MxMIndia

Tag: Arnab Goswami

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

    [MJR] TV journos prove Katju is right

    Ranjona Banerji

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Journalists have evidently signed a pact to prove Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju right – 90 per cent of Indians are idiots. There seems to be no other reason for this enormous media reaction to the late night fracas between film star Shah Rukh Khan and a security guard at Wankhede stadium two nights ago.

     

    Of course, the shenanigans of film stars are exciting and when they behave badly it’s even more fun. But is there anything to justify front page headlines and TV debates for two days? What exactly is there to debate? Khan arrived last the stadium around the time Kolkata beat Mumbai, with a bunch of kids. The kids ran into the field. A security guard stopped them. Khan intervened. Words were exchanged and some apparently not very polite ones and then Khan left.

     

    For this, the world has come to an end. We are discussing politeness, propriety, banning, apologies, role models, respect for the uniform, high-handedness, diplomacy, official inefficiency, entitlement or the sense thereof, protection of children and the decibel level of whistles.

     

    If we went to war with China, I cannot imagine more being discussed on television. The journalists on TV cannot seem to distinguish between a security guard and a policeman. Rahul Kanwal almost burst a blood vessel when on Headlines Today veteran adman Prahlad Kakkar tore into the behaviour of security guards: “You have to respect the uniform”. I would really like to know how any of these TV guests react when faced with the officiousness of a security guard.

     

    Kakkad was a rare voice of sanity as was Rohan Gavaskar who said: “Banning Shah Rukh Khan from Wankhede is like banning Sachin Tendulkar from PVR”. Meaningless, in other words. Except for Arun Lal on Times Now, no one wanted to discuss whether officials of the Mumbai Cricket Association, who called for a ban on Khan entering Wankhede, were not over-reacting. Lal said it’s a question of contesting fiefdoms – with Khan as an IPL team owner against MCA officials with their hurt pride at being event managers rather than stakeholders.

     

    The levels of self-righteous on Times Now were staggering, with anchor Arnab Goswami, veteran columnist and author Shobhaa De and not-so-veteran columnist Simi Chandok leading the way. Goswami kept bringing up police action against Hollywood stars Nicholas Cage and Russell Crowe, again unable to distinguish between security guard and a policeman. (Hint: different uniform.)

     

    Former Mumbai police commissioner MN Singh tried to point out that criminal charges against Khan were not possible and this led to him being dragged over hot coals by Goswami. When the nation wants to know, let no man or woman try and douse the fire.

     

    Commentator Charu Sharma however poured cold water on Rahul Kanwal’s spectacular rage – mainly it seemed because uniforms were not being respected, apparently a prime concern in his life – by forecasting that an amicable resolution would be reached and the incident would soon be forgotten. The truth is that everyone knows that that is what will happen.

     

    As a matter of interest, after all the hot air expended over the fight which Saif Ali Khan had in a restaurant at the Taj a few months ago, can anyone remember the names of those self-righteously hurt complainants from South Africa? Hmmm.

     

    * * *

     

    On NDTV, I watched another somewhat circular debate over whether PA Sangma could become the next president of India. These speculative discussion with weak premises only illustrate our emptiness of thought. I greatly admire Divya Marathi editor Kumar Ketkar for his fortitude and level of tolerance as he sits through so many TV debates these days, trying to inject a little sanity into proceedings.

     

    It seems amazing to me that no TV people seem able to realise that all this political hoopla over the next president is just a diversionary tactic from all the political problems this country is facing.

     

    Goswami even wants a debate between Sangma and Vice-President Hamid Ansari, since he possibly believes that India has a presidential form of government. Contestant 1: I will plant 400 varieties of roses in the gardens. Contestant 2: I will conduct the tours of Rashtrapati Bhavan myself. Contestant 3: I will never build a large retirement home for myself. Contestant 4: I will never bore school children with my poems and ideas.

     

    Please, somebody, save us!

     

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

    [MJR] TV leads to early onset of maddening rage

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Sometimes, television viewing can be seriously injurious to health. On Monday night, I tried to wade through TV discussions and only landed up with all the signs of early onset of maddening anger which soon developed into full blown rage. And I didn’t even venture further than two channels – Headlines Today and Times Now.

     

    On Headlines Today, the discussion was about the decision to ban all cartoons in textbooks. The guests were all having hysterics, the anchor – Rahul Kanwal – tried to say that vital airtime should not be wasted this way but the panellists were having none of it.

