Like most others in blogosphere, I too read Barkha Dutt’s passionate defense of reportage on News Channels. My first response was to Fisk it. Wikipedia quotes Eric S. Raymond from the the Jargon File:
A point-by-point refutation of a blog entry or (especially) news story. A really stylish fisking is witty, logical, sarcastic and ruthlessly factual; flaming or handwaving is considered poor form.
As i began scanning through the justification, i mentally made notes. It was going to be a line by line rebuttal. the post began taking shape. I began typing it out. And then I stopped. What am I becoming ? Does Fisking really serve any purpose but to polarize opinions even more?
It is not about absolutes. It is about a continuum in which we all want to coexist, live, play, work and be happy. It is not about digging yourself into a hole or painting yourself into a corner. It is about meeting people and ideas half way. It is not about shouting someone down. It is about conversation, dialogue. The aim is not sarcasm, or wittiness or getting into a ‘tu tu mein mein‘ zone. It is not personal. It is not aimed at one person and their reportage, but a system that is failing us, as much as the politicians are.
The News media are the fourth estate. They are the watchdogs on behalf of civil society. They are supposed to keep a look out for when the state or the system messes up, and they are supposed to make us aware of lapses. they are supposed to be unbiased, neutral and a means for the audience to get timely reliable information.
Their role is not to pally up or be part of inner circles – they can’t by definition. Their role is not to gloss over the truth, because their patrons will get offended; and their role is not to cover the peccadilloes of the rich and famous to the exclusion of everything else. Their role is not to scream about the stable door after the horse has bolted, but before. The reason i am bringing up something that most bachelor level students of the media will know and appreciate is because the News Media in general and TV News media in particular has forgotten it.
So Let’s start with basics. Unedited footage, with a spur of the moment commentary, in situations like this, is dangerous. This is not a cricket match. This is National Security .
The basic defense is that mistakes were being made because it was a 60 hour coverage under tense, dangerous and emotive conditions. I appreciate the difficulties of 60 hour coverage. But, I don’t think that anyone asked the media to cover the issue live non stop. There were other stories breaking. A cylcone in Chennai that left 75+ dead (I could be cynical and say that slum people drowning is not news) , a dangerous situation in Thailand, where many Indians travel , elections in parts of India. As, Anjali Deshpande and S.K. Pande of the Delhi Union of Journalists point out:
The media behaved as if the country was so terrified it came to a standstill. As if Madhya Pradesh did not go to polls, as if Delhi did not vote, as if a former Prime Minister, V P Singh, did not pass away
Was there other news? Of course. But, the desire to keep viewership up by upping the pitch, and trying to vie with each other to get more gruesome and gory, won the day.
NDTV English continued showing the operation. It also took us to the scene outside the Trident. There Barkha Dutt spoke to the Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil asking him for details. She asked him whether there were any Indians among the hostages. RR Patil said he could not disclose information for it could affect the security of the people held hostage. Patil also pointed out that firing from outside could give away the direction from, which security forces were approaching the building. Despite that the channel showed where the commandos were hiding behind pillars! …..Whatever happened to the earlier decision to not telecast live in the interest of the ongoing operation?
There is something terribly scary about unedited footage going out with unedited scripts. And, when i talk about editors here, I don’t mean the function on a word processor or a the video editing system that you use to assemble a story. I mean the human who is competent and qualified to add ‘reason’ to a report. For reference of good reportage in emotional situaions, please look at Michael Buerk’s coverage of the Ethiopian famine, or Kate Adie’s coverage of Tiananmen Square, or even the US Network Coverage of 9/11. Let’s face facts, editorially 26/11 coverage was a disaster. You had live footage going on, with commentators trying to describe the events – almost like a ball to ball coverage, without the knowledge & insight that a cricket commentator has on the game.
Bring in systems that prevents this. News, has to go through an editorial filter. Having your editor on the ground sending out unfiltered thoughts and images is really a cop out !
