MxMIndia

Category: COLUMNS

  • If things continue in this fashion, then in the kurukshetra of Indian advertising and marketing, there will be no victors. Everyone will be a loser, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    It is time to redefine and strengthen self-regulation by ASCI?

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Marketers are rushing to court to protect their interest. Somehow, we don’t find that surprising. However, if it continues, government intervention and involvement may end the era of self-regulation.

    The game was always on. The wait was to see who will blink first. Everyone is taking sides. The arguments are more based on professional expectations than on personal pointofview. Hopefully, I am wrong on this.

    It is between the  favourite boy of Indian marketing – ‘Baba Ramdev’ with the expanding empire of Patanjali brand and banking on large follower base and magic of Ayurveda versus MNC HUL (Baba’s favourite punching bag) and the desi FMCG giant Dabur.

    This is one fight where the fighter Patanjali does not endorse the usual watchdog referee ASCI. It refuses to listen to ASCI. In fact, it calls self-regulator ASCI as an MNC conspiracy and questions its credentials.

    Result, the three companies are at the High Court door. This does not speak well for ASCI. It is time for ASCI to get more teeth. There has to be a media buyin in dealing with errant regular offenders? The question remains: who will bell a high media spending cat? Does this mean a slow death for self-regulation and time for government involvement?

    If things continue in this fashion, then in the kurukshetra of Indian advertising and marketing, there will be no victors. Everyone will be a loser.

    The High Court has asked Patanjali to stop airing its Chyawanprash advertisement. Dabur objected that ‘trade dress and packaging- in the advertisements is too similar to Dabur’s, and any illiterate and semi-literate customer can easily be fooled’. Patanjali was also asked to stop airing its bath soap advertisement. HUL found the reference of ‘Filmi Sitaro ke chemical bhare sabun na use karey’  (Don’t use chemical-based soaps of film stars) attacked its legacy brand Lux and ‘Tears badhaye fears’ (Tears increase your fears) attacked Pears. This summer, HUL was in court against Amulicecream given the vegetable fat controversy.

    Why are marketers rushing to court? Is it because of slowness of process?  or is it that they find ASCI toothless against a non-member like Patanjali?

    Baba Ramdev’s stance and strategy was absolutely clear. A visit to Tier-II and III towns will show you how successful it has been. The effect of Dant Kanti- Charcoal, Neem and namak message is visible. Established brands like Colgate are seen as chemical-based and one which were misleading Indian consumers, questioning their legacy knowledge.

    Taking  potshot via comparative advertising is not new. Mostly things were under control as member organisations never questioning the authority and credibility of ASCI.

    In case of Patanjali, in past, ASCI has repeatedly objected to its advertisements for unfairly denigrating rival products and misleading communication. However, the result have not  been satisfying.

    Patanjali, a fast-growing large FMCG player has kept ASCI at arm’s length and not taken up membership of the self-regulatory body.  It has questioned the authority, capability and credibility of ASCI. It had filed a defamation suit and notice of motion against ASCI (seeking interim relief against the latter) for getting a series of notices on their advertisements from the regulatory body in recent times.

    It was rare for the quarterly update of CCC (Consumer Complaint Council) not to have a complaint upheld against Patanjali.  And every time Patanjali ignored or reacted adversely.

    Baba Ramdev on record has this to say: “In the last few weeks, we have received 27 notices from ASCI. The issue has also been flagged off in the Parliament session recently. ASCI is an unconstitutional body. The Bombay High Court had, in an order last year, flayed ASCI for its highhandedness despite not being a regulator. The ASCI’s actions are nothing but a collective conspiracy by some multinational companies, who has a great deal of influence on ASCI,”

    In another blow, last year, Justice G.S. Patel of the Bombay High Court in his verdict on a plea filed by Teleshop Teleshopping, noted that ASCI wasn’t a statutory body or government regulator, and it did not have powers to restrict any commercial advertisements of the petitioner. So where does it leave self-regulation?

    ASCI must get more teeth.  It needs powers that are beyond self-regulation and recommendatory. It needs media to support it and  stop airing and publishing offending ads from  a large media spender. The framework must promote marketers seeking solutions within self-regulation. Or we as an industry be  ready for the days that no one wants.

    ………………………….

    To fail, Patanjali and Baba need to do something really stupid like 7.5 on a Richter scale. A chink in the armour remains in the area of product quality and consistency. Recently,the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) suspended the sale of a batch of Patanjali Ayurveda’s Amla juice after it “failed” to clear a laboratory test. Maybe MNCs will take this consumer quality route to hit Patanjali. Baba and Patanjali enjoy high credibility among consumers.

    All is not good. The consumer also doubts the rags to yoga to ayurveda to riches story, the production capability and the quality assurance from Patanjali. It is not surprising that over drinks, people claim that last yearthe issue with Maggi was a creation of competition launching its own noodles.

    ………………………………

    Taking shot at competition is not new. Earlier we have had Pespodent Vs Colgate or Complan Vs Horlicks, Microsoft Vs Samsung, Times of India vs Hindu, and you cannot forget ‘Tide se kahin behtar safedi de Rin’ or HUL Clinic Vs P&G Head and Shoulder.

    In a recent article on comparative advertising, Prabhakar Mundkur refers to Patanjali and HUL stand-off. I wish to point out that Lux and Pears being an institution does not provide them immunity from comparative advertising or any other marketing attack. He wonders,if anyone in Patanjali knew that when they were attacking Lux and Pears in a single commercial that they were attacking some reputed and venerable brands with a sense of history. And that it was a bit of a marketing sacrilege to have done so!

    LOL. Is that possible? In a place where decision-making is highly centralised, and the employees are pushed on an ideology? And comparative advertising need not to be the last resort or hitting below the belt. It has been the central strategy of Patanjali.

    I am not here for a debate on comparative advertising. I believe it is a twin-edged sword and can work wonders if handled well. And in this case, it is not merely comparative advertising but a belief and a push for swadeshi, anti-MNC and low-cost-acceptable quality product endorsed and supported by Baba who needs no introduction or propping up, something that no MNC can match.

    …………………………………………..

    Disclaimer. I am neither a bhakt or follower of Baba nor an endorser of MNC or other companies. Just an industryperson interested in promoting self-regulation.
    …………………………………………..

