Views On News 22 September 2015

Governance Section
IS SHARAD PAWAR
PLAYING THE CASTE CARD?
CHINKS IN MODIS
GUJARAT ARMOR
VIEWS ON NEWS
48
52
www.viewsonnewsonline.com
SEPTEMBER 22, 2015
`50
Indrani-Sheena Storm
WHERE
DID THE
REST OF
INDIA GO?
Ajith Pillai, Bikram Vohra

and Shantanu Guha Ray
analyze how and why one
sensational story shoved
the nation into a black hole 12
SHASTRI
RAMACHANDARAN:
How media
handles
Sino-Indian
tussles
36
RAMESH
MENON:
How the
dish blew
away the
antenna
26
BHAVDEEP
K ANG:
Will the
new Kisan
channel
succeed?
32
KRISH
WARRIER:
Is laughter
the best
bet
in ads?
42
EDITORS NOTE
OUR COUNTER-STORY
YOU WILL wonder why this issue of Views On News
(VON) has devoted so much space to the Indrani Mukerjea-Sheena Bora story which has been hogging the
headlines for the past two weeks. You wake up to that
story, you eat to it and you go to sleep watching it. So
why should VON, whose editorial policy has been one
of holding up a mirror to the media in which it can see
its own face, join and run with the rest of the pack?
It may seem ironical, on the face of it, that while
being critical of the trend towards sensationalism and
single-focus journalism, VON is itself guilty of the
same practices in devoting its cover and so many
pages to the same story. For that reason, I would urge
you to read the relevant stories carefully.
What we are indulging in is not a me-too cacophony, but what I would describe as counter-coverage.
We are, in this cover package, attemptingand I hope
with a measure of successto bring into perspective
the dangers of what lies ahead when news coverage
is seen as a three-ring circus with anchors playing ring
masters along with an attendant crew of trapeze artists
and contortionists and clowns and animal tamers.
Ajith Pillais lead article
sums up VONs areas of
concerns, the major one
being that in the rush for
TRPs and the mad competition between TV channels,
their cameras just turned
away from the rest of India to
focus on this high society,
Page 3 murder mystery,
often throwing to the winds
the basic concepts of good,
informative and responsible
journalism. How the story
was covered, how it was
shamelessly sensationalized
4 VIEWS ON NEWS September 22, 2015
is analyzed not only by Pillai but also by veterans

Bikram Vohra and Shantanu Guha Ray. In fact, Ray,
got a first-hand peek into the newsrooms of various
national channels to report on the frantic rush to get
there first no matter what the consequences.
As the cover headline aptly puts it: Where did the
rest of India go? It appeared that in this frenetic rush
of exclusives, new revelations, incest theories,
crossed lovers, illegitimate offspring, etcetera,
etcetera, the rest of India simply ceased to exist. So
intensely was TV coverage focused on one story that
other important stories simply went into the black
hole. Suddenly, the North-East with its plethora of
problems ceased to exist. Even the Hardik Patel reservations agitation with its political consequences for the
upcoming Bihar elections and PM Modis nightmare
in his own home turf of Gujarat appeared to pale in
comparison.
VON has taken an extra step in dealing with this
issue. In addition to the cogent and insightful reporting
and analyses by our senior writers, we have attempted
to add some statistical depth to the story. Our unique
24x7 media monitoring teamTMMgathered information on a real-time basis to capture the amount of
space captured by this story on leading TV channels.
The survey of six national channels throws up some
fascinating statistics.
Apart from our lead story, VON brings you a feast
of other reports on governance, film reviews and special stories in this packed issue. I hope that our
counter-story will catalyze editors and reporters to
analyze themselves and their role in disseminating
high-quality information so essential to the functioning
of a free society.
ONLY THE STORIES

