MxMIndia

Tag: Rahul Gandhi

  • Different rules for Different Governments

    Different rules for Different Governments

    Ranjona Banerji PhotographMonsoon related disasters continue across India. The landslide in Wayanad is undoubtedly the worst with at least 300 people dead, homes and livelihoods destroyed. Torrential rain, a river changing course and the human lack of respect for nature are all possible reasons for the landslide and subsequent damage.

     

    The media, or sections of it, would rather concentrate on the political dynamics – since Kerala is ruled by the CPI (M) and like all non-BJP states, the government must be severely castigated – than on aspects of the disaster itself. Or, discussions on why opposition politician Rahul Gandhi who is still the MP from Wayanad has not visited yet, with implications that he is somehow to blame.

     

    And yet, as we have one more train accident – three on passenger trains in the last six weeks – in Jharkhand, the legacy media is unable to find any politician to blame for the sad state of the Railways. The excellent article from The Economic Times linked below provides all the details, has a stentorian tone about safety and protocol failures and yet, if you were new to India, you would be excused for believing that India has no railways minister. Is Ashwini Vaishnaw’s name there? Is he blamed or asked to take responsibility? O no. The rules are different for Kerala and the BJP-ruled Central government. Of course. What’s new here, eh?

     

    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/howrah-mumbai-mail-accident-india-rail-joy-ride-or-fatal-ride-15-lives-lost-in-6-weeks/articleshow/112123228.cms?from=mdr

     

    August 1 and India saw the unedifying spectacle of the new Parliament building leaking like a sieve. Not metaphorically, as in politicians sharing juicy details of government gossip with journalists. But actually physically leaking rainwater into the fancy new entrance hall. Journalists who cover Parliament are kept in a cage and possibly some are quite used to be being treated like lapdogs, so they don’t mind. And ruling party politicians mainly share gossip about opposition parties.

     

    If not, there would be have massive fisticuffs about the BJP’s Nitin Gadkari writing to the BJP’s Nirmala Sitharaman requesting her to cut GST on health insurance. O no, we are so circumspect about turmoil within Narendra Modi’s ship, even when there is turmoil, so you would be forgiven for thinking that this media is stuck in the 1970s. Polite news articles are matter of fact: “Gadkari writes to Sitharaman”.

     

    But obviously not with other political parties: “Cracks in India Alliance!!! Is this the end! One party member did not smile at a member of another party! Who is to blame??? Is it Nehru???” and so on is the media response.

     

    But that Parliament building. Now this is a real shame in terms of India’s glory and Modi’s ambitions. But we must be circumspect with blame here. Rahul Gandhi may have caused the Wayanad landslide, or done nothing about it, Nehru has caused the rest of the problems. But our friends in the Central government? No way. So let’s cover the embarrassment of this prime ministerial project being shoddy – not the first time – by shooting from the shoulders of the Opposition:

     

    https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/rs-971-crore-parliament-building-faces-leaks-due-to-heavy-rains-in-delhi-124080100457_1.html

    (heavy rain to blame, Congress mentioned in intro, Akhilesh Yadav mentioned early in the article, Prime Minister Modi mentioned lower down as someone who merely inaugurated a building which perhaps mysteriously manifested.)

     

    https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/new-parliament-roof-leaking-delhi-rains-akhilesh-yadav-built-with-billions-opposition-jabs-bjp-over-parliament-roof-leak-video-6238329

    (Opposition)

     

    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/opposition-highlights-new-parliament-buildings-leaking-roof-government-says-small-issue-addressed/articleshow/112209481.cms

    (Opposition)

     

    Luckily, they do tell us that this badly made structure cost Rs 971 crore to make.

     

    Don’t worry yourselves. It’s just our money getting washed away.

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.

  • City news, anyone?
    This image shows two men wading through the water on a flooded road.

    City news, anyone?

