MxMIndia

Category: BLOGS

  • I like the strategy. But the commercials try hard to be funny; they are executed quite shoddily and end up becoming a bit irritating.

    Debrief: Thomas Cook: Forced humour

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    ‘Travel Smooth’ is Thomas Cook’s latest punch line. And the promise in their new campaign is that they will ensure we don’t face embarrassing situations when we travel abroad. That Thomas Cook is an expert travel agent and we can feel safe when we do business with them.

     

    I watched three ads; each caters to a specific traveller’s need. One involves a conservative desi family booked into a very shady hotel, courtesy an unreliable agent. Likewise, other ads deal with problems on foreign currency and sight-seeing. It’s a negative campaign, an attempt to get a positive spin-off by rubbishing the competition.

     

    I like the strategy. Rather than use the tried and tested route of boasting about Thomas Cook’s great work, better to make fun of the rivals. This ensures refreshing advertising, so that’s fine. However, in the execution of that intent, the advertiser loses the way.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAhfCt4GKdM[/youtube]
    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp1kql2V9ZY[/youtube]

    The commercials try hard to be funny; they are executed quite shoddily and end up becoming a bit irritating. While the hotel one is marginally better, the currency and the bus tour ads leave you totally cold.

     

    Maybe the writers of this campaign haven’t travelled much. I can put out a laundry list of hilarious events that unfold because of poor planning. Enjoy an international holiday, guys. And then come back and write the storyboards.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 2. Good strategy not backed by creative.

     

  • The youth consume more of global sporting action which is not cricket, and advertising with these sports will also help brands stand out, says Darshan M.

    The Anchor: 5 reasons advertisers should bet on new sports that appeal to Gen Y

    #1 75 percent of India is below the age of 35 years.

    They are more connected and the world is a smaller place for them. They consume all global sporting action including Soccer, Motor Sports and so on. Advertisers trying to reach them need to understand that they do not consume the same old mix of cricket. The brand needs to be clear if they are targeting 25 per cent ofIndiaor the 75 per cent.

     

    #2 Cricket is expensive.

    Advertisers used to get best ROI with Indian Cricket in the earlier days. But now the property is very expensive and out of reach of most advertisers. Brands with a few million rupees to spend for a month cannot even dream of cricket properties like IPL.

     

    #3 Brands looking to be multinational need to associate and build the brand around multinational sports.

    With more and more Indian brands buying global companies and entering new countries, they realize the need to look beyond sports played in a very few countries. Only Soccer and Motor sport are truly global.

     

    #4 The future lies wide open to companies that are willing to be nimble, adventurous and innovative.

    With the market dynamics changing so quickly brands need to invest into new age sports that allow innovation and brand integration. Unfortunately, established sports do not allow any tweaking as the rules are very firmly set. New sporting ventures keen to gain market share will be more open to innovations.

     

    #5 Cricket is overcrowded.

    The market is already very crowded with new competitors are entering every day. And every new brand seems to try and build around the platform of cricket. How will you differentiate your brand and its ethos if everyone has the same product features, same benefits and now the same brand ambassador? Investing into new sports will give the brands a new and exclusive identity. They help brands stand out of the crowd.

     

    Darshan M is the CEO, I1 Super Series at Machdar Motorsports Private Limited.

     

  • Advertisers and media agencies in India need to realize that media audits are not optional but a requirement in the global market, writes Stephen White.

    The Anchor: 5 reasons why media audits must be taken seriously

    By Stephen White

     

    There is an increasing requirement in the world’s major media markets, for advertisers to gain more traction in understanding the media values they are achieving.

     

    However, increasing focus from marketing, finance, and particularly procurement departments on the mechanics and the lack of transparency on many media deals, means that specific help is required.

     

    #1 Across the globe, media auditing companies are being engaged more and more by advertisers who are seeking independent, high-level media expertise and advice.