THAT COUNT
EVERY FORTNIGHT INDIA LEGAL WILL BRING YOU NEWS, ANALYSES AND
OPINION FROM THE SHARPEST INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS AND MOST
INCISIVE LEGAL MINDS IN THE NATION ON MATTERS THAT MATTER TO YOU
PATEL AGITATION:
36
SURVEY:
44
INDIA L EGAL
Nightmare for Modi
Startling revelations about what Muslim

women think of Personal Law
www.indialegalonline.com
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September 15, 2015
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how a series of legal
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maneuvers led to
the arrest of
stock exchange
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SEX VIDEOS
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EDITORIAL
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to improve
government
schools 03
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VOLUME. VIII
ISSUE. 24
Editor
Rajshri Rai
Managing Editor
Ramesh Menon
Deputy Managing Editor
Shobha John
Executive Editor
Ajith Pillai
Business Editor
Shantanu Guha Ray
Political Editor
Bhavdeep Kang
Associate Editor
Meha Mathur
Deputy Editor
Prabir Biswas
Art Director
Anthony Lawrence
Deputy Art Editor
Amitava Sen
Graphic Designer
Lalit Khitoliya
Photographer
Anil Shakya
News Coordinator/Photo Researcher
Kh Manglembi Devi
Production
Pawan Kumar
C O N
LEDE
Overkill
12
The Indrani Mukerjea case saw the media on an overdrive in the mad
race for TRPs. The basic tenets of journalism were not followed,
observes AJITH PILLAI
Chief Editorial Advisor

Inderjit Badhwar
CFO
Anand Raj Singh
VP (HR & General Administration)
Lokesh C Sharma
Circulation Manager
RS Tiwari
Vice-President (Ad-Sales)
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Media as Judge
16
Trial by the media is dangerous and unfair, writes BIKRAM VOHRA

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Frenzy in the Newsroom

As the Indrani case broke out it was a pressure cooker atmosphere
here, reports SHANTANU GUHA RAY
21
T E N T S
Indrani All the Way
22
Governance
FOCUS
The Media Monitor (TMM) conducts

an exclusive survey among six TV
channels on the Indrani case
SMALL SCREEN
Bowled Over by Dish
Doordarshan has broken new

ground with a new 24x7
channel for farmers, writes
BHAVDEEP KANG
32
48
For a forward-looking Maratha

leader, Pawar has sullied his image,
writes ABHAY VAIDYA
26
With the DTH revolution sweeping

India and the increasing emphasis
on entertainment, RAMESH
MENON examines what it means
for Doordarshan
Spotlight on Kisan
Pawars Caste Card
BOOK EXCERPT
Wayward Press
36
An extract from Journalism:

Ethics and Responsibilities by
SHASTRI RAMACHANDARAN
ADVERTISING
Tickling Tales
When can humor be used
for selling and when does
it go overboard, asks
KRISH WARRIER
42
R E G U L A R S
EDITORS PICK
Gujarat Distances
Itself from Modi
52
Future historians may trace the

political meltdown of Narendra
Modi to the events this week in
Ahmedabad and the rest of Gujarat,
writes HARISH KHARE
Edit..................................................04
Grapevine........................................08
Quotes........................................10
Anchor Review...................................25
Media-Go-Round..............................35
As The World Turns...........................41
Web-Crawler.....................................45
Breaking News.................................46
Cover design: Amitava Sen
VIEWS ON NEWS
September 22, 2015 7
Grapevine
Organizational
Expertise
FIFTY PROFESSORS,
students, administrative
staff and doctors from Harvard visited Kumbh Mela
in Allahabad in 2013 to analyze issues that emerge
from any large-scale
human gathering. The
team geographically
mapped and extensively
Chauhan As Shiva
AFTER TAKING Film
and Television Institute
of India (FTII) by a
storm literally, chairman
Gajendra Chauhan,
known for his role in the
TV series Mahabharata,
is now readying to play
the role of Shiva in the
prestigious Ram Lila
that takes place at the
Ram Lila grounds in
Delhi every year. Along
with him will be ex-MP

