MxMIndia

Category: MxM JOURNALISM REVIEW

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

    Time for media to not get jingoistic

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    After all the tears and threats, Salman Rushdie appeared on NDTV and said whatever he wanted – including praising his controversial Satanic Verses – in an interview with Barkha Dutt. So that’s a lot more potential viewers than at a literary festival – so much for fears of riots and violence.

     

    It is amusing to see that “liberals” are now a legitimate attackable category of people in India. Religious and social fundamentalists on television have a field day since liberals uphold the Constitution and other wishy-washy stuff like that. In print, several Muslims, prominent and otherwise, have said that this whole “ban Rushdie” idea is unacceptable – The Times of India has a report – but these presumably “liberal” Muslims do not usually find their way on to TV. The reasons are clear – they may not provide enough provocative drama.

     

    While Rushdie was calling Deobandi’s “dreadful people” on NDTV, Rahul Singh wondered on Times Now whether many Sikhs in the UK were not former Khalistanis! Everyone now in the mood to call spades shovels? TV has got needlessly exercised about this whole Jay Leno-Golden Temple fracas; today’s newspapers tell us that Sikhs in the US are not bothered by it. We also learn that Vylavar Ravi, Union minister for Indian overseas affairs, had not even seen the Leno show and did not know exactly what offence had been committed.

     

    The media needs to stand up and take a call about not getting all jingoistic about perceived insults. I have to side with Markandey Katju here – surely we have other things to worry about?

     

    **

     

    Republic Day tomorrow and I fear it is my cynicism, long years and grey hair which makes me feel like newspapers are really paying lip service and doing nothing new. The last week told us that our children are educated, our babies and young mothers are dying and we have no sanitation or hygiene systems to speak of. But we have to periodically be told what a great and wonderful country India is. The marketers and the believers in “good news” will get upset otherwise. O dear, I sound like Katju again.

     

    **

     

    The upcoming assembly elections are taking up newspaper space but not TV time. The reasons for this are obvious – TV in India thrives on sensationalism, so unless Mayawati sends another aeroplane to Mumbai to buy shoes, we will have to read not hear what she’s up to.

     

    **

     

    Mid-Day turned into a broadsheet for the day, for marketing reasons, but it actually looked quite nice.

     

    **

     

    India’s run in Australia has clearly upset our media so much that cricket is now restricted to the sports shows and pages. This is some change from the usual. Having said that, some very good daily cricket analysis from Ayaz Memon in Mail Today – he doesn’t hold his punches but given his experience, doesn’t fall into our current
    mood of patriotic funk! Insightful and scathing both.

     

    While on sports, it’s good to see tennis and the Australian Open sharing news space with everything else. (Go Federer!)

    Ranji matches have also been getting a fair run in newspapers.

     

    **

     

    And, Happy Republic Day!

     

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

    Making fun of Page 3 culture

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Have to say, I just love the new Hindu ads. Making fun of your competition is not just unexpected from India’s most sober newspaper but it is also rare in India. Are these ads a direct response to The Times of India’s Chennai campaign, where the ads alleged that the Hindu put people to sleep? Perhaps not, since the Hindu campaign seems all-India and directly accuses the Times of dumbing its readers down. There is nothing implied in the Hindu ad – we can clearly see that all the idiots being quizzed on their knowledge (or lack of it) claim to read The Times of India, bleeped out though the name may be.

     

    The print ads include one which says “we also have pages 1,2, 4, 6” and so on, a clear dig at The Times’s introduction of society and celebrity news on Page 3 of the Bombay Times many years ago. “Page 3” culture is now part of our lexicon and indeed Madhur Bhandarkar even made a film about it, almost as scathing as the Hindu’s ads. The funny thing is that we always have had a society-celebrity media, what Bombay Times did was to both magnify and expand it. The even funnier thing is that almost every other publication in the country was quick to copy the TOI. Even the Hindu, which may not have a celebrity circus page, was increased its light feature content.

     

    It’s also curious that DNA ran a very similar campaign to the Hindu’s recently – interviewing young people who knew nothing about anything except Bollywood and then it turns out that they only read DNA After Hrs! In DNA’s case, there was apparent pride in ignorance; Hindu mocks it.

     

    In these times, when the media itself has become the news, the Hindu ads – done by Ogilvy – are bound to get attention and approval. There are many who believe that trivialisation of the media is dangerous and that there is cynical marketing manipulation of our apparent obsession with Bollywood. The Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju is probably nodding away happily, especially when he sees line like “Because government malfunctions matter more than wardrobe malfunctions” – another of the Hindu’s print ads.