     

    #2 Media auditors deliver that advice to the clients, covering all the details of how media agencies service, media quality KPIs, and full clarity on media buying arrangements, are being fulfilled.

     

    #3 In Europe, over 30 percent of all media expenditure is audited. In the US it is around 15 percent and growing fast. In India, it is around 10-15 percent, and in Japan it is less than 1 percent. This is why the Indian media market needs to fully embrace media auditing to catch up with the more sophisticated markets of Europe and the US.

     

    #4 Initial media agency fears are soon pacified, when EMM’s audit reports show “how well” media agencies are performing, and how they could be earning more for exceptional results measured independently by the media auditors. The abiding reality from media auditing around the world is that smarter advertisers are those who are audited, always getting better results.

     

    #5 The biggest issue for the Indian market is not the development of media auditing in isolation, it is the perception from outsiders that the lack of media transparency is a very cloudy issue in India, and potentially casts an unwelcome shadow over the whole media industry. Surely the declaration by the Indian government last November to publicly fight alleged corruption in business is just the stimulus the media industry needs, and the arrival of media auditors in India provides the right tools, and the right people, to do the job.

     

    All these issues combined gave EMM reason to research the Indian media market place in terms of the appetite for independent media performance evaluation, with views from the major media agencies and groups, and a broad sample of advertisers. The results of that research confirmed, and welcomed, the benefits that media auditing offers would stimulate improvements for the advertiser and from the measured deliverables from the motivated media agencies.

     

    Inevitably some uncertainties will remain, but judging by the amount of interest in EMM’s launch into India, combining high level local media expertise with EMM’s 20-year international media auditing expertise is a system that strikes the right balance for India right now.

     

    Stephen White is Chairman, EMM India.

     

  • The cricket body has conveniently cloaked its workings in dark secrecy, and this has led to many dubious deeds.

    Anil Thakraney: A Sahara lesson for BCCI

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Though they may eventually resolve their dispute, and Sahara could again partner the BCCI in some form, it must be said one feels happy that the former decided to pull the plug on constant moolah supply to the cricket board. And the Sahara group has also opted out of the IPL. The world’s richest (and most arrogant) cricketing body can do with some hard jolts like these.

     

    In fact, I do believe sponsors and advertisers are the ONLY entities with the power to clean up cricket in India, so that the sport doesn’t wither away and lose its mass appeal. They must list down harsh terms and conditions on the BCCI before they put the money down. And this includes demand for complete transparency in the way the BCCI functions. The cricket body has conveniently cloaked its workings in dark secrecy, and this has led to many dubious deeds. Including financial scandals, unethical business practices, badly planned tour itineraries and a myopic vision of the future of Indian cricket. Humiliating defeats of the team in the recent past is sure to affect viewership of both, international tournaments and the great IPL. This means ad rates must be slashed as well.

     

    The big problem is that the BCCI appears to be accountable to no one. And quite characteristically, they are completely allergic to being put under the purview of the RTI Act. Which means there is no way to clean up this dodgy organization. Unless of course the advertisers gang up against them, and put some serious pressure. The autocratic style of operating Indian cricket cannot be allowed to go on. This is very important for the future of cricket in this country.

     

    Hopefully, Sahara’s bombshell will serve as a wake-up call for everyone else.

     

    ***

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGMOhOYvcw4[/youtube]

    PS: An ad tailor-made for the commercial break. Chrysler released this stunning patriotic commercial during the Super Bowl half-time, featuring the Hollywood superstar, Clint Eastwood. I can feel the blood rising miles away in Mumbai, imagine the impact on Americans. Super stuff.

     

  • The ads that come alongside your emails are an exercise in refracted reality, remarks Gouri Dange.

    Gouri Dange: Those deliciously bizarre Google ads

    By Gouri Dange

     

    You know how Google watches over your shoulder and reads the content of your emails and sends you what it thinks are appropriate ads on the sidebar? I just love the convoluted logic behind the ads that are selected to send to you. For the longest time, I just didn’t notice them, but once I began to glance at them, it became a most illuminating exercise. There is something so deliciously bizarre in the way the ads refract your reality. Open your emails in the last week and take a look at the sidebar.