    You may also want to read. Sept 2017,  Patanjali Plays Dirty in War Against MNCs.  Sept 2017, Patanjali ordered to stop airing Chyawanprash ads. April 2017, Army canteens withdraw Amla juice supplied by Ramdev’s Patanjali. July 2016, Patanjali ads unsubstantiated, misleading: ASCI. Sept 2016, Patanjali Moves Mumbai High Court Against ASCI. Jan 2017. Sept 2016, ASCI says 25 of the 33 Patanjali ads misleading. Sept 2017. Patajali to sue ASCI for defamation. SEPT 15, 2016 Patanjali Looses against DABUR in Honey war . AUG 2016, 10 Reasons Why Patanjali Ads pulled up by ASCI.

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is a leading management and business strategy consultant. The views here are personal

     

  • If anyone thought the readership battles between the Times of India and Hindustan Times were over the top, the various figures thrown at us by news channels take competitive combativeness to a whole other level​, writes ​Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Bad journalistic practices here to stay?

    ​By ​Ranjona Banerji

     

    Are you surprised that the media went into overdrive about Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Gujarat? Are you surprised that so few wondered that the launch of the bullet train project was so close to the Gujarat state assembly elections? Are you surprised that prime minister Narendra Modi’s every step, move, smile and gesture was such a matter of breathless excitement?

    Of course, you are not. In fact, you probably didn’t even notice the somewhat bogus little attempt at “secularism” where news channels were all over themselves because Modi visited a mosque! In fact, Modi took his visitors to the heritage site of Sidi Saiyyid ni jali – perhaps they even asked to see the beautiful stone carving that is the logo of Ahmedabad city for some and definitely for IIM, Ahmedabad. They then had lunch at a famous, fashionable Gujarati food restaurant close by. No, Modi did not visit Jama Masjid and change the BJP’s view on minorities completely. But should we sensationalise whatever we can? Definitely!

    But herein lies an integral problem which has forever dogged journalism and our viewers and readers. Part of our job as journalists is to bring whatever we tag as news to our readers. Once you accept that, the spectrum of news stretches from a film star’s make-up style to names of rich people who have stashed their money illegally in off-shore accounts.

    Some of these will be seen as invasion of privacy. Others will be seen as journalistic overreach. News can be ponderously important and it can be frothy insignificance. But, as long as readers and viewers are interested and want more, it ticks the box. However much it might upset people, there is no doubt that sensationalist news which focuses on the seedy side of life is a crowd-puller. An old complaint from readers is that newspapers will put some film star on the front page but not rural distress. This is true and it is unfortunate. But it is also true that all research shows that more people read about film stars than rural distress. Does it say something about humans that edit pages, the most “serious” pages in any newspaper, are the least read?

    The internet and television have shaken some of the old print shibboleths. Opinion gets traction. But they have created problems of their own. Recently, there was much online anger over a fight – shown live by some news channels – between representatives of Republic TV and Times Now and the father of the boy murdered in a Gurgaon school. Times Now had reached the grieving father first and he had been fitted with a mike to speak to the anchor. The representative from Republic TV tried to get rid of Times Now and replace the mike with their own.

    Obviously the scenes and the behaviour are shocking and unacceptable. Some amount of professional courtesy is expected, no matter how big the story. But this is the sort of pressure that television newsrooms put on their reporters and that strange term, “guest coordinators”. Rules of acceptable normal behaviour (forget “decency”) are thrown out of the window to be “first”, to get “breaking news” and so on. One might hope that this particular incident is an aberration but as competition gets more intense and as TV anchors misbehave nightly on live television, it is more likely that ugly confrontation on the ground will become the norm as news channels fight for viewers.

    If anyone thought the readership battles between the Times of India and Hindustan Times were over the top, the various figures thrown at us by news channels take competitive combativeness to a whole other level.

    As long as viewers like this kind of journalism, though, I only see things getting worse.

    Makes you almost long for the days when the achievements of Sachin Tendulkar and the bland beauty of Aishwariya Rai dominated the front pages. At least they were less unpleasant on the eye, ear, brain…

     

    By A Correspondent

  • Senior editors or those in charge at the moment are not really known for showing a whole lot of courage or gumption, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Media running scared of government?!

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    After news of Bobby Ghosh quitting Hindustan Times broke, the rumour mill has been full of other names who have or will soon be asked to leave their editors’ posts. Managements, according to prevailing gossip, are now scared of repercussions from the government of India, which has become very sensitive to criticism. And no matter how much “sanskari” journalists would like to carry on with their PR exercises, the state of the Indian economy alone has meant that even those favourably inclined to the BJP are being forced to ask questions of the government and its policies.

    I exempt from this magazines and websites like Swarajya.com which have tried to criticise some aspects of the government’s economic policies but then come up with absolutely cracking theories to justify some actions like the rise in prices of petrol, more than half of which are government taxes. When previous governments have done the same thing, they were wrong of course. But when the BJP government does it, the intention is to curb jihadi terrorism. IS, one hears, is quivering in its boots at this brilliant counter-move by the Indian government?

    To get back to scuttlebutts on media changes and removals, if indeed managements are running scared what hope do journalists have? Senior editors or those in charge at the moment are not really known for showing a whole lot of courage or gumption. If you recall, after the raids on NDTV, the best and most forceful speakers in support of the media were retired editors. Are we going to see a pushback from those in positions of power today? I hope but I do not hold my breath.

    **

    The hope, such as it is in today’s climate, will come from the independent media and I do not mean Republic TV. Rather, independent websites run by journalists have so far shown the most courage and more journalism than established media outlets. The Wire, Scroll, Catch News, Janata ka Reporter are only some of these. Because they are not owned by large corporations with multiple business interests, they have an immediate advantage. And since rich owners have only meant shrinking newsgathering allowances, it is not that journalism has really benefitted from managements. Except for a few pay packets for some journalists.

