MxMIndia

Category: MxM JOURNALISM REVIEW

  • Lots of "selfies" were put up on social media by journalists thus proving that many of them saw the Prime Minister like a star rather than a politician, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: A funeral for Indian journalism?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    You can laugh or cry. The capital’s media went into an absolute tizzy last week when it heard that the prime minister was actually going to meet journalists. All their collective dreams had come true. The only problem as it turned out was that this was not a Meet the Press And Answer Questions so much as a Listen to A Lecture And Take Selfies sort of “Diwali Milan” morning.

     

    The invitation could have been a dead giveaway if anyone had bothered to read it. It said the “hero” of the BJP’s victory had agreed to “grace” the venue (BJP headquarters in Delhi) with his “stunning and glorious” presence. The upshot was that Narendra Modi gave the media a little lecture on his early memories of the room they were meeting in, his Clean India Mission, thanked the media for supporting it and for turning their pens into brooms. A nice conceit but a few decades out of date – pens are rarely seen anywhere these days especially not in newsrooms.

     

    Lots of “selfies” were put up on social media by journalists thus proving that many of them saw the PM like a star rather than a politician and it presumably took them a few days to rub the stardust out of their eyes. How to trust people who allow the wool to be pulled over their eyes so easily is another question.

     

    Two slightly less gushing reports/views on this meeting are here:

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29772262

    and

    Modi conquers the media

    I am tempted to hold a funeral for Indian journalism right now but have been advised to wait for a bit…

     

    **

     

    Diwali also brought much joy into the lives of gossip followers on twitter. A number of handles sprouted, most with the word “Luytens” in them, all of which claimed to have the latest political and media gossip from the centre of power in Delhi. Soon, there was speculation about the handles themselves. Who ran them? Who was right wing and who was left wing? Who was a journalist and who was a politician? Were PR people involved? Lutyens spice, Lutyens masala, Journalists Spice, BJP spice, Real Lutyens

     

    Next, the parody accounts of the gossip accounts: Boring Lutyens Gossip.

     

    And you can even follow a handle named for the architect Edward Lutyens who designed the centre of New Delhi (call me Ned says his profile).

     

    Scroll.in reported on the phenomenon: http://scroll.in/article/685245/A-rash-of-spicy-gossip-handles-about-Lutyens-Delhi-sets-Twitter-sizzling

    And a diary item in Mumbai Mirror says that the BJP’s IT cell is looking into all these Lutyens twitter accounts which sounds both ominous in a big brother kind of way and a bit funny in a how desperate can a government get kind of way (link: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/columns/mumbai-001/Down-memory-lane/articleshow/44952840.cms).

     

    **

     

    Sad little trolls continue with their “if you don’t like the BJP and Modi you have been paid by the Congress line” attacks on journalists. I use the word “attack” very loosely because given the way the Congress party’s fortunes are falling I doubt very much it is paying anyone to do anything. Even the trolls sound a little unsure…

     

    **

     

    Without Comment:

    CNN-IBN shows the inauguration of the refurbished-by-Reliance Harkisondas Hospital in Mumbai live. And once we laughed at Doordarshan for this sort of thing.

     

  • Websites of newspapers have limited themselves either by laziness or having bought some spiel sold to them by owners and marketing managers, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: No longer the future… Online journalism is the present!

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    I learn this from journalist Rohan Venkat on Twitter: “Online journalism in India, 2014: Scroll, Quartz, Quint, Catch, HuffPo, DailyO, Swarajya and at least two more to come.”

     

    To this, others have added older websites like FirstPost, NewsLaundry, IndiaSpend and then there’s MxMIndia itself. Not to forget NitiCentral, which dedicates itself to rightwing issues and opinions. Some of these contain original content others can also be aggregators.

     

    I suppose you could go as far back as a young person can remember these days and start with rediff.com… and the hoot if it’s the media you are focusing on.

     

    The upshot is that online journalism is working hard to replace the other forms. Websites attached to newspapers somehow cannot seem to match these sites. It’s not because they don’t have the staff or the resources. But it seems to be because they are circumscribed by limited ideas of how far journalism can go. Or, more correctly, they have limited themselves either by laziness or having bought some spiel sold to them by owners and marketing managers.

