors, including the Tatas, Airtel and Reliance (then under Anil Ambani), had tried to influence the choice of telecom minister in UPA 2 to ensure their own safe passage through spectrum issues. The Tatas, then still under Ratan Tata, pulled back advertising to Open, Outlook, Pioneer and Bennett Coleman publications over negative coverage. The late great Vinod Mehta describes the impact of this decision on Outlook and on the end of his career in the very readable book, Editor Unplugged.

However, now we see that most of the media has been reporting extensively on this Tata crisis. It is perhaps too big a story to be ignored and advertising be damned! Even our business channels, which rarely dip their toes into controversial territory, have come out of their stock market-induced somnolence and had some rather explosive discussions on this war. The weaknesses and mistakes of both Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry have been examined.

And yet, it will be interesting to see whether the Radia tapes make a re-appearance and how much information is garnered from old Tata hands, especially those who predate Ratan Tata’s first reign in Bombay House. It is in the small details that the media’s bias and attention to facts will be seen.

By Ranjona Banerji

How are journalists supposed to respond to “encounters” by the police or security forces? That is, when people suspected of a crime are killed by the police or security forces before they have been tried in a court of law? The Armed Forces fight people from outside the country who attack them. That is not under discussion now.

For now, let’s just look at the police and security forces. There was a time when most journalists knew difference between those suspected of crimes and those who had been convicted. Some journalists also understood that within the vagaries of law, the innocent could be convicted. But most of all journalists understood that their job was to question, question, question.

And even if there were journalists who preferred to believe the official line, journalists who felt that the political proclivities of the day matched their assumption, there were enough newsroom checks and balances which provided a back-up course correction. It is not that mistakes were not made; it is more that people were aware that mistakes were being made.

Of course, I refer to times when journalists were not stars who appeared in your bedrooms and your living rooms blaring out their viewpoints and prejudices. Or even, unfortunately, their ill-informed understanding of democracy and their role in it. You read a column in the seclusion of your mind and you agree or disagree or are neutral about it. The neural pathways to your brain may be listless or excited with the message but they are not screaming as hysterically as they are with our TV anchors.

So to the issue at hand: eight under-trials escaped from a jail in Bhopal on Monday. They belonged to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India or SIMI. The eight under-trials apparently killed a head constable, scaled a 32 foot wall and escaped from Bhopal Central Jail. They were all killed some 19 hours later by the Anti-Terrorist Squad.

However, differing accounts from ministers and the police has led to confusion. Semi-official reports said they were armed, not armed, armed with cutlery and plates which had been sharpened into weapons. A couple of videos surfaced which raised even further questions about the weaponry used and available to these under-trials. What is accepted is that 10 hours after they escaped, they were all shot dead.

It should be obvious, but it bears repeating: The trouble with “encounter” policing is that it undermines the judicial system, leaving it redundant. If the police are to decide who is innocent and who is guilty, why should one bother with courts at all? Certainly, one can make a case for police officials being shot at or targeted by dreaded criminals and terrorists and then being forced to shoot back in self-defence. But here again, an investigation is required. Nothing can be taken at face value.

The job of the journalist is to ask these and other questions. The job of the journalist is not to accept the government or official version, even if the journalist wants to appear “patriotic”. The job of the journalist is to be an annoying mosquito in the ear of the official version. It may be unpleasant, but that is how it is.

It is not the job of the journalist to behave like the sub-editor, or maybe even editor-in-chief at NewsX for all I know, who came up with this line: “Within 6 hours of ‘jailbreak’ MP cops kill 8 SIMI ‘Ravanas’.”

It may better behove a journalist to think like this:

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/bhopal-simi-activist-dead-video-jailbreak-undertrials-3731611/

Always, it is good to keep in mind BJP stalwart LK Advani’s description of journalists during the Emergency: When asked to bend, they crawled. Why should we ever do it again?

By Ranjona Banerji

NDTV India has been told to go off the air for one day on November 9. This is punishment as decided by the information and broadcasting ministry, because the news channel showed “sensitive” footage of the Pathankot attack in January this year.

The channel has responded by saying that it showed no more or less than what any other news channel had shown at the time. The decision to take NDTV India off-air has now apparently been “suspended”, presumably after the outrage from almost all media outlets, barring perhaps Subhash Chandra of Zee who reportedly wants this rival channel banned completely. Quelle surprise.