    Ranjona Banerji PhotographEvery year, the monsoon affects us in damaging ways. Both too much and too little are catastrophic. The news from the months of June to October is full of disaster, outrage and despair. For city people, potholes, waterlogging, commuting mishaps and general discomfort. For the rest of India, devastation of crops and fields from water and/or no water, rivers in spate or too dry, major road links broken, collapsed bridges and destructive landslides.

     

    But because the news cycle has changed so much and drama and sensationalism has taken total hold, the nitty-gritty of local reporting has taken a backseat. Old necessary beats like civic issues in cities, which is what would cover monsoon damage, or rural coverage, no longer gets consistent space. Environmental reporting makes up for some of these lapses, especially outside urban centres.

     

    The tragedy for consumers of news and for the news media is that boring as civic issues maybe, they affect people the most. Often voters will talk about drains or roads when they are interviewed about their voting choices, even if it’s for the Lok Sabha elections and these municipal issues cannot be fixed by Members of Parliament. It makes for a huge dichotomy between hope and reality. And in the middle falls the shadow of an errant media.

     

    Because if these issues are constantly covered and highlighted, if pre-monsoon measures are diligently tracked, if government’s ill-advised forays into destruction of forests and mountains get consistent mainstream coverage, if one falling bridge is enough to bring people to the streets, then yes, we have some little hope of less disaster in the coming year.

     

    This morning, one train accident in Jharkhand, another in Mumbai and a massive landslide in Wayanad dominate the news. Train accidents have become distressingly common, but you do not see the legacy media demanding accountability in one voice. You mainly see a parroting of the BJP line about past errors by the Railways under other governments – and this is a Central government in its third term – and PR photos of a railway minister scooting about on someone else’s two-wheeler. No responsibility and therefore no future action.

     

    As for landslides, apart from natural calamities outside the domain of human interference, well, we all ought to know that we are responsible. The Wayanad incident has got massive space – as it should – but two similar happenings in the Himalayas have not managed to capture the imagination of a caged TV media quite in the same way. I leave you to work out the political benefits of attacking Kerala’s governance over Uttarakhand’s dismal record and wilful destruction of the environment. Religious tourism has led to a constant assault on the Joshimath area, thanks to the construction of unwanted dangerous roads. Rivers have changed course leading to more turmoil and pain. Local people have suffered but they do not matter as much as tourists. To give the local news media its due, these problems have been covered locally. But for the national legacy media, it is sensationalism and protectionism that counts. And the protectionism is of such depth that even when a vital road used by the Indian Armed Forces near the China border collapses, it is less important than Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh getting upset with the Congress’s Rahul Gandhi over the Agnipath/Agniveer scheme. Therefore, all news that is negative to those in power gets scant treatment.

     

    Remember, this is a media which can barely stand up for itself, even when access to Parliament is blocked, when journalists who do actual work are attacked. This is a media which obediently spreads BJP propaganda without any fact-checking. This is a media which cannot bear for the public, including its own customers, to question the Union finance minister on problems which her Budget have caused for them. It cannot of course ever question the finance minister directly either.

     

    I understand that civic news is boring and time-consuming. It requires diligence, vigilance and consistency. A change of hats by a waving Prime Minister, a dog-whistling speech and attacks on Opposition members is so much more exciting. Add some Islamophobia and caste hatred into the mix, and you have a show. Wow!

     

    O, look, that mountain has just collapsed. Now who should we blame???

     

    Some dead Prime Minister, obviously.

     

    You choose.

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.

  • Brrrrrrr! The news media is shivering!!!

    Brrrrrrr! The news media is shivering!!!

    Ranjona BanerjiIn Monday, as Leader of the Opposition, the first in a long while, Rahul Gandhi gave a speech which had the Lok Sabha laughing with him and the treasury benches squirming, with the BJP all riled up.

     

    The speech got enormous traction on social media all day, it has got 5 lakh views on Gandhi’s Youtube channel.

     

    Narendra Modi has not uploaded his Lok Sabha pronouncements to his Youtube channel. One short clip of Modi talking about former vice-president and fellow BJP member Venkaiah Naidu received 22000 views.

