MxMIndia

Category: RANJONA BANERJI

Ranjona Banerji’s hard-and-soft look at nightly news and the fare in the morningers

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

    Ranjona Banerji: Sena on shaky ground, polls to decide all

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Mumbai has elections on February 16 to select its municipal corporators. Since the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has a bigger budget than some state governments, this is an important election. It is also a political test for the incumbent Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party and a signal for the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance – which is in power in the state – about the roadblocks ahead for the next general election.

     

    Not surprisingly, election coverage has dominated Mumbai’s newspapers. Most seem to think that the ground is shaky for the Shiv Sena. This is, in a sense, a last bastion for the Sena – it has ruled the BMC for almost two decades. But everyday, newspapers are full of the shortcomings of the corporation and the corruption involved in most deals. Mumbai’s roads and water supply get the most attention and none of it positive.

     

    The general sense you get from newspapers is that this time there will be a challenge to Bal Thackeray from not just the Congress-NCP but also of course from his nephew Raj Thackeray and his breakaway party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Uddhav Thackeray – the son and the main bone of contention – does not have the requisite firepower, seems to be the overwhelming feeling. There is also a discussion on whether both the Senas will cancel each other out.

     

    The Times of India and The Indian Express both carry interviews with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who says he pushed for an alliance with the NCP this time – to avoid fracturing the vote as happened when both parties went alone in 2007.

     

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    All newspapers have also focused on the low voter turnout in Mumbai and have exhorted citizens to come out and vote. You could pick up any newspaper to find out all about the candidates from their bank balances to their educational qualifications. The new seat reservations have created some turmoil in parties, all of which have been faithfully recorded.

     

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    Interestingly, the high number of dry days – three have been decided by the Election Commission – has been cause for consternation in print. The bar and restaurant association has put in a plea reported in Wednesday’s papers to allow the sale of alcohol in the evenings of the dry days, after voting is over on Thursday. The right to drink is well-felt by most journalists, so it is easy to see why this forced abstinence should get prominence.

     

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    It is these little titbits which make newspaper reading so pleasant a pastime. The oddities of life rarely find room in the high-pitched breaking news landscape of TV land.

     

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

    BJP suffers the wrath of young India

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    It was wishful thinking on my part that Porngate would slowly lose currency on television. Quite the opposite happened, in fact, as emotions in TV studios ratcheted up as the day progressed. By the evening, this was the worst transgression ever committed. Bad as it was, it is still open to question whether it deserved quite so much rage. It usually seems that TV channels inIndiaare quite sympathetic to the rightwing – except of course those which are seen as open Congress supporters.

     

    But even those with saffronish tinges – or especially those with saffronish twinges – were the angriest with these porn-watching Karnakata ministers. A humble theory could be that the extreme Hindutva rightwing in Karnataka has been making life miserable for young people and this was revenge time for the young people in television.

     

    The Times of India in its editorial took a sober tone but was no less damning of the behaviour of these MLAs. Nor did it fail to rip into the moral hypocrisy of the Hindutva rightwing. The Hindustan Times decided to take a more jokey tone, which seems as inappropriate as TV’s relentless coverage. Hindustan Times kindly informed us that the minister was mistaken in thinking he was watching a rape when it actually was a “bukkake”. One could thank the newspaper for increasing our knowledge of terms used in pornography but one is not sure if this has any connection to the case in point.

     

    One has to agree with author and columnist Shobhaa De when she said on Times Now that this was one of the rare times that she actually felt sorry for BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman, in having to defend her party’s action (or inaction) against the three ministers.

     

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    It was heartening to read Shailaja Bajpai in her TV review column in Indian Express asking whether such intrusive coverage was necessary about cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s cancer. It is also intriguing that the cricketer tweeted that he had not spoken to any newspapers since his latest treatment started. So where did all those “interviews” come from?

     

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    The Economic Times has front-paged (I’ve decided this is a convenient noun to make into a verb!) a story about how Indian companies are now trying to be kinder to employees who are being laid off. The usual tendency is apparently to be as insensitive as possible. Citibank, for instance, is now looking for jobs for the 100 people it “let go” of. Does this give heart to people who think their jobs are on the chopping block?