     

    This makes one wonder whether this format of prime time discussions on the news of the day is working any more. Night after night, we watch these so-called experts descend to the worst examples of civilised behaviour. Nothing fruitful is discussed as a result.

     

    One panellist could not even distinguish between a political cartoon and comic books. The first was not suitable for children apparently while the second were Archie comics and all that are fine she says. Clearly she has not read too many comics or cartoons – regardless of the unintended hilarity of her arguments. All I know is that her first name is “Kakoli”, since the channel never repeated it after that.

     

    Cartoonist Suthir Tailang also gave up after some time, the gentleman from the Bahujan Samaj Party just yelled incessantly, the comic lady continued with her routine and the anchor ended the whole farce.

     

    * * *

     

    On Times Now, we shifted to another dimension. Editor in chief Arnab Goswami decided that the government had to step in to save General VK Singh’s reputation as the army chief edges closer to retirement. This is in response to a Press Trust of India story about how some official in the Cabinet secretariat is apparently going to be blamed for leaking the army chief’s letter to the PM about India’s lack of defence preparedness.

     

    The panel was full of former army officers, both them and their moustaches bristling away about how the army was all good and everyone was all bad. Where do they get their accents from by the way? Sometimes they sound like London meets Ludhiana or Kota meets Kanada or more likely Billy Bunter in Bundelkhand. Forgive me, I’m just more used to Salman Khan’s Mumbai meets Manhattan. Do you think they teach accents at the IMA? I concentrated on their accents because it was impossible to understand what they were saying. But anyway, they all went off on their own tangents with India demanding answers and the country wanting to know every two minutes.

     

    The only voices of sanity were Kumar Ketkar, editor of Divya Marathi and KC Singh, former ambassador to UAE. But since they did not join in the general outcry to save the army chief, they were shunned. Ketkar was roundly castigated for suggesting that VK Singh was “hobnobbing with Anna Hazare”.

     

    In all this, no one asked (or dared to ask) why the government should save VK Singh’s reputation when the general himself had scant concern about it during his date of birth fight and especially after the spanking he got from the Supreme Court.

     

    Anyway, by this I had burst a few blood vessels and could not even watch Jon Stewart’s Daily Show to restore my equilibrium.

     

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

    [MJR] The Modi merry-go-round continues

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    As expected, the release of the report by lawyer Raju Ramachandran into Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s role in the 2002 riots got TV channels into a frenzy. Having whipped themselves up over the “clean chit” given to Modi by the Special Investigation Team, the indictment of the chief minister by the “friend of the court” provided just the kind of contradiction that Indian TV thrives on.

     

    However, the arguments for and against Narendra Modi and his “crimes” or his “achievements” have become old and tired. As have the panellists. There on NDTV was Jainarayan Vyas putting up a stout defence of Modi. And, of course, a short while later he was on Times Now. Kumar Ketkar, editor of Divya Marathi provided the objective line – while slamming Modi for his well-documented anti-minorities stance – also appeared on both.

     

    But at the end of the day, little is achieved with such debates. The BJP and Modi’s fan club spew their spiel. Modi’s detractors have their own. The debate moves along predictable lines. The events have become so far away that the details have been forgotten which leads to even more chaos. Both Nidhi Razdan and Arnab Goswami had a tough time controlling some of their panellists who as usual forget all rules of civilised behaviour once a TV camera is turned on them. Smriti Irani of the BJP, for instance, gave us ample proof of how she can now graduate to the “saas” role in a poisonous soap – if they still have them on TV that is.

     

    (A disclaimer: I was deputy resident editor of The Times of India, Ahmedabad, from 2001 to 2004 and have a fairly good idea of what happened during the riots. Watching people who were nowhere around in those dark days holding forth can be both a frustrating and amusing experience.)

     

    * * *

     

    The big TV event of the week is of course the first episode of actor Aamir Khan’s Satyameva Jayate on the Star channels and DD. He dealt with the contentious and emotional issue of female foeticide and India’s skewed gender ratio. It was a well-researched show, with the subject presented from various angles and certainly struck a chord with the audience. The cyber world went gaga, judging from the number of tweets about the programme. Newspapers the next day were also congratulatory.

     

    If there was criticism – especially on Twitter, the home of manufactured outrage – it was about whether female foeticide was such an unknown problem after all as well as whether any change would happen as a result of the show.

     

    It is amazing to hear journalists talking about whether social change can result from media efforts, since we know from our own experience what a slow and pain-staking experience that can be. Your 140-character aphorism may take seconds to go out to the world; change on the ground takes a tiny bit longer than that.