At the second level you have the role of watchdog. It is all very well to bay about the fact that the NSG has only one plane tucked away in Chandigarh. now, that the delay has happened and the deed is done, let me ask the media – our watchdog- a question – Were you sleeping for all these years? Where is your reportage on things that impact us and our security? Where is your reportage on corruption? Where is your reportage on why Delhi houses aren’t really earthquake resistant – and what will happen there if there is an earthquake tomorrow ? How much petrol goes walkies from the army everyday ? Why is it that you aren’t asking why people are dying in floods 60 years after independence in a Capital city ? What can be done to prevent it? Where are your North Eastern Reports? Where are your features on Naxal activity? Where are your exposes on human right violations ? Where are you on people who make a difference, beyond the Page 3 crowd ? Is Saif Ali Khan’s tattoo really more important than this country and its people?
The sacrifice of news in the altar of ratings is again something that needs to be addressed at a policy level. Maybe a different metric needs to be evolved for news media, that is apart from the metric used to measure entertainment. Maybe news channels need to sit with agencies and clients to evolve this. There has to be a political will within the system to do that. I hope that they find it before it is too late.
The next is the issue of Responsibility and Common Sense. ‘The Government did not tell us to stand away’ is like one fifth standard play ground excuse. The analogy I will give you is with drinking and driving. Many of us didn’t drink and drive, even before it was an offense. If the Government had cracked down on media coverage, the response would have been ‘ they can’t catch the terrorists, but they cracked down on us’. What would you have the security forces do ? Get the situation in hand, or babysit a bunch of people who should have known better.
And what about its irresponsibility in inflaming passions. Whose idea was it to put Simi Garewal’s statement on ‘flags in slums’? She should not have made the statement. But, the broadcasters definitely should not have carried it. What are you trying to do? Start a riot – would that mean more TRP’s. Again, my question is, where is the editor ? Where is editorial ? Does it still have a role to play in news media ? This is the same kind of irresponsible behavior that had got us all inflamed during the Arushi case.
I hope that all of us are aware that News has become a platform for polar opposite Views. Not views that will come to a consensus, but views that will try and drown each other out with their decibels. They find nutcases on both sides of the spectrum and it is a free for all orgy of bad behavior! Because, when people behave badly, audiences watch. The same is the case with entertainment channels? But, at least they are more honest. They don’t occupy the moral high ground like news channels or journalists. They know that they are selling TRP’s and they fine tune their content accordingly. What is your excuse?
At the next level is this entire thing about Nation – India, Bharat. Why is there such media bias towardsMumbai and Delhi. Is it because your friends live here? Why are 60,000 people dying in Naxal attacks not news ? Why is 30% of our districts under Naxal control not an attack on India. Is it because they don’t drink at the Taj or Trident ? You need to answer the question whether you are metro news channels or National News Channels. And, maybe only National News channels have exclusive access to certain kinds of news !
And, finally sensitivity. Put your self in the shoes of Mrs. Karkare, Mrs.Kamte and Mrs.Salaskar – and ask your selves one question – how did they find out that their husband died ?
I believe in freedom of expression. I believe in a free and independent media as a cornerstone of a Democratic Republic. I believe in plurality of voices, opinions and thoughts. And, I believe that the news media, as it exists currently, is a threat to these . Because of their consistent bad behavior, their lapses as a watchdog, their irresponsibility and their insensitivity they are going to curb all of our freedoms. I wish that sense will prevail. I hope that they agree to bring in a code of conduct, i hope that they build a consensus for marketing and selling news differently, and i request the best among them to go and train the next generation.
