The Interview that set a million tongues wagging.

The Interview that set a million tongues wagging.

Media deliberately dividing people: PCI Chief  “Speaking to Karan Thapar, the new Chairman of the Press Council of India Markandey Katju slammed the media saying that he is very disappointed with the way in which the Indian media works. Katju also said that the media is not working for the interest of the people and sometimes divide the people of the country.” 

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As is their wont no sooner had the interview of Justice Katju concluded all vantage points were occupied, an incessant chatter of self-righteous indignation and outrage  was unleashed; the irony is that everyone is speaking, but the victims of Media Yes! We are the victims of media for what they publish, broadcast and equally what the media does not publish and broadcast.

In all these years never has the role of the media been scrutinized in detail, is it politically incorrect to inspect the role of the media, or is it a mine field, which deters these so called experts from delving into its role, a potent tool, when employed strategically can inflict immense damage on the victims. Has our media been reporting factually, without bias for one or the other protagonist? 

Plenty has been said yet no cogent case has been made out why Self Regulation should be permitted for electronic media in particular? This central point is missing.

Has the self regulation so far by this section been a roaring success? If yes! Where is the evidence to back the claim? 

What has self regulation yielded to inspire confidence for continuance? Is it their case what transpired in the aftermath of Radia Tapes expose omerta observed by all concerned, and followed by a Court being convened in the studio of a channel where the alleged accused is also the presiding officer, the defendant, who pronounced self to be innocent by way of “Error of Judgment?” Should we be encouraged by the apology of an apology issued by another channel in the wake of 9^th Nov 2011 fake live interview! If this is their basis then conversely there is a mountain of evidence in public domain for appointing an Independent Regulator for Media.

Society exists, functions and thrives by a given set of rules and regulation. No component or part is permitted an exception from this. Why should the media then demand that they be exempt from what the rest have to adhere by? 

Can a citizen or a group of citizens demand that they be exempt from IPC & CrPc since they shall setup a self regulation?

Other relevant articles and programs that appeared as a consequence of this interview  

Quick of the blocks is CNN IBN with its Face The Nation on 02^nd Nov 2011

FTN: Should Justice Katju apologise to journalists?

 

Not breaking news Namita Bhandare, Hindustan Times  November 11, 2011

“The problem begins when the former Supreme Court judge reaches sweeping conclusions, perhaps oblivious to the fact that many issues that make him queasy (sensationalism, celebrity journalism and paid news) make most journalists queasy too. Perhaps he needs to meet more journalists.” { Link }

When journalists turn brokers By KULDIP NAYAR

“Credibility is like virginity. It either exists or does not. Unfortunately, some top names in Indian journalism have lost their credibility. In the few cases that are in the public domain, they have been found lobbying for the scam-ridden A. Raja. Transcripts of tapped telephone talks by the income-tax department have revealed the manner in which these journalists were throwing their weight around, trying to get the "right" minister from the "right" party. They behaved like powerbrokers and crossed the Lakshmanrekha between legitimate news gathering and lobbying. It is like the fence eating the crop.” { Link }

Justice Markandey Katju clarifies

“By criticizing the media I wanted to persuade the media to change its manner of functioning and not that I wanted to destroy it. The Indian media has a historical role to play in the age of transition, and I wanted to remind the media persons of their historical duty to the nation. Instead of taking my criticism in the correct spirit, a veritable diatribe was launched against me by a section of the media, which painted me as some kind of dictatorial monster.” { Link }

Media self-regulation has failed: Ansari

Mr. Ansari questioned whether such freedoms were being manipulated by media companies for their own purposes. “Can the constitutional safeguards on freedom of speech be used to evade regulation of the commercial persona of media corporates and groups? Where does public interest end and private interest begin?” he asked. “Collective self-regulation has yet to succeed in substantive measure because it is neither universal nor enforceable. Individual self-regulation has also failed due to personal predilection and the prevailing of personal interest over public interest,”  { Link }

‘The media industry needs an independent regulating authority with teeth’

“Control over media is a dangerous proposition, but there needs to be an independent authority which can force corrective action on publishers without interfering with their freedom,” said veteran journalist and former Press Council member Mr Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. His comment summed up the lively interactive panel discussion that followed a screening of the movie ‘Brokering News’ by Moneylife Foundation and vCitizens Action Network and MxM India. 

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Control freakery Hindustan Times November 15, 2011 By Arun Jaitley

“The chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice Markandey Katju, lost little time after his appointment to make known his contemptuous views about the Indian media. The obvious danger of talking out of turn in order to sound crusading is that one ceases to be objective. You only have to tabulate the weak points of the target institution and emerge a reformist yourself.” 