     

    * * *

     

    An evening at the Mumbai Press Club was a great opportunity to meet up with former colleagues and old friends. The now annual awards for journalists in categories from crime and cricket to politics and the environment is a very good idea. Giving the lifetime achievement award to Vinod Mehta was a winner – since he promptly said that working in Bombay (as it was then) were the best years of his life!

     

    Applause all around.

     

  • The evening also witnessed two special awards being given to late Pradeep Vijaykar and eminent journalist Madhu Shetye for their outstanding contribution to the domain

    Press Club Bombay honour bigger than Padma Shri: Vinod Mehta

    By A Correspondent

     

    Acknowledging to the audience that his heart still favoured Mumbai over Delhi and it was Mumbai that saw him at his pioneering best, Vinod Mehta, now advisor to the Outlook Group, was a picture of pride and fulfilment as he received the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed on him by the Press Club of Mumbai on May 4.

     

    Receiving the award from Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Communications & IT, Mehta thanked the members of the fourth estate and said that this award means more to him than even the Padma Shri. Mr Mehta was felicitated for his selfless contribution of more than 35 years to his passion – journalism. Mr Mehta joined a host of winners from the fourth estate that were honoured by the Press Club for outstanding contribution to the trade.

     

    The evening also witnessed two special awards being given to late Pradeep Vijaykar (formerly with Times of India) and eminent journalist Madhu Shetye for their outstanding contribution to the domain. Gurbir Singh, President of Press Club of Mumbai delivered the keynote address while veteran sports journalist Ayaz Memon was the emcee for the evening.

     

    Prior to the awards ceremony, the evening witnessed a scintillating panel discussion on the role that media was portraying in the country and whether it was headed in the right direction. The panellists included Arnab Goswami of Times Now, who moderated the session, Vinod Mehta of Outlook Group, Kumar Ketkar of Divya Marathi and Uday Shankar of Star India.

     

    Mr Goswami began by stating that there is no shortage of attention being showered on media but expressed concern when he said that never has the media done so wrong. “The question that all journalists and editors need to ask ourselves is, are we doing everything right today? Is the chase for news headed in the right direction?”

     

    Replying to his question, Mr Mehta said: “There is no problem with the direction, what is essential is for us to judge the media in the environment it works in. The judiciary and press media still function with a degree of idealism and integrity but there is so much of self-congratulation that is happening; that is something that is slightly out of proportion.”

     

    Expressing his views on the issue of responsibility, Mr Mehta said: “Where the young journos are concerned, I feel they have a good sense of idealism and integrity but if there is somebody who has to take the blame for the current state of affairs, it is the editor. Even if somebody from the team has committed an error, the editor has to take ownership of that and find a solution to it. The problem is that the editors have forgotten what their job is and are pursuing their own agenda. The need of the hour is self-examination; we need to introspect and be accountable for our actions.”

     

    Replying to Mr Goswami’s query on whether there was unity between members of the fourth estate and the role that editors essayed, Kumar Ketkar said: “It is the editors who stop news from being published and not the management as many think. The editors try and control their reporters and that should not be the case.” Mr Ketkar cited the example of the slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, who was shot by his brother a few years ago. “When his brother was arrested for his murder, he had written a letter from the jail explaining his stance and he wished to supply the letter to all in the media. I was told that most editors had agreed to play up the letter in their publication and so I went ahead and planned a big editorial spread for the news. But the next day, I was surprised to see that only my paper had carried the news. This shows the lack of unity existing between the media players today.” According to him, “The media today is not clear on the role that it has to essay. They are not mature enough and lack understanding skills. Journalists themselves are timid and lack courage.”

     

    Uday Shankar, CEO of StarIndia went on to describe how television as a medium emerged in a big way first during the 90s and then again during 2008-09. “A lot is being said about how news television has been crowded space but I feel it managed to rediscover its own agenda during 2008-09. I cannot understand when some people say media doesn’t do self-introspection. If that is what is claimed, then how come they’ve come to rediscover themselves? Personally, I feel media has done the right thing by chasing news. If there are people who still have questions about the role of news channels, then I cannot understand whether media should be responsible for what it does or whether it should concentrate on doing the right thing?”

     

    The panel went on to discuss how urban centres led by metropolitan cities were receiving maximum attention from the media and how stories from the rural and less important towns were being ignored in a large way. The need of the hour, the panel highlighted, was to bring out stories from these small cities and towns which were inspirational in nature.