     

    It’s like some slightly deranged/overreacting person is keeping a log or diary of your life as it is unfolding. On top of it, this deranged person has the job of continuously coming up with solutions – all sorts of goods and services – to counter what it thinks is the angst in your life.

     

    So, for instance, a couple of years ago an ageing dog of mine began to get epileptic fits. I must have written in anguish to a couple of close friends about this development, and there it was: Google began to urge upon me ads for homeopathy, allopathy, healing crystals and what-have-you for epilepsy. Then I may have mentioned to someone in an email that the vet has said that I might have to prepare myself to have the old dog put down. So now the ads in a rather ghoulish but ever-helpful manner began to become about humane vet services, pet cemeteries, incinerators and other such sombre subjects.

     

    Once you begin to notice the ads, two distinct realities begin to emerge about yourself. Parallel Universes. One is what is actually happening in your life and what you need to do about it, and one is what the Google ad-world thinks is happening in your life and what it thinks are some of the solutions and strategies that you need to adopt with the help of its advertisers and their sparkling merchandise.

     

    Just today, I wrote to a niece saying I need to get a hardship allowance from the government for putting up with the idiosyncrasies of a neighbour. And whadyouknow – the ads on the sidebar became about government jobs, government grants, and properties for sale. So my offhand joke got interpreted as: lady, you need in some way to be connected up with the government, and/or you need to move house.

     

    Of course, given that dabbling in real estate is urban India’s new religion, the ads for rent, sell, buy, beg, borrow, steal apartments come fast and thick anyway, whether you mention this subject in your mails or not. ‘Luxurious 1 bedroom apartments’ are being peddled all the time.

     

    But my most favourite interpretation-misinterpretation came from a flurry of emails that were flying amongst some 11 fellow writers. The subject of our emails was the less-than-professional behaviour of a publisher soliciting our writings for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. I hadn’t been paying attention to the ads that Google had been wildly generating in tandem with our mails. Once the matter was sorted out in our favour, someone sent around mail saying let’s get together soon, toast each other and have chicken soup on the menu. Heading the list of ads that day was one for ‘poultry slaughter lines’. All those hot and bothered emails that us renegade writers had been exchanging, translated in the mind of Google to this reading: the one thing that would solve all our problems was if we got ourselves a fully-automated chicken beheading, skinning and dismembering machine!

     

    And why not. Perhaps I’ll get one anyway. May come in handy.

     

    Naming no Names is the mid-week column where novelist, columnist and counsellor Gouri Dange presents her tongue-in-cheek view of our world.

     

  • India has the most amazing and interesting lifestyle. We can teach something to every other country, says Smeeta Chakrabarti.

    The Anchor: 7 things for Lifestyle channels to remember

    By Smeeta Chakrabarti

     

    #1 Till a few years ago, most of the programming on lifestyle channels was imported. Giving an Indian touch to programming is important as it makes it exciting for the Indian audiences. For example, even though there are many international news channels such as BBC and CNN, the perspective changes when the programming is done by an Indian channel.

     

    #2 India has the most amazing and interesting lifestyle. We can teach something to every other country – About food, the way we eat, we drink, the way we get married, clothes etcetera. It is important to keep in cognizance that India has a lot to give to the west.

     

    #3Today the world is adopting our lifestyle and not the other way around. The flow is now from East to West, and countries like India and China are going to dictate to the West about lifestyle issues. The world has to catch up to the big fat Indian wedding.

     

    #4 India is a young and affluent country and the current generation spends in a different way from the way our grandparents used spend. We are not hoarders any more and we don’t necessarily save.