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Switching off from news By: Vanita Kohli-Khandekar  2011-11-18    Mumbai

“If credibility is the currency a news brand trades in, most are running low these days. And having star anchors will not improve it. It is only when news channels can harness, educate and train young people to gather facts, research and apply rigour to their work will you see good stories on your TV screen. That is when India will see really strong, profitable news broadcasters emerge out the mess the industry has become today.”  { Link }

Who owns media? BY Vaidehi Sachin  afternoonvoice news  Mumbai

“First we have to look that who is running the media. Let us see the ownership of different media agencies.  NDTV: A very popular TV news channel is funded by Gospels of Charity based in Spain and supports communism. Recently, it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because the Pakistani President has allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan. CNN-IBN: This news channel is 100 per cent funded by the Southern Baptist Church with its branches in all over the world and HQ in US.” { Link }

CHIEF MINISTER ASHOK CHAVAN CLEARS JOURNALISTS HOUSING SCHEME

MHADA will allot a total of 230 flats at Pratiksha Nagar, Sion for journalist members/nominees of the Press Club. This will include 168 High Income Group (HIG) and 62 Middle Income Group (MIG) flats. This will include a reservation of 13 percent for SC applicants and 6 percent for ST applicants.” { Link }

Updated on 25^th Nov 2011

Can a reporter make a comment of his own?

The report was illustrated with a photograph. The photograph showed an empty, throne-like chair between one seating Advani and the other seating Modi and the report said: “The reported dissent between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani… came to the fore… with the two keeping a distance while sharing the dais.”  The report added: “Despite lauding Advani’s fight against corruption, Modi preferred not to take the throne-like seat next to him… throwing enough hints at their continuing cold war”.  It also reported, wrongly, that Modi “sat two chairs away from Advani”. The headline said: “Modi-Advani Cold Vibes Continue”.  { Link }

I welcome a debate and discussion on this…As always, please keep your tone civil, your language polite…no sweeping generalisations please and no personal abuse.  Thank you.

Selling the Prime Minster.

Independent India has had 14 Prime Ministers. [List] , before Dr. Manmohan Singh, all 14 have had their own merits and demerits. Each and every one of them has a tale of their own successes and failures to tell, yet none of them were ever marketed so intensely by the media over a prolonged period as Dr. ManMohan Singh.

Why the incumbent Prime Minster has had to rely so heavily on media to make his presence felt in the country? What is it that he lacks when compared to others who occupied the august office of Prime Minister? Who is responsible for this state of affairs? 

Check with any Public Relations company or Brand Management outfit. Brand building is an extremely intensive process and there are time constraints in this if the exercise is not completed in the shortest possible time, it becomes very difficult to market that product(s).

Media has been involved since 2004 in converting Manmohan Singh into a cult of impeccable personal honesty and integrity. Now we are in 2011 almost 8 years yet there are more question marks against this Brand. There are inherent defects which were concealed willfully by the brand builders, even to this day they are operating in denial mode. Congress friendly media propounds three new myths. There have been numerous attempts made by media to somehow push this down our throat and gag us. People have not been able to swallow, that all the corruption and scams that have emerged could have been perpetrated without his knowledge; since I have no means of independent corroboration of personal involvement so would be improper to allege any personal wrongdoing.

However that does not mean as the head of the Cabinet and Government PM can be completely absolved of the responsibility or taint. There are acts of commission and then there acts of omission, the indictment would follow naturally. Further more the efforts by the media have become self defeating, since corruption in the media has been exposed and the public is justifiably incensed about what has come to light.

The hash realities have surfaced, every charge has been met with standard phrases “I Did Not Know.” “I am not aware.” I am Honest I have not indulged in Corruption.” Do these, would these assertions by Dr. ManMohan Singh wash with the people of India, leave alone the Political parties, guess not even Congress would buy these.

Pressing the PM - by Karan Thapar, Hindustan Times March 19^th 2011 is yet another attempt in the same direction. Needless to say it is doomed to fail, far too much has come to surface and no cogent response has been forthcoming from the Prime Minister.

I am reminded of a couple of idioms that we were taught in school “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.” “Handsome is he who does handsome.” Taking it further in the same vein! Is honesty to be measured only in terms of Money? I would say no, it should also be measured in terms of intent and action. Has Dr. Manmohan Singh passed the test of intent and action for being called honest? Emphatic answer is No he has failed himself and the nation by not acting and visibly demonstrating his intent to curb corruption, mere statement of intent to punish the guilty or no one will be spared, no longer impress Indians. 63years of history does not give us any hope that we are about to see a marked change or new path is going to be charted out to prevent corruption and punish those guilty of looting the country.