    **

    Rahul Gandhi continues to be a topic of speculation in the media. Some hope he will emerge from his chrysalis as a mega leader to take on Narendra Modi, others think the tide has turned in his favour and former sceptics have started to see his views and words in new and more pleasant light. Unfortunately, the Congress Party’s social media team is ultra-sensitive about criticism of Gandhi although it is overjoyed when the BJP and government are attacked by the same journalists. Now that even esteemed columnists like Tavleen Singh, who have been very supportive of Modi and extremely acidic about all the Gandhi, have seen some sense in Rahul Gandhi’s comments, the Congress social media team needs to pick its adversaries better. Why descend to the same level as the BJP’s trolls?

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. The views here are personal.

     

     

  • Shailesh Kapoor lists reasons why a show, which was once thought to be a dead horse which no channel should flog, is back to the top

    Shailesh Kapoor: KBC: Welcome The New No 1

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Seventeen years and nine seasons. Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) is, in many ways, the pivot around which the history of India’s entertainment television in the post-liberalisation era can be written. The programme itself has had a checkered history though, with not all seasons being equally successful. But the ninth season, which marks the return of KBC after three years, is a runaway success already. It’s the No 1 Hindi GEC show in Urban India in its third week, and has shown healthy week-on-week growth in its viewership.

    In today’s times of ever-reducing attention spans, keeping the audiences engaged for 90 minutes, five days a week, is no easy task. But KBC has managed this in no small measure. Here are some reasons why a show, which was once thought to be a dead horse which no channel should flog, is back to the top:

    Three years: A wait worth it

    In 2010-2014, Sony aired five seasons of KBC. While they had somewhat different positioning attempts, there was a sense of KBC fatigue in the last two years of that period. KBC seemed to be on air perpetually. In a way, it lost its exclusivity or its premium feel, making it one of the several non-fiction shows that come and go every year. The three-year hiatus has worked very well, creating a sense of anticipation and novelty.

    No social agenda

    Past seasons of KBC have had social themes, which reflected not just in their communication, but also in their content. The themes ranged from women empowerment to providing a life-changing platform to the poor and the underprivileged. While the idea worked initially, by the 2013 season, KBC had become an emotionally-draining show to watch, with contestant videos showcasing misery that one would rather not watch on prime-time television. This season is free of any such agenda. It has an eclectic mix of contestants across the socio-economic spectrum, and engages purely at the level of knowledge and entertainment. Social messaging is all around us today, be it films, TV or the social media. KBC didn’t need to join that bandwagon, and it hasn’t. Even the little Friday touch, called Nayi Chaah Nayi Raah, is social awareness served in a light and frothy entertainment pack.

    More engaging game-play

    There haven’t been any major tweaks in the format, but the few that have been done have worked well. Integration of ‘digital’ aspects like video calling for the Phone-A-Friend lifeline and the supposed online transfer of the prize money, which we are repeatedly told is fast and safe, may look gimmicky to many of us in the media business, but work at a fairly simplistic level in an India that’s still in the courtship period with the Internet.

     

    Fiction content struggling

    The timing of the latest season’s launch couldn’t have been more apt. Fiction content has been struggling for the last year or two, as has been covered in this column repeatedly. There have been very few options on weekdays, however, to challenge fiction’s monopoly, despite the escalating viewer dissatisfaction. Bigg Boss, the only other weekday non-fiction show, airs late at 10.30pm. At 9pm, KBC has attacked fiction at the heart of the primetime. And it’s worked!

     

     

  • What Goswami did is not excusable, writes Ranjona Banerji. He stole an experience to make himself look bigger and braver. All it has done is make him look smaller and sillier

    Arnab Goswami – A Legend in His Own Mind?

     

    B​y Ranjona Banerji

    What an incredible kerfuffle! In a speech he made a couple of years ago, TV anchor Arnab Goswami told a moving story about how he was attacked by riotous mobs carrying trishuls, close to the chief minister’s residence, while covering the Gujarat riots in 2002. Great story​,​ ​but one slight issue with it. The incident did happen. But it did not happen to Goswami. It happened to Rajdeep Sardesai and other colleagues at NDTV.

    Sardesai put the video of Goswami’s speech up on Twitter, expressing surprise at Goswami’s story. The video was taken down and then put up again. Inevitably, minor spats broke out all over Twitter. An employee of Republic TV standing up for her boss, Goswami, posted a photograph where Goswami was part of the group covering the riots. This claim was quickly demolished by Goswami’s former colleagues – he was sent to Gujarat yes but to Kheda and a week after Sardesai’s car was attacked by a mob. The photo was taken later. Several colleagues from NDTV corroborated Sardesai’s assertion that Goswami was lying. Goswami was also defended, or rather Sardesai was attacked, by actor Anupam Kher who occasionally functions as a spokesperson for the government and now also apparently for Goswami.

    What makes someone lie like this? In an article for DailyO, journalist Swati Chaturvedi called Goswami a “fantasist”. On an India Today TV show on the issue, lawyer Sanjay Hegde pointed out, tongue firmly in cheek, that everyone is entitled to be a “legend in their own minds”.

    But what it comes to down to plain and simple is plagiarism. Writers steal words. Those who do not write, steal experiences. Goswami’s story had many personal touches which add verisimilitude – the fear of the driver who had no ID, Goswami’s preference to sit in the front of a car, the sound of the mob. This was a story he must have internalised until it became his own. Perhaps he really believes it happened to him. Maybe he wished it happened to him. Goswami is a studio creation. He was forgettable in his earlier jobs, whatever he did there. He came into his own thundering behind a desk at Times Now.

    Perhaps however he still carries a torch for his non-existent days as an intrepid reporter, covering perilous ground and breaking earth-shattering stories. Since he does not have enough fireside chat experiences of his own, he has no option but to steal the experiences of others. Or maybe he was just borrowing this one: he was going to return it but he forgot: “I covered the riots but not this part that I wanted to cover. So I thought I’d just try your part for a bit to see what it felt like.”

    Of all the roles that journalism offers you, reporting is only one of them. It is not too late for Goswami to become a reporter. He may find it suits him. But he must be more courageous than he has been in the past. Even recently, during one of Mumbai’s super-rainy days, he did not venture very far from his office and stood under a flyover on Tulsi Pipe Road with an umbrella. That is not proper reporting. Nor is going to Milan ​Subway in Santa Cruz.

    He can instead prowl the countryside of Raigad to find any more clues in Sheena Bora’s murder. It may be more dramatic to go at night. And not wear a suit while he does it, although that can be his signature move. He might also lurk around the Leela Palace hotel in Delhi and solve the Sunanda Pushkar case all by himself.