     

    #5 Especially in the Indian context, lifestyle is not just about brand names and tags – it’s also about quality and trades craftsmanship, something that India is very good at. It’s not just about imported labels but also feeling pride about what we Indians are doing indigenously at the grass root levels. That is what makes us special.

     

    #6 Being Indians, we have to be proud of the India we live in and have to feel great about this country. It’s about living in the best possible way with the resources available.

     

    #7 The genre will definitely grow. When we started there was just one international channel, with international programming, and the genre has grown ever since with launches of newer channels. Along with the regional space, lifestyle and news spaces will grow too.

     

    Smeeta Chakrabarti is the CEO of NDTV Lifestyle Limited.

     

  • The ad becomes off-beat and entertaining as the commercial talks about aam sellers. Plus, it indirectly cues that Maaza = Real mango, without hammering it down our throats.

    Debrief: Maaza: Refreshing take

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Mango drink Maaza has a brand new positioning: ‘Bin mausam aam’. But instead of focusing on mango lovers, they have featured mango hawkers in the advert. And that’s actually quite clever, because it injects freshness into the communication.

     

    In the TVC, three mango sellers wonder what to do with their lives since the mango season is over. Desperate to earn a livelihood, the ‘aam aadmis’ try out new career options. One becomes a soothsayer, another tries his hand at dentistry and the third one becomes a car mechanic. Naturally, being untrained, they fail miserably in their new roles. Then, a smart lad introduces them to the ‘Bin mausam aam’ called Maaza. And so they begin selling that.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UizD1CD2oBM[/youtube]

    The twist in the tale works. One, because the ad indirectly cues that Maaza = Real mango, without hammering it down our throats. And two, because the commercial talks about aam sellers, the ad becomes off-beat and entertaining. And one must appreciate the client for not insisting on Maaza sipping shots in every frame. This idea would have been impossible to execute with such a demand.

     

    If there’s one negative, it’s that the idea only works in a long format, because it’s an indirect route. I don’t see them being able to pull this off with a fifteen-second edit.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 3. Novel approach pays off.

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Porn-happy Karnataka ministers hog TV limelight

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Was it naughty of ministers in Karnataka to be supposedly watching pornography when they should have been paying attention to a debate in the assembly? Undoubtedly, yes. Was it necessary for TV channels to show this almost non-stop on Wednesday morning, having already milked it on Tuesday night? Arguably, not. But the morning onslaught was relentless – for those who might imagine there was nothing else happening in the country, why, the first round of voting started in Uttar Pradesh. So far, this has been billed as the most important assembly election yet, a precursor to the next general elections. But for a while, it was the porn-happy ministers of Karnataka, who have apparently since resigned. Not happily of course. The young anchors and reporters of TV channels were very happy that these moral policers had been caught out in this manner.

     

    * * *

     

    The newspapers on Wednesday morning had the slightly more depressing if less salacious news about India’s GDP forecast being pulled down to 6.9 per cent because of the economic slowdown. This is the sort of news which neither mainstream TV news nor business channels seem equipped to handle. International news channels on the other hand run from civil unrest in any part of the world to economic recession in the west in an endless loop. The world and the west are both usually very accommodating.

     

    * * *

     

    The inquisition of former Indian Premier League head Lalit Modi on Times Now on Tuesday night was an illuminating lesson in how not to conduct an interview. Arnab Goswami, Sanjay Jha and Boria Majumdar would have done Torquemada and the Auta da Fe proud. Whatever your views on Modi, having asked him to speak to you it is usually better to let him say what he has to. Tough questions are fine, indeed necessary, but yelling at him about why he tweets what he does is ridiculous. Modi’s interview with Rajdeep Sardesai on CNN-IBN was more intelligible. Times Now sometimes overplays its role as the sole guardian of India.

     

    * * *

     

    India is pitifully short of experts, the newspapers tell us – Crest ran an excellent article on this a few months ago – and nowhere is this more evident than on TV. The same people are rounded up and herded from studio to studio where they are everywhere “exclusive” and experts on everything.