Others on the role of the media, 26/11
1) Three days of Mumbai terror reporting – The Hoot
2) When Nationalism Triumphs responsible Reporting – The Hoot
3) Media and the Elite – The Statesman
4) We, the People- The Mumbai tragedy and the English language news media – Hindustan Times The Telegraph
5) The Channel box Carnage – Indian Express
excellent excellent post, Harini – I particularly fin myself nodding in agreement at the initial thoughts you have put down on decency of debate and discussion – about it not being absolutes…
I am also thinking of the point you had made (in an earlier post, in some other context) about freedom that comes with responsibility…
@charu – thank you. i think that the whole world moves towards the snappy sound bite. And ultimately the snappy sound bite is even more snappy if it is aimed against someone. So whether it is Advani with the ‘nikhamba PM’ or the news media with their urgency and over hyped headlines, everyone is playing to the gallery.
the lack of responsibility scares me – it doesn’t matter if that is personal, professional, political or any other!
@lekhni – it wasn’t so much about Barkha – though it may have come off that way — but against a system that thinks it can get away with it. I was telling someone else that the reason that one is so much harder on NDTV is that one expects a higher level of ‘morality’ from them.
@ Rahul – The problem with a 24 hour news format is that people feel the need to fill all minutes with voices 🙂 i liked the tips that you have provided. All journalists know these. but, the problem is that restrained journalism does not get eyeballs 🙁
I read Barkha’s defense too, and it is less than convincing. She didn’t learn anything from the criticism either, as her performance on “We the people” showed.
I used to like Barkha Dutt all those years ago when NDTV had just started. The Barkha Dutt I see today is nothing like her 🙁
Brilliant post, Harini
@meena kadri – welcome to this blog – i love your pics. and thank you
@Sriram – i would think that it would be wrong to measure news and analysis the same way as you measure entertainment or music. It possibly needs to get more qualitative. As long as air time is purchased & sold on news channels purely on the basis of GRP’s, they will continue putting out this sort of coverage. All the people mentioned in this and earlier posts used to be great journalists. But, it is a tough market, and sensation sells 🙁
I think marketing can play an important role in this issue. If your marketing strategy is to grow your daily viewership, repeat viewership, and cross viewership (from one show on channel to another show), then you will focus on newer and unique content on a daily basis. If you do a good job on that strategy, it will help you restrain during flashpoint events. An advertiser is going to benefit from that not from high viewership during an incident. Tragic events in fact hardly provide a good platform for advertising, sometimes channels don’t even carry ads.
Harini
This is the kind of posts I most love and least see in the blogosphere 🙂 This needs broader reading so I am going to send it to my friends who have nothing to do with the blogosphere.
You raise all the relevant points but while watching NDTV online – I do not have Sky so my exposure to Indian channels is confined to when I visit India – I was thinking about “objectivity” in reporting, more accurately ‘when did it die?’.
I had thought about objectivity a lot also when my few days in Delhi this last June were full of the Arushi case 24X7, no blushes spared, my cousin’s Nepali servants of 15 years hanging about in the background. I had heard the head of a media company, that launched a magazine in India recently, say that Indian journalism is not about facts, numbers and investigation, it is about shooting from the hip, generalising from the personal and shameless plagiarism. The Mumbai coverage convinces me that objectivity is dead beyond redemption.
The “objectivity’ that Kate Adie would have brought to a situation like this comes from many things – controlled emotions being the most crucial. On that much of Indian media was a big FAIL, I am afraid.
Its failure in this case was obvious in the presumptions in reporting on the Mumbai siege – of guilt, of detail, of primacy of media access ueber alles, of 100% focus on terror to the exclusion of all else and of failures – failure to even think for a second how this looked to an observer from outside India* and what it looked like to people from other cities in India, failure to understand the impact of such hasty analysis on all other aspects of communal relations.
Combine that with everything else, and I think media institutions are due as much an overhaul as the political ones. And to think Ms Dutt was classically trained in Columbia! Hah!
Very thought provoking post. Needs much wider audience.
* On this, I do not just mean investors. The mostly Indian people who came to our Friday remembrance were to bereft and distraught at being so far away yet so soaked in the news. The notes left in the condolence book are heartfelt if restrained by a very British brand of phlegm. It is amazing. The best thing was – most went away a bit relieved at the validation of how they felt and many have offered to be worker-bees.