     

    The irony is that the talent pool is the same for other media houses and these online journalism websites. So the problem doesn’t lie there. A colleague who I worked with in DNA has just done a brilliant investigative piece for Yahoo News about how junk food is causing malnutrition in Dharavi. She says it took her about four weeks to do the story. Newspapers rarely give you that sort of leeway. Magazines do but you need only have a look at falling subscription figures to see where that road leads…

     

    Presumably, these websites have owners too and they apply their own pressures on them. Is it just that as long as you are new and small, you can get away anything but success brings its own burdens? Let’s take firstpost.com, part of the TV18 group and India’s biggest bugbear as far as the media is concerned – which side of the political spectrum you aim your darts from. Even before it was bought by the Ambanis, the website was accused – even by me – of being rightwing. And yet, even then it had carried pieces with the “other” point of view. Now that the rightwing are ruling India – or are in government at any rate – firstpost.com appears to have made a slight course correction. Criticism of the government is not uncommon and it does have a range of writers on offer.

     

    Scroll.in on the other hand shines because it investigates the story right under your nose if you had only bothered to look. Many of these are brilliant and also require a lot of legwork.

     

    DailyO, from the India Today stable, offers a range of opinions. IndiaSpend analyses data to reach some staggering conclusions. And Huffington Post is where so much of all this began in some ways…

     

    In that sense, these websites expose traditional forms of media for their lack of imagination and their refusal to get away from familiar and well-trodden paths. I am at a slight loss of where to include TV in all this because TV dances to another tune and websites of news channels can be far more revealing than their broadcasts. The opinion section on NDTV’s website for instance often has more heft than most programmes from most news channels.

     

    However the issue of long-term financial viability remains, especially with the online community largely refusing to pay subscription fees. The other route of income from advertising is still somewhat experimental even while it is entrenched with traditional media.

     

    Online journalism is no longer the future. It is the present. And if it can achieve so much in so little time, if I was in traditional media, I would be a little worried.

     

    **

     

    A small aside: The fight over GamerGate and perceived or misunderstood sexism in the gaming world has been largely ignored in the Indian media. If our world of gamers is so small, then we have not yet entered the 21st century or our editors are too old!

     

  • The NewsHour on TimesNow had an interminable rant from Arnab Goswami about how the Congress party or sympathisers of the Congress party refused to come on his show discussing the Robert Vadra case, notes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Are you serious, Mr Goswami?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, opens a gym. At the press conference, a reporter from the news agency ANI, asks Vadra about his land deals which are under the scanner. Vadra in answer says “Are you serious” three or four times, pushes the mike away, then says “Are you nuts” and instructs his security to get rid of the footage.

     

    Arrogant, entitled behaviour on the part of Vadra? Definitely? End of the world life-threatening stuff for the TV journalist or the media in general? Definitely not.

     

    And yet, in the frenzied hysteria that is now TV news, we must hold a primetime “debate” on Vadra’s behaviour. It is not clear exactly what there is to debate. Vadra behaved badly and dare one say it, foolishly. It is hard to take any other position. This does not make for a good debate. So instead, on the NewsHour on TimesNow you have an interminable rant from Arnab Goswami about how the Congress party or sympathisers of the Congress party refused to come on his show. Apparently, they would rather go to other channels which will field questions bowled underhand. This is an interesting allegation. All channels other than Times Now subscribe to the Trevor-Greg Chappell school of bowling?

     

    I have to confess however that I was so amused watching the carefully manufactured outrage on Times Now over Vadra that I did not bother to check any of the others. Did they also froth at the mouth? Or did they bowl underhand to Congress spokespersons? Did they also believe that a terrible line had been breached affecting the safety and security of Indian journalism?

     

    Because there was nothing to debate however Goswami and the NewsHour meandered here and there – in full-throated Bianca Castiofiore glory of course – as they talked about how hurt journalists felt to some foaming about how dare someone not answer a question put to them by a journalist. (Man, how rich we would be if we had even a mere rupee for every question someone refused to answer.) The debate could not even tell us how much action was going to be taken against Vadra on his shady land deals and untoward favours handed to him because no authority or political dispensation has come clear on it yet. Before the general elections we were assured that Vadra’s special privileges would go but even that doesn’t seem to have happened…

     

    Anyway, Sambit Patra of the BJP informed us that he feels it in his heart that his party will do something. Patra’s heart is I presume a better weathervane on such matters than Goswami’s hurt?

     

    It’s impossible to use the word “seriously” right now, but you know, wouldn’t it have been better if the media had made Vadra a laughing stock? ANI could have gone that route and we could have been merrily laughing away at Vadra’s immense ego, his apparent inability to understand that mum-in-law no longer runs the country and the most fun of all, made chutney out of rich brats who think they’re entitled for no reason?