     

    It is always amusing to see senior TV anchors having to rely on senior print journalists to analyze events – why are they so frightened of doing it themselves? I know why of course but surely they should have gathered enough confidence by now to bullshit away by themselves?

     

    Good for print journalists of course and I hope they pay them for their expertise?

     

    * * *

     

    Hrithik Roshan needs to sack his publicist and take his money back from Medianet for allowing a picture of himself to be printed on the front page of Bombay Times where he looks like CGI dinosaur of some kind with an over-developed thorax.

     

  • For most advertising professionals, office becomes home and the nearby bar is the second home. It's where we head after a long day for a well deserved drink, be it raising a toast or drowning sorrows.

    The Anchor: Rajiv Rao on the 5 Mumbai watering holes he misses most

    By Rajiv Rao

     

    For most advertising professionals, office becomes home and the nearby bar is the second home. It’s where we head after a long day for a well deserved drink, be it raising a toast or drowning sorrows.

     

    Here is a list of 5 watering holes that I miss today. They have meant so much to me over different phases of my advertising career. Some have lost their charm and glory and some closed forever. So, there’s little I can do but head for the nearby bar and drink to some good memories.

     

    Tavern (Hotel Fariyas) Colaba

    Tavern was one of the most rocking bars in the early 90’s. It was the perfect combination of beer and good old rock music and the best part, a huge screen that would play live shows of the legendary musicians. Queen, Floyd, Stones, Doors, Hendrix, and the likes of Zeppelin were regulars there. Fridays and Saturdays would be insanely loud and packed. After a point everything would be a blur. At least that’s how I remember my Tavern nights.

     

    Cafe Naaz

    Though I got to experience very little of this place I still miss it the most. I was introduced to this place very late in life. Naaz was perfectly located, away from the madness of the city and yet you could see the buzzing city from a distance. The queen’s necklace was best seen from Naaz. Warm beer, lousy food, slow service but loads of the charm. Naaz beats any of the high rise bars of today hands down.

     

    Sports Bar (Bowling Co)

    The day I joined Ogilvy, I joined Sports bar. Countless lunches, happy hours, lunches that got extended to happy hours and of course after work drinks. Large screens, screaming fans and endless pitchers with Nachos. A lot of male bonding has happened over beers and pool tables in this sporty venue that has given many a “men will be men” moments. I would run into people from work more at the bar, than the office corridors. (And some of these people were people I was running away from)

     

    The Ghetto

    Ghetto played real music. The reason it became the preferred hangout for an entire generation of beer, rum and rock lovers. It was where you walk in to a hole through the wall, to a world that unwinds you after work. And yet this is the very place where many ideas were born over many more pitchers. The unusual fluorescent lighting made way for many fun moments. Not to mention, this is the place that introduced writing on walls even before the Facebook epidemic. In fact chances are you will still find your drunken slogans and thoughts scribbled on the walls even today. The Ghetto spells sheer nostalgia for me and many more who welcomed by the tuxedoed doorman ‘Shuklaji’ knowing all the patrons on first name basis

     

    Zenzi (Bandra)

    Not too long ago, Zenzi with its open multi-cultural vibe was a mecca for advertising professionals for a short phase. In fact if anyone was to look for a job in the industry, floating a resume at this premise would be a better bet than sending emails to head hunters. It was cool and casual enough that one could walk in with chappals and yet it had a certain attitude that was only for the like minded people from the mad ad world. At any given time, there was so much creative energy, it was like a doctor’s prescription for recharging creative juices.

     

    Rajiv Rao is NCD, Ogilvy &Mather.

     

  • When a reputed journalist writes a book, you can be assured of authenticity of material, and particularly so in Meenal's case, I have known her to be a journalist of high integrity

    Anil Thakraney: Death in Mumbai, an excellent first effort

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Just finished reading Meenal Baghel’s ‘Death in Mumbai’. And must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Apart from the fascinating subject itself… the sensational murder of television executive Neeraj Grover and the subsequent nefarious deeds by the killer and his partner, model/actress Maria Susairaj… what interested me is that the author is a journalist and former colleague.