     

    Winnerspeak:

    Ashish Khetan, Editor – Investigations, Tehelka

    “I bagged the top award for my story on the national rural health mission scam that was unfolding in UP. The story was not about the bonds between the corporation and ministers but how corruption was actually killing people. The funds which were allocated for improving healthcare for the needy and rural people were being siphoned off and embezzled by the whole gravy train of bureaucrats, including politicians. Unfortunately the story did not get much play in the national media because it was centered around the poor but I feel the story was more important than 2G, CWG or other scams that were covered by the media.”

     

    Abhijit Sathe, Sr Asst Editor, Mumbai Mirror

    “I won the runners-up award for Crime (Pradeep Shinde award) for my story Hiranandani vs Hiranandani. The award means a lot to me. The story was a big one that chronicled infighting between families of one of the biggest names in business today. I exposed how two siblings were sabotaging each other’s interests. I am greatful that I was selected for, and eventually won the award.”

     

    Rafique Baghdadi, Business India

    “More than react to the win, I would like to say this: more than 62 years ago, a lady called Ms Panna Shah, had done a PhD in Indian Cinema and since then there is nobody who has done that course in the industry as yet. It’s high time the business houses, film industry and the state government should give grants and scholarship to aspiring candidates to pursue that course.”

     

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

    [MJR] TV arguments that go nowhere

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Few crimes have been more astonishing and more bitterly fought over in the public domain than the murders of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar and the domestic who worked in her home, Hemraj. Unlike the Jessica Lal murder case – where everyone know who the murderer was and the scandal was the cover-up – everything about this double murder remains open-ended four years later.

     

    The role of the media, however, came into question from day 1. it started with the intrusive and speculative reporting about Aarushi’s own life – with ridiculous segments on TV channels about how Aarushi would have celebrated her next birthday, had she been alive. Then, the initial police investigation added more grist to the rumour mill – were the parents swingers, had Aarushi and Hemraj become too close because of the parents’ activities and as a result, had the two been shut up because they knew too much? No evidence was presented to prove any of these speculations, yet the Noida police had no problem putting all these theories into the fray.

     

    Then the expected happened -various domestics were blamed. it didn’t help that Hemraj himself was blamed, by the parents as it happened. His body was found the next day since neither the police nor the family even bothered to check the whole house after the murder of the girl was discovered. His body was on the terrace – not really that far away.

     

    The media at this time, rather than focus on the salacious aspects of the case and dramatising this young girl’s life, perhaps should have put the police under the scanner for destroying evidence, for not treating the Talwar home as a crime scene and for careening between believing the Talwars implicitly to treating them as criminals.

     

    Television on Monday night revisited the Aarushi case as her mother Nupur finally appeared before a court after giving the authorities the run around for a year and was sent to jail. We have seen the Talwars presented as both victims and perpetrators. The media has taken sides and many have sided with the Talwars. The arguments presented have been sweetly naive -how can parents kill their children and neighbours say the Talwars are nice people. The dentist couple also had high profile patients like historian Patrick French who have launched a spirited defence.

     

    On NDTV, there was some soul-searching about whether the media had gone too far, Headlines Today enjoyed chasing Nupur Talwar all over Delhi and told us all about the jail she would be staying in and how she would be treated. On Times Now, we were treated to an expected fight fest. One of the lawyers for the Talwars, Pinaki Mishra, historian French, activist Ranjana Kumari and TV journalist Ashutosh Tiwari and Arnab Goswami himself slugged it out. Or rather, Mishra and French batted for the Talwars, Tiwari for the media, Kumari hardly got a chance to speak and Goswami seemed unsure whose side he was on. He did however ask why no one was bothered about the domestics who were accused at the Talwars’ behest and then let off. Mishra wanted everyone to know he was taking no money – how this impacted the case was unclear. Should his paying clients now feel that he only pays attention to cases he does free. French said that everyone said the Talwars were nice people. imagine writing a history of, say, Hitler, and then telling us many people liked him. it’s hardly a defence.

     

    The Noida police and the CBi, who really should be under the microscope, were not grilled. So one more TV argument that goes nowhere.

     

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

    [MJR] It’s all about how the media operates

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The most serious news programme on TV sometimes is The Daily Show by Jon Stewart, aired every week night on Comedy Central at 11.30pm. The only show that comes close is, of course, The Week That Wasn’t on CNN-IBN with Cyrus Broacha.

     

    On Monday night, on The Daily Show, Stewart was all ready to discuss the fact that the Trayvon Martin case was finally going to trial. He was ready with the legalities of the case. Only, his reporters all vanished on him. There they were in Florida, standing outside the courthouse, because story was now no longer about George Zimmerman shooting Trayvon Martin: it was about the media and its reactions.