     

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    Pranab Mukherjee, Union finance minister, is losing sleep over the size ofIndia’s subsidy burden. I suppose that in itself is good news.

     

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

    Time to rethink on Katju?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    So which was bigger – the slap that Bollywood mega star apparently gave small-time director Shirish Kunder or the attack on The Times of India Mumbai offices by supporters of a Shiv Sena politician?

     

    This is from Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju’s letter to the chief minister of Maharashtra: “Please, therefore, let me know at the earliest what action have you taken against the hooligans who committed this outrage. In particular, please inform me whether the delinquents have been arrested and any criminal proceedings launched against them.

     

    I may mention that this is not the first time that such an incident has happened in Maharashtra. I had written to you earlier also about such assaults and harrassment (sic) of journalists. I, therefore, must tell you now that the Press Council may now have to take a serious view of the matter and take suitable action if such incidents are not curbed in your state.”

     

    It is heartening indeed for the press to get such support and perhaps we need to rethink our views on the honourable judge, his views on journalists notwithstanding? By the way, the misspelling of harassment is not mine; I have cut and pasted the extract from the letter. I make no comment here.

     

    At any rate, with the famous Khan-Kunder slap, Katju’s deepest fears about the media were fully realised. This made headline and front page news. But I think there is room for debate here. After all, Shah Rukh Khan is one of India’s biggest stars. If he gets caught in a late night fisticuffs at a fancy night club, then it is certainly news. The problem for me is that enough juice about this fight was not provided. I must confess I had no idea who this Kunder chap was when I first read about the fight on Twitter. It was later I realised that he is husband of Farah Khan, choreographer-turned-director. Most of the stories which appeared were written by insiders for insiders so outsiders like me, who had no idea of the stories within the stories, were left confused. I would say that this is a problem which journalists have to address – make everything clear to your readers. Do not assume that they know as much as you do about a particular subject which you have specialised in.

     

    As far as the attack on The Times of India is concerned, this is one more in a long list of intimidation tactics used on the media by political parties. And as long as nothing is done to those who instigate or participate in such attacks, they will continue. Hooliganism has almost become an accepted way of life and neither our government nor the police seem to be bothered.

     

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    What does one make of the excitement over baby Falak, the infant abandoned at AIIMS, Delhi on Republic Day? Instead of minute by minute updates on the condition of this unfortunate child, one would have expected newspapers at least to delve further into the status of abandoned and abused children in India. We expended much outrage over the actions of the Norwegian child services over the Bhattacharyas’ children but perhaps we need to examine whether we need such agencies ourselves. Right now what is happening with this baby is not concern; it is outright sensationalism.

     

  • 100 days of MxM in the words of Contributing Editor Ranjona Banerji.

    Ranjona Banerji: After 100 days, I have fun dissecting what I see on TV

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Turning 100 is always auspicious and MxMIndia hits a well-deserved century today – the first of course, not yet the 100th 100th.

     

    In the beginning, I have to confess, I cursed MxMIndia for forcing me to watch TV news. Newspapers I can devour, but watching the hysteria which passes for debate every night on TV was trauma I could do without.

     

    After 100 days, I can’t really say I love it yet but I do have lots of fun dissecting what I see every morning. And I’ve gained a real appreciation for the tough lives of our TV anchors. Really. It’s not easy, sort of manufacturing sensation out of fairly ordinary news events. And yet, night after night they endeavour and yell away, full of outrage and nation-building or saving vigour.

     

    I thought working consecutive night shifts on a news desk was a tough job but this must be absolutely mind-numbingly exhausting. On the other hand, maybe that explains a lot – the shallowness, the lack of depth or understanding, the shrillness, the vacuous questions…

     

    Yet strangely, sometimes the hosts are completely overshadowed by their guests who scream, interrupt and insult each other with a total disregard for good manners or good sense. I’m guessing they watch a lot of the Jerry Springer shows in their spare time.