     

    What I found intriguing about the Vadra clip is that before he started on “Are you serious” he was babbling some rubbish about his gym and its machines and got confused about what it did to your muscles. Now there was a clue to take off on…

     

    Yeah, I’m serious. And possibly, nuts.

     

  • Exaggeration is often an essential in a journalist’s armoury but there is a palpable feel of apprehension, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Is there reason for anti-Modi journos to fear being targeted?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    How far has journalism fallen in India and how much of this fear of falling is bogus scare-mongering and how much is real? Certainly, Delhi journalists who have not genuflected or at least cuddled up to the establishment are frightened. Senior journalists talk in extremes – from fear for their collective kneecaps to suspicions that their phones have been tapped. Exaggeration is often an essential in a journalist’s armoury but there is a palpable feel of apprehension. Some people mention that they were under the scanner of the previous establishment and definitely the misuse of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act and actions against cartoonists were big black marks against UPA 2.

     

    But there is a more sinister atmosphere whirling around the national capital these days. The fact that none of those who praised and sang hosannas to the current prime minister when he was still a hopeful have benefitted has also increased the shivers. Was it all worth it? Did we go far enough? Or do we now have to start being slightly more objective? The future is intriguing to say the least, especially to those of us who stay away from Delhi often more out of choice than circumstance.

     

    **

     

    Meanwhile journalism as entertainment is flourishing on TV with Times Now leading the charge. Almost a month ago, Tehseen Poonawalla, who serves as Congress spokesperson on TV, held a piece of paper over his face, during a debate on Robert Vadra’s land dealings, which said, “I have the answers… but he just won’t let me speak”. ttp://www.thenewsminute.com/socials/278

     

    Then this week, Poonawalla apparently asked some uncomfortable questions about Arnab Goswami’s relations in the BJP and also called him a “supari journalist”. Poonawalla was asked to leave the show. The whole episode was edited out of the online version of Newshour as well. Poonawalla and friends are yelling blue murder about this assault on free speech and now there’s a petition on change.org to get Times Now to air the complete version.

     

    Interestingly, Meenakshi Lekhi, then BJP spokesperson got Goswami’s “never ever never ever ever” treatment after she accused him of taking money but was allowed to continue on the show.

     

    **

     

    We now have various kinds of journalists depending on which side of the political spectrum you fall. If you are not a rightwing supporter or a fan of Narendra Modi, you could be a “newstrader” (coined by the prime minister himself apparently) or a “presstitute”. If you are a fan, then you’re a “supari journalist”. You could also be part of paid media, media lies, media crooks and if you are female, then, well, you take your chances by even being alive.

     

    **

     

    There’s much speculation about which media house is tilting in which direction and the general consensus seems to be that most are going right. But the most intriguing of all remains The Times of India which remains centrist. However, it remains consistently faithful to its commitment to dumbing down. The web maybe full of opinion sites and opinions in general but it is almost impossible to find the venerable newspapers edit page online. Everything comes under the heading of “blogs”. Which, if you think about it, is so last century.

     

    **

     

    Those who have done any writing on gender sensitivity or gender issues, please do send your entries to the Laadli media awards. Please go to laadli.org for details. The last date is November 15.

     

  • Arun Jaitley takes over Information and Broadcasting from Prakash Jawadekar because he is seen as having better connections in the media.

    Ranjona Banerji: Will sucking up become worse in Delhi now that the ‘bureau chief’ is incharge of I&B?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The Hoot is doing a survey on the role of social media on journalists and people who use it as a news source or to share stories. It is worthwhile to go to the website and answer the two minute survey. Given the rising influence if not power of social media, studies are required to put its reach into perspective.

     

    Social media gains in significance as “mainstream media” in India at least flounders between flattery and objectivity. You can therefore forget scepticism. Even the bogus heroics of celebrities posing with brooms purportedly to “clean India” is reported with breathless excitement, except for a few exceptions which have told us how garbage is being brought to places just so that it can be moved around by politicians and celebrities.

     

    Meanwhile, the man known as “bureau chief” in Delhi gossip circles has been relieved of the defence ministry and given Information and Broadcasting instead. Arun Jaitley has good friends in the media and this presumably made him a better bet than Prakash Jawadekar. If you are a conspiracy theorist this makes you wonder about government control of the media. (Not, it must be pointed out that the UPA in its second avatar was any better, especially the way Kapil Sibal went after people with the Information Technology Act.)

     

    But it is also true that journalists, senior and junior, in Delhi have appointed themselves as government spokespersons and sometimes take it upon themselves to explain and justify government policy. One assumes that they are trying to make Jaitley’s job easier out of friendship and concern?