     

    A programme with a 24-hour discussion on whether the media was over-reacting was proposed. As Stewart had fits in the studio and ordered his reporters to get back to New York, they refused saying that this case was already being called the “case of the century”, “case of the millennium” and “case of the millennia” and they were not going to lose out.

     

    What a fine exaggeration of the way the media operates, I giggled to myself.

    Then, at midnight, I shifted to Times Now. Only to see Arnab Goswami in fine form, as he held forth on morality and the nation and the alleged sex CD featuring former Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi and a lawyer. Some mention of becoming a high court judge as a result of this slap-and-tickle was made.

     

    The panel was three journalists (four, if you count Goswami) and Siddharth Singh of the BJP. The BJP was, as far as I could understand, upset that Singhvi had resigned from his posts. They wanted him to explain the CD in the house (presumably not in a sex education way but knowing the BJP’s penchant for porn in legislatures, anything is possible). If the CD was real, then a probe (not like that!) was required. And if it was not real – as Singhvi has said – then another probe was required.

     

    Vinod Mehta, guiding light of Outlook said it’s all over and done with, Singhvi has resigned and let this remain a private matter. Vinod Sharma of Hindustan Times said the BJP was trying to squeeze every last drop of political mileage out of this, in spite of their own transgressions and once the Pandora’s Box was opened, they would not be safe. Arati Jerath said if this is the way high court judges are appointed, it is shocking and the matter should not be ignored.

     

    Goswami said that politicians can no longer as for privacy when their private lives are made public by the media, given the BJP’s demands.

     

    If this wasn’t fascinating enough, the next debate turned to the rift within Team Anna. Here the viewer was spectator to an incredible public squabble between three Team Anna members as Goswami and Hartosh Singh Bal of Open magazine watched with their mouths opening astonishment. Truly it was jaw-dropping stuff. All sorts of internal problems and ego battles were revealed.

     

    At the end, Goswami sternly admonished Team Anna that the fight against corruption was not anyone’s monopoly!

     

    At the end – 1.30 am — there was only the terrible truth of The Daily Show to think about. I didn’t sleep till about 3am as a result.

     

    * * *

     

    There is plenty of cyber rage over Press Council chairman Markandey Katju’s “proof” that 90 per cent of Indians are fools. People, get over this. The man is entitled to his opinion!

     

  • The theme of YCC 2012 was 'Role of Youth: Transforming Dialogue to Action.'

    Young changemakers talk about Change

    By Insiyah Rangwala

     

    The Young Changemakers Conclave (YCC) 2012 was held on April 14 at the US Consulate, Mumbai. Organized by Samyak Chakrabarty, Managing Director, Youth Media Group and team for the United Nations Information Centre forIndia and Bhutan (UNIC), in collaboration with the US Consulate General, and presented by UTV Bindaas, the Conclave which is in its second year, was being hosted in Mumbai for the first time. The key focus point of the Conclave was ‘Role of Youth: Transforming Dialogue To Action’.

     

    The Conclave was attended by 200 young individuals between the ages of 18 to 35 who were selected from diverse backgrounds of the 5000 who applied, to attend this near-day-long event to discuss, deliberate and confer on a wide array of topics while engaging with current day leaders and started off with an address by Mr Peter Haas, US Consul General, who talked about how change wasn’t meant to be easy.

     

    Thereafter a diverse and interesting list of dignitaries addressed the gathering:

    > Mr Suhel Sheth, Managing Partner, Counselage who talked about change being internal and about understanding yourself and changing yourself before the world.

    > Mr Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-chief, Times Now, spoke about how the fear of exposure is what leads to making people want to control the media and how that is a change that should be stopped

    > Mr Agnello Dias, Founder, Taproot spoke about creativity in finance and business.

     

    Other speakers included Mr Sanjay Nirupam and Mr Anurag Singh Thakur, both Members of Parliament who spoke about the importance of educating the youth about politics, and a mix of celebrities from the arts and cinema, sports, advocacy and hospitality. Masaba Gupta, Leander Paes, Rahul Akerkar, Rajeev Samant, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Asin Thottumkal, and Awista Ayub, Director, South Asia Program for Seeds of Peace, all of who spoke about their respective journeys to make a change in their own way. Musicians like Vishal Dadlani spoke about using music as an instrument for social change and how it is easier to sneak in a message through music. The event ended with a vote of thanks by Mr Keith Alphonso, Business Head, UTV Bindaas.