@Shefaly – thank you. Some ‘incorrect code’ had gotten into the post and i took into word to take it out. To my utter embarrassment, it was 5 pages long – 1.5 line spacing 🙁
One of the things that most got to me in this telecast was the naked display of emotion. Where is restraint? And while people (including me) will beat Advani on the head with the Kandahar hijack, the role of the media is overlooked – remember those images of aggreieved family members and the emotional blackmail that held the whole nation to ransom. National security should mean more than numbers.
There could also be a business impact – A set of friends were at the NASSCOM off site at Bhutan. They said that the buzz around the venue was of course the shock and horror at what was happening. But, there was also this anger about the media transmitting hysteria and panic. It was not about coverage. It is about portraying the entire system as headless chickens. Everyone ended up looking like a moron. Do you really want to do business with a country that is so inept ?They hoped that it wouldn’t affect business.
I don’t believe in regulation for content. But,I also believe that there is the need for an Independent Broadcast Watchdog that exists outside of Political and Business interests. And that it has teeth !
I appreciate your depth and detail in analysing this issue. I might comment on this in my blog…but the simple fact is that the “watchdog” and “supposed to be” and “civil society” etc belong in a fast fading narrative..unless you find solutions internal to the process of business and law, the only saving element would be a painful, slow and disparate set of voices on the Net…most welcome of course, but essentially as a countervailing element.
@Madhavan – thank you & welcome to this blog. The problem with disparate (i would say desperate) voices on the net is that it is so niche that it may not make an impact. the MSM has a role in civil society, and it needs to start playing that effectively.
@gazal – thank you 🙂
makes you wonder if all this is just for better TRP’S
such a shame…
your post deserves a standing ovation
Excellent post. Makes you question to very basis of TRP-dependent-TV industry and the old argument “We show what the people wants to see”.
But as much as we lament the lack of common sense, reponsibility and ethics, the fact remains we need laws. Laws and guidelines. Funny, how the media gives excuse “We didn’t ’cause we’re not told to” and at the same time rally for self-censoring and against moral policing.
At the end one small nit-picking:
The link #4 given (“We, the people…”) is from The Telegraph, not HT as m,entioned.
Just read your post, and it makes some extremely salient points. If only Barkha Dutt or her ilk had one of those Big Fight-type discussions around this isue, we’ll see where they stand.
Glad that you didnt succumb to the temptation of fisking though unfortunately Barkha’s response did not show any genuine understanding of the criticism.
You are very right in saying that media has not behaved well in this case at all. Perhaps they should take some lessons from some of their more mature cousins in the print journalism and the way they behaved during times like the Emergency.
Sadly, it would seem that while the TRP ratings propel them to criticize the authorities when time is good, they would probably be the first to hide behind authority if someone bullied them.
@milieu – welcome to this blog. i think that maybe media companies need to invest more on training and retraining. i would think that in today’s day and age media is very susceptible to political and commercial pressures – and that could impact whom they take up cudgels against.
So where did the idea of “higher TRP = better” come from?
And why does that idea not reward those reporters who would have shown restraint or had been more sensitive in their reporting?
Is it all the fault of viewers, or is there sharing of some responsibility by the reporters and their bosses too?
Hi Amit
the idea of higher TRP’s come from the fact that there is a common method of measuring music, entertainment, sports, and news.
Which really puts news at a disadvantage !
Hi,
You have written this post well. But, I felt this post is a little insulting. May not be you, there are lot many people like us who were following the events as they unwound. TV is the only media for that. Why do you want people to restrict towards live coverage? I do agree that broadcasting the location of commandos and may be a bit risky to the operation. I think for the type of deployments that we saw, it just gave the viewers an idea on how fierce, tough and critical the combat was.