     

    Often to escape, I watch Hard Talk or Anderson Cooper to calm myself down a bit but then sometimes I catch Piers Morgan in passing and then I take 24 hours to recover. That’s when I’m a little kinder to Indian news anchors the next day.

     

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    The biggest thanks for the last 100 days must go to Anna Hazare and his Merry Men and One Woman. They managed to occupy all the news time available as they entangled us in their coils. It was fascinating to watch how TV was first all chuffed at saving the nation from corruption. And then, one by one, the questions started – CNNIBN, NDTV, NewsX, Headlines Today and the last to keep the flag flying, Times Now.

     

    By the time the circus reached Mumbai and tried set up tent at the MMRDA grounds at Bandra-Kurla, the party for Hazare & Co was over. And sadly so was it for TV-created hysteria.

     

    I’m waiting now to see what the next 100 days will bring. Any ideas?

     

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

    Media gets it wrong on Republic Day

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Republic Day is not about freedom from colonial rule, it’s about the Constitution and the way we rule ourselves. How did the media respond? After 63 years, maybe they feel that there’s little left to say, even though we have, in 2011, suffered a number of crises that examine or question our schedule of rights, responsibilities, freedoms and systems.

     

    Even the advertisers got it wrong. Bank of America, for instance, talked about some medieval version of the Panchatantra that they had helped restore. Wonderful news though that is, it has nothing whatsoever to do with India becoming a Republic. The Google doodle was some very cute cavorting elephants – but cute does not quite cover what Republic Day means.

     

    Anna Hazare used the opportunity to declare that “gram sabhas” are more important than the Lok Sabha. Luckily Mumbai is newspaper-free on January 27 or Hazare’s urban supporters would have been really confused. He was not, you see, talking about a sprouted moong salad or any other health food. What he means is that village assemblies are more important and should be more powerful than the elected representatives chosen by systems laid down in our very carefully constructed Constitution. As The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition put it, “Struggling to stay relevant amid signs of growing public indifference, Anna Hazare…” The Deccan Chronicle’s Hyderabad edition, it must be pointed out, did not bother to front-page Hazare archaic notions.

     

    But what the DC does have is an interesting story about how Nitin Gadkari, BJP party president, has changed his tune a bit about Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for prime minister. Now he says Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are in the race too. Perhaps the BJP, which is so enamoured of the US presidential system, now wants to internally implement the US political party system for choosing presidential candidates. It will be great fun if they do it – Modi, Swaraj and Jaitley locked in public fights with each other for the privilege of running for prime minister. Can you imagine the amount of fodder for our TV anchors?

     

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    Talking of TV (as I ran through the channels on Republic Day), the terrible story of a battered baby at New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences dominated the headlines, together with the Indian cricket teams continuing travails in Australia. Virat Kohli’s century in Adelaide got some accolades but it was mainly doom and gloom. The battered baby got front page lead in the Delhi edition of the Hindustan Times, so can I forecast a more “people-friendly” 2012 in the media?

     

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    For the first time in several years, the Republic Day awards did not cause media hysteria. If Sachin Tendulkar had got his 100th 100th, the fact that he did not get a Bharat Ratna may have been a matter of huge melodrama. As it happens, no one got a Bharat Ratna.

     

    My only observation here is possibly a very visible parochialism where newspapers were happiest about awards given to local people. Now not only do you have to be jingoistic about India as a media person, you also have to fall prey to all the foibles of regional identity politics. I hope that’s not a prediction!

     

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

    TV journos, please develop some sense

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    If you have ever felt that you wanted to get bored to the point of death, as a sort of scientific experiment, you would do worse than to try and make sense of daytime TV news. Having just listened to a 5 minute conversation between an anchor and reporter about the latest on the controversy about the army chief’s age, all I could fathom was that the Supreme Court has dismissed a petition. Meanwhile, the anchor and reporter repeated the same thing about five times, over and over again. Plenty of ‘of courses’ and ‘in facts’, in fact, of course, studded this conversation.