     

    For my money however far worse than the trivialisation of newspapers is the fact that all celebrity news and gossip is actually fake – paid for by the stars, studios, sponsors and so on. The readers are fooled into believing that what they are reading is the result of some digging up by journalists – as it used to be in the old days, even film news. The truth of course is that it is handed to newspapers by public relations companies or by the marketing department to the editorial staff.

     

    Bad enough that we are trivial, we are also, it seems, foolish and exploited!

     

  • Last month, it was also announced that CEO Mr Maheshwer Peri had turned into a mentor passing on the baton to Mr Indranil Roy

    Vinod Mehta turns mentor @ Outlook group, Krishna Prasad to head newsmag as Ed

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Outlook group’s editor-in-chief Vinod Mehta is moving on from his executive role to that of a mentor. This was confirmed to MxMIndia by a spokesperson of the group who added that Mr Krishna Prasad will be Editor of the flagship Outlook magazine.

     

    When asked specifically if Mr Prasad will also be overseeing editorial affairs for other group publications as suggested by a PTI reported relayed by many publications, MxMIndia was told that he will be Editor, Outlook.

     

    Mr Mehta, who has worked with the Outlook group since 17 years, has been editor of The Pioneer, The Independent, The Indian Post, The Sunday Observer and Debonair. He was unavailable for comment when reached on Wednesday evening.

     

    Last month, it was also announced that CEO Mr Maheshwer Peri had turned into a mentor passing on the baton to Mr Indranil Roy.

     

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

    Headlines Today scores on 2G

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The fault is mine: I got to the television two hours late on Thursday – after the Supreme Court ruling on the 2G licences. The punishment was purgatory: I knew something had happened but I had no idea what. Every TV news channel showed a press conference addressed by the BJP’s Arun Jaitley reacting to the court ruling but no one told us what the ruling was. I travelled up and down the channels that my cablewallah allows me and learnt nothing. Jaitley could have been ranting or talking sense but since I had no context I could not fully appreciate or understand him.

     

    After 10 minutes of fruitless frustration I did the sensible thing: got online and read the latest updates by print journalists. Till Thursday evening, the whole thing was only about “reaction” on television, sometimes from small-time party functionaries and sometimes by bigwigs like Kapil Sibal who had to counter Jaitley with his own spin. One poor reporter even ran after the judge AK Ganguly as he retired and asked him how he felt. The honourable judge ran away as fast as he could. All through the day they broadcast a reaction from some telecom honcho but never told us who he was.

     

    It says something about the way television journalists operate that they cannot explain events or interpret them for viewers themselves. Something as important as this 2G ruling requires reporters and anchors to get all the facts themselves and tell the viewers exactly what has happened before playing the “reaction” game. Also, instead of telecasting every single press conference live in its entirety, they could edit or cut back to studio to explain what was happening mid-way.

     

    Business channels were, sadly, no better since they are all obsessed with the stock market and cannot consider implications beyond that. But one would imagine that the cancelling of 122 licences would have huge impact on their constituencies. I guess one imagines wrong.

     

    The most sensible TV debate on the subject was a surprise – it was not at prime time and it was on Headlines Today. Thanks largely to Paranjoy Guha Thakurta as well as to Sandeep Bamzai, we got a clear idea of the economic and political implications of the judgment.

     

    The rest of debates seem to have the usual suspects who talk about everything – Chandan Mitra, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mahesh Jethamalani, Nirmala Seetharaman, Renuka Chowdhury and perhaps Suhel Seth was there somewhere but I didn’t catch him.

     

    Niira Radia and Ratan Tata were not there.

     

    * * *

     

    This round once again goes to newspapers who explained the matter in every detail from the political implications for the UPA government to the business implications for the telcos to the fortunes of A Raja and P Chidambaram and so on. However, while every newspaper and TV channel said it was 122 licences, The Times of India decided on 121. No idea why.

     

    Most newspaper editorials did raise the question of the unfairness meted out to telcos which were being punished for following government laws. This is a tricky one. It would be interesting to see whether there’s more discussion about the dangers of corporate lobbying and the role played by journalists in getting A Raja the ministry of his choice.

     

    I’m not holding my breath, actually.

     

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

    Yuvraj cancer news first lead?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The unveiling of Justice OP Saini’s verdict on the petition filed by Subrahmaniam Swamy to make P Chidambaram a co-accused in the 2G spectrum case on Saturday was fascinating. Times Now gave us second by second coverage about nothing at all happening outside Patiala Court. The other channels thankfully limited themselves to studio panel discussions about the possible implications of this verdict.

     

    The BJP was very cocksure that Swamy would succeed. The Congress was largely invisible, relying on a few of its friends to state its case. The old telecom companies were part of the discussion. The new ones (and now licence-less) were invisible.