     

    When a reputed journalist writes a book, you can be assured of authenticity of material, and particularly so in Meenal’s case, I have known her to be a journalist of high integrity.

     

    I must say the writing is sharp and the style captivating. You simply cannot put the book down. What the author has been able to do very effectively is to bring out the motivations and compulsions of the three participants in the sordid drama. After reading the book, one has a clearer idea of what drove the three to that extremely lethal point, from where there was no possibility of return to innocence.

     

    And Meenal’s done her research, she’s done the leg work, she’s journeyed into their past and studied their behavioural patterns over a period of time.

     

    The section I most enjoyed reading is where the author paints a colourful picture of the very showy and the very wannabe Oshiwara area of Mumbai. The desperation to make it into the showbiz, and the sexual price many young people have to pay in the process. The most hilarious chapter is on the TV queen Ekta Kapoor and her mother, some recounts of the two leave you in splits, the tragedy notwithstanding.

     

    All in all, a great first effort from Meenal. The only disappointment (for me) was not being able to get a clear point of view from the main accused, the navy officer Emile Jerome. Since he was the man who executed the heinous crime, his voice is key to the story. I suppose the author would have found access to the man extremely difficult, and therefore one can’t really blame her.

     

    * * *

     

    PS: Must read: Facebook has announced a $5 billion initial public offering. And here’s what Mark Zuckerberg says to investors. His long message gives you an idea of how razor sharp and cunning the man is when it comes to capitalizing on human interaction in the virtual world.

     

    Link: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/02/zuck-letter/

     

     

  • The main difference that triggers all other differences between Internet radio and FM radio is the platform itself. The Internet lends more room for flexibility, cost saving and personalization says Anil Srivatsa

    [MxM Radiol]: 5 reasons why internet radio scores over traditional radio

    By Anil Srivatsa

     

    1. Internet radio offers more room:

    The main difference that triggers all other differences between Internet radio and FM radio is the platform itself. The Internet lends more room for flexibility, cost saving and personalization.

     

    2. Internet Radio offers a variety of choices in comparison to FM radio:

    This is true, particularly in the Indian context. FM stations tend to follow the beaten path for a variety of reasons, but to the consumer it just spells ‘boredom and monotony’. Radio can be classified broadly into mass radio and niche radio.

     

    InIndia, mass radio is pretty much the order of the day, but it leaves a lot of content-hungry people dissatisfied. Niche radio does not justify the investment from a business point of view, but presents a vibrant opportunity to internet radio operators, who for a lot less money can create and serve these niche content seekers with better quality content in a variety of genres.

     

    3. Content on Internet radio is more personalized; FM radio caters to collective choices of masses:

    Internet radio is more amenable to personalization at a micro-listener level, with the choice of content being delivered with accuracy according to the taste of the consumer, while FM radio is not as hospitable.

     

    Of course, Internet radio is a loosely used term that could mean content delivered via the Internet in a linear fashion (non-interactive just like FM) or as an on-demand service (interactive). Linear Internet radio makes available several choices of content differentiation in one place while FM radio is devoid of choice and is, within a specific urban or semi-urban dwelling, limited to the number of frequencies in that region. This makes Internet radio more interesting choice.

     

    4. The ability to influence opinion on topics and issues on a wider scale:

    FM inIndiagenerally reaches out to the least common denominator while throwing up some specific content catering to special interest. This generally happens when the channel is omni-present in that geographical location, which makes Internet radio look even more obscure. But in reality, Internet radio’s reach is well beyond what a single FM station can do with one channel, giving the flavour of programming more room to breathe and giving it the possibility of more substance and depth.