Regarding sentiments, you need to understand that there should not be any sentiments in journalism. So there are no sentiments in breaking out the news too. It’s not because people enjoy seeing that, but people are anxious to get the updates on the situation which pulled the nation to the edge of a
There may be shortcomings in the live coverage. Why blame only Barkha Dutt? Which other media/channel came with at least an explanation for the blame they face? NDTV / Barhka Dutt spending that much of time for making a statement in writing is just for all of us to be on the same page. Which other channel other than NDTV (Pranav Roy himself) showed the courage to ask Pakistani foreign minister “Why should we trust you”?
Again, marketing may be a factor. But, which other channel gave such an extensive coverage? The truth is that “Times Now” did a bit more organized coverage. But they didn’t have a lot of clippings and coverage. as NDTV did. Whoever gives the best coverage will get better viewership. Its true that many other news were not covered. Its just because of the seriousness and sensitivity of the situation. It doesn’t mean that no one paid the last homage to VP Singh or no one was involved in the Chennai Cyclone relief operations. Its just that it was not much broadcasted.
Gargi, rather than blaming the media, can we please take up an initiative or blog that can change the politics and bureaucracy in IB, RAW, armed forces etc. If they were able to combat things well, such a situation itself wouldn’t have arisen. RAW’s planes had even intercepted the shipping vessel in question from where these terrorists hijacked the fishing vessel. But why was no action taken?
Why is not anyone commenting on the Navy chief’s comment on Barkha?
hello tom and welcome to this blog.
the idea was not to insult as much as ensure that the media, that is so required for a vibrant and strong democracy, remains free and fair.
NDTV possibly comes in for most criticism because one expects them to be correct and right all the time. That is the problem with having such high standards over the years.
I am not for banning live. all i am saying is that channels should not run footage without passing it through an editorial filter. Otherwise, it is going to impact their own credibility !
On stuff regarding Intelligence, Raw and other agencies that goofed up, there already exist mechanisms to bring them to book.
Harini – well said.
Barkha’s defense was a classic “methinks the lady shrieks in protest too much”!
I fisk the NoisyDelusionalTV folk: dahlinks, roll back into the caves you live in.
Seriously? Leave us alone – we can get our news from Al Jazeera and the Net.
Tom
In a democracy, the media acts as the fourth estate, the guardians of free speech and the guardians of the public.
NDTV, by virtue of being a leading news channel, therefore, becomes the “chief guardian”.
But,
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ?
(Lat : Who guards the guardians ?)
I’m glad you brought up the reference of the Admiral’s comments on Ms. Dutt.
Admiral Mehta alleges that Ms. Dutt compromised the position of soldiers by asking the leader (a Colonel) to fire an artillery gun.
Ms. Dutt vehemently denies the charge and has sued the Admiral for libel and pointed to Gen. Malik’s book as proof of her innocence.
Gen. Malik has, in his book, mentioned that NDTV, nor Barkha Dutt, was responsible for the bombing of a platoon, the position of which was alleged (earlier) to be exposed by NDTV’s cameras flashing at night.
Gen. Malik also has, in his book, mentioned that Barkha Dutt in particular was responsible for compromising India’s plans to attack Tiger Hill due to her “professional exuberance”.
These are the facts, and they are beyond dispute.
What is in dispute is the result of the lawsuit filed by NDTV.
It’s her word against Admiral Mehta’s right now, and I don’t know about you, but I’ll believe an admiral of the Indian Navy every day of the week and twice on Sunday, thank you.
You know why ?
Because I personally want to give our Armed Forces (Army, Navy and the Air Force) the benefit of doubt because the reason you and I are chatting on a blog in the middle of the night safely (for the most part) is because these guys are standing on walls, guarding our borders and telling us – “We’re trying our best to protect you”.
These are the guys who actually go into places like CST and the Taj to rescue hostages facing fire and bullets from terrorists.
Barkha Dutt just Reports Live. That too by compromising the position of these people to the enemies.
You and I just chat on a blog.
At least I am trying to show a little solidarity to those underappreciated men and women of the Armed Forces.