     

    However, the fact that the BJP and Jawadekar discussed the pointlessness of an I&B ministry has been lost in all the rah-rahs. No party wants to give up any ground when it comes to controlling the media.

     

    While on the subject, does anyone know what happened to the big talking Markandey Katju who was going to revolutionise the media and educate journalists? Last heard of, he was ranting about corrupt judges from a decade ago but I have at least not heard of any journalist who was taught anything by the Press Council of India chairman except perhaps how to laugh out loud.

     

    **

     

    The Press Institute of India and the International Committee of the Red Cross give away awards in humanitarian journalism. I have been privileged to be one of the jury members. While it is heartening to see the number of stories done on the subject in India especially in conflict zones like Kashmir, the Naxal areas and even the problems faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka, it is equally disheartening to see that almost none of them find their way into national newspapers. It is as if we prefer to sit in our artificial bubbles and self-consciously refuse to know what is happening around us.

     

    One cannot blame glamour news here for distracting us. We are looking at news editors and editors concentrating on government announcements and pretending that that is news while ignoring ground realities.

     

    **

     

    There has been speculation in the world of cricket journalists on whether Sachin Tendulkar’s newly released autobiography, “Playing it My Way” will only get unparalleled praise or some criticism as well. But once you get past the excitement of the launch itself and the pre-release controversy over Greg Chappell, there has indeed been some mild criticism.

     

    It will be interesting to see how the big names in cricket journalism respond to the book.

     

    **

     

    There has been some sad commentary on twitter that none of the political and media gossip handles which bear the legend “Lutyens” managed to reveal any details about the Cabinet reshuffle that happened in Delhi recently.

     

    Sad though that is, I am not unfollowing any. If nothing else, they are amusing!

     

  • Organisers of press conferences do feel that they will be discriminated against if they do not offer freebies, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Anyone not seen journos at press confs not scrambling for gifts?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    So here’s an intriguing story. Some journalists in Odisha are up in arms because they found Rs 200 in cash in envelopes handed to them at a press conference held by Parliamentary Standing Committee for Urban Development, headed by MP for Puri, Pinaki Mishra of the Biju Janata Dal. About a dozen journalists, apparently appalled at being bribed, have filed a First Information Report against Mishra and BJD MLA Maheshwar Mohanty for trying to bribe the media to get “favourable coverage”.

     

    Now the first instinct would be to applaud such honest behaviour and such moral outrage, surely? How often do journalists take such a stand and go so far as to file FIRs against politicians? Indeed.

     

    Then reality sinks in, if you didn’t start laughing outright. Because if you read the rest of the story, when the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Urban Development held a press conference in Bhubaneshwar and handed out envelopes with Rs 300 in them, nobody protested and nobody returned the money. Even in Puri, of the 53 journalists present, 15 returned the money and the rest took it. The organisers claimed the money was not a bribe but a conveyance allowance.

     

    Hands up any of you who have been to press conferences and not seen journalists scrambling to get the “gift” or fighting with the organisers that the “gift” was not enough? Through the 1990s, after liberalisation, these gifts, especially in the business world, included cash in thousands, shares, discount vouchers, suit lengths, white goods – and all this at press conferences only. We’re not even talking about gifts that were delivered home. There used to be jokes at the time about business journalists who got family members married based on the “gifts” they received!

     

    The fact is that too many in our tribe can be corrupt and “press conference” journalists have a high level of expectation. Organisers do feel that they will be discriminated against if they do not offer freebies. We have done this to them by our high demands and not the other way around.

     

    Another cynical thought springs to mind: were some journalists in Puri upset because Rs 200 is an insultingly small amount? Like handing out crumbs with the clear implication that the organisers see journalists as mendicants, happy with anything put into the begging bowl? It must be remembered that even roadside and traffic light beggars have high standards in today’s India and will return loose change if it is an insultingly low amount.

     

    And then there are those journalists at the upper end of the food chain: The ones who help with Cabinet positions and lobby for industrialists. They don’t go to press conferences but for all I know won’t even say no to Rs 200 in an envelope because even that is better than no money. Media managements are involved in or indeed have spearheaded “paid news” but there journalists who concur and those who run their own rackets.

     

    Therefore, much as I admire these Puri journalists who have taken umbrage at what appears to be a bribery attempt, I cannot forget all the terrible things I know and the worse stories that I have heard about colleagues and peers. We have been our own worst enemies and we have been again with all those journalists who did walk away Rs 200 or Rs 300 richer in Puri and Bhubaneshwar, completely nullifying the impact of the protestors.