     

    How did our legacy media cover this speech? Often, as is the norm, headlines do not represent the bulk of the copy which follows. For instance, the Times of India headline reads: Lok Sabha sees rare PM Modi vs Rahul Gandhi faceoff. The copy however is mainly about Gandhi’s speech. Since the actual “face-off” was a bit of a damp squib.

     

    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/lok-sabha-sees-rare-pm-modi-vs-rahul-gandhi-faceoff/articleshow/111403045.cms

     

    This “report” from NDTV cleverly attempts to present happenings in Parliament from the BJP’s perspective, and further, is written to mislead the reader into thinking that the BJP and Modi had the upper hand. The reality of anyone who actually watched the proceedings was quite the opposite. Even TOI hints at that.

     

    https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-rahul-gandhi-lok-sabha-bjp-rss-not-entire-hindu-community-rahul-gandhi-vs-pm-in-lok-sabha-6008976

     

    The Hindustan Times also concentrated on the poor beleaguered BJP with this pathetic “point by point rebuttal”. I am unable to understand whether they actually believe their own drivel or were directed to write like this:

     

    https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/on-rahul-gandhis-hindus-agnipath-scheme-charges-bjps-point-by-point-rebuttal-101719878748437.html

     

    The fact that the BJP misrepresented Rahul Gandhi’s speech – especially his remark about Hindus – has not been covered, rather shamefully.

     

    Factcheckers have checked the misinformation in the BJP-led government’s “rebuttals” which makes the newspaper’s coverage even more embarrassing.

     

    The Hindu provides more comprehensive coverage of Gandhi’s speech and the BJP’s reactions:

    https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/you-are-not-hindus-rahul-gandhis-dig-at-bjp-draws-protests-in-lok-sabha/article68355018.ece

     

    India Today’s tawdry notion of being the “gold standard of journalism” apart, the following link is interesting because it gives the people of India an idea of how the BJP wants to limit how much the people of India are allowed to know. All the items “expunged” from Gandhi’s speech are important subjects for us to discuss. Whether India Today is aware of this or not, well. I’m not going there.

     

    https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/rahul-gandhi-lok-sabha-speech-parts-expunged-from-parliamentary-records-2560992-2024-07-02?onetap=true

     

    A more complete report of Gandhi’s speech comes from the digital non-legacy media, obviously:

     

    https://thewire.in/politics/in-maiden-speech-as-lop-rahul-gandhi-tears-into-bjp-on-hate-politics-price-rise-and-neet

     

     

    What I have not been able to find is another newsworthy event which happened in Parliament yesterday: that Prime Minister Modi was reduced to being just one more MP, one more politician in a Constitutional post. Not a non-biological divine being – both Gandhi and A Raja referred to this – and not the Teacher of the World. This was perhaps more significant that Gandhi’s speech. And the squirming of the worms in the media is directly related to this downsizing.

     

    Mahua Moitra gave an extremely fiery no-holds-barred speech. Happily, the legacy media was happier with giving Moitra her due. Massive congratulations all around for such courage.

     

    https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/hear-me-dariye-mat-mahua-moitra-tells-pm-narendra-modi-in-lok-sabha/cid/2030875

     

    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/international/tmc-mp-mahua-moitra-bashes-bjp-in-fiery-lok-sabha-speech-paid-heavy-price-for-watch/videoshow/111410814.cms

     

    Both Rahul Gandhi and Mahua Moitra emphasized the fact that they do not fear Modi and the BJP.

     

    Judging from this coverage though, the Indian media though is still shivering and snivelling in its collective shoes. Uriah Heep has nothing on them.

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.

  • But if you're aiming to get someone to lose control, how personally should you take it if the person loses control, asks Ranjona Banerji

    Job of journalists to be tough & provocative..

     

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Ranjona BanerjiRahul Gandhi held a press conference.