     

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    West Bengal’s hospitals have always had plenty of horror stories in and around them but now that TV has tasted blood there, one can see that there is unlikely to be an escape from the scanner right now. Mamata Banerjee had better watch out.

     

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    Mid-Day was first off the block to tell us about extraordinary behaviour of the captain of the capsized ship, Costa Concordia, as he apparently ran away from his ship – later he said he tripped and fell into a lifeboat. The transcript of the conversation between the Italian Coastguard and the captain was an eye-opener. The captain has been accused of trying some kind of stunt which led to the cruise liner running aground. Indian TV and newspapers have as usual only concentrated on the Indians affected by this accident which makes looking for the complete picture a tedious task. Is there no life – or death – outside our geographical borders?

     

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    Suresh Kalmadi gets bail and as usual, our TV channels behave as if he has been acquitted of corruption charges. There are few simple things for journalists to remember here: you are innocent until proven guilty in India, bail is a permissible legal option and I throw this in for good measure: it is okay to criticise the armed forces.
    This hysterical self-righteousness demonstrated by most of our TV reporters is not just annoying, it is potentially dangerous.

     

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    It might also help if our TV reporters and anchors develop a sense of humour instead of trying to save India’s sensitivities from the BBC programme Top Gear. Surely, we can work on the principle that we are a mature society and can take a few jokes? Or, perhaps Indian news channels should have special telecasts for Indians living abroad who get quite upset quite easily? Then those of us left behind in India can live our lives in peace.

     

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    Meanwhile, we still don’t know if writer Salman Rushdie is coming to the Jaipur Lit Fest or not. So much for investigative journalism or a well-constructed publicity stunt?

     

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    Veteran and respected journalist Harish Khare has quit as media adviser to the Prime Minister, says The Times of India because he is upset at the appointment of TV journalist Pankaj Pachauri as communications adviser. Is this something to watch out for?

     

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    The death of TOI’s film critic Nikhat Kazmi on Friday morning was a sad way to start the day.

     

  • Ranjona Banerji reviews the content on news television and the morning papers

    Much ado as Sen does a Katju

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Amartya Sen has done a Markandey Katju on the Indian media, but unlike the outspoken Press Council chief, the Nobel Prize winning economist has piled on some flattery first – free, fair, objective, pillar of democracy and so on.

     

    (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2781128.ece?homepage=true)

     

    But his basic grouses are lack of grievance redressal protocols and a somewhat ambivalent approach towards accuracy. Do these problems sound a bit like from someone who has been at the receiving end? Well, yes. He explains his personal problems in great detail anyway, mainly to do with being misquoted.

     

    The other issue is one of having some sort of ombudsman (person?). Not too many newspapers bother and I am not sure of what happens in the world of TV.

     

    But what was intriguing was the whining and moaning by journalists on social media sites. No one ever talks about consumers, said one (the implication being that readers are to blame for the rubbish that goes into papers and on TV) or that Sen was just saying the same old thing. The comments under the article, of course, praised it wholesale – media bashing is such fun!

     

    Like Katju, Sen also pointed out that the media largely ignores the concerns of Unfortunate India, while concentrating on celebs, moneybags, film stars and the middle class.

     

    Still, one would imagine that journalists, being so used to dishing it out, should also learn to suck it up. Sen is not the Press Council chairman telling us what to do with a toothless threat hanging over our heads nor does he harp on about our inability to quote Ghalib couplets at the drop of a hat. It’s just a point of view.

     

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    Katju has come to the defence of Bigg Boss occupant (I think the latest edition is over) and porn actress Sunny Leone, saying that she’s not done any of those not-yet-respectable things in India so no one should target her. It’s an interesting way of getting round our moral policing hounds. Will it work for Salman Rushdie too, do you think?