Deepshikha, known for
her role of Sita in the TV
series Ramayana. Other
luminaries expected in
this years program are
Shakti Kapoor,
Zarina Wahab, Puneet
Issar (Duryodhan of
Mahabharata), Amita
Nangiya and Girija
Shankar (Dhritrashtra
of Mahabharata).
It shall most certainly
be a gala not to
be missed.
Communication
Gap
A COMMITTEE of
secretaries to the
government of India met
recently under the leadership of the cabinet
secretary for a
brain-storming
session to prioritize area of
focused attention for communication strategies.
It seems that the people
covered the event. According to The Kumbh Mela:

Mapping the Ephemeral
Megacity, a book that summarizes their findings, and
details available on the official website of the South
Asia Institute of Harvard
University, Maha Kumbh
2013 was far better organized than the FIFA World
Cup in Brazil!
That should make the
UP government happy.
who matter in the

government are not
too happy with the
ongoing image management of the government.
Resultone of the key
communication
strategists, ex-I&B
Secretary Bimal Julka
was dumped, despite
his supreme efforts
at rehabilitating
himself in some
government body to
chase retirement blues.
Lift Kara De
THE INCIDENT of the Bihar State
Guest House lift, that got stuck with
Amit Shah and his followers in it, refuses to go out of the news. Someone in
the Bihar government said the lift was
equipped to carry 340 kg and the repair bill would be forwarded to the
BJP. A probe panel, headed by the
principal secretary, has been set up to
see if there was any sabotage. The
panel has decided that all occupants
would need to present themselves before it and record their weights. Time
for bariatric surgery?
Of Air India and Skills
IT SEEMS that after losing elections and falling out with the
masses, politicians take stock
and realize the real truth, just
like Congress has suddenly realized the worth of ex-PM, PV
Narasimha Rao. Jairam Ramesh
recently described Rao as a master tactician, a fox who was remarkably decisive. Now he feels
that it was a mistake to neglect
POLICE AT Rajpura Police Station in

Maharashtras Chandrapur district
faced a strange dilemma. An 85-yearold woman, Janabai Sakharkar, complained that her step-son had trained
his parrot, Hariyal, to hurl the choicest
of abuses at her to harass her in a property dispute. The accused and complainant were called to the police
station but Hariyal would not sing. So
it has been handed over to the Forest
Department. It happens only in India!
Some Premonition
DELHIS POWER corridors are abuzz
as to why Home Secretary LA Goyal
was shifted out of Home. Well, setting
aside the talk of his disagreement on
the Naga accord, an etymologist (one
who studies the meaning of names) is
saying that names starting with Go
combine with Home in an ironic way.
So Anil Goswami and LC Goyalboth
had to exit unceremoniously before
completing their tenures. My advice to
the next will be: Do-well (Val).
IS THERE a connect between

the newly-formed Ministry of
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Air India? Yes, but
one needs to look deep. The first
minister of the new ministry is
ex-civil aviation minister, Rajiv
Pratap Rudy, who was incharge
of Air India. The first secretary,
Sunil Arora, was CMD of the
erstwhile Indian Airlines, and
the present secretary is Rohit
Nandan, whose term as Air India
CMD got over on August 15. Is
this a ministry of aviation skills?
Late Realization
What A Parrot!
No Concern For Floods

Rao. Ramesh did not appear to
have as much regard and respect
for his fellow Andhraite during
the UPA regime. Nice insight
and interesting political timing!
Congress is known to suffer
from selective amnesia and the
list of people that the party has
forgotten is long, including Sardar Patel, Maulana Abdul
Kalam, etc. Many neglected
leaders like Morarji Desai and
Biju Patnaik quit the Congress.
THE RELENTLESS footage being

given by the national media, especially
TV channels, to an Assamese and her
relatives has made many people from
Assam ponder why not much concern
is being shown towards the devastating
floods under which half of Assam is
reeling. The state is yet to receive even
last years flood relief fund from the
center, though these gestures are usually prompt in case of states like J&K
and Gujarat. Is the pradhan sevak
hearing the voices from Assam? He did
tweet happy Bihu in Assamese once!
Compiled by Roshni Seth
Illustrations: UdayShankar
VIEWS ON NEWS
U O T E S
It is such a dirty and

horrific advertisement.... If such
advertisements for condoms
appear in the countrys TV
channels and newspapers, then
incidents of rape will increase.
Atul Kumar Anjan, CPI leader,
condemning Sunny Leones
condom ad at a public rally
Shekhar Gupta,
editorial advisor,
India Today
Dabholkar, Pansare, #Kalburgi. No

interest primetime? No glamour,
cash, love, sex, dhoka. In any case
intellectuals not PLUs, socialites are.
Shivam Vij, journalist

