POV » Media Ethics

Indian Express & Shashi Tharoor – is it Personal ?

gargi — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:02:17 +0000

I really don’t believe in too many conspiracy theories. This entire idea that various systems might be conspiring to get an individual out seems kind of far fetched.

But, in the recent past I have been questioning why the Indian Express has taken it upon it self to target Shashi Tharoor – the minister for external affairs ? Has Mr.Tharoor offended someone in the IE or is the IE working on someone else’s behalf to discredit Mr. Tharoor – because front page attention on, what can be most charitably described as trivialities, seems like an orchestrated witch hunt .

It started with the IE “exposing” the fact that Tharoor and his boss, SM Krishna, were staying in 5 star luxury.

Austere Ministers: Krishna at Maurya, Tharoor at Taj - screamed the headline, and when you read the article closely it tuns out that it was two rich ministers paying for their own comforts.

For over three months now, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is at ITC’s Maurya on Sardar Patel Marg and his junior Shashi Tharoor at Hotel Taj Mahal on Man Singh Road. Both pay their own bills but neither of them — nor the hotels — say how much they have paid so far.

According to their poll affidavits, Krishna has assets worth Rs 18 crore and Tharoor Rs 15 crore.

Why is someone spending their own money is news is beyond me – if it was Tax payer’s money I would understand – but their own money seemed kind of inexplicable.

It followed up the story the next day, with Tharoor needs Taj for gym, privacy — and a govt-funded Iftaar today

The “gym and some privacy” keep Shashi Tharoor at a suite in the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi. On Wednesday, the Minister of State for External Affairs is hosting an Iftaar party from 6.15 pm at the Diwan-i-Aam of the hotel.

Invites have been sent out by the Ministry — the cards carry the national emblem, mention the MEA’s Protocol division and list its telephone numbers under RSVP.

tucked in at the end, is the line

“It has been a tradition to host an Iftaar party for envoys of the Gulf countries by the MoS in-charge during Ramzan, said sources. “

So the iftaar party is not for friends and family, but for envoys of countries that India has trade and commercial relations ! Official work, not personal.

Then, the following day was an item, that could be seen as further embarrassing External Affairs Ministers - Krishna, Shashi take note: How nine of your colleagues live

While External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his deputy Shashi Tharoor turned 5-star hotel suites into temporary homes, their nine colleagues, still waiting for official accommodation, settled for single rooms in state Bhawans and PSU guest houses in New Delhi

And then, was yesterday’s bit of pontificating

At these moments, affluence becomes unaesthetic. A display of an affluent lifestyle seems crass and indifferent, possessing a nouveau riche loudness that is difficult to take. It is a behaviour that demands immediate downsizing in a literal and symbolic sense. But Krishna and his deputy behaved like rich Rip Van Winkles, unaware that drought and recession had struck the land. It was a sense of arrogance and individualism that made them indifferent to the dialects of protest and pain in the bazaar of politics.

People should realize, that in times of recession, consumption helps. Instead of vilifying the ministers for spending their own money – maybe you should commend them for doing their patriotic duty to get the nation out of recession
And then, it pretty much continues in the same vein. What took the cake was this morning’s front page silliness in the Indian Express

Of course, Mr. Tharoor has not helped his cause by being smart on Twitter with Kanchan Gupta – Shooting your mouth off to journalists, on a public forum, – especially those with BJP affiliation -reeks of poor decision making. That ‘holy cow’ statement is possibly going to come back to haunt him.

But, that doesn’t take away from the fact that the IE seems to have their knives out for him. Today’s story, the one that prompted this post – is “Holy Cow! Tharoor’s OSD gives it back to his Boss’s party” – one more ‘Get Tharoor” story .

Jacob Joseph, Officer on Special Duty to the Minister of State for External Affairs, posted a picture of Tharoor asleep in an aircraft seat, with the caption “Shashi Tharoor in cattle class a month ago”.

Tharoor, currently on tour abroad, did not post any new tweets on Thursday. He last tweeted early September 16.

Jacob made public, or ‘re-tweeted’ (referred to as ‘RT’ on Twitter), comments made by other Twitter users that referred to Union ministers as “humorless twits”, and Congress spokesperson Natarajan as an example of the “outdated Indian political spokesman”.

incidentally, the minister did tweet yesterday:

So, let me ask the obvious – is the Indian Express reverting to the shoot first, figure later mode of journalism that almost brought it to its knees. Or is this a one off hatchet job on a particular minister – if so why ?

