Spinning the web POINTBLANK | DEVIKA SEQUEIRA devikaseque...@gmail.com ----------------------------------------------------- HeraldReview
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's criticism of the Goa media is perfectly valid and almost entirely true Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar apologised to journalists for his remarks last month on the media. Confronted by reporters, photographers and correspondents wearing black bands in the state legislative assembly during the recent session, Mr Parrikar probably had no intention of apologising at all. He did so only after representatives of the Goa Union of Journalists met with him in his chamber. Put down your objections in writing, Mr Parrikar told GUJ, and the next day he wrote to the union saying, "I did not mean to demean anybody nor was it my intention to cast aspersions on any person leave alone a media person. However, I express my regret if the incident has hurt anyone's feelings". At a public function a fortnight earlier, the chief minister had derided reporters, taunting them for the peanuts they earn -- "maybe 25,000 rupees" -- for their poor grasp of events -- "they are mostly graduates. They are not great thinkers... intellectuals. They write news how they understand it" -- and for being so easily purchasable -- "people take money to write", he claimed. No doubt Mr Parrikar who has been an MLA 20 years running would have had many an opportunity to find out who and how many journalists "take money to write". One wonders too if he meant to include the journalists who work for and run the BJP mouthpiece Goa Doot in his list of poorly paid, pathetically servile and grasping hacks. The chief minister's disdain for the media did cause "a flutter" in some quarters, and predictably, the grand old doddering Congress party waded in to file a complaint with the Press Council of India for his "badgering" the press. But the matter hardly rests with the apology. The chief minister's criticism of the Goa media is perfectly valid and almost entirely true. Politicians and ministers contesting the March 2012 election were full of stories of how the Goa media had formed teams to approach them with offers of "favourable" write-ups for a price. Among them was a person who sits as a PR man in the CM's office today. It's interesting that Mr Parrikar should also acknowledge the media's contribution to his success in politics. Complete journalistic freedom and unfiltered "truth" in the print and visual media globally are at best an illusion we should disabuse ourselves of. There's little doubt that conservative politics and corporate interests are what drive the world's biggest media titan Rupert Murdoch's journalistic formula. Yet Arvind Kejriwal's assessment of how the Indian media had "sold out" and been paid to promote Modi, was pounced upon in a frenzy by the Broadcast Editors Association and the Editors Guild of India which said his accusation that the media had been bought by a particular party and candidate and his threat to send media persons to prison after an inquiry reflected "an intolerant mindset that resents any critical scrutiny". In his characteristically artless fashion Kejriwal had said the media had no guts to expose the dark side of Gujarat because "it is not just the BJP which is desperate to grab power, but some media houses which are showing and writing on opinion polls based on false surveys on behalf of vested interests who are keen on making Modi prime minister". What's interesting is that Kejriwal, who became an overnight media sensation with the Anna Hazare movement and the 2011 Jantar Mantar show, gets so little TV coverage these days with the crucial election a few days away. Kiran Bedi on the other hand who tried to dissuade Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from taking the India Against Corruption campaign to the next political level with AAP, gets so much prime time to vent her middle-class preachy views. Bedi is now set to join the BJP and is in discussions to contest against Kejriwal if he decides to stand in Delhi. She said recently, "Supporting Modi is a sacred call and I am in a bandwagon of India first to save the country from Congress and AAP". Bedi is not the only one whose real intent in using the IAC platform to further discredit an already tottering and debilitated UPA became clearer by the day as the elections approached. Former Army chief Gen VK Singh who recently joined the BJP has also been surveying the poll prospects in Ghaziabad from where he is expected to contest for the saffron party. Fortunately for us, not everyone in the news business in this country is sold out to cacophonous debate and froth, though the sane and measured voices may eventually become too few and far apart. Reacting to the media's over-reaction to Kejriwal's criticsm, N Ram, publisher of The Hindu said the media ought to be open to criticism that was legitimate and long overdue. "Unfortunately when people outside the media criticise us, we have a very thin skin," Ram felt. The long-time former editor felt hyper-commercialisation and trivialisation was ruining Indian journalism and wondered if "paid news" was confined to the election season alone. Worried that the foolhardy yet extremely gutsy Kejriwal could impede the well-planned Modi juggernaut's advance, a group of "concerned" citizens released a statement to caution voters against the "misinformation" campaign. Among the signatories were journalists MV Kamath and MJ Akbar, economist and columnist Bibek Debroy, retired Gen S K Sinha and former DG Punjab Police P C Dogra. In an unambiguous attack on the AAP, the statement said, "Ironically -- or perhaps tellingly -- these calculations can only benefit the Congress as it fights what would appear to be an impossible election...In this situation, such attempts of new outfits and political platforms are hampering the cause of democracy, aspirations of the people and above all the national interest." Mr Akbar who was once close to Rajiv Gandhi and an advisor in his government is currently among the "concerned" citizens queued up for a BJP ticket. The political-media web has never been more complex. Review Bureau