Well – to each his own, I suppose….
My problem with most of the English-language Indian media (especially NDTV) is that they do not report objectively.
Tom – this might come as a shock, but NDTV, especially the analysis pieces and op-eds therein, are so one-eyed that even the Cyclops would cringe.
There are two sides to every story, I am sure you’ll agree. But NDTV will give you just one most of the times, thereby inflaming passions and fueling unrest.
If you wish, I can refer you to incidents, with dates and times, which were reported in the global media, but ignored by the local English-language media.
And when you complain about this, they’ll either label you a hate-mongerer, or hide behind technicalities like Ms Dutt is right now. (The Armed Forces did not ask her to move behind a line on the ground).
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes – Tom – Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ?
Nice. Very genuinely argued.
Sometimes I faintly think the times of Doordarshan News at night, even though a little diffused, were much better than the hogwash that viewers are exposed to now…isnt’ it 🙂
I think a way out could some high-profile national media awards…authorised by government and other third-party bodies…to which common people could relate to…which could identify the reportage credibility based on the ‘Responsibility and Common Sense’, the slightly ‘different Metric’ – that you mentioned – and not the TRP’s…
Do I sound naive in this…does something like this already exists?
Top quality fisking, Harini. The media cries “murder!” when there is talk of government imposed code of conduct (or restrictions) but conveniently forgets that they need to impose a code of conduct on their own. Without such self-restraint and a justified aversion to government control, broadcast media in India will just be a wild west of journalism.
Another thing that I found ridiculous was the way in which channels claimed exclusive access to content that one could clearly see was not exclusive to any particular channel just by changing channels.
On the other hand, we have to give credit where it is due. CNN-IBN had exposed the fragile coastal security in its sting op “Operation Water Rat”. But the tragedy was that no one took notice and it was exactly this security flaw that the terrorists exploited to enter the country.
Great and scathing post. What is ur take on media’s anti politician frenzy after 26/11? Was it to deflect attention from their own failures?
Every system be it media, politics has got its pros and cons. While we bring out the negatives, we should not overlook the positives. NDTV has particularly come out with a disclaimer that none of the images of terror attack were live. They were delayed by at least 20 – 25 mins. Had it not been for this media, we would have not realized the atrocity of the attack. Had it not been for this realization, the changes that we might see in the current parliament sesssion would not have been there. Had it not been for this media, we would have not come to know about the callous statements made by our politicians. Had it not been for this media, we would have not realized the sacrifices made by our soldiers / policemen. Had it not been for this media, most probably KARGIL too would have been branded as a localized affair by our politicians rather than a WAR. The list is unending.
Its true that while conducting their business, media sometimes crosses the line but mistakes are bound to be made while doing so. If we would have continued with DD news, something which is in total control of our leaders, the picture would have been much rosier as compared to the ground reality.
I am not a media person but I still feel that our media is doing a good job barring a few channels.
Inder Preet Singh
Please don’t take offense – but I would like to ask you two questions.
Have you heard of Asiyah Andrabi ?
Have you heard of Sadhvi Pragya ?
Please answer in Yes and No, if you will.
The answer will be a litmus test for our media. (Mainstream media)
Kudos!Very well written.brought the agony of common people.
good one! I did post a scathing comment on the ndtv site, but I don’t think the “moderators” approved it. unfortunately they don’t allow more than 950 characters (including spaces) which was just not enough for what I wanted to say 🙂
Gargi, What do you think about my accusation that the frenzied bashing of politicians as a class was an attempt to cover up the mistakes of the media and a pre emptive bid to prevent Govt setting up of regulatory authority for TV news channels?
Harini,
I guess this write-up has quietly stirred up the entire blogosphere in India. Isn’t it time we take the rest of the world notice our shabby media? I guess, we should have a co-ordinated effort to keep a hashtag like #shame2611 tomorrow to let the world know what we feel. Please RT and let us do our little bit.
the question is how do we rectify this media mujahiddin mayhem ??