    But let us get down to brasstacks. What Goswami did is not excusable. He stole an experience to make himself look bigger and braver. All it has done is make him look smaller and sillier.

    It has been a while since Goswami stopped practising any type or form of journalism. If he wants to make a comeback, I am not sure that stealing someone else’s experience is the right way to go about it.

    But who knows. This is the “new India”. Anything is possible.

    **

    Meanwhile, it is terrible that one more journalist was brutally killed, this time in the line of duty. Santanu Bhowmick was covering a protest in Tripura when he was abducted and hacked to death by political elements at the rally. This has sadly become all too common – to kill journalists in an attempt to silence the media. Appalling, unacceptable.

     

    ​Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. The views here are personal​

     

  • While sharing the earnings, Sridhar gives you a ringside view to a hypothetical ideation session with a company where the CEO is sceptical about the outcome, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Sanjeev Kotnala: A review of R Sridhar’s ‘Unlock the real power of ideation’

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Ever wondered why there is not much to write about the ideation sessions happening every few days in the corporate environment?Or why things don’t seem to move the way you want even after taking every possible precaution and ensuring the participation of right people and great environment? Is it the process or the facilitator, the people or the environment, the location or the subject?

    Stop panicking. In his book “Unlock The Real Power of Ideation,”R Sridhar, the ideation and creativity guru, answer few of these questions. He shares what he has learnt in his career as a corporate exec and then as a coach and facilitator.

    R Sridhar

    While sharing the earnings, Sridhar uses storytelling to full impact. He gives you a ringside view to a hypothetical ideation session with a company where the CEO is sceptical about the outcome. The CEO baits Sridhar with a challenge and then invites him for a session with his team.

    The rest is the story that takes off from this confrontation. Sridhar fortunately uses many examples and a nicely paced conversation to drive home the point.

    Sridhar identifies and keeps the focus on to the ‘SEVEN KEYS’ to help an effective ideation session.

    The 7keys that helps unlock the real power of ideation are.

    1. Define what you want ideas for.
    2. Choose the right people.
    3. Design a robust process.
    4. Use divergence to generate a variety of options.
    5. Use convergence to arrive at idea’s worth pursuing.
    6. Make a business case.
    7. Commit resources, time and money and act.

    Sridhar empathises the three stakeholders important for a great ideation session. He says, “In in my ideation sessions, there are three key players. The first is the problem owner or client who wants ideas to solve a problem. The second is the facilitator – me – who designs and manages the process. The third are the participants in the session. I call them advisors.” Nothing could be away from the truth.

    The book has a short description of useful tools and techniques for ideation.

    First part of the book deals with generating divergent multiple solutions and approaches ( ideas) for the agreed issues. And the latter part tells ways to converge ( select) the best solution from the large number of ideas developed in the first phase.

    Sridhar has used Grey Screen to highlight the things e wants you to read and think about or what he considers as a critical takeout of the chapters or the discussions. Here are few examples

    ‘The assumption we make about the problem limits the quality of our solutions. So, it is important for us to clarofy boundaries if any. Otherwise, people make their own assumptions, which affect their thinking’ – Page 39

    Here is another gem that I personally fully endorse and believe in. ‘People affected by the problem are likely to give better solutions than those who created the problem’ Page 49

    ‘When people have no stake in the issue under discussion, they feel and are unafraid. They have no inhibition or bias. They express anything that strikes their mind. It could be wild, crazy, impossible, unusual, funny, risky, foolish, stupid, childish, expensive, dangerous and sometimes even irritating. It is from such a crop that we get a brilliant possibility. Quantity leads to quality’ Page 54

    On page 151; he simplifies the definition of idea. ‘An idea is a prescription for action…… By definition, an idea will change people, places and situations. And you know what is expected.

    There are two areas where I believe that Sridhar should have pushed more.

    •     Everyone is creative, and everyone can contribute in these sessions.

    •     The need for multiple solutions and the quantity (number of solutions) leading to quality (selection of a better alternative).

    It is a simplified approach to a simple process that people see as a complex one. I am very happy that Sridhar in his book over simplifies it. The only area which I feel could have been toned down is the self-appreciation. In some parts of the book, it seems to sell Sridhar as an ideation facilitator, and it does a damn good job of it.

    In my ideation workshops – ‘IDEA-HARDVEST’ and ‘InNoWait’ -  I use similar processes and can vouch for quality of results. There is no cramping for space. The lines and words are well spaced. This does add bulk in terms of the number of pages but then the type size and space enhance readability.

    Go ahead and read the book. You can’t bore people into thinking differently. Sridhar book will surely help you think differently in your future approaches to ideation. And yes, he does not bore you.

     

  • The industry is still working from ivory towers and strong metro-centric mindset, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Sanjeev Kotnala: Sensitive about Stereotypes!

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    I am not sure where this piece is going. It has unstated directions. It is in a flux, waiting for thought traffic to settle in my mind. No, I am not going to take the blame any more.

    We are a country of major differences, minor alignments, dramatic impressions and uncontrolled trolling and aggression. We live with a polarised understanding of ‘freedom of speech and expression’ supported by religious zealots and provokers. We have definitely pushed boundaries. We have then failed to question if the boundaries or openness as defined in the western way of living was right for us. No, I am not the feudal types.

    We have graduated from simple slogans like ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kissan’, ‘Garibi Hatao’ to highly futuristic promising ‘Make in India’, ‘Girl Power’, ‘Digital India’ and many more. We have dams that break apart before inauguration and Prime Minister proudly dedicating to the nation a dam that took 56 years to build. We aim to catch Dawood when Hanipreet beats our best plans. We have a current list of fake Babas in public space but none of the largest loan defaulters. No, I am not against Narendra Modi.

    We are in the mythological space where chalta hai, adapt, adjust and please rule the lingo of opportunists. A fantasy land absolutely comfortable with slips between the cup and the lip. We live in a haze of ambitions amidst undefined uncertainties silently expressed with ‘If’, ‘but’, ‘maybe’, ‘Hojayega’, ‘kintu’ and ‘lekin’. No, I am not a pessimist.