     

    This is our shameful ongoing story.

     

    http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/orissa-journalists-lodge-fir-against-bjd-mp-and-mla-over-attempts-to-bribe-them/

     

     

  • It’s almost as if the newspaper owner is saying to you, "please please don’t bother to read this. Just rush out and buy a flat or flat screen TV instead", writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Ads and Ads before you get to Page 1

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    I know we should have got used to it by now, but isn’t there something remarkably silly about having to wade past six or seven pages of ads before you read the front page of a newspaper? It’s almost as if the newspaper owner is saying to you, “please please don’t bother to read this. Just rush out and buy a flat or flat screen TV instead.”

     

    It is true that I write this on the assumption that a newspaper’s first priority is to sell news and it is entirely possible that this is a daft and naive notion. After all, in the olden days, front pages of newspapers used to be a collection of tiny classifieds and when you look at them now, they provide a certain historical perspective. Today’s newspapers could be trying to do the same thing. It is not necessary to understand the times we live in or times past only through headlines like “Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and then declares war on U.S.” (The Gettysburg Address, Special War Edition). You could understand as much about the world at war and rationing from this Brylcreem ad from 1946, “Brylcreem By Jove!.. some chaps are lucky! There’s such a shortage of Brylcreem that a chap who does get a bottle is indeed in luck. When you are one of the lucky ones please make your bottle of Brylcreem last as long as possible.”

     

    There, you have it in a nutshell. From the shortage of Brylcreem you can extrapolate to hard times which could be caused a number of things and why not war which would mean nations fighting each other and might as well be World War II.

     

    I extrapolate from this week’s papers therefore that people are rushing out to buy many cars and white goods. However, things may not be so good because fancy stores like The Collective at the Palladium in Mumbai’s Phoenix Mills are offering “cash back” on every purchase of Rs 30,000. If people who spend Rs 30,000 on clothes and accessories need discounts, then the economy could be in better shape. I can also guess that all this shopping is because of an important festival.

     

    Thus I can bypass the entire newspaper to get an idea of the news. Brilliant! Something to think about the next time you complain about that news channel that takes ad breaks…

    So Happy Diwali and Happy Shopping!

     

    **

     

    I continue with the theme I picked up on last time and wonder more and more about the future of mainstream media. It is so possible to remain connected and aware without bothering to delve into either. I don’t know if these means a rethink by those who work in it – no, not idiotic conferences filled with management graduates with more jargon than sense but real thinking. Or, we should just ride the trend and see where it takes us? After all, the need for news remains. And the medium no longer matters so much – with due apologies to whatisname.

     

    **

     

    Ben Bradlee, 93, the editor of Washington Post who directed the Watergate coverage, died on Tuesday. He had been called the “last of lion-king newspaper editors”. As any journalist knows, there can be no great story without a great editor. Do we have any great editors left in India? Or only great brand managers?

     

  • The race for the coverage of #WarzoneHisar was between Times Now and Headlines Today and the winner was Arnab Goswami. No one, absolutely no one, can do TV outrage like him, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Arnab Goswami, the King of Outrage!

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    #WarzoneHisar said TV news or more specifically Times Now which had eight reporters over 10 days covering six angles. Or something like that, maybe it was 10 reporters over six days covering eight angles. I all know for certain is that there were more reporters than angles.

     

    The story itself was not a joke of course. One of India’s innumerable “godmen” decided to duck the law and hide in his “ashram” in Hisar, Haryana. He was protected by thousands of his followers and his own private army which attacked the police with petrol bombs and acid pouches among other weaponry.

     

    It was a marvellous display of the might of the TV media against the lathis of the Haryana police and the varied armaments of Rampal’s Private Army. And even if several mediapersons did get beaten up by the police, was there any doubt about who would win in the end? The race was between Times Now and Headlines Today and the winner, undoubtedly, was Arnab Goswami. And not just because of 100 reporters, 20 days and 13 angles. But because NO ONE, absolutely NO ONE, can do TV outrage like him.

     

    I also however realised my severe shortcomings in not having an Oxbridge education (note to parents: how could you be so mean?). I did not realise that when all the participants in a TV panel discussion yell and scream at the same time, the technical name is “open debate”. Clearly, in the past I have been so mesmerised by Goswami’s shiny hair and stentorian tones that I have missed this phrase completely. But he said it the other night, “Come, Popsy, come Topsy, come Bubbles, come Biggles, join in, this is an Open Debate.” They always do and then we have the Great Indian Cacophonic Orchestra in front of us and I hit mute on the remote. But at least now I know.