Several arguments come to mind, but let’s get rid of the irrelevant digressions first. Yes, the Congress-led UPA government also took channels off air. The worst sufferer was Comedy Central since humour offends all sensitive people in India (though oddly the only time Indian comedian Kapil Sharma was deemed offensive was when he was serious about bribery in the Mumbai municipal corporation). Earlier, under other governments, wispy women in wispy attire on Fashion TV made several politicians swallow their false teeth so the channel also had to switch off again and on again depending on the level of Indian culture “hurt” by Jean Paul Gaultier or Karl Lagerfeld or whoever.

So yes, other TV channels have been forced to go off air but a news channel? When did media outlets last get blackened out? (Shhh, don’t mention the word “Emergency” because those who fought the Emergency the most really don’t like it when you being up similarities…)

The other digression by BJP fans is that NDTV (the English one) is being taught a lesson and the usual arguments about how BJP followers don’t like Barkha Dutt are trotted out. Sadly, this makes no sense. If Dutt is the target then, why suspend NDTV India and punish Ravish Kumar? If Dutt is an evil anti-national according to Fans of the BJP, then how will taking the Hindi brand of NDTV off-air help the “cause”? And as it happens, the “journalist” who dubbed Dutt “anti-national” for not being angry enough about Pakistan is now out of a job.

Arnab Goswami’s News Hour will continue until mid-November says the latest statement from the Times Network. For an idea on how Goswami’s employers view “anti-nationalism” and Pakistan, please do go and have a look at Vineet Jain’s tweets. There is bombastic power on camera and there is velvet-glove-iron-fist power off camera.

The idea to take NDTV India off-air has backfired. The condemnation has been strong and swift.

This is the Editors’ Guild: “The decision to take the channel off the air for a day is a direct violation of the freedom of the media and therefore the citizens of India and amounts to harsh censorship imposed by the government reminiscent of the Emergency. This first-of-its-kind order to impose a blackout has seen the Central government entrust itself with the power to intervene in the functioning of the media and take arbitrary punitive action as and when it does not agree with the coverage. There are various legal remedies available to both a citizen and a state in the Court of Law to have action taken for any irresponsible media coverage. Imposing a ban without resorting to judicial intervention or oversight violates the fundamental principles of freedom and justice. The Editors Guild of India calls for an immediate withdrawal of the ban order.”

This is the Broadcast Editors’ Association: “Broadcast Editors’ Association expresses deep concern at the government’s decision to ban NDTV India for a day. Imposing a ban is a violation of freedom of expression and the decision should be withdrawn immediately. BEA would go into the issue in detail and come out with a comprehensive report on it.”

Incidentally, the biggest problem with the Pathankot attack, for any lay person and especially for a journalist, is the lack of preparedness at the base and intelligence failures in the establishment. Blaming the messenger is an old tactic but it doesn’t change the fact that terrorists waltzed in and held an Indian Air Force base for days, as Union ministers lied about what was going on.

**

As if the Ratan Tata-Cyrus Mistry public, no-holds-barred fight was not bad enough, Bombay House now has an extra black mark against it. Security staff hired by the Tata group brutally beat up photojournalists outside Bombay House last week. Three people are still in hospital. The Mumbai Press Club has organised a silent protest march today, Tuesday November 8 at 2.30 pm, from Hutatma Chowk to Bombay House.

By Ranjona Banerji

So everyone got it wrong about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton: Pollsters, analysts, political observers, politicians, journalists, women, African Americans, Hispanics and even the world in general. Barring perhaps Vladmir Putin and Julian Assange. But let’s leave the conspiracy theories aside for a bit.

One perhaps unpalatable truth is that almost everyone read the American presidential election wrong. And almost everyone most likely projected their own ideas on their “expert views”. The other unpalatable truth is that polling is no longer coming up with the right answers enough times. Indian pollsters are now notorious for getting it wrong more times than they get it right. The Brexit pollsters got it wrong. The US pollsters got it wrong.

This cannot mean that polling itself is redundant but that some methods need to change. A rethink, rejig, recalibration, whatever you want to call it, is required.

As for journalists, what is wrong is even worse. It means that too many people do not have their ears to the ground. They pick up what they think is right or what they think should happen. But somewhere across the people of America and members of the Electoral College, something else was brewing. It could have been so completely secret so, chances are, these views and opinions were being ignored or dismissed as unimportant.

And then there are the conspiracy theories, starting with the timing of the Wikileaks’ leaks on Hillary Clinton’s emails, allegations of Russian hackers working against Clinton, the FBI’s release of those emails and then after stirring the pot declaring her innocent of wrongdoing, Facebook’s alogorithms which were pro-Trump, the Alt-Right’s silent online movement to get Trump elected – there are any number of these doing the rounds in blogs and in the mainstream media.