     

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    Arnab Goswami tried to hold a discussion on the Deoband request to deny a visa to writer Salman Rushdie. However the guests were such that it would never have made for a fair or even constructive debate – Asaduddin Owaisi, MP, All India Majlis-e-Ittihad al-Muslimin; Alka Raghuvanshi, curator, India Habitat Centre; Sheebha Aslam Fehmi, Islamic feminist writer  and journalist and Zafaryab Jilani, Convener, Babri Masjid Action Committee. Jilani looked tired (been there, done that), Raghuvanshi hardly managed to say anything, Fehmi put up a lone defence for the liberal voice and Owaise shouted louder than everything else. Goswami pointed out that he could not single-handedly solve the problems of the nation, on being baited by Owaisi.

     

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    Now that Tuesday morning’s papers have told us that some prospective medical students were caught cheating in an entrance exam, there is hysteria in TV land over the fact that merit is being murdered. Please.

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

    Journos should learn a lesson from Mumbai’s voter turnout

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    So, as cynical journalists had assumed, a quarter of the way into Anna Hazare’s movement last year, this great upsurge of feeling for the country by young India was something of a hoax. When it came down to it – exercising your franchise, the biggest right and responsibility in a democracy – Mumbai has been found wanting. Hindustan Times’ headline puts it most succinctly: “Typical. Apathetic. Mumbai”.

     

    Newspapers also concentrated on rich and young Mumbai, both of which failed to show up. The Indian Express didn’t hold back taking about Mumbai sticking to its normal habit, “with voter disinterest in a handful of plush areas dragging down overall voter percentages”.

     

    As The Times of India points out, “The tony neighbourhoods of Colaba, Churchgate and Cuffe Parade repeated their past record with a measly turnout of 34 per cent, the lowest in the city.”

     

    The various reasons given for this voter apathy have been the chance for a long vacation, confusion over voter lists and general disorganisation. One woman is quoted about complaining that it took hour half an hour to vote – obviously too big a price to pay.

     

    As Mid-Day says in its editorial, “It is all very well to tweet about how this city is going to the dogs, create a Facebook page on how the roads are pathetic or organise candlelight marches to protest against terror attacks. The proof of the pudding is always in the eating. On that count, Mumbai is starving itself.”

     

    The Hindustan Times also went straight for the jugular – young people who are all aware and concerned in cyberspace but cannot translate that fervour into real life. (Aside to Election Commission: how about online voting for our youth who can’t be bothered to walk to a polling booth?)

     

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    On TV on Friday morning, the focus, for me, had to be on the Hindi and Marathi channels since the English channels were not unnaturally concerned with other news – Amitabh Bachchan’s operation, a fleeting glimpse of Aishwariya Rai carrying a baby bundle, the killing of two Indian fishermen by an Italian ship and something to do with Salma Hayek, which I didn’t bother to find out about.

     

    Sahara Mumbai, Sahara Samay and Star News suspended their precious stones and astrological forecast sections to provide trends, results and analysis of the elections in Maharashtra.

     

    * * *

     

    Perhaps in Mumbai’s voting pattern there is a lesson for journalists not to be too taken up with marketing hype about young India and to get carried away with what is said on social media. You have to keep track of everything but need not believe everything you hear and see on the Internet.

     

    Also, it is important to consider that India is not a society or a nation under threat or on the verge of civil war (whatever TV may tell you every night). We have no need for a social revolution like the Middle East for instance. Therefore, passion in cyberspace will not necessarily translate into anything at all in real life.

     

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

    Freaking News: It’s a dull year for TV

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The wonder that is TV news inIndiabecomes a total damp squib if there is nothing exciting happening. And this year has been particularly lacking news-wise. Or that is, news that suits TV land. Especially after the excitement of last year – not the least created by the anti-corruption movement – 2012 seems dull. The UP elections have not provided enough fodder and the best we have managed is the hullabaloo over Salman Rushdie and the Jaipur Literary Fest. The Supreme Court came down firmly on the age crisis faced by the army chief and that is now the end of that potential drama.

     

    It’s another matter that we have had sufficient news to keep us occupied. But when you run on a permanent cycle of “breaking news” which can be turned into hysterical studio debates, ordinary news does not suffice. Right now, the crisis within Kingfisher Airlines has the most potential.