    We are a country with rich tradition of storytelling and peaceful defiance. Hence, advertising industry seeing self-regulation as a promise of controlled future and delayed governmental interference is no surprise. So what if one of the largest and fastest-growing companies distances itself from it. Don’t get paranoid when highly trained and experienced professionals in complete know of the system, processes and guidelines end up mocking the toothless tiger. They take pride in playing new games with the norms and expectations. No, I think I am not one of them.

    Moreover, today, we have a new breed of social-cultural warriors holding the country and its citizen hostage to their ideologies. They are nimble and agile warriors. They don’t have to answer anyone. They easily shift from one point of agitation to another without any worries. They are hard believers with firm lines of arguments. You don’t want to mess with them personally or professionally. No, I would not want to think of all of us as cowards.

    That leaves the intellectual segment armed with social media. They are busy blowing their trumpets in TV debates. However, they do not manage more than 300 words in an hour on any argument. They are happy with the facetime and social leverage it provides them. We are the meek spectators with subdued voices. We are lost within in the jungle of over-reported, analysed and amplified unintelligent cacophony in the media. No, I don’t waste time at 9pm debates on TV.

    So, why am I sharing all this?

    Somewhere, I have a sense of being let down. The industry is still working from ivory towers and strong metro-centric mindset. The major communication initiatives are being delivered on observations masquerading as insight. Planners are happy with risky propositions that guarantee buzz and viral potential. No, my life is mostly not threatened by such communication.

    Here is what I have observed in Tier-II and III towns and even in Tier-II and III, which exist within metros

    While the consumer appreciates the young woman preparing her husband’s favourite dishes after coming home from office. This is the same woman who is senior to her husband in office and has given him a late assignment to complete. They smile. The brigade calls it blatant exploitation. The debate dies its natural death till someone scratches it like a dried old wound.

    While consumers smile watching the young girl proudly present her first round roti, the brigade jumps in questioning gender equality and why is advertising strengthening the stereotype. They want the brand to answer stupid questions like; what was she doing in the kitchen when the brother was on dining table? The debate will also die after some time.

    While the consumer frowns at the girl introducing her girlpartner to her parents, the brigade appreciates and applauds it. A minority pushes in the question of non-representation of society status and current construct, but they are silenced. We adapt and soon see many such bold communication from unknown brands trying to make their place. They will find the path is not so easy.

    The same brigade never questions only mothers over indulgence in milk additive advertisements. Where is the dad? Why is it that only mother has to take care of the kid? Why she has to be the one to silently relentlessly put efforts to realise her and her children dreams? These questions don’t want answers.

    The brigade forgets stereotypes and gender equality. It conveniently reframed the context and took offence to Sunny Leone promoting ManForce condoms during Navratri Garba celebration in Gujarat. . Even a kid knows she is doing absolutely the right thing. Unfortunately, there is no protection for this creative.

    On the days promoted by card making companies, we find a series of touching communication. Son and daughter finding time to visit old parents more out of guilt then love and care. They bond over conversations happening over the fastest network. Taking care of their bill is seen as a job well done and reducing the guilt. The masala can anyway help deliver maa key hath ka tatse. No brigade objects to this depiction of uncultured overtly corrupted sentiments as per Indian standards. Maybe agitating against it would not give high return on buzz and news.

    Why even worry about all this?

    Soon there is going to be a situation at home. I can’t have Maa making the meal as nuclear family is the way of life. She is old anyway. The brigade may question the intent. Wife should not be forced to make the meal and be confined to the kitchen. She has a world she must conquer. Daughter in the progressive family is not meant to do it. We are busy commenting and reflecting on the unreal India. I understand. I should cook my own meal.

    In this period of Darwinian evolution, we have moved from ‘Ready to cook’ to ‘Ready to eat’ and from leftovers in the fridge to ordering meals on mobile. However, somewhere we miss the aroma wafting its way from the kitchen, the inquisitive looks and the anticipation of what is cooking. It ensures that the love within the family was more than just an early morning ‘I Love you’. No, I am not worried when I see the consumers in non-metro confused at these signals.

    Maybe we will find a way out just like revival of Aryuveda after prolonged chemical products. It may be late for us to put into practice our ancient cultural knowledge and learning’s. Once we fail to transfer it to the next generation, there will be no return. No, I am not a Bababhakt.

    We can see the direction we are moving in. How the new stereotyped progressive representation is being forced into the name of gender sensitivity, and equality are shaping the coming generation! The wheel is already moving in that direction. The social media support and discussions, hate mails and trolls are accelerating the process of fueling hatred and prejudiced biases.

    Many of us are confused. Unsure if we are moving in the right direction. Before writing anything in public domain, we worry about the brigade. We know we are not strong enough to put our life and reputation on line.

    The last question.

    I have another question. If the watchdog of self-regulation is worried of advertisements not following follow the guidelines and work to ensure they are taken off the media, should it also not work or lobby to ensure safe passage and right to communicate for the brands not violating the guidelines.

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is a senior marketing and strategy consultant and trainer. The views here are his own.

  • For seven years now, the same five male stars have consistently taken the Top 5 positions: Salman, Akshay, Shah Rukh, Aamir and Hrithik Roshan, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Shailesh Kapoor: Bollywood’s Star Crisis: How soon can the youth take over?

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    The year 2017 is turning out to be Bollywood’s toughest in a long time. In the eight complete months of the year (Jan-Aug), the domestic box-office of Hindi films (not counting the dubbed Bahubali 2), has dropped by 16.9% vis-à-vis the same period in 2016. While there are some big films lined up for the rest of the year, 2016’s biggest success (Dangal) was a December release. Hence, the gap could only widen by the time the year ends.

     

    Content not being able to deliver to the audience’s rising expectations is the primary reason for this declining trend, as covered in this column after the debacle of Jab Harry Met Sejal (read here). But there’s another important reason that has been building up over the last decade, and now beginning to have a major impact: Lack of young superstars.

     

    For seven years now, since the start of our star tracking product Ormax Stars India Loves, the same five male stars have consistently taken the Top 5 positions: Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan. Their ranks keep moving a bit, but barring a few weeks when Ranbir Kapoor had found a position in it, the Top 5 list has remained unchanged.