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Manufacturing News, if not Consent !

gargi — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:00:27 +0000

The person i feel sorriest for in 24 hour news channels is the Sound Recordist. Having to hear our esteemed ‘news anchors’ screech their way through various issues – must deafen the strongest of ear drums.

Of all the news channels, there is none more screechy than CNN – IBN – i can hear it 2 rooms away – when my mother has it on in the hall. i keep wondering why they don’t use an audio limiter .

Over the weekend, they – like every other news channel – milked the SRK controversy for all it was worth, and the decibels were higher pitched than normal. Wall to wall discussions on a non-issue – with the view of boosting up their TRPS’. Nothing wrong in that – so long as we, the audience understand that they are in the business of making money -and take everything that they say with a bag of salt. They want higher TRPs because that means more money.

But, that is not the problem. The problem is hypocrisy. Look at todays’ blog by Sagarika Ghosh, No checks please, I’m a Bollywood star –

Perhaps the wonderfully talented Shah Rukh Khan, beloved of millions, should limit his superb skills to doing what he does best: making great movies and enhancing the silver screen. His lectures on geo-politics, America’s role in the world, security procedures and international diplomacy are a little bit hilarious. So you endured a bit of questioning at Newark because your baggage hadn’t arrived on time, Shah Rukh? So what? As Meghnad Desai said on Face The Nation, what’s the big deal? Be like APJ Abdul Kalam and just get on with it.

I take it that “Face the Nation” is a programme on their channel. and they get Meghnad Desai on – he btw is an Academic, Historian, Economist & widely read – to comment on this ????

Now, given that she and her fraternity & sorority – across news channels – had blanked coverage on this- made SRK into some sort of a martyr, and vilified some poor immigration clerk – i find it kind of absurd that she is trying to take the moral high ground by attacking Shah Rukh Khan. So, they are using him for two days to rail at the American system. And, then they are using him to rail against the Indian system. Manufacturing News if not Consent !

Maybe, Mr.Shah Rukh Khan – or any other celeb- ought to take the Paris Hilton route with news channels. You have used my image, and my name to make money – pay me ! Seriously.

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24 Hour Infomercials ?

gargi — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:53:54 +0000

At first, when my nani called me up to tell me that SRK was arrested in the USA – I thought that they had sent him to Gitmo ! Then i realised it was a 2 hour stop at the airport. I wonder how much airtime was spent on this – and to the exclusion of what ? and how much money did the “NEWS” channels make.

Take one bloated super star ego, mix a nation in the grip of paranoia ; stir in customs and immigration officers who think that they are god ; simmer with silly season ; add a dash of news channels with no ethics, and journalists who would sensationlise their mothers’ sex life if they thought it would get them better TRP’s – and bingo you get ‘……because My name is Khan’ kind of overkill.

The unkind say that this was publicity for the film. I don’t buy that – this sort of stupid serendipity cannot be paid for. It has to happen only when every body f***s up and the News media compound it by forgetting that they are the watchdogs on behalf of the public – and get co-opted by the ruling elite.

On the day Shahrukh Khan got detained for two hours — oh my god, how can someone stop SRK for two hours, hang them, quarter them; no quarter them, hang them — 21 farmers committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh because they couldn’t pay off their debt.

But, farmers committing suicide cannot be sponsored, it does not drive up TRP’s and it definitely is not conducive for off the cuff ranting by our esteemed ‘journalists’. (note: i use the term journalist very, very loosely, and I apologise to any real journalist who is offended at my comparing the lot on TV to them)

24 Hour Blogs – one can say – but that too,would be unkind. There a whole bunch of bloggers whom i follow and whose integrity and intent I respect – even if i differ with them on their views. There isn’t a single TV journalist I can put in the same category.

Since 26/11 I have stopped watching TV news – except for DD. I read papers – sometimes – but mostly I subscribe to various RSS feeds – including bloggers, columnists and news agencies – and I figure what is happening in the world. I get my updates from my mother or my grandmother – who are avid news watchers on the death and disaster and slap to ego that is happening in the world. I listen to them, much the same way that I do, when they tell me what is happening in their favorite soap

So if we can’t call really call them journalists, or news channels or even bloggers – then what are they? If you read this excellent piece in The HOOT you will realise that a whole bunch of them are putting out ‘NEWS’ that is not in Public Interest – as they claim – but in the interest of Interested Parties – that they have close commercial ties with. So 24 hour Infomercial Channels – is possibly what we ought to call them. They have the same repetition, the same music that drives you to action, the same kind of ‘we asked 30 people and they said’ mode of driving home their point. So, if they are in the pay of commercial interests and if they are putting out content in the interest of these commercial interests, shouldn’t they be regulated by some body ?