     

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    Now that so many states have objected to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, because it hurts our “federal structure”, it is perhaps time for newspapers to find commentators who can explain our “federal structure” in Constitutional terms. Are we really federal? Or is this just one more political ploy? In terms of law and order, the odd thing is that whenever something goes wrong in any state, people within and without the state clamour for a “CBI” probe. This, in spite of the fact that the CBI goes against our “federal structure” and at other times, is seen as a handmaiden of the ruling party at the Centre. It’s an odd but fascinating dichotomy of thought.

     

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    Yesterday’s newspapers told us that Anna Hazare is fit and raring to go. Today’s newspapers tell us that he and his team are due to meet. It would be interesting to see if television is still as accommodating to Hazare and his merry followers or whether they have fallen out of the news cycle. Newspapers, it must be admitted, have dismissed Hazare news to little single columns.

     

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    Having declared their “Aman Ki Asha” campaign for peace with Pakistan, the Times of India now looks east and introduces a “Bonding with Bangladesh” exercise. Since many Indians are even unaware that Bengal was partitioned (the general feeling appears to be that the only people affected were in north India), it will be interesting to see what kind of response they get. For now, it is sharing stories with the Bangladeshi paper Pratham Alo, to “deepen people-to-people” ties.

     

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

    The King in troubled waters

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Whoever picked the guests for the Kingfisher segment of the Newshour last night, obviously did not gauge TimesNow editor Arnab Goswami’s mood right. More than half the panel spoke out in favour of the besieged airline while Goswami was adamant that no one owed Kingfisher anything for its bad management practices. Even worse, the people of India had been inconvenienced (or at least the flying public) and that was unacceptable.

     

    Vijay Mallya on TimesNow was quite a departure from his normal braggart self as he petulantly explained that he was dying to pay everyone but couldn’t since the income tax department had frozen all Kingfisher accounts. He did acknowledge that he did have some tax dues but…

     

    From all the par-for-the-course studio histrionics, one thing was clear – some urgent analysis of the aviation industry is required.

     

    Obviously, television cannot provide it…

     

    The first edit in The Economic Times seems to feel that a government intervention or bailout is unacceptable and Kingfisher has to sort out its own problems. It even calls for a suspension of licence. This is in keeping with Goswami’s line but does not follow that of Kingfisher’s well-wishers within the travel and aviation industry who keep bringing Air India into the picture. As ET points out, “The state of the industry and the fate of Air India should not be allowed to cloud the issue.”

     

    **

     

    The alleged rape of a woman in Kolkata gets curiouser and curiouser. The behaviour of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her minister Madan Mitra – blaming the victim and claiming a conspiracy to destablise the government – has been roundly criticised. Indeed, Mitra’s comments about the woman being out drinking deserve wider condemnation – he should surely be treated on par with the Andhra Pradesh police officer and Karnataka minister for making such sexist and dangerous remarks.

     

    **

     

    In The Indian Express, Abhijit V Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and director Abdul Latif Jameel Povery Action Lab makes an impassioned plea for allowing the British government’s Department for International Development continues its “good work” in India and for India not to get carried away by nationalism. This is a subject which needs to be debated more stringently in India. Do we still need foreign aid, does aid work and should not India manage its own problems. My instinct is not to agree with Banerjee and to side with the nationalists…

     

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

    Of Un-Saif celebs & hysterical cricket journos

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The happiest two Indians in the world right now must be Mahender Singh Dhoni and Virender Sehwag. The alleged fracas between film star Saif Ali Khan and a South African businessman and his family has pushed the apparent rift in the Indian cricket team to second or may be even third priority in the breathless world of Indian news television. We started Wednesday debating every small eyebrow lift made by the Indian captain and examined every snort by Sehwag to try and determine whether it was derogatory or just plain bacterial.