     

     

    Keith Alphonso, Business Head – UTV Bindass, talks to MxMIndia about what he defines as a changemaker, the channel’s new look and plans for Bindass

    The word change maker is used a lot nowadays. What do you, and the company, think is a change maker?

    Well, Bindass has always been about change. If you look at the brand, it has changed. This country is on the threshold of an immense amount of change across a variety of levels. I really think that for young people, success is a religion and achievers are their gods. Those who have taken the plunge beyond what society told them, they are the heroes for the kids today. Their achievement is what has identified them as a hero.

     

    Who do you believe are the three top Indian changemakers?

    A: I think it would be a gross injustice to name just three. The only thing that comes to my mind isIndiaitself, and the fact that there is a majority of young people today who are heroes. These are the kids who are going to drive the change, so there maybe 3,000 heroes in small towns who actually go out and do something to make a significant difference to the big guys you see on stage. I think it is the spirit of change that exists among the kids today that will be the changemaker.

     

    Bindass has changed their logo, so any comments about the new look.

    This is the third change we are going through because the audience changes at a supersonic level, there is no such thing as a steady state, especially when dealing with young people. The new look is about the change, so the new tag line- Restless – is about change. It’s about the fact that there is so much opportunity out there, that if you get up and do it now you will succeed and that is the message we want to take across.

     

    Future plans for Bindass…

    To start with the idea behind the new logo is that we celebrate the fact that ‘If you rest less rather than sitting ideal you will be successful and you will achieve’. We want to empower that transformation. We have several platforms through which we want to do it – we have two blockbuster shows coming up: Live Out Loud and Fearless. The brand is all about helping you change, helping you make that move to the better life. On ground we have got a whole string of activities- there is Campus, we’ve got something called the Bindass Buddies, a contact program which helps people get admission to college because that’s a huge problem for a lot of people. We’ve got a 5 city music tour that we are doing. So, the idea is not to do a couple of shows and just be happy. We are looking at the Young India and where we can make a difference.

     

     

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

    [MJR] Katju rides to the rescue of the press!

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Thursday/Friday was one of those rare news cycles where TV and print appeared to agree with each other – at least when it came to the Supreme Court’s upholding the Right to Education Act and the reservation of 25 per cent of seats for the economically backward in non-government schools.

     

    Arnab Goswami of Times Now right off the bat said any opposition was elitist and demonstrated the deep rich-poor chasm in this country. This line is in keeping with his “simple living high thinking” mantra unveiled a few days ago in a debate about teenage violence. Other channels also presented the same line of thinking. This made life a little uncomfortable for those outraged that rich kiddies now had to sit next to the children of their domestics – although no one said that quite so openly, of course.

     

    Even as opponents of the idea went on about increase in fees and so on, no one quite bought it.

     

    Friday morning’s newspapers followed the same lines – with particularly vociferous arguments in favour of the RTE plan and with some tough words for those against it. For a middle class readership, it is class prejudices which are first priority and the media has certainly picked up on that without pandering to it.

     

    As the judgment sinks in, it can only be hoped that newspapers (TV cannot do it) delve deeper into the implementation of the act and keep track of what is actually going on. Sticky points include minority institutions and boarding schools which are currently exempt from this provision, what happens to a child after Class VIII and improvement of facilities in government schools.

     

    * * *

     

    Press Council chairman Markandey Katju has jumped on to his white horse and charged to the rescue of the freedom of the press. The Press Council is going to the Supreme Court to challenge the Allahabad High Court’s decision to stop the media from reporting on troop movement. The media, so upset has it been with the temerity of the Indian Express to carry the controversial story about fears of an army coup in some government circles, has remained largely silent on the court decision.

     

    This is an interesting maturity test for the media. Its compulsions to tailor material to reader demands and provide infotainment aside, there is also a larger role regarding the safeguarding of democracy and being a general watchdog. Patriotism in the media context does not mean bowing before every institution – it means quite the opposite.

     

    I cannot say this better than Katju himself: “…the Indian Army is not a colonial army, but the army of the Indian people who pay taxes for the entire Indian defence budget. Hence the people of India have a right to know about army affairs, except where that may compromise national security.”

     

    As Katju points out, the media has this freedom under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution.

     

    Hear hear!

     

    * * *

     

    The media’s role in the Aarushi Talwar murder investigation remains questionable. It has swung from one extreme to another, drawing its own conclusions, dramatising the life and death of the young girl and encouraging the investigators’ own bizarre behaviour as a result.