    And what a palaver resulted within the press.

    Let’s write this without context.

    Those present at the press conference – members of the press and of TV channels – were eager to question Gandhi. Most of the questions asked were asking him to respond to BJP allegations. Gandhi reacted sharply. He accused one person from TV of being part of the BJP and after he shut him down, said in Hindi that the questioner had been deflated like a bust balloon. Several people present – whether members of press, or of TV or bystanders – laughed.

    Gandhi asked another questioner, a prominent TV person, to wait until he had answered the question and then added that the person was known for speaking for him, implying that words were put into his mouth.

    Now, the context.

    Gandhi had just been sentenced to two years in jail after he lost a criminal defamation case. The two-year sentence meant that he was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP.

    The press conference was a response to these two consequential events.

    How rude was Gandhi here?

    Quite rude, you might say. The “hawa nikal gayi” response was uncalled for.

    But the rest was par for the course, to me anyway.

    It is the job of journalists to ask tough and provocative questions. It is acceptable to try and rile the person you are questioning as much as possible, in order to get more spice to your copy. As long as there is no personal abuse or insults, you would prefer the questioned to get riled. This means that the response is likely to be unpleasant. If you’re aiming to get someone to lose control, how personally should you take it if the person loses control?

    Let’s add more context.

    There is no doubt, even in the minds of those who are extremely upset at the insults piled on the poor unsuspecting members of the press and TV people who are only trying to do an honest day’s job and take home a measly wage to feed their families, even in these minds we know that the media in India is deeply polarised.

    The RSS/BJP combine and the Modi government has made sure that it is almost never questioned except by a small handful of journalists and almost no TV people. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has famously not held a press conference in years and thus is never directly questioned by members of the press, and definitely not by TV people.

    As Dhanya Rajendran of NewsMinute pointed out recently in her Chameli Devi award acceptance speech, it is the digital media which questions governments more than the mainstream media.

    The extent of outrage from the media over these few comments by Rahul Gandhi is laughable, to be honest. As other journalists have pointed out, we as a community have not been as angered when members of the BJP called us “presstitutes”. In fact journalist Swati Chaturvedi has listed several of the compliments which the BJP has paid us: “presstitutes, bazaaru media, piddi, paid media, sickular, anti-national”.

    I would add to that urban naxals, Lutyens gang, and my personal favourite: being untrustworthy because my surname is Banerji. Going by the logic of the Surat court which sentenced Gandhi to two years, I could have a good portion of the BJP’s supporters in jail if I filed a case claiming criminal defamation of all Banerjis!

    The point made by those of us in the media who’re calling the outrage an overreaction is simple: we are under worse threat from the BJP than we have ever been from any other political dispensation. We know this. We know why we fall down press and freedom rankings year after year. Journalists are jailed on flimsy pretexts, stopped from travelling abroad, abused constantly on social media and by BJP worthies. Some have even died in the pursuit of showing truth to power.

    The bulk of the mainstream media is party to this and is a major part of the larger societal silence on attacks on media persons.

    At the end, though, what Rahul Gandhi said at the press conference was largely ignored.

    And this is the media’s biggest failure, insulted and sulking or otherwise.

    His main point was that he would continue to question the Adani Group and its financing via alleged shell companies. And no one wanted to take him up on that.

    Hmmm. I wonder why.

    Hawa..?

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.

     

  • We are in for a great year of media capitulation. Even better than the last one, writes Ranjona Banerji

    2023: A Year of New ‘Highs’

     

     

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Ranjona BanerjiIndia Shining said a newspaper headline in the Financial Express. Something to do with the stockmarket being “second” globally. Once you make sense of that, time to read other articles about how we’re shining.

    Like Bloomberg quoting the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy, which says that unemployment has surged to a 16-month high, now standing at 8.30 per cent. Borrowing costs have also gone by up 255 basis points in a year.

    I’m not a mumbo-jumbo specialist so the best I can parse that for you is that India is shining because the stock market has been high – only one other country has been higher – and also because unemployment has also been high as has been borrowing.