     

    The average age of these five stars today is 50 years. They have been the top stars for more than a decade now, if not longer, when their average age was less than 40 years. If the average age of the top stars in the business doesn’t come down over time, it is bound to impact the content being made. For example, you cannot take a 50-year-old star as the lead in a youthful romantic film. Hence, if you want to make an ambitious, big-budget film in this genre, you will have to scrap the idea, because younger stars do not guarantee the kind of opening required at the box office to make the economies work.

     

    As a result, certain genres could move out of the mainstream over time, either by becoming niche and hence targeting only a smaller section of the mass audiences, or by disappearing altogether. In a category driven by the youth (65% of the first-day business and 59% of the lifetime business of an average Bollywood film comes from audiences in the 15-24 yrs. age group), progressive elimination of youth-centric genres is bound to dent business.

     

    Even if a 50-something established star can fit a role, such as the twins in Judwaa 2, you have probably seen that star do the same stuff already (in Judwaa’s case, literally so), and hence, it may fall short of your expectations from the star. The big superstars are smart enough to realise this. Akshay Kumar, for example, has consciously moved away from his staple genres from the last decade – slapstick comedy and mass action – to offer message comedies and thrillers, and found good success at that.

     

    The younger stars must be able to compete for the top spots to restore the equilibrium between the audiences, the stars and the content. Ranbir Kapoor was at the threshold of breaking into the elite league after Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, but a spate of misfires has held him back.

     

    Over the last two-three years, Varun Dhawan and Ranveer Singh have emerged as strong alternatives to finish the task Ranbir Kapoor couldn’t. The task of becoming a superstar with a mass connect pan India. Dhawan has arguably his most important film releasing today. Judwaa 2’s opening is likely to be big, and the film could firmly establish Dhawan as the most saleable young star. Singh, too, has a big film coming up, in Padmavati on December 1.

     

    In a year when a Shah Rukh Khan film (Jab Harry Met Sejal) could not even open well, and Salman Khan struggled to get audience attention with Tubelight, the success of Judwaa 2 and Padmavati can prepare the ground for a baton change in 2018. The top stars of today will continue to thrive, but addition of young blood in the mix can secure an industry that’s facing a crisis it would like to get out of, sooner than later.

  • It is highly likely that someone from the BJP will provide some cock and bull explanation which blames Ravish Kumar for being threatened by BJP fans and members, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji:Is my life in danger,Ravish Kumar asks PM

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Ravish Kumar, the popular, thoughtful and to the point news anchor of NDTV India, has long been the target of trolls and assorted BJP fans for his fearless view of journalism. He was forced to disengage from Twitter by the constant assaults. Now an expose by AltNews, which has tied up with The Wire, proves that Kumar is being harangued and threatened on Whatsapp groups, to which he is forcibly added no matter how many times he tries to leave them. And as has now become expected, those who threaten him are all either members of the RSS and BJP or the larger Sangh Parivar and are usually followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter.

    Kumar has written an open letter to Modi, published by The Wire, which is in his signature style: speak softly and carry a big stick. Headlined, ‘Is my life in danger’, he asks: “I also feel bad and sorry about the foul language used for you on the social media platforms. But here the case is about the people from your side, who are threatening a journalist like me. Whenever I tried to leave the WhatsApp group, people in the group used to say that catch him, he is running away, beat him and again add me into the group. I can’t share the sample of their language over here because I know I am writing a letter to the prime minister of India. It is my obligation and duty to regard you even in my strongest criticism…

    “Now, I would like to ask if you really follow Neeraj Dave and Nikhil Dadhich? Why? Few days back, I had shared the screenshot of their WhatsApp group on my Facebook page @RavishKaPage. The investigation of Prateek Sinha and Neelesh Purohit of AltNews.in shows that Neeraj Dave is a resident of Rajkot and is the managing director of an export company. You follow Neeraj Dave. When I asked him to not use such abusive language he replied that he is sad that I am alive.”

    Of course, it is highly unlikely that Modi will respond. It is highly likely that someone from the BJP will provide some cock and bull explanation which blames Kumar for being threatened by BJP fans and members.

    https://thewire.in/182430/ravish-kumar-narendra-modi-social-media-trolls-twitter-death-threat/

     

     

     

    **

     

    As the economy continues its miserable journey to the bottom, expect the rightwing to get more vicious. Look at the reactions to BJP member and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha speaking out about the economy in The Indian Express. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that he did not have the luxury of writing columns (unlike Sinha) and also that Sinha was hankering for a job (at the age of 79!). Admittedly, Jaitley was Sinha’s main target but why should a Union minister not show a little dignity?

    Meanwhile, The Times of India happily decided to play His Master’s Voice and carried a piece by Yashwant Sinha’s son Jayant Sinha, civil aviation minister, defending the economy and opposing his father. Although I find the reporting and coverage of local events in my edition of The Times of India superior to other newspapers, its edit page is by far the worst of all newspapers in India. It provides neither insight nor analysis and often operates as a government mouthpiece. Incidentally, Sinha Junior was recently removed from the finance ministry – something which Sinha Senior was quick to point out.

    Most news channels took a break from chasing Honeypreet Singh, trying to foment Hindu-Muslim riots and attempting to start a war with Pakistan, to interview Sinha senior. Of all of them, Nidhi Razdan’s interview with Yashwant Sinha, on NDTV, was by far the best constructed with the most pointed questions.

     

    **

     

    Interesting to note that the Prime Minister’s great “power to the poor” scheme has not dominated the news cycle as the BJP may have hoped. In fact, newspapers everyday now explain the reality of a scheme which has existed for years.

    **

    Veteran journalist Vidyadhar Date has written a moving tribute to the late Arun Sadhu, whose life and career should provide a fine example to today’s journalists:https://thewire.in/181711/arun-sadhu-journalist-obituary/

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. The views here are personal

  • ​Surely the essence of our job, when it comes to our larger role as the “fourth estate” in a democracy, is to question those in power and hold them up to scrutiny​, asserts ​Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji​: This v/s That type of journalism?!

