(TOI)
Keep them hungry. Keep them guessing. Starve the media.Throw them crumbs. Make them beg. Narendra Modi and his strategists are on top of the game. And it is becoming a bit much! Not since the infamous Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975 has Indian media been reduced to this pathetic level of redundancy, meekly reproducing press handouts and forgetting all about critical analysis. Modi has established a new set of ground rules for any sort of media engagement. And those are pretty simple — it’s his way or the highway. And so far, Modi is in the driver’s seat.
When and how did this terrible fall take place? Was it cold-bloodedly planned? Or does desi media itself have a death wish? Lots has been made of the Diwali Milan in Delhi during which several mighty journalists fell over themselves to click selfies with the PM. I won’t really read too much into that — this is the age of the selfie. Everybody but everybody wants to click one — even President Obama. Hell, I tried it (unsuccessfully, I might add) with Narendra Modi myself at Nita Ambani’s Mumbai event, where top Bollywood stars were falling over backwards to do the same. Selfies are addictive. It’s the irresistible childish thrill of capturing an image of yourself capturing an image of yourself with a famousnotorious person and sharing gloating later. Selfies, per se, are pretty harmless and don’t mean a thing. Not even those taken with the PM. The media surrender I am referring to is far more insidious and goes well beyond jostling for space next to one of the most-watched individuals on earth right now.
The real worry about media’s dramatic descent is the spectacular absence of any dissent. Why are seasoned journalists suddenly shying away from analyzing the political scenario, adopting the same stringent critical standards they once adhered to?
What is everybody afraid of ? Retribution? Of what kind? Could it also be true that the established media class representing an earlier era (which had benefited so richly from government largesse in the past) has taken the softer option and decided to play ball with Modi?
Love fests between journos and politicians are doomed affairs, as so many scribes discover to their chagrin once the cosy relationship curdles. So long as one feeds off the other, the equilibrium is main tained, albeit uneasily . The trouble starts when a new set of powerbrokers emerges almost overnight and challenges the old status quo. That seems to be the case with Modi and the press right now.
It’s time for journalists themselves to do some serious mann ki baat. Have we brought this on our selves? Even if that is the case, why are we putting up with ill-treatment and open contempt? Which is the best way to regain lost ground…some self-re spect, for God’s sake? It’s definitely not through sucking up to Modi and his A-team. Chamchagiri has its pitfalls and chamchas invariably come to grief in the long run. Every shrewd politician knows that. The old practice of cultivating and ‘paalo-ing’ sympathetic
friendly journalists is long over. We live in social media times, where it’s a sav age free-for-all. Nothing and no one is `untouchable’. There are no sacred cows left. You give as good as you get, and only the toughest survive.
Modi prefers to control and calibrate media interactions what is euphemistically called `managing the fourth estate’. For him it has always been a one-way street. His message to the media is direct and simple: Get lost! He has proved he doesn’t need tra ditional media by going all out to conquer new media. He was the first desi politician to under stand the awesome power of public opinion as expressed through user-friendly platforms like Twitter and FB. He har nessed and exploited the incred ible potential of all available electronic media to kickstart his campaign, construct his global image and win that unbelievable mandate during the last gen eral elections. Having tasted victory , he is con vinced there is absolutely no need to woo the press. And he is absolutely right! But does that mean the press also stops doing its assigned job? Gets seamlessly co-opted? Kowtows to officialdom? Pounces greedily on morsels of monitored information thrown its way? If we carry on like Modi slaves much longer, the day won’t be far before we give up all claims to credible, truth ful, hard-hitting journalism and turn ourselves into performing monkeys, happy to dance to Modi’s dumroo. What a sad day that will be for India! Narendra Modi has made chutney of the media in India. Ramnath Goenka and others who walked tall while the rest crawled in 1977 -where are you when we need you the most?
Keep them hungry. Keep them guessing. Starve the media.Throw them crumbs. Make them beg. Narendra Modi and his strategists are on top of the game. And it is becoming a bit much! Not since the infamous Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975 has Indian media been reduced to this pathetic level of redundancy, meekly reproducing press handouts and forgetting all about critical analysis. Modi has established a new set of ground rules for any sort of media engagement. And those are pretty simple — it’s his way or the highway. And so far, Modi is in the driver’s seat.When and how did this terrible fall take place? Was it cold-bloodedly planned? Or does desi media itself have a death wish? Lots has been made of the Diwali Milan in Delhi during which several mighty journalists fell over themselves to click selfies with the PM. I won’t really read too much into that — this is the age of the selfie. Everybody but everybody wants to click one — even President Obama. Hell, I tried it (unsuccessfully, I might add) with Narendra Modi myself at Nita Ambani’s Mumbai event, where top Bollywood stars were falling over backwards to do the same. Selfies are addictive. It’s the irresistible childish thrill of capturing an image of yourself capturing an image of yourself with a famousnotorious person and sharing gloating later. Selfies, per se, are pretty harmless and don’t mean a thing. Not even those taken with the PM. The media surrender I am referring to is far more insidious and goes well beyond jostling for space next to one of the most-watched individuals on earth right now.
The real worry about media’s dramatic descent is the spectacular absence of any dissent. Why are seasoned journalists suddenly shying away from analyzing the political scenario, adopting the same stringent critical standards they once adhered to?
What is everybody afraid of ? Retribution? Of what kind? Could it also be true that the established media class representing an earlier era (which had benefited so richly from government largesse in the past) has taken the softer option and decided to play ball with Modi?
Love fests between journos and politicians are doomed affairs, as so many scribes discover to their chagrin once the cosy relationship curdles. So long as one feeds off the other, the equilibrium is main tained, albeit uneasily . The trouble starts when a new set of powerbrokers emerges almost overnight and challenges the old status quo. That seems to be the case with Modi and the press right now.
It’s time for journalists themselves to do some serious mann ki baat. Have we brought this on our selves? Even if that is the case, why are we putting up with ill-treatment and open contempt? Which is the best way to regain lost ground…some self-re spect, for God’s sake? It’s definitely not through sucking up to Modi and his A-team. Chamchagiri has its pitfalls and chamchas invariably come to grief in the long run. Every shrewd politician knows that. The old practice of cultivating and ‘paalo-ing’ sympathetic
Modi prefers to control and calibrate media interactions what is euphemistically called `managing the fourth estate’. For him it has always been a one-way street. His message to the media is direct and simple: Get lost! He has proved he doesn’t need tra ditional media by going all out to conquer new media. He was the first desi politician to under stand the awesome power of public opinion as expressed through user-friendly platforms like Twitter and FB. He har nessed and exploited the incred ible potential of all available electronic media to kickstart his campaign, construct his global image and win that unbelievable mandate during the last gen eral elections. Having tasted victory , he is con vinced there is absolutely no need to woo the press. And he is absolutely right! But does that mean the press also stops doing its assigned job? Gets seamlessly co-opted? Kowtows to officialdom? Pounces greedily on morsels of monitored information thrown its way? If we carry on like Modi slaves much longer, the day won’t be far before we give up all claims to credible, truth ful, hard-hitting journalism and turn ourselves into performing monkeys, happy to dance to Modi’s dumroo. What a sad day that will be for India! Narendra Modi has made chutney of the media in India. Ramnath Goenka and others who walked tall while the rest crawled in 1977 -where are you when we need you the most?
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