    Basically, this is even better than negative growth.

    Because everything is high.

    And we understand that.

    As long as we love the king emperor, there are no hallucinogenic substances which can make up happier. Or, um, higher.

    It’s like an argument that I heard from our various important influencers that you cannot discuss people in other countries, even children, dying from Indian-made cough medicines, because that attacks Brand India. This is second only to the argument that we cannot complain because Indians and Indian children did not die. Only foreigners did.

    When the media buys these two explanations, you know that we’re in for a great year of media capitulation. Even better than the last one.

    How interested are we in the cough syrup attempt to discredit Brand India?

    The latest incident is from Uzbekistan, where at least 18 children have died after drinking an Indian-made cough syrup.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-64114240

    This follows the deaths of 60 children in Gambia who died after drinking another Indian-made cough syrup.

    Both contained illegal, toxic elements.

    Both companies have been known to break the laws – such as they are – in the past.

    But you know. Our love is taking us higher…

    I understand also that few care about Muslim homes being demolished in Haldwani. The mainstream media is really not interested unless they can find a way to vilify Muslims. I know I know. You know this, I know this.

    But remember that India is shining because of the stockmarket.

    I was also privileged to read a former bureaucrat telling us that how after 75 years, the world is finally paying attention to India because of the King emperor. Impressed as I was to read this, I found the maths a little suspect. Because I am certain that the Ascension to the throne took place in 2014. But maybe the world took a while to get higher and higher.

    Shhh… Don’t mention that cough syrup.

    There are few other things we cannot mention.

    Rahul Gandhi springs to mind. And that walk that he’s on. You know. The one no one will talk about. It reached Delhi, I heard.

    But Modi ji, he inaugurated a train in a virtual manner immediately after he lost his Mother. Deepest condolences.

    Of course, it’s not that the media is that exciting elsewhere. When I am know they discuss the weather and Brexit and the weather. Temperatures are higher than they should be.

    I told you. 2023 is basically taking us higher. Into confusion, death, unemployment and temperatures.

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.

     

  • Content is unimportant. It just needs to be high decibel and low quality for best results, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Perfecting the Art of Non-News

     

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Ranjona BanerjiRahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is clearly causing heartburn. Within Big Mainstream Media, which refuses to cover it, and some political parties which denigrate intent and outcome. The second is understandable: that’s politics.

    But the media is another story.

    Or, let’s be honest, the same story.

    Both Rahul Gandhi’s walk across India and the terrible collapse of a bridge in Gujarat have got similar media treatment. Scant, local and biased in favour of the BJP whenever possible.

    When it comes to Morbi and the deaths of 135 people, the best that we get now from the media is from local coverage. And soon, even that will dry up. The police have arrested some low-level managers and security guards, and subcontractors.

    Anyone who lives in India knows that a mess of this magnitude could not have happened without political and bureaucratic collusion. Fans of the government blame people for being on the bridge, shaking the bridge and so on. Fans in the media have so many other things to talk about like the annual winter pollution in Delhi.

    Delhi is a tiny small part of a gigantic nation. But we will now discuss bad air quality for the next few months as if it affects everyone. We will never find out what happened in Morbi. The prime minister is already off inaugurating other things. No one will check whether those things work, are necessary or important. The fact of inauguration by a Great Man is all the proof we need.

    The national television media has perfected the art of non-news. News-gathering costs money. It requires time and effort. A “debate”, according to a former TV journalist I met recently, costs about Rs15000 or less. Easily affordable and far more effective in drawing in viewers. Content is unimportant. Largely, it needs to be high decibel and low quality for best results.

    Media watchers have been fed this diet of sound, filled with toxicity and dubious information, with intent, not just impunity. And the same media worthies who create and revel in bad journalism, especially if it creates social dissonance and disaffection, are overjoyed that The Wire is under police and government scrutiny.