    ​By ​Ranjona Banerji

     

    As journalists gathered across India to protests attacks on journalists as well as on freedom of expression, an intriguing argument has developed on the side. This “type” of journalism against that “type”. That journalists are under threat is no secret. That not enough has been said and spoken about these attacks is no secret either. However, in recent times, protests from journalists have increased. The attacks on journalists at the Patiala Court, the murder of Jitendra Singh in UP, the threats to Malini Subramaniam in Chhatisgarh were treated as events by the national press where earlier they would have been ignored, although perhaps discussed in private media fora. The old belief was the media is not the news. That shibboleth has been junked and to some extent, good riddance.

    The murder of Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru last month however did shock most people and galvanised the media community. That is, most of the community because like everyone else in this country the media is also stuck in a “with us or against us” division. In fact, this binary argument, to use the current jargon, has stopped us from dealing with the crux of the matter. To whatever extent we have had government interference before, all condemnable, we are currently facing a very strong government and political backlash for being critical of those in power.

    It is disheartening to see young journalists truly believe that their job is to support the government – those older are beyond redemption! Yet surely the essence of our job, when it comes to our larger role as the “fourth estate” in a democracy, is to question those in power and hold them up to scrutiny. We do not get our mandate from any government but from the people and the Constitution. I am not talking about criticism for the sake of criticism. I am talking about questioning and analysing.

    There are views in the media that some journalists are too critical of the prime minister of India Narendra Modi and that this hatred is affecting journalistic clarity. Counter opinions say that questioning Modi or being critical is not hatred. I would humbly submit that while both these opinions are legitimate and must be heard, they are missing the woods for the trees. One could just as easily argue that hatred of the Congress stops journalists from fully understanding Rahul Gandhi: just change the party and the name of the politician and you can make the same argument for anyone.

    The argument, as far as I’m concerned is not whether Modi/BJP is over criticised or should not be criticised. It is that the scanner should concentrate on him and his party because he is in power. And it cannot be denied that whole swathes of journalists have been so obsessed with the opposition that it looks like they are trying to let the government off the hook. To flip the argument, even after the horrendous collapse of a bridge at Elphinstone station in Mumbai, news channels were looking for scapegoats in Prithviraj Chavan, former chief minister of Maharashtra and Sharad Pawar, NCP leader. Neither hold any government post today and Pawar has not for years. This is journalism that tries to deflect attention from those responsible because of its immense love for the BJP and Modi?

    Although I have been an opinionater for years now, I would balk at giving oped writers more significance in the media hierarchy that those who are out in the field and especially those who plan and prioritise the news of the day. They are the ones with the power and the bigger burden falls on them to ensure that they fulfil their first mandate: to question those in power regardless of party, personality and affiliation.

    As a footnote, always the bigger problem looms: owners and the management. As we see now, and we have seen before, they can do the biggest damage to media clarity and objectivity.

     

    ​Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Edtior, MxMIndia. The views here are her own

     

  • Looking from the managerial point of view, BiggBoss is a great learning workshop, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    BiggBoss Season 11: Watch it for your advanced learning & entertainment

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    On September 30, while people were busy celebrating Dassera, I was watching Salman Khan at the ‘Bigg Boss 11’ set in Lonavala sending 18 contestants to the BiggBoss House, where everyone of them will try to be the last one to leave. Today, it is two days old.

    There is no point hiding my addiction and love for Bigg Boss. It is a perfect voyeuristic peep-in into an adventurous sports called life.

    This year is no different. The overpowering host commands an unasked for respect from participants. He tries to maintain house decorum and the balance by questioning actions, expressions and behaviour of the participants.

    You can’t fault the participants, who in the absence of any entertainment, information and newness endup tracking their daily activity by following the Azaan from the nearby mosque, the trains whistling by the Lonavala station and the position of the sun.

    This absence acts as a catalyst and instigator for all the games we watch on the show.

    Participants have to create their own time-wasters. There is nothing new other than the differential tasks they have to do or a wildcard entry bringing in news from outside. All of them are in the lookout for the possible double bluffs that BiggBoss can run. The team at Colors and Endemol Shine is busy devising new ones. This act of Salman Khan being a temporary neighbour (audiences don’t believe it!) is one such surprise. The push for the four Padosi (neighbours) to create and master the story that they themselves are to weave around them is loaded with interesting possibilities and high entertainment potential.

    One cannot discount housekeeping tasks. They are the prime source of irritation and fights among the group. The barter system of favours and obligation develops in no time. The situation is already ripe with open nomination in ‘BiggBoss Season 11’. Soon predictably trading of blames will be replaced with beeps in the telecast. Every possible emotion finds its expression in the house. You just have to watch and follow it.

    This is the ripe ground for perceptions, biases, polarity, expectations and disappointment triggering the staple diet of volatile interaction that most of BiggBoss followers wait and die for. Opening the house to the commoner has added a new dimension; however, the channel has failed to exploit it. The commoners themselves have a kind of complex and the celebrity an air of unfounded superiority.

    The fun is in playing the strategic game of human understanding. People in HR, marketing, strategy and direct people interaction should concentrate here.

    The participants, celebrity or the commoner (as called by the channel, and I hate it) are not known to most of us. Definitely, we cannot claim to know them inside out, though we have our own perceptions that get further strengthened or weakened during the show, new ideas take shape, and we re-establish benchmarks. Our favourites change by episode and on the weekend show.

    If you watch it religiously which I believe you should, there is fun in knowing how well one can read the churn of a fluid social lab called the BiggBoss House. For example, if you were to recruit one of them, who will it be? Which participant can best replace you in the organisation? Don’t forget to provide your flimsy reasons for it. Remember BiggBoss always wants to know why. With which participant will you want to go out for a coffee? Play this as an icebreaker or a way to understand your teams. In fact, the channel if they want- can start an outside poll for this and even arranges to meet the participants in the activity area.

    The participant mix is standard. The teams need to think of the future possibilities in Indian context. The possibilities in the construct of the house, staying arrangements, newness of tasks, possible heightening glamour quotient across gender, punishment and the voting system are a hygiene factor. One is yet to see really disruptive creative thinking in the programme. I will be happy if the team soon proves me wrong.

    Every participant promises to remain true to himself or herself, be open in their conversations and being a no-nonsense person with dignity! My experience of 10 seasons says none of them will be able to maintain it- other than possibly Hiten and Hina Khan. It is being human. Just like me wishing to see the house from inside.