Perhaps then hardened journalists could have kept one eye on what was happening online as well? Definitely, lessons aplenty here as the world comes to terms with The Donald as Leader of the Free World.

Meanwhile, there all those horrifying stories of racist attacks on non-white people across America and protest rallies as well.

**

Back home, we were hit by the Prime Minister’s sneak attack on Black Money and the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes within hours of his speech on November 8. The media could have hit a congratulatory note here and stayed on its cheerleading course. But much as no honest person in India supports either tax evasion or black money collection, the suddenness of the move shocked everyone.

All forms of the media concentrated on the hardships faced by what we call the “common man”. Massive queues at banks, daily wage labourers with no bank accounts who scrimped and saved what is now worthless paper, hospitals, chemists, petrol pumps unaware that they were supposed to accepted demonetised notes, patients being turned away, dying and more horrific stuff.

Newspaper editorials have hailed the move and the intent but questioned the lack of forethought. Other commentators have been more scathing. Cynics have pointed out that black money hoarders are cleverer than that. On the whole, the media has redeemed itself by concentrating on India’s underprivileged. Some ears to the ground, definitely!

By Ranjona Banerji

Glory be. After a couple of days of questioning the rollout of the Union Government’s demonetisation scheme to attack India’s culture of black money, some of our renowned TV anchors were back to questioning those questioning the government. Some like Vikram Chandra on NDTV’s Big Fight seemed to take this criticism personally. Others allowed BJP party members and their supporters to get away with obfuscating the issue.

Newspapers are full of stories about how people are not able to cope with this sudden shortage of cash. Here in Dehradun, one has to salute the local coverage. The Times of India and the Hindustan Times especially have extensively covered problems in rural and remote mountainous areas apart from the long queues at ATMs and banks at urban centres.

However, the general focus of the English media has been on lines outside banks and the problems of urban India. And while the reporters have been out canvassing the views of the people and their problems or gratitude at the government’s move, news anchors on their “discussion” shows have done a neat twist on proceedings. The criticism from those who criticise has been of the implementation of the scheme. But for some TV stars, criticism is equal to approval of black money – which is the BJP’s line. It was shocking to see Nalin Kohli of the BJP accuse Meera Sanyal of AAP of knowing nothing about banking on Barkha Dutt’s show on NDTV, when she is of course a banker who has been at the helm.

Karan Thapar on India Today also seemed to take criticism and anger on the implementation of demonetisation scheme as being pro-black money, which is surprising. Rahul Kanwal on non-discussion shows on the same channel however focused on the problems faced by the general public. CNN-News18, Ambani-owned or not, has started to take (retake) some real good shots at actual journalism (Firstpost too, if I must be fair).

I have to admit that I have not watched Arnab Goswami and Times Now for a while but ads for what must be one of his last News Hours seemed to suggest that he had decided to blame political parties which are not the BJP of not being supportive

So while the media, newspapers and news websites and TV, started out looking at demonetisation from the point of view of the people of India, it did not take news channels long to start focusing only on political parties. In language publications and news channels however, you got a more rounded story. Reporters were sent to more remote areas of India where cash is the only currency and suffering is real. Dainik Jagran had broken an interesting story about new Rs 2000 notes. Bengali channels and newspapers picked up on a story in the CPM mouthpiece Ganashakti that the BJP’s Bengal wing deposited crores into banks just before the

This demonetisation idea has created national panic. Whether the panic is justified is another matter. But it must at least be taken seriously when people are dying, when people are running out of cash, when businesses are struggling. Yet, as we have seen so many times recently, too many of our top journalists, particularly in television, find it easier to just kowtow to the government line than use their good

This is in fact is a good time for the media to investigate our various black money processes, procedures and practices. That might be a more effective way to be a government cheerleader rather than pooh-pooh the problems of the poor who have no money to buy food or who are too scared or illiterate to use bank accounts or even too stupid to use debit and credit cards. I am being sarcastic by the way for those who cannot see it. The attitude of the government is bad enough but for top TV anchors to behave in this manner is shameful. Better get out of the studio and take off your blindfolds. India is bigger than one BJP spokesperson, one Congress spokesperson, one AAP spokesperson and one terrified trade representative who is not going to tell you the truth.

By Ranjona Banerji

So here we are on November 18, 10 days after the Prime Minister’s dramatic announcement that Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes are no longer legal tender and that till the end of the year, Indian citizens were no longer allowed to access their own money in quantities that they might desire. The intention was a “surgical strike” on untaxed and unaccounted money lying in pillow cases and mattresses and dungeons all over dishonest India.