    Of course, as always in such matters, our dear liberal friends within the media and outside are at the forefront of the criticism of The Wire. These liberal, upstanding, fair, just, and sanctimoniously self-righteous members of the media are outraged that The Wire made so many mistakes in its articles on Meta and even worse, got taken for a ride.

    It is therefore heartening to see media organisations like the Press Club of India, Editors Guild, Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists, NWMi, DigiPub, to name a few, condemning police action against The Wire, based on the complaint of one member of the BJP’s IT Cell.

    “Without glossing over The Wire’s lapse, it would be pertinent to recall that in the recent past there have been numerous instances of media excesses and completely over-the-top stories by media houses: be it absurd reports of chips in currency notes; fake WhatsApp forwards on Chinese soldiers killed in Galwan or unalloyed hate-mongering and incitement. These “reports” have enjoyed complete immunity and have hurtled India into a post-Truth conjuncture, where the right to be reliably informed itself has been steadily jettisoned.”

    The above paragraph from the BUJ statement makes the situation clear to anyone with a clear head on their shoulders. The negative response to The Wire’s transgression, from within the media, is lopsided and biased. The Indian media is notorious for lacking introspection. Why The Wire has to be held to a higher standard than everyone else beats me. And then there is the horror of having the government “investigating” journalists.

    I personally remain sceptical about Big Tech and its policies, especially when it comes to rightwing authoritarian governments.

    In general, I prefer to remain sceptical of fascism.

    Unlike, you know…

     

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal

     

  • The strapline is #MilneKaMeethaBahana

    Option Designs curates Holi campaign for Haldiram

    By Our Staff

    Rather late in the day, but we’ve just heard that Option Designs had curated a Holi campaign for Haldiram. The campaign #MilneKaMeethaBahana was conceptualised and implemented by the agency.

    Said Rahul Gandhi (yes, the name’s correct), the Co-Founder of Option Designs: “Keeping in mind the enthusiasm of Holi, we wanted to create a campaign where people could stay connected through the channel of Haldiram’s and it became a source of encouragement for people to meet and greet their family and friends on Holi.”

  • The new business vertical is called "FRWD"

    Option Designs sets up new vertical

    By A Correspondent

     

    Option Designs has announced the launch of a new business vertical “FRWD” that aims to strategise the ecommerce platform of the brands and also ensure the authenticity of information provided at the platform pertaining to any product and service.

     

    Said Rahul Gandhi, Co-founder of Option Designs: “Given that the ecommerce market is very competitive, where the small and medium sellers keep struggling to meet their ends, we decided to provide solutions to the brands with our services. All the complex intricacies like reconciliation process to payment, digital marketing, SEO, etc., to create brand visibility and ultimately push up their sales will be taken care by us.”

     

     

  • It is not possible for news to “break” every five minutes. Anyone who says otherwise is lying, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Breaking News? Ha ha ha!!!

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Breaking, breaking: Sachin Pilot of the Congress is about to join the BJP, will not join the BJP, will not speak to the Gandhis in charge, the Gandhis in charge will not speak to him, the Gandhis in charge have spoken to him, Pilot has met the BJP president, Pilot has not met the BJP president, the Rajasthan government has fallen, the Rajasthan government has not fallen, Pilot is a turncoat, Pilot is a true patriot, Ashok Gehlot is a greedy old man, Ashok Gehlot is a not a greedy old man, Pilot has more followers than Gehlot, Gehlot has more followers than Pilot, the Congress is finished, the Congress is not finished, the BJP is buying, selling and then back to Pilot is meeting, not meeting, crisis averted, not averted…

     

    O to be a political correspondent in such high spirits! Okay, I cannot make claims about my own sources about what spirits were consumed while all this “news” was put out, but I hope someone somewhere had some fun doing it!

     

    As I write this, at 10 am, I have no clue what’s happening. And as I watch the news, it is clear that no one has any clue. Maybe the players involved know, maybe they don’t.