     

    Right now, some in the media seem to have decided that the parents of the girl are innocent and being unduly targeted. Open magazine has carried a long article by historian Patrick French claiming this (he is a patient of the dentist couple).

     

    Unfortunately for everyone concerned, the courts will base their judgment on evidence collected and presented.

     

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

    For the 100th edition of Freaking News, some TV awards

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Outright, hands down, CNN-IBN wins the award for Silliest Debate Topic Ever On A Monday Night: “Is Yuvraj Singh the next Lance Armstrong?”. For those who have been living on Mars, cricketer Yuvraj Singh has been under treatment for cancer in the US and has just returned to India. A long recovery period lies ahead. Ace cyclist Lance Armstrong, a tour de force on the Tour de France, won his battle with cancer and didn’t let it affect his sporting prowess and achievements. Surely however, it is far too early to comment on Singh’s condition and future at all, although there must be every hope for a full recovery and return to form. Under the circumstances, this kind of discussion appears insensitive and illogical.

     

    * * *

     

    The Earnest Sadness In The Face of Terrible Facts award for Monday night goes to Arnab Goswami and Times Now on the discussion about a spurt in incidents of violence committed by teenagers. Goswami rued that the motto of “Simple living and high thinking” no longer made sense to the post-reforms generation and participants talked about how the drive for money and success had skewed values for young people. There was a pall of gloom all over the Times Now set as actors ruminated on the terrible effects of money and lack of supervision on young people. I had to use at least three hankies. Note to self: keep a box of tissues next to the television.

     

    * * *

     

    The award for showing Immense Fortitude In The Face Of Severe Provocation is shared jointly by Nidhi Razdan of NDTV and Sagorika Ghose of CNN-IBN as they attempted to control Trinamool whatever-he-is Derek O’Brien as he defended his Supreme Leader Mamata Banerjee from the wicked media. First on NDTV and then on CNN-IBN, O’Brien shouted, flustered and blustered his way through as he got angrier and angrier that anyone had dared to criticise his Supreme Leader. Razdan had him first and she barely managed to get him to stop talking so that the other guests could have their say.

     

    By the time he reached CNN-IBN, he had worked himself into a fine rage. He then “had words” with a CPI spokesperson which descended to phrases like “You are not the king of me” being bandied about. He then called Lord Meghnad Desai ‘Lord Swarj Paul” which led to another bout in which O’Brien emerged bloody. Then he and Desai got into another spat.

     

    All in all, Ghose was out-shouted and had to use her diplomatic skills (come on, we’re all born with them) to stop her guests from killing O’Brien. Even Dexter seemed kind and gentle after all this.

     

    * * *

     

    After all that, Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show on Comedy Central gets the award for Restoring Sanity to News Analysis as he took on the shooting of American teenager Trayvon Martin by a Neighbourhood Watch member George Zimmerman in Florida. Stewart asked all the questions that anyone following the case wants answers to.

    Phew.

     

  • You can tear down old and revered institutions, you can gossip about anyone you please but you cannot, cannot, cannot ever say anything negative about the Indian armed forces.

    Glory Be, Shekhar Gupta dared to criticise the Indian Army!

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The one way to annoy the journalistic community (I’m being generous and including TV-wallahs in this) is to write something uncomplimentary about the armed forces. As Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief of Indian Express, has discovered, ever since he wrote a front page story about inexplicable troop movements towards New Delhi on January 16.

     

    The story suggested that some in the government were worried about the army chief’s intentions especially since that was the day that VK Singh moved the Supreme Court over his age issue. There were questions raised about why the two divisions were abruptly sent back on ministry of defence instructions and why several protocols about moving towards the national capital had not been followed.

     

    Outrage and condemnation burst out across the media. What, the Indian armed forces, the most glorious institution in the world had been accused of maybe, perhaps attempting a coup or at best acting in a suspicious manner or at the least not following the rules? Impossible. For 7 lakh years (I’m using the BJP’s Saraswati civilisation timeline here because jingoism always reminds me of the right wing) the Indian armed forces have been perfect, never set a foot wrong.

     

    And now, to be accused of this, blah blah blah. I wonder what today’s media would have done to Emperor Ashoka when he decided to abjure violence after the Kalinga war. Can you imagine Ashoka being raked over the coals by Arnab Goswami, for daring to suggest that there had been too much bloodshed thanks to his soldiers?

     

    Anyway, Gupta has now become the whipping boy of the media. In Mumbai, there’s a term for this media anger: “khunnas”. Hmmm, that is, a teeny bit of jealousy that no one else had interpreted the facts quite like that. But there’s also all that patriotic anger – when it comes to the armed forces, objectivity flies out the window. Meanwhile gossip is flying around – Gupta is a Congress stooge, he is not in the VK Singh camp, he wanted to make hay out of an old story, he never thought it would boomerang like this and so on.