     

    More seriously though, the media has a great role to play in debunking these charlatans and frauds who hoodwink the gullible and use their political connections to flout the law. More exposure on TV please!

     

    **

     

    In an aside, was fascinating to see Rahul Eeshwar (I don’t what he does exactly, but he is called an “author” and activist and usually speaks up for his idea of Hinduism) take one position on NDTV (Bad bad bad Rampal) and a slight shift on Times Now (Not so bad Rampal). Maybe he thought why should Subramanian Swamy have all the fun with Arnab Goswami?

     

    **

     

    And while on Subramanian Swamy and Arnab Goswami, have you heard this? If not, do it now! And you have, why not again?

     

    **

     

    And then there’s the issue of mediapersons being beaten up by the Haryana police. Has the response from the police, the governments, media organisations been sufficient? Apparently not, from what one has seen. It was discussed on TV briefly but since then, the behaviour of the Haryana police is evidently being seen as par for the course if you are reporting in India’s badlands.

     

    Unacceptable? No question about it!

     

  • Let us salute extraneous noise and the power of public opinion on social media, which can make a behemoth notice a pesky ant and change direction, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: How Times & Bachi Karkaria gave in to the God of 140 characters!

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    This column has to be dedicated to the power of Twitter. Or, as Bachi Karkaria, well-known journalist, columnist and noted punster would put it, “extraneous noise”.

     

    The Times Literary Carnival invited Tarun Tejpal as a panellist on the subject of the “Tyranny of power” in the first week of December. Manu Joseph, journalist, was to be the moderator, with journalist, editor, writer and now scriptwriter Basharat Peer and politician Mani Shankar Aiyar as the other participants.

     

    Is there anyone here who has forgotten the Tejpal story from last November? The apology letter from the founder-editor-owner of Tehelka, the “recusing” of himself from the job and the “penance of laceration”, the determination of the young colleague to expose his assault on her, the escalation of events from an admission of sexual harassment (hence the penance blah blah), the private mails made public, the police action on a rape case, the filing of charges?

     

    It did not stop there either. Tejpal evaded arrest, was taken dramatically to Goa and put in jail. Once the lawyers entered the picture, the apology mails were retracted and his accuser was blamed for, well, the usual defence in such cases, asking for it. Collateral damage in all this was the reputation of Tehelka’s managing editor Shoma Chaudhury and Tehelka itself. Certainly one of Indian journalism’s most sordid scandals, except that we have such short memory spans.

     

    Not that it ended there of course. Once Tejpal’s defence was settled on “the victim asked for it” or “why was she in a short dress” or “why did she get into a lift with me”, some attempt at rehabilitation was in order. It began with articles on video footage of the corridor outside the lift where the assault happened. Reams of high flown text on the corridor in defence of Tejpal from Manu Joseph, yes indeed, the man picked as the moderator.

     

    It was apparently Swapan Dasgupta, columnist and good friend and defender of the BJP, who first set Twitter off by pulling out publicly from the “carnival”. The outrage and protests grew on social media. Some people felt that the principles of free speech and presumption of innocence could be applied to the decision to invite Tejpal. Others felt this was just a way to rehabilitate him as a public figure and public “thinker”. And the overwhelming feeling was one of anger that such an attempt was being made at all.

     

    The problem with the presumption of innocence argument is that Tejpal himself apologised, publicly and privately before the matter became a police case. This was not a forced police confession to be retracted in front of a magistrate pleading torture or coercion or seen as inadmissible in law. Add to that the largely unaddressed issue of sexual harassment in media offices – for all our posturing and pointing fingers at other industries – and the problem is magnified.

     

    One assumes therefore that the Times Literary Carnival knew what it was doing when it invited Tejpal as a panellist. And yet it found itself unable to come up with an adequate defence against the anger on Twitter. So Bachi Karkaria, organiser of the literary festival, announced on Twitter that Tejpal had been asked not to attend because the festival did not want “extraneous noise”.

     

    I have discussed the notion of extraneous noise in a piece for the opinion website, DailyO, and will not repeat that here. Instead, let us salute extraneous noise and the power of public opinion on social media, which can make a behemoth notice a pesky ant and change direction. Not a retraction, not a “recusal”, not a “penance that lacerates” but at the very least, a shift in “adamantine resolve”.

     

    The God of 140 characters, I salute you!