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Other Blogs with a different take on the same issue :
Churumuri on – Is an immigration clerk threat to our sovereignty?
Melissa George’s – Who is this Shahrukh Khan character anyway?
Prerna on My Name is Khan And Hence I was Detained
Shishir Joshi’s My Name is Khan…ummm…..er…so?
Reality Check India’s – We Are Not Outraged

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Losing the Plot – NDTV v/s individual blogger

gargi — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:21:20 +0000

I was telling someone the other day is that the saddest conclusion that i have reached is that the most honorable institution of them all is the Government.

Ultimately, no matter how venal, power mad, inept, or corrupt the are – sooner or later they are accountable and answerable to the people. They lose their jobs, retract their statements, are forced to back off from trampling our Constitutional rights. All we have to do is scream a bit … and they usually end up listening, especially if it is close to elections.

Amongst the insitutions that has rapidly lost my trust, espeically in the last two years, is the broadcast news media. Between the Prince episode, the Arushi Murder Case, running recorded footage with live bugs, with the 26/11 coverage – i have stopped watching TV news. I read magazines, i read newspapers and I read blogs. I do these because i have far more faith in the credibility of those who write – than the credibility of those who produce and package news on TV.

When you begin to sell TRP’s instead of credible, reliable, non sensationalized content (remember words like journalism, ethics, reportage), then you are selling a product, and rules that apply to the rest of the world apply to you. This includes getting product attributes criticized.

As a consumer if i tell you that i don’t like your product because a part of it is screechy, emotional, inaccurate, irresponsible and all over the place then maybe your job is to improve your offering instead of threatening to sue the customer for defamation.

The Ambanis didn’t sue the customer for laughing at Reliance Mobile 6 years ago, they fixed the service. Tata’s didn’t sue the customer for pillorying the Indica when it first launched. They made a better car (btw i own an Indica Marina). Maybe, NDTV needs to introspect and figure why so many of its natural target audience found its reportage appalling. And, maybe they need to fix it.

And to those who took the call to threaten the individual with legal action:

Imagine – if the Government behaved with you the way you are behaving over Chyetanya Kunte .Imagine your outrage, your self righteousness and your defence of the “Freedom of Expression. And then remember that media organizations enjoy the same ‘freedom of expression’ as individuals. There are no other separate provisions. And understand, that in attacking our Rights you are destroying yours.

I feel sad that the journalistic insitution built up by Prannoy Roy has come to this. Really, really sad.

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Post 26/11 – Media Self Regulation

gargi — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:20:07 +0000

This announced today

Under the six-point guidelines framed by the umbrella body NBA (News Broadcasters Association), the channels shouldn’t be telecasting details of identity, number and status of hostages. Nor should they provide information of pending rescue operations or details on the number of security personnel involved or the methods employed by them.

The News Broadcasting Standards Disputes Redressal Authority, constituted by the NBA, today said television TV channels should avoid any “live contact with the victims or security personnel or other technical personnel involved or the perpetrators during the course of any incident.”

Addressing a press meet, Authority Chairman Justice JS Verma also said media should avoid “unnecessary repeated or continuous broadcast of archival footage that may tend to re-agitate the mind of the viewers. Archival footage, if shown, should clearly indicate ‘file’ and the date and time should be given where feasible.”

The Authority said “no live reporting should be made that facilitates publicity of any terrorist or militant outfit or its ideology or tends to evoke sympathy for the perpetrators or glamourises them or their cause or advances the illegal agenda or objectives of the perpetrators.”

The dead should also be treated with dignity and their visuals should not be shown. Special care should be taken in the broadcast of any distressing visuals and graphics showing grief and emotional scenes of victims and relatives which could cause distress to children and families.

At the outset, the Authority said all telecast of news relating to armed conflict, internal disturbance, communal violence, public disorder, crime and other similar situations should be tested on the touchstone of ‘public interest’.

Furthermore, the media had the responsibility to disseminate information which was factually accurate and objective.

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