     

    As Navika Kumar talked about the butterflies in her stomach waiting for the verdict (why?), she conceded that Chidambaram may have bigger airborne insects inside his digestive organs. This waiting outside this courtroom was apparently the most exciting journalistic assignment ever! Wow!

     

    Anyway after hours of pointless speculation and some interesting debates on other channels, the judge then called Swamy for a private discussion and cleared the courtroom. Immediate outrage at this ill-treatment of the media! But then someone pointed out that the judge wasn’t in the courtroom at all. More inconsequential details followed. Then the judge just said the petition was dismissed.

     

    Suddenly, we were told that actually Swamy looked deflated when he came out of the private discussion with the judge. This, however, was not noticed before the petition was dismissed, a sort of after the fact observation.

     

    As expected the BJP tried to put up a brave face and then vanished and the Congress, to its credit, did not go too far in its victory dances. Swamy appeared “first” on Times Now but refused to answer who finances his penchant for litigation. By Sunday his bravado was back and in Monday morning’s papers he was saying the judge was good but his judgment was bad (damned with faint praise?) and Swamy would be going higher up the judicial ladder.

     

    * * *

     

    Sad as the news of cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s cancer is, am not sure whether it is first lead news, but most Indian papers seem to think so.

     

    * * *

     

    The divorce between Sahara and Indian cricket also appears to have come as a surprise to our intrepid sports journalists and here again Yuvraj Singh’s health seems to be have been an issue. Some further investigation here may be a good idea but whenever a big money player is involved, the media’s newsgathering resources seem to shrink.

     

    * * *

     

    Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju is apparently on twitter with the handle (@mark_katju. There is some speculation on twitter whether this is a genuine account or not but today’s newspapers seem to think it is. I’m following it anyway just to check.

     

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

    Porn-happy Karnataka ministers hog TV limelight

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

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

     

    * * *

     

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

     

    * * *

     

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

     

    * * *

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

    * * *

     

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

     

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

    SIT’s report makes for exciting TV but bad journalism

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

    * * *

     

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

     

    * * *

     

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

     

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

     

    * * *

     

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

     

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

    Expect the same old, same old this Valentine Day

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Television is the favourite whipping boy of most media commentators and, for the most part, not only is it justified but it also great fun. (Is it also a coincidence that most media commentators have a print background?) But this Sunday’s newspapers were so dull that TV seemed to be a brutal relentless machine working its poor journalists to the bone with its constant hunger for more and more news and therefore deserving of much sympathy. I get five newspapers on a Sunday and finished the lot in an hour.

     

    Most Sunday papers run on a weekly cycle, which means there is ample time to plan and execute. But instead of fresh ideas and stories, we got the same old, same old. It is amply clear that the cutting of newsgathering resources and the desire to replace all talent with an army of sub-editors and, yes, boys and girls has led to a lack of imagination in newsrooms. Is there any point hoping that this is a temporary trend?

     

    Valentine’s Day, which is tomorrow, therefore threatens to bore us to tears as we read about real and manufactured love, as we did last year and the year before.

     

    We are constantly told in the media that we have to appeal to young audiences but I refuse to believe that every 20-year-old in the country is a dimwit who has no chance of recalling the same claptrap which was fed to him or her last year.

     

    * * *

     

    Can someone in The Times of India please get a promotion quick for wonderful stories to promote the boss’s daughter, so we can stop reading stories about Trishla Jain’s exhibition? The subject seems to have been stretched to the absolute limit.

     

    * * *

     

    TV and print seem to have taken quite opposing views on the army chief and his battle over his date of birth. TV was all for General VK Singh and put the government in the dock – and any studio guests who said otherwise were immediately put in the “unpatriotic” category.

     

    In newspapers however, commentators were more balanced and the dangers of the army chief’s actions were discussed. Now that the Supreme Court has rapped the army chief and the government on the knuckles, a more sober approach is being taken. Well, sort of – some sections of the media have now decided that the army chief must resign to protect his honour.

     

    This obsession with other people’s honour is a new media phenomenon andIndia’s star cricketers are its usual victims.

     

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

    Need to relook at aid

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    In a total break from television, let’s look at today’s newspapers and some thought-provoking opinion pieces. On The Times of India’s edit page, Ramesh Thakur looks at the conundrum of foreign aid which helps the donor more than the recipient. The issue has popped up again with the British media replaying Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s year-old comment that the aid which India gets from Britain is “peanuts”.

     

    Thakur discusses how aid can often be crippling to a country trying to pick itself out of a crisis and what is most required is not handouts but forcing governments to perform. The Africa experience with aid has been much discussed and certainly no continent has suffered as much. Pakistan is also paying the price of too much and not even home-grown development.