     

  • It is remarkable and encouraging that there are media houses which are willing to invest in good stories and in newsgathering but it is much worse that there are so many which are not, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Journalists get it right while TV News muddles it up

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The International Committee for the Red Cross and the Press Institute of India held their annual media awards in New Delhi this week. I was honoured to be part of the jury, together with Pamela Philipose and Sreekumar Varma. The usual focus is humanitarian journalism but this year the theme was “Reporting on the fate of the victims of armed violence”. A Best Photographer Award was also added this year to the best reporter award.

     

    Reading through the entries was a heart-warming experience not just because of the stories of the victims but also because of the tremendous effort put in by the journalists concerned. These were stories which required commitment from editors and the management if they are to be even remotely successful. There is a lesson somewhere here for the mainstream print media. The only two major newspapers which featured on the winning list are the Telegraph for Sumir Karmakar’s piece on the terror victims of Karbi Anlong and Manob Chowdhury’s photographs in the Hindu on landmine victims in Jharkhand. The other winners were Sohini Chattopadhyaya on Rohingya Muslims living in camps for Open magazine, Lakshmi Subramanian’s report on Tamils in Sri Lanka for The Week, Parvez Majeed’s feature on civil service aspirants and young IAS officers in Jammu & Kashmir for Sahara and Pattabi Raman’s photofeature on Tamils in Sri Lanka for Fountain Ink.

     

    India’s major newspapers and magazines hardly featured in the entries. Most were from local newspapers. This is a matter of great shame. It is remarkable and encouraging that there are media houses which are willing to invest in good stories and in newsgathering but it is much worse that there are so many which are not. We are destroying our own future by concentrating on the short term, on the here and now, on personality politics and on a circus in which we are not just instigators but also stakeholders.

     

    More on the event here:

    ‘This year’s PII-ICRC media awards winners have raised the bar’

     

    **

     

    I spent half of Thursday in transit. So when I got to a television in the evening, I was very keen to know what the Supreme Court had said about the BCCI and N Srinivasan. What a colossal mistake!

     

    Because television news as we know is not about the news at all but about the reactions after the news. And if you do not know what the news itself is, well, too bad. So Times Now was having hysterics while the images were of Srinivasan entering his house and refusing to comment. After I watched this footage of Srnivasan entering his house and refusing to comment at least 15 times, I finally understood it. N Srinivasan had entered his house and refused to comment. That there were some nice potted plants and sculptures outside Srinivasan’s front door is the most that I gleaned from that footage. Then Times Now decided to show and reshow and reshow some interview with Srinivasan from 2013. This is a particular absurd TV tactic. They won’t give you details of the news as it happened three hours ago. But they’ll play some dumb tape from one year ago especially if it features their star anchor or editor or whatever.

     

    So on to the other channels. The anchor on CNN-IBN was having an apoplectic fit that Srinivasan had not been sent to the gallows yet, IPL had not been banned, Chennai SuperKings was not disbanded, MS Dhoni was not weeping in the studio corner. None of the guests could console the anchor.

     

    NewsX was also angry and ran plenty of hashtags like “#BCCIstripped”, but of course, no details of how and when. They ran the funniest interview with Justice Mudgul on whose report the Supreme Court has set much trust apparently. Mudgul would not answer any questions about the case which did not stop the reporter from asking the same question in 9000 different ways.

     

    NDTV had Shaina NC on and she was not talking about the BCCI and Srinivasan so I lost interest.

     

    And I still found out nothing. Did I say nasty things about newspapers somewhere in this piece? I take it back.

     

  • Once it was obvious just how she couldn't cope, why didn't DD take her off air? Surely, a few more skills are required in this job than a pretty face, asks Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Sympathy for the ill-informed DD anchor?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Last week, a video of a Doordarshan anchor at International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa went viral. Let’s be clear. The girl was awful. She was babbling, did not know cinema, did not recognise important people, did not know how to look at the camera, got easily distracted, did not seem to realise she was on air, kept nodding at people who were off-camera, asked inane questions and was a total disaster.

     

    Unfortunately for her, her horrendous second appearance on national television was captured for posterity and seen by thousands on social media who may not have otherwise watched Doordarshan. She was also the subject of the sort of vicious remarks that social media excels in. People speculated about whether she was so happy because she had lost her virginity to her being stupid, crazy, dumb and so on.

     

    The girl is apparently “traumatised” by the attacks:

    http://www.telegraphindia.com/1141129/jsp/nation/story_19102425.jsp#.VHlBlP9yrk1.twitter

     

    Let’s assume she has no future in television after this debacle.