     

    However, nothing can compete with FM for super localization en masse …even if one can create and distribute a super local internet radio station.

     

    5. Internet radio offers broader spectrum of artists and more room to showcase talent:

    Historically NAB, who was then the lobby for AM radio operators, perceived FM radio to be a huge business threat. Today they have embraced it (FM) and are now perceiving the same threat coming from internet radio. Traditionally, on either side of theAtlantic, FM radio is in cahoots with the music labels where there is a carefully orchestrated promotion plan for the labels, sidelining air play for the unsigned bands leaving FM playing the same 20 top of the hour.

     

    InIndia, too, things are not very different. Large market-leading labels restrict FM radio to play more of their music to ensure constant promotion in exchange for favourable licensing terms resulting in the same disenfranchisement on un-signed quality content. This goes against free speech and violates the anti-competitive spirit of equal opportunity to succeed in business. So, both, from a business and talent perspective, Internet radio is totally unrestricted, allowing small label artists to showcase their talent in all kinds of music and non-music content and without gate keepers.

     

    Labels today see Internet radio as a threat but in reality it’s an opportunity to discover new talent, promote unconditionally and widen their repertoire. Given the right environment, FM radio would rebroadcast on the Internet in a heartbeat and this in itself tells the whole story.

     

    Mr Anil Srivatsa is the Co-Founder, CEO Venturenet Partners Pvt. Ltd. (promoters of Spot Radio and Radiowalla)

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    SIT’s report makes for exciting TV but bad journalism

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The Special Investigation Team as appointed by the Supreme Court to look at the involvement of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the Gujarat riots of 2002, particularly with reference to the Gulbarg society case has submitted its report. The report is still in sealed cover. But television spent half of last week going to town over the “clean chit” given to Modi and promptly a number of TV debates were held.

     

    The BJP, quite relieved to get a break from the behaviour of its ministers in Karnataka, sent out its publicity army in full force. TimesNow insisted that it had exclusive “leaks” from the sealed report while every other channel had their “sources” who told them what was in it.

     

    Newspapers, however, were forced to be more circumspect, although Times of India did initially blow up this “clean chit” – ironically on the same day that it headlined the slamming of Modi by the Gujarat High Court over his government’s inaction during the riots.

     

    By Friday morning, newspapers decided to wait for the actual report even as beleaguered BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman was begging channels to wait for the report. Some like Swapan Dasgupta and Yatin Oza were happy to jump the gun and blame secularists, the Congress, Muslims, activists and other wicked people for blaming Modi.

     

    Much as all this makes for exciting television, it also makes for bad journalism. One can understand our desire for tamasha but one can hope that at least we have some facts before we start jumping to conclusions.

     

    * * *

     

    It was interesting to hear Chief Election Commissioner Y Quereshi telling NDTV how hard the commission has worked to encourage higher voter interest during these UP elections. For some reason, after that the discussion became about low voter interest in Mumbai with lyricist Javed Akhtar and columnist Sandeep Desai holding forth. Quereshi did point out that Allahabad’s track record was worse than Mumbai’s.

     

    * * *

     

    The arrival of Comedy Central on our televisions has meant the welcome addition of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart to our homes. It is well worth watching at 11.30 every night as the comedian takes on American and world politicians and politics, among other things. No one is spared, which is wonderful.

     

    Of course, I understand that all Indian people and things are sacrosanct and far above humour and satire and must never be so sullied but still, kudos to Cyrus Broacha and The Week that Wasn’t on CNN-IBN.

     

    * * *

     

    While on satire, Europe has to sometimes win the day for its devil-may-care attitude. The clip about Rafael Nadal and the power of Spanish athletes – implying drug use – on the satirical programme Les Guignols, shown on the French + Canal channel has Spain up in arms. Legal action will be taken says Spain, as this is one more in a series of allegations by various French sportspersons and media that Spanish sportspersons take performance-enhancing substances. The clip, available on YouTube, is very wicked!