     

    When India tried to stop aid from Britain, it was the British agencies which asked for the aid to continue. The call in Britain is to use that money internally, needed in times of cutbacks. It would make good sense perhaps for the governments of India and Britain to relook at aid to India. If we don’t need it and they do, why should we still take it?

     

    **

     

    In the Business Standard late last week, Mihir Sharma argued that contrary to popular belief, Indian governments give too many handouts to the rich and middle classes (“Handouts for the well-heeled”). It’s a well-argued piece, bolstered by facts, which should prove a shocker to middle class thinkers and people who usually see the poor as some undeserving, greedy, grasping lot who are a burden to the exchequer.

     

    **

     

    Sundeep Sengupta on the Hindu’s edit page puts into perspective how far India has strayed from its earlier stand on climate change and the consequences of conceding so much ground in Durban. Climate change no longer seems to be a hot ticket as far as the Indian media is concerned but that doesn’t make it any less important!
    Another subject which hasn’t perhaps been adequately discussed is the situation in Syria, especially from the Indian point of view. Krishnan Srinivasan, former Indian foreign secretary, has a look at the war-like situation in Syria and examines the role of UN sanctions.

     

    **

     

    Since it is Valentine’s Day, the Deccan Chronicle has looked at it seriously. Novelist Charu Nivedita questions whether India can know real love, hampered as it is by convention!

     

    On which note…

     

  • For good to triumph over evil, what better place to start than one’s own backyard?

    The Anchor: 10 media evils we’d like to see banished this Dassera

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    It’s Dassera tomorrow, a festival that symbolises good winning over evil. Here’s my list of 10 media evils that I would like to see the end of. You can say that some of these are predictable since I have written about the issues in the past, but they are genuine evils. Banish them!

    #1 Corruption

    The 10-letter word is not just a preserve of government and politicians. It exists in plenty in corporates and the private sector. Our business included. Bribes to get sales deals through, generating revenues by way of money payouts and favours. Sending media buyers and clients to see the FIFA World Cup or Wimbledon tennis is nothing extraordinary these days. Nor is selling of magazine covers, or newspaper or website stories, in lieu of monies very surprising. Ditto with awards: money or just for old times’ sake. Har ek friend zaroori hota hai!

    #2 Paid news

    This has been institutionalised by certain publications even if it’s for just for lifestyle, glamour and brand launch news. It needs to stop, and a dubious disclaimer won’t do. Paid News is prostitution of editorial space and I don’t have to spell out what its practitioners should be called.

    #3 Industry fiefdoms

    Trade associations are supposed to help the lowest common denominator, but in the media we have a situation that some of the aasociations have become fiefdoms and people hardly mentor or help the weaker players. In fact they often attempt to crush them.

    #4 The ratings race

    Revenues happen only if there is proof that your product is read or seen or heard. Nothing wrong with it. But some newspapers are rumoured to go to any extent to fix things. And channels see nothing wrong tweaking storylines for better numbers. Ratings ke liye kuch bhi karega!

    #5 Dearth of talent and disparity in salaries

    There is need for dramatic change here. Some wings of media and marketing are paid fantastically, others pathetically. Journalists, for instance, are very poorly paid in many establishments. Ditto with staffers in Tier 2 cities. The media needs to attract quality talent and offer great content. Both are critical for good content. Alas, I don’t see this changing in a hurry.

    #6 Abuse of Intellectual property

    In Indian media, copyright is mostly defined as the right to copy. Our media companies are fortunate that legal action takes its time or never happens. Else a few of them could be giving the more high profile criminals company in Tihar or Arthur Road. The discipline has to start from the ground-up. Googled pictures must be a no-no and only licensed content must be used.

     

    #7 Fake ads

    It’s not as severe as other issues here, but the fake ads that advertising agencies craft to win awards are not on. Yes, they are a given these days and some leading agencies patronise the practice. But there has to be a way to end it. Perhaps some introspection?

     

    #8 Content sucks

    The self-regulation mechanism has been set up, but I think some of our channels, especially a few newswallahs, could do with a drive to improve content. And a news channel must air news and possibly some kutta-billi stuff. Not the other way round.

     

    #9 FDI blues

    Foreign direct investment in radio was hiked to 26 percent last week and in news channels it’s restricted to 26 percent till date. However, GECs can be 100 percent owned by foreigners. And creative and media advertising agencies too can be fully owned by non-Indians. Given that ad agencies influence media buying decisions and hence can in turn influence the media, why not allow full FDI in news and radio?

     

    #10 No Ethics!

    It’s a dirty word in most media organizations. Look at how many have a Code of Ethics, and insist on employees (and the promoters) agreeing to practise it.

     

     

    The views expressed here are my own and are not endorsed by MxMIndia.com

  • 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.

     

    * * *

     

    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.

     

    * * *

     

    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.

     

    * * *

     

    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.