     

    But let us also spare a thought for the training that goes into being on television. Or lack of it, as in this case. The head of Doordarshan’s Mumbai office (responsible for the coverage) says her mike was not working. But this technical issue was the least of her problems. She clearly had done no homework and did not know what she was talking about. So what was she doing on air in the first place? We all understand how shallow we are but surely, surely, a few more skills are required in this job than a pretty face? Was there no one more experienced on DD’s payroll or phone books?

     

    Once it was obvious just how she couldn’t cope, why didn’t DD take her off air? They’ve done enough disastrous switches in the past – my own most traumatic was switching to news at the end of a Wimbledon final in the late 1970s – to know how it can be done. One of those “Rukavat ke liye khed hai” (we are sorry for the break) messages that were once a staple on DD? No? Then how about someone with half a brain using at least a quarter of it?

     

    And finally, the cruelty on social media is a given. But it is also true that those who can dish it out can rarely take it. Lesson for us all in there somewhere.

     

    **

     

    Two girls are groped in a bus (Rohtak, Haryana). They decide to fight back and thrash the men involved. The passengers watch the fun. The bus driver and conductor do nothing. One girl is thrown off the bus. Usual national and television outrage after.

     

    However, why do news channels make this a political issue? And am I really asking this question? Some problems are social issues and the treatment of women is one of them. No matter which political dispensation is in power, misogyny and patriarchy squeak through. Why not speak to social activists, to the cheerleaders of patriarchy, to the families of the men who groped these women and leave politicians out of it? Most serious conversations get diverted into that ridiculous you did this, you did that game and the issue is forgotten.

     

    Sorry. I have to end here. I’m going to look for a brick wall.

     

  • TV, as we have all had drummed into us by now, operates on a different spectrum. It is a hungry, demanding master which wants to be fed constantly and instantly, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Chutney journalism on news telly?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    There is a little mystery surrounding the sisters from Rohtak, Haryana, who were filmed beating up some men who allegedly molested them on a bus. Another video has emerged of them doing the same thing elsewhere. Who knows, either they are women who have had enough and will not put up with male superiority or they are serial thrashers of men in public places. The mind boggles at the second. Does one applaud or condemn?

     

    However, that’s the subject of another debate. First, let’s get past the media which brought them to our attention. The women were immediately dubbed “bravehearts” on TV. This term is now used for everything from a soldier killed in the line of duty or above and beyond the call of duty and any civilian who stands up to someone else in everyday life. One can only assume that some fan of Mel Gibson or perhaps William Wallace first used the term. Actually on second thoughts, strike the William Wallace reference. What are the odds anyone today has heard of him. The movie too came out in 1995 when most of today’s editors were in nappies being fed pap by their mummies and ayahs.

     

    At any rate, the term “braveheart” has been rendered meaningless by overuse. Then we have the first video itself. It ran endlessly on TV, the women were interviewed, primetime debates were held but was any journalistic due diligence used at all? Did anyone find out about the provenance of the video, the background of the story, speak to witnesses or undertake any journalistic work of any kind? Or was the video taken at face value and presented to the world as is? Of course that’s what happened: Because it was in newspapers that a larger story emerged.

     

    TV, as we have all had drummed into us by now, operates on a different spectrum. It is a hungry, demanding master which wants to be fed constantly and instantly. Time is a luxury TV does not have because, ironically, it is ruled by a 24-hour news cycle. But philosophical truisms apart, what does this make of the basics of journalism? As we can see, in plain Indian terminology, a fine chutney.

     

    **

     

    If you missed this when it was aired, then you have denied yourself a barrel full of laughs. This edition of Left, Right and Centre on NDTV is a must-watch because of Trinamool Congress spokesperson and MP Derek O’Brien. He defends Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, attacks the media particularly the Ananda Bazaar Patrika Group and provides some real gems like: “Naveen Patnaik is Naveen Patnaik, Tarun Gogoi is Tarun Gogoi and Mamata Banerjee is Mamata Banerjee.”

     

    Indeed.

     

    At the end of it all, the other participants and the anchor Nidhi Razdan have no option but to laugh. This is not a spoof by the way.

     

    http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/left-right-centre/mamata-vs-bjp-is-the-trinamool-chief-nervous/346936

     

    **

     

    The idea of a “reader’s editor” or an ombudsman has not been taken too kindly or seriously by most Indian media houses. The only consistent exception has been The Hindu. In this excellent piece for The Hoot, Sumana Ramanan, who was reader’s editor with The Hindustan Times in Mumbai, discusses her experience:

    http://thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=7928&mod=1&pg=&sectionId=19&valid=true