     

    But by the middle of the day, there was some terribly plaintively hurt gentleman, Iqbal Sharma, telling us in self-righteously hurt tones how Saif and friends had beaten him and his father-in-law up at Wasabi, probably Mumbai’s most expensive and best restaurant. Sharma sported a band-aid on his nose and told us it was broken. His father-in-law said he was punched in the face with a glancing blow (or something that sounded like boxing terminology) but even my flat screen hi-definition did not catch any visible marks on his smooth cheeks. Whatever. The duo appeared on any number of TV channels (all exclusively) and repeated their story. Saif Ali Khan said nothing. But the rest of the day was spent in speculation about when he would arrive at Colaba police station, when he would be arrested, what it would mean and so on. Maybe someone even discussed what he would wear, but I missed that.

     

    This drama went on and on although meanwhile some CPM cadre were killed in West Bengal, presumably by Trinamool Congress workers and Kingfisher’s fortunes continued to dip.

     

    But nothing was as big as the imminent arrest of Saif Ali Khan. Every TV channel accepted the version given by Sharma and family. The objectivity of there being two sides to a story seemingly goes out of the window when a celebrity is involved. As for the celebrity – he or she is either the worst person in the world or the best. I’ll qualify that, if the journalist is an entertainment journalist, the celeb is the best person. If a general category journalist then the celeb is the worst. The price of fame, presumably.

     

    Sadly, when the arrest happened, it lasted only a few moments and the film star was then out on bail. This also caused outrage. But regardless of whether Saif Ali Khan is a film star or not, I would like our TV reporters to investigate the last time someone was not eligible for bail for having a little late-night fisticuffs in a restaurant. If everyone was given seven years rigorous imprisonment for this crime, we would have to build thousands of new jails.

     

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    Anyway, the big news of the day appears to be the resignation of Mumbai Congress chief, the controversial Kripa Shankar Singh. Not only did the Congress do miserably in the recent elections but Singh has also been charged with corruption on several counts. I thank the newspapers for this.

     

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    Meanwhile, Dhoni and Sehwag must still be holding their breath. Because the hysteria of sports journalists and TV commentators, when it comes to Indian cricket, knows no bounds. It is completely unrestrained by logic, rationale, practicality and other such mundane notions.

     

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    RIP Marie Colvin, veteran journalist, with the Sunday Times (London), killed in Syria.

     

  • In Freaking News, which will now appear every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that's on the Web

    Freaking News: Mamata Banerjee, media’s favourite whipping girl

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    This was an unexpected find: I had assumed (and from past experience) that the Hindustan Times would be strongest in local coverage amongst the national dailies in the national capital, given that New Delhi is (or was) its stronghold. But while HT does score on nitty-gritty local happenings, its biggest rival, The Times of India, is still going strong as far as blanket coverage of all news is concerned.

     

    This should be troubling for Hindustan Times because although it has the advantages of first choice as far as old-timers are concerned and its long history with the capital, its rival appears to be hitting where it hurts the most – with content. TOI and HT have been running neck and neck in Delhi for years, with both claiming ownership of the city at different times but conventional wisdom usually gave HT the edge. Now, I wonder.

     

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    James Murdoch has had to step down from the chairmanship of News International UK and is now being called a “shadow man with no role in the empire” (Sydney Morning Herald). This is of course the outcome of the phone-hacking scandal involving not just the defunct News of the World but other titles in the Murdoch stable of newspapers. Whether Junior’s moving aside is going to change company policy is another matter. Just as paid news and Medianet and its variations remain giant ogres for the Indian media to deal with, the dodgy practices of News Corp’s newspapers and journalists are the core problems. Removing James may not therefore be enough. As we have seen over the past year, the connections between the Murdoch empire and subsequent governments in the UK run deep and the favour system appears to have corrupted everyone, even the once highly-admired Scotland Yard.

     

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    The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal finds itself under greater media scrutiny with every passing day. The tendency of the chief minister to blame every event on the previous Left government and turn every criticism into a conspiracy theory has only made matters worse. Perhaps she needs some better media advisers and spin doctors? Right now, she’s the media’s favourite whipping boy (girl) and unfortunately for her, she, her ministers and her party only make matters worse every time they open their mouths!