Whichever way you want to spin it – and the media definitely does – this demonetisation exercise has caused massive (not minor) “inconvenience”, which is the new government buzzword for death, misery and starvation. It’s not just about people standing in queues outside banks in cities, although the media has given us images and sound bites and quotes in buckets from there. It is about almost every journalist deciding that to be objective, you have make an effort to try and find at least one person who says: “Rah rah Modi, I am so happy that my old mother has had to postpone her life-saving operation for the sake of the nation because I have no cash and no insurance and I don’t trust government hospitals”. This balances all the others who are angry, frustrated, miserable, tired and desperate.

Not only that, across news channels, you can see anchors getting shifty when a panellist condemns the implementation of this scheme too much. Analysts and opposition party politicians get interrupted because we have to go to a break or give the BJP spokesperson the chance to respond.

In all this, one has to commend Ravish of NDTV as ever for his scathing attacks on injustice, for Rajdeep Sardesai for talking to people and reporting on their suffering, to Nidhi Razdan of NDTV for her excellent interview with Arun Shourie who is in his element when picking holes in the prime minister’s ego, to Arfa Khanum of Rajya Sabha TV for her brave and bold panel discussions which can be no holds barred and to Zakka Jacob of CNN-News18 for decided that it is more professional to focus on people’s suffering rather than becoming a government cheerleader. And we definitely feel the terrible loss of Girish Nikam.

Too many journalists unfortunately cannot see the difference between attacking black money and pointing out problems with the implementation of this scheme. Obviously, the government will defend its idea. But when journalists declare that Kashmir’s various problems have been solved since stone-pelting by angry youth has stopped because of demonetisation, then you know they are not journalists and might as well apply as BJP spokesperson to MJ Akbar or Sambit Patra or whoever.

The Opposition ripped into the government in both houses of Parliament this week. What did we see more of on TV? Of course, it was Union minister Venkaiah Naidu’s defence of the scheme and anger at the Opposition. The narrative that if you are complaining about the scheme you are an anti-national in favour of corruption is parroted not just by the government and BJP but also by some sections of the media.

How much play did the expose by Prashant Bhushan on payments made by corporates to politicians of all parties get, compared to coverage of the prime minister weeping? How much play did the videos of BJP members complaining about the scheme get? How about people caught for bribery using the new Rs 2000 notes? Instead, people pooh-poohing the deaths in queues got more airtime.

Catch News today has a story that RSS member Govindacharya has issued a legal notice to the Government on the monumental failure of the currency ban and demanded compensation. Let’s see how much our national media cares about that. Or will it all be Nalin Kohli dismissing the RSS as anti-national? And Quint has a story about how Arun Jaitley turned down agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh’s request that farmers be allowed to buy seeds with old notes. Anyone willing to guess how much air time such news will get?

I’m not holding my breath…

By Ranjona Banerji

These are just headlines from the Dehradun edition of the Times of India, Sunday November 20:

:: Why demonetisation will hit just a fraction of black money: Estimates cap illegal cash at 5% of total black economy
:: 3 die after failing to exchange notes
:: Panic attacks send bizmen, surgeons, ministers to shrinks
:: 4.5mn trucks stranded on Indian roads
:: Senior citizens queue outside banks to exchange Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes (From blurb: Many of the old citizens however complained that some of the banks were still cashless and the withdrawal limit had added to their problems)
:: Cops in fix over confiscated cash in demonetised notes, seek legal help (from blurb: The cash worth crores is case property… can only be opened with permission of the court)
:: Industries opt for lock down, cut production to tide over slump: Many of the 700 factories in Udham Singh Nagar can’t pay for transport, labourers
:: Agra’s shoe industry stares at uncertain future (from inside body copy: serious manpower crisis as the factory owners are not able to arrange cash)

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This is just one day and three pages (I am, umm, ignoring the Mobikwik ads on the front and inside jackets!).

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We are now almost a fortnight into life after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes and the nation is still in chaos. However, the media remains up and down on the issue, especially English news television. While they have reported extensively on the trauma, their coverage has still been limited to ATM queues in cities.

The situation in villages has become worse. With legal tender in short supply, it is clearly being sent first to cities and then to remote areas. The sowing season is on, which means that both farmers and farm labourers are affected. I am ashamed to admit that those of us who live in cities are completely clueless about life elsewhere and we continue to ask stupid questions about why the underprivileged are not cashless. I feel sometimes comments like that should be highlighted and some facts presented to their makers. Cashless in rural India usually means distress and debt.