    The creative team is the indirect instigator of interaction between the participants. The opening night ‘Padosi Aarahey Bajane Baraha’ is an indication of the intent. However, at the end of the day, it is individuals who must decide how they will respond to the triggers. BiggBoss is where theory and practical class happen simultaneously.

    The fun is in taking stance and putting your judgement in line. Fun is in watching and correcting your choices and alignments. Fun is in reading and sometime reacting to the uncalled comments made the followers on social platforms. It is a space to study growth of with time and action. It is interesting to see how it soars, stabilises and dips. The fan club swiftly coming into existence on strong personal, cultural and regional lines. I would love to collaborate in a study that can focus on this aspect of BiggBoss.

    Looking from the managerial point of view, BiggBoss is a great learning workshop. The 90 cameras continuously capture every movement, but most of the audience take the purposive selected superbly edited 60 minutes of feed to base their judgement. There are few who watch the live feed too.

    Is it an apt representation of managerial problems? There is always a dearth of information and yet decisions have to be made, sides need to be taken and reaction needs to be served. There is no sound, camera, and action in the house. You only hear ‘Cut’ when you are being evicted from the house. Till them – the act must go on. Tune in at 1030 PM on weekdays and 9 PM on the weekend. Free classes for everyone on Colors TV. Do share your comments with #BiggBoss11 or #BB11 and converse with me on twitter at S_kotnala

    Meanwhile, I remain satisfied being a fan than a participant. Don’t think, the channel will call me after the brilliant experience at the last year auditions. Maybe this is one adventure I may miss out in. But then one can always hope….

     

    P S:Do watch out for Akash Anil Dadlani, Hina Khan (saved from the nomination by the padosi– a great plus), Hiten Tejwani, Sabyasachi Satpathy, Sapna Choudhary and Shivani Durga. I think Arshi Khan and Bandgi Kalra, both nominated by padosi and not the housemates have started their stay on a wrong foot. I predict that Benafesha Soonawala, Luv Tyagi, Priyank Sharma, Shilpa Shinde (Nominated), Puneesh Sharma and Vikas Gupta will fail to live to expectations. And finally, unless they have some unexplored magic; Jyoti Kumari (Nominated), Lucinda Nicholas, Mehjabi Siddiqui and Zubair Khan (Nominated) will be lost in no time. Bet on Akash Anil Dadlani, Arshi Khan, Benafesha Soonawala, Mehjabi Siddiqui and Sabyasachi Satpathy to deliver entertainment.

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is a senior marketing and strategy consultant, and an educator. The views here are his own.

  • The Adani Group is a good story regardless of affiliations and if you are ignoring it, hoping it will go away, you are damning the future of journalism, writes Ranjona Banerji

    R​anjona Banerji: Why ignore a good story?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Why does the Indian media fear the Adani group so much? Respected and well-known journalist Paranjoy Guha-Thakurta was forced to resign from the Economic and Political Weekly after carrying a series of stories on tax fiddles by the Adani Group (plus lack of action by tax agencies) only because the magazine received a legal notice. Legal notices by the way are par for the course for any journalistic enterprise.

    Journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s investigative programme 4Corners had their “cameras shut down, footage deleted and were questioned for hours by the police” in Gujarat, according to their website, while working on a story on Adani Group’s “opaque financial operations” as well as the impact in Queensland, Australia where the group’s Carmichael Mines threaten the Great Barrier Reef, among other issues.

    http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/digging-into-adani/9008500

    Since the report appeared – as well as reports about the journalists being questioned in Gujarat – it has been picked up by the international media.

    This is from news.com.au:

    http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/what-happens-when-you-investigate-adani/news-story/13cfb0dd0dbc8f01fad9f0c13b801af9

     

    These are some reports from The Guardian:

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/03/adani-needs-carmichael-mine-to-stave-off-income-crash-report-says

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/16/adani-mining-giant-faces-financial-claims-as-it-bids-for-australian-coal-loan

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/04/mining-companies-links-with-politicians-susceptible-to-corruption-report

     

    In each of these, corruption plays a major role. And in India, we hear the government, its members and its party and some sections of the media discuss corruption a great deal. In recent times, even the age-old Bofors scam, which was about a bribe amount of Rs 64 crore and a case which came to nothing although governments fell, is being re-discussed.

    But the Adani Group’s suspected fiddles of several mind-boggling crores – Rs 15 billion being one estimate – has been largely ignored in the mainstream Indian media. In this I include newspapers as well as television, although news websites have carried the international stories. The only news event which got some traction is that of the Australian journalists being detained by the police in Gujarat.

    Does one need a PhD in entire political science to figure out what’s going on? That editors and newspaper managements are terrified to write anything about the Adani group because of its reported closeness to prime minister Narendra Modi and the BJP and its strong presence in Gujarat? That corruption is only corruption when it is carried out by non-BJP affiliates? Why would news channels try to suck out juice from a dead Bofors case and ignore a juic​y

    Adani case. Is Rs 64 crore (about Rs 640 million) paid in bribes in the 1980s so much more important than a Rs 15 billion question mark now?

    Even if we do not co-relate the two cases and accept that the Bofors scam needs an ending, why should the possibility of a scam involving Adani be ignored? Especially after what happened to Guha Thakurta, one would have expected many more India journalists to work on the Adani story and not leave it to foreign journalists. (By the way, you can cue Bofors here again and find out that it was Swedish journalists who broke the story…)

    It is this lack of journalistic integrity which is going to break us. Forget the social media and oped discussions about left versus right and liberals versus the others. The Adani Group is a good story regardless of affiliations and if you are ignoring it, hoping it will go away, you are damning the future of journalism.

     

    **

     

    In other news, it is interesting to see that the snide and whiny Opindia.com, bought and legitimised by the superior intellects at Swarajya.com, goes after Delhi college student Gurmehar Kaur over some trifling issue in what looks like revenge for her taking a stand against the ABVP earlier this year. It is even more interesting to see the online editorial director of Swarajya retweeting this “story” as if it is some great example of fine journalism.

    A magazine and website started in the name of C Rajagopalachari and Minoo Masani might consider that both those great Indians would really appreciate an expose by Swarajya into

    ​t​he Adani ​story​? No?

     

    ​Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. The views here are her own​