These are the comments posted on Hindustan Times site by visitors who have read the article by Karan Thapar  these are 6/57.

 

 

 

“What is one to make of Manmohan Singh? Is he a clean politician forced by circumstance to travel with a boatload of crooks? A radical economic reformer trapped in the wrong party at the wrong time? Or is he just plain incompetent and irresponsible?” "Our PM - zero to hero to Nero"

Wikileaks Indian Cables UPA-I Culpable.

Latest update on 19^th Nov 2011

“If PM is not the ultimate authority, then who is? It has been successfully passed to the Chairperson of the NAC, and the Congress President, Sonia Gandhi (full list of her “achievements” here). The NAC she leads is the parallel decision making authority when it comes to policy matters. Sonia Gandhi is the parallel decision making authority when it comes to political matters. Manmohan Singh is the decision making authority when it comes to maintaining status quo!”  Link

I welcome a debate and discussion on this…As always, please keep your tone civil, your language polite…no sweeping generalisations please and no personal abuse.  Thank you.

We deserve an unbiased honest media

Dear Mr. Karan Thapar, you do indeed hold a deep contempt for the viewers and readers. When you say that?  “You, the reader or viewer, rarely miss what you cannot read or see. Not unless you're looking for it. Therefore a great way of manipulating the news is to simply leave something out i.e. not make the audience aware it happened or that it's worth deliberating upon.”

 “it could be the legacy of Radia tapes." The fact is people like me have been observing and voicing it for a long time. I am amazed that you have ignored the crucification of an individual for 8years in the print and electronic media without an iota or shred of evidence. I could cite numerous other instances in support of my contention. What would you term that as?

Mainstream English media sold its soul a long time back and indulged in the most unethical professional practices ever seen in this country. The other point that you have overlooked is the Paid News that these so called News Channels have indulged in, compounded further when the report of experts was not published in its original and complete form.

Self regulation has miserably failed, unworthy individuals have found their way to head certain guilds of journalists(ostensibly) I have with complete responsibility put that word within parenthesis , since a lot do not qualify to be called journalists. Eloquent verbosity is not a substitute for intellect, which is woefully absent in majority of the inhabitants of field of journalism. 

Lets revert to your opening statement. “want to share with you a question that's troubling me. Do the Radia revelations suggest an alarming degree of media manipulation, possibly to the point where you could have doubts about what you read or see? Or does the fact that there's no overwhelming proof of the media being manipulated — the odd example apart — suggest that our newspapers and TV channels have handled a tricky situation admirably?”

The judgment has already been delivered by the people. Our media is corrupt to the core.

“Radia appears to be influential, effective and ruthlessly thorough.” Well let me explain this by placing an example here. Pharmaceutical companies distribute FREE SAMPLES of Medicines to the Doctors now that is not unethical by itself, if the same medicines are sold by the Doctors then it becomes unethical. Ms Radia profession is well known and she charges a fee for rendering her services, it is her brief to influence any and everybody for the benefit of her clients that is not unethical. What is unethical is when others succumb to her influence and yet do not disclose the same or pretend to be performing their professional duties with complete honesty and integrity.

The extent of rot in the media can be gauged from the most recent incident of fake tweets generated by CNNIBN  Twitter lobbying. Another scam in the making?” shocking . Time for introspection is over. Transgressions such as CNNIBN need to be dealt with severely and expeditiously, mere apologies for such action cut no ice with the public today. The tainted individuals must be removed from the profession, if the desire to win back the confidence of the readers and viewers is of paramount concern. 

“Alas, this leaves a lingering doubt that's hard to resolve. The sort you can't prove — one way or the other — but will, inexorably, dent the image of the media. This, I suspect, could be the legacy of the Radia tapes — doubts we cannot cast aside but will always be uncomfortable with.” This may be a politically correct statement to make since you are part of the fraternity. We are under no such compulsion and most candidly state there are no lingering doubts in our minds, a large number of us have switched off those channel which are tainted, and our ranks will only swell with the time. What we suspected, Radia tapes have brought the murky dealings in the full public glare.   

The latest article on this on 26/12/2010

But, the real crime of the media has been the manner in which our private television channels have allowed themselves to be used by the agencies of government to damn Niira Radia before she has been given a chance to defend herself. By Tavleen.Singh.

Media-introspection-needed.

 


 

I welcome a debate and discussion on this…As always, please keep your tone civil, your language polite…no sweeping generalisations please and no personal abuse.  Thank you.