Even from a heartless solely journalistic principle, there are enough stories to be done about the flourishing black market industry which has emerged out of this move to flush out unaccounted cash. TS Sudhir exposes how corruption works in the police in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana for firstpost.com – and it is a befitting answer to some of the hysterical drum-beating faux nationalism seen in that news website’s comment pieces.

http://www.firstpost.com/india/demonetisation-drive-the-corruption-economy-will-be-unaffected-by-this-move-3116312.html

There are money exchange agents all over the country now, taking cuts of anywhere from 10% to 30% per cent to exchange old notes. Why doesn’t some star anchor have a television “debate” on the great Indian sense of “jugaad” coming to the rescue? Our retired and/or sacked corporate honchos who lecture us endlessly on how great this Central government is should all be there. Incidentally, am I the only one who thought that Barkha Dutt ought to have asked Gurcharan Das on last Saturday’s show what happened to those 10 million jobs the Modi government was going to create? After all, some of those jobs have now been created – in illegal currency-trading!

In fact, the scope for television is fabulous here. Remember when Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the Planning Commission (in UPA times) came up with appalling and absurd poverty line per diem figures for a sustainable life in the city? And two young men tried to live on that and ran out of money in a couple of hours?

Why not take Mohandas Pai, Gurcharan Das, Sunil Alagh – I have picked out these names at random – and do a TV reality show like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie’s The Simple Life? Send them to a remote Indian village. And let them survive for one month on plastic and cashless money alone.

Anyone?

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Post script: And what is happening on India Today TV? There was Rajdeep Sardesai sitting and chatting with Sonia Gandhi about her mother-in-law on Monday evening.

Must have been some real antacid moments for Patriot Star Anchors in the newsroom there!

By Ranjona Banerji

Has anything changed? Arnab Goswami is no longer fronting The News Hour on Times Now but his legacy remains. So the editors at the news channel – I use the word editors loosely and without conviction here – decide that the best way to handle “debates” at prime time is by spinning the current demonetisation crisis into the fault of the opposition parties. Anything to keep the current government off the hook as far as the suffering of the people is concerned.

Meanwhile the grapevine says that Rahul Shivshankar formerly of Times Now and currently of NewsX will soon be formerly of NewsX and currently of Times Now. Since Shivshankar has carefully mimicked Goswami and steered NewsX in Times Now’s direction. So if the rumours are true, expect more of the same. However, I would think more of Times Now if Navika Kumar, who is bravely carrying on with Goswami’s agenda, gets the top job.

With Goswami’s departure, the fight for “Which is the best channel” has got fiercer, with everyone claiming a piece of the viewers’ pie. CNN-News18 seems to be the winner but then you have to stand with your nose inside your TV screen to actually read the fine print of which demographic and which time slot and which week and so on to try and validate these claims.

Newspaper claims of readership over circulation over print run were so much easier to decipher, until everyone started mistrusting every agency!

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And where are we with #Demonetisation, media-wise? The divide between print/web and TV is starker than ever. News channels remain by and large caught in their trap of being “fair” to the government. Incidentally, no such “fairness” was shown to the last government over the 2G and coal scams, and rightly not. But with the Modi government, news anchors – not so much reporters on the ground however – are falling over themselves to give government toadies more airtime than they deserve. Some circumspection with the choice of panellists may be a good idea. Why not just call official BJP spokespersons to speak for the government instead of retired corporate types who are clearly scrounging for favours from the government? That would at least give these “debates” some credibility and save these channels from helping charlatans desperate for attention and contracts.

Most economists who write for newspapers and websites (and even some who appear on TV if they are given a chance to speak) have been scathing of this move. Some have criticised it for the lack of implementation and planning, others for the claim that black money would be flushed out and many have questioned this policy on both counts. Several former government officials have also talked about how difficult it is to end institutionalised corruption and demonetisation will have little effect there.

The Opposition has also been very strong, with some excellent speeches by former prime minister, former finance minister, former RBI governor Manmohan Singh of the Congress, Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress, Mayawati of the BSP, Naresh Agarwal of the SP, among others. However for most news channels – as with the example of Times Now above – the fact that the Opposition demanded the prime minister’s presence in Parliament was more significant and neatly spun as “obstructionist”.

However, as ever, out of Nutty Anchor land, TV reporters did fine jobs of telling stories from the ground, even when they got cut off by the studio.

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Catch News has this damning expose of how the BJP bought land worth crores before November 8. How many of our brave TV news editors are going to pick this up? None of them played up the earlier evidence of bribes paid to four BJP and one Congress chief ministers, remember?
http://www.catchnews.com/india-news/bjp-bought-land-worth-crores-just-before-note-ban-1480019920.html/fullview