     

    And thus the whole problem of “breaking news” and “source-based journalism” all gets exposed. Yes, it is big news if the Rajasthan government falls. But the merry-go-round of conflicting “information” does nothing for media credibility. I know we hope that everyone will forget. And someone will pull out from the depths of all the rubbish that one person who predicted everything correctly – most likely a friend of theirs – and then that person will become the new Nostradamus or Messiah or placed on some spurious pedestal for the next 10 minutes.

     

    In fact, given the massive jumble playing out in the media in front of us, there is more chance of scientists discovering what dark matter is than anyone giving us a true “inside” story on these wheeling-dealings

     

    Am I being unfair? Errr, maybe. Anyone in a newsroom has been here. You have to trust your colleagues and at the same time, you have to get them to ask tough questions of their sources (Here’s a hack, half of them won’t ask those tough questions because they will lose access). In any evolving situation, it’s difficult to know what’s happening. But the demand for constant, instant news makes life tough for correspondents on the frontline.

     

    Strangely, few in these newsrooms appear to care what happens to their credibility when they put out streams of conflicting information. As for the poor correspondents under unrelenting pressure, who knows what “sources” they are forced to rely on? Voices in their heads? Neighbourhood chatter around tea stalls? Friends and neighbours? And, most likely, vested interests around political formations who either have an agenda or just want to stir up the pot. Or both. Which is where newsroom filters would be vital but according to my mostly reliable sources, many newsrooms have just done away with filters these days.

     

    It is not possible for news to “break” every five minutes. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. And that is why, Pilot is shifting here and there, the Gandhis are somewhere else, the BJP is there and here and Gehlot is where he is.

     

    Is it surprising that some news channels would rather concentrate on what Amitabh Bachchan had for breakfast?

     

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

  • The Editors Guild officebearers are some of the better known names in Indian journalism. One expects them to ensure bias in dealing with such cases

    1 Minute View: Damn all equally, Editors Guild

    1 Minute ViewThe Editor’s Guild statement on Rahul Gandhi’s remark on the Smita Prakash interview is welcome. However, as senior journalist and MxMIndia Consulting Editor Ranjona Banerji writes (http://www.mxmindia.com/2019/01/ranjona-banerji-spare-me-your-outrage-over-pliable/), it’s critical for the Guild to also make a noise when significant and not-so-significant others damn the media with words and actions that don’t speak well for the politicians and their political parties.

     

    In this case at the receiving end was Rahul Gandhi and the Congress. But the ruling dispensation at the centre, specifically the BJP and its biggies must also be damned, by name if and when there is need for it.

     

    Then, as Banerji writes, there has been no statement till date by the Guild on the arrest and detention of Kishorechandra Wangkhem of Manipur. Why not? Is this because the Chief Minister is from the BJP?

     

    The Editors Guild officebearers are some of the better known names in Indian journalism. One expects them to ensure bias in dealing with such cases.

  • Sanjeev Kotnala on the impact of the Assembly election results on the Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Amit Shah, BJP and Congress brand perception

    Has Modi’s Brand-I taken a beating?