     

    Goswami on Times Now told us over and over again that some journalists with an “over-active imagination” had concocted this story. (Something TV can never be accused of possessing, oh no!) Several retired generals with large moustaches bristled with anger (how come we have so many of them, retired generals I mean, not moustaches?).

     

    Newspapers wrote editorials against the Express story. Some pointed out that half the information had first appeared on rediff.com. Others said that the conclusions were a bit far-fetched. Not a single journalist bothered to investigate the two questions raised: one, if the troop movement was innocent, why did the divisions turn back and two, why were the protocols not followed and tangentially, is VK Singh as angelic as he is being made out to be?

     

    Whatever it is, Gupta has learned one lesson. You can question God, you can tear down old and revered institutions and you can gossip about anyone you please but you cannot, cannot, cannot ever say anything negative about the Indian armed forces. Be warned, because otherwise, the wrath of Indian TV will fall on your head. Add all the anchors together and that’s quite a heavy burden to bear.

     

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

    Freaking News: Making sense of the army revelations

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Not surprisingly, the extraordinary revelations coming out of the army have consumed most of our days and nights. Kudos must go to DNA for first carrying the letter, which the army chief sent to the prime minister, about our lack of defence preparedness. Of course amidst all the high-decibel hot air about “high treason” and calls for sacking, we have as usual wandered into all kinds of marginal territories and taken a little time to put matters in perspective.

     

    Arnab Goswami on Times Now felt great shock that former prime minister Deve Gowda’s son Kumaraswamy said that arms dealers had tried to approach his father through him. Twitter took this as a joke with someone pointing out that Deve Gowda probably never took up the offer because he was asleep at the time. The innocence of television – is it endearing, annoying or just so put on?

     

    On NDTV and CNN-IBN, there were sometimes back to back discussions on the same subject with different anchors and guests. No great purpose was served by any of these – people who once wore uniforms claimed that the uniform-wearers were all purer than the driven snow, defence analyst Ajai Shukla said everyone always knew that India was badly prepared except probably Parliamentarians. Tarun Vijay of the BJP took great exception to being called ignorant but was told that he didn’t know what he was talking about for all his troubles. Brajesh Mishra felt that this government had spent too much money on development and “giving money to villages” and other unimportant stuff like that instead of presumably spending it all on national security. Luckily there was very little Chandan Mitra in all this.

     

    It, therefore, took the newspapers to explain to us the inner workings of the Tatra-Vectra-BEML deal, the connection between Ural trucks and army chief VK Singh and the problems with defence procurement. To be fair to Mishra however, he also said that the armed forces wasted time testing equipment in the snow, desert, mountains, plains, wind, water and so on till everything had become obsolete. All former uniform-wearers blamed the bureaucracy for the same.

     

    At the end of it all, you had to read the papers to find out who was who and who was doing what to who. This is a familiar pattern now and perhaps TV continues to be the saving grace for newspapers which have to make sense of the sound and fury. We now need some comprehensive stories on what appears to be some sort of internecine warfare within the army. It would also be good to know where the other service chiefs stand on all this.

     

    * * *

     

    As a break from all this, was the BRICS summit which just concluded in Delhi. TV did focus on that as well but sometimes when the reporters babble on and on saying the same thing in 16 different ways to guarantee their 2 minutes of air time, your eyes just glaze over. The business channels, however, had more focused coverage, including interviews with industrialists and so on. BBC and CNN were also more interested in the summit than in our military mis-manoeuvres.

     

    * * *

     

    A quick look at Pakistani papers this morning showed that in spite of all the fears of our former generals with moustaches quivering with rage, the Indian army’s lack of preparedness has not consumed them.

     

    * * *

     

    The Hindu has written a very welcome editorial, if a little late, slamming spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for his ridiculous comment that government schools are breeding Naxals. Does the media usually treat them too kindly?

     

    * * *

     

    The felicitation for Sachin Tendulkar by Mukesh Ambani provided the relief factor. TV, of course, pointed out that Bollywood attended in full force, leaving out the industrialists, politicians, artistes, literati and other movers and shakers in evidence. Where Bollywood ends, India ends I guess.

     

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

    The King in troubled waters

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

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

     

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

     

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

     

    Obviously, television cannot provide it…

     

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

     

    **

     

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

     

    **

     

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