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    The results of the five state elections are out. Many are surprised and many are iterating, they have predicted this resurgence of Congress. Meanwhile, there is a big debate if the aura of Narendra Modi’s Brand-I has taken a beating.
    It is a subject of debate and argument, if these state elections will have bearing on the national election in 2019. State elections are more nearer to the ground and reflect the widening expectation gap in the voter’s mind-space. BJP had senior leaders including the PM doing a spate of rallies across states. Hence, Incumbency or otherwise, central leaders too will have to introspect the verdict.
    One of the Giant Monolith images that must have been taken a beating is that of Modi, the PM and Amit Shah the shrewd political manipulator also nicknamed Chanakya of this era.
    On the other side ‘Papu Pass Ho gaya’. The image of Congress President, Rahul Gandhi has definitely seen an upswing. Expectations from Rahul Gandhi leading the 2019 election to win are now high with MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in the bag. But first he has a test of deciding on Rajasthan leadership with two strong contenders.
    The fundamental plank of ‘Jawan and Kissan’ and their issues in states seem to have won. Meanwhile the ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’ and ‘de-notification’ will be discussed and dissected in the days to come.
    Leave aside how the Brand Modi has been working on international stage. International coordination has no impact on the voters who define the results. The intricacies and the impact of the chain of international alliances are lost on common people. In fact this too much of ‘On Tour PM’ is seen as alienating and scheming by the voters.
    Every TG has a point to pick with Modi Brand. Only the die-hard loyalist has some points of understated appreciation.
    The delay in Ram Mandir, the handling of farmer agitation, the 56th inch proud chest, the language used, again ‘de-monetisation’ and ‘Gabbar SinghTax’. The opening of an on-going half completed projects all add to a sense of disenchantment.
    Modi image suffers from two common problems Brand-I is face with.
    It is really the perceived gap of over promise and expectations.
    The first is ‘What you claim and how you behave’.
    The second ‘How you think you are performing vs. what the TG thinks how you are performing’.
    Brand images are contextual and comparative in nature. And in a binary situation the brand images tend to be inversely associated with the opponent. So whenever Modi Brand (say Modi-Amit Shah co-existing brand) takes a beating the benefit goes to the next option. Modi brand is more are seen as benefiting selective business, as tainted as any other party and a perfect case have over promise-under delivery. It is never the best thing. Someone has to talk about brand promise- customer delight and consistency to this brand.
    Rahul Gandhi has been benefiting in this context and this election has suddenly put him in front of the race from the other side of the Modi fence. It is not going to be easy. Brand image repair takes time. Let us hope for Modi and the country that the voters are able to differentiate between the need and difference between a state and national election.
    One thing that has worked for the Brand Modi and what it can use to get the shine is closing the issue of tempering with EVMs. Maybe politically there could be more to read in the minor sacrifices of states and political aspirants.
    As BJP remains a strong opposition in MP and Rajasthan, its role in the next few months could be sued to add another coat to the MODI’s IMAGE OF BEING FAIR AND DEMOCRATICALLY INCLINED.

     

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is a senior media strategist and educator. The views here are personal

     

     

  • The blossoming of Rahul Gandhi as a political leader will ensure that the run-up to the 2019 elections will be action-packed

    Boomtime ahead for News Media

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s been one helluva election. If the last four weeks of campaigning were exciting, Results Day like the last few overs of a T20 match. Nail-biting.

     

    While the BJP will form the government in Gujarat, one is sure that even Arnab Goswami, after spending some 18-odd hours in the studio on Monday, would concede that the elections (and the results) were more about the coming of age of Rahul Gandhi, than the electoral victory of Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

     

    Much lampooned and ridiculed, Gandhi had anuncharacteristically bright election campaign. It may be argued that while he may have been aboveboard, his younger leaders were not so charitable, and Congress did use the caste card, which is as regressive – or possibly more – as using religion in elections.

     

    But votebank politics is not new, and all smart political parties now employ data scientists to figure what could work to their advantage.

     

    The Gujarat election results – with the BJP bagging 49% of the popular vote yet missing the three-figure mark – heralds achche din for the news media.

     

    With many state elections next year – other than a few North East states, there’s Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. All four being very key for both the BJP and the Congress.

     

    The blossoming of Rahul Gandhi as a political leader, his success in the Gujarat elections even though his party emerged as a not-too-distant second, and an equally hyperactive BJP will ensure that the run-up to the 2019 elections will be action-packed.

     

    All is not lost for the BJP yet. It still rules the country and 19 states, and most of them with good mandates.

     

    For the print, television, digital and social mediaplatforms in the country, it is indeed boomtime ahead. All of this also means huge newsgathering spends for the traditional media and budgets going through the roof.

     

    But if you are in the business of news, there’s nothing more exciting than elections. At MxMIndia, we’ll be watching!