After ten years of lampooning Manmohan, and complaining about liberal hypocrisy forever, Modi Bhakts
say you can't make fun of sitting PM.
It looks like this film portrays

Modiji in a poor light and I
think it is anti-government to
do so. Pahlaj Nihalani, CBFC
chairperson, on why he refused to
certify the documentary, Battle of
Banaras, in The Telegraph
Mihir Sharma,
journalist,
Business Standard
Rename a road. But try not to convey a crass, heavy-handed hint to Indian Muslims while you do. If you're
not Kalam, you're Aurangzeb, eh?
Abhinandan Sekhri,
founder, Newslaundry
Uttering OM can trigger a

row these days.
PM Narendra Modi, while releasing the digital version of Tulsidas Ramcharitra Manas
Every panel on news channels wondering how dysfunctional this family

is cos obviously all their families are
from Suraj Barjatya films.
(on Mukerjeas)
Gaurav Sawant,
India Today
This is the first time that Pakistan

has a wife of a political leader who is
a working woman, who was a
divorcee, who has been a single
parent, who works in the media, and
who has a voice and mind
of her own.
Reham Khan, journalist and wife of
politician Imran Khan, in Newsweek Pakistan
ISIS beheads today. Aurangzeb

beheaded then. Wondering if Delhi
will 1 day have Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi road to prove its secular
credentials.
Sachin Kalbag,
ex-editor Mid-Day
The trouble with religion is that it

has too much politics. The trouble
with politics is that it has too
much religion.
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Governance Section
FTII
MUMBAI COAST ROAD:
VIEWS ON NEWS
SCRIPT GOING AWRY
By Abhay Vaidya
46
ROAD TO DISASTER
By Darryl DMonte
50
www.viewsonnewsonline.com
SEPTEMBER 07, 2015
`50
Nepal or Vietnam??
Fooling the World

How Social Media Disinformation Is Going Viral 12
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Lede Indrani Case

Media Role
Murder
Overkill
The Indrani Mukerjea case saw

the media indulging in wanton
sensationalism and kite-flying in
the mad race for TRPs. Why were
the basic tenets of journalism
not followed?
BY AJITH PILLAI
GRABBING THE SPOTLIGHT

Indrani Mukerjeas
sensational arrest had all
the makings of a
TRP-generating potboiler
Getty Images
OU could call it a TRP and readership-driven news blackout. For days on end after Indrani Mukerjeas sensational
arrest on August 25 for the alleged murder of her sister,
Sheena Bora (later revealed to be her daughter), the media
has been on an overdrive. Undoubtedly, the drama that unfolded in Mumbai had a formidable Page 3 star cast. Indrani
was the second wife of former Star TV CEO, Peter Mukerjea. Not only were the
star couple part of the swish party circuit of Delhi and Mumbai but were in the
news in 2007 when they launched the high-profile INX Media Network with Indrani
as the CEO. The couple later exited INX after it ran up huge losses in 2009. The
glamorous Indrani, to use a popular description

then, was as much a media tycoon as her celebrated husband.
It needs no elaboration that a multi-layered
murder mystery that involves the rich and famous
holds tremendous public interest. But the coverage that was unleashed, raises a pertinent questionshould one murder case have been given
such undue focus that it virtually eclipsed for
days togetherall other news? And was the
media allowing itself to be consumed completely
by one story? Was it inventing new angles, drawing its own conclusions and labeling Indrani as
an evil murderer, a bad mother and using words
like debauched without any proof?
STORIES BYPASSED
It was not as if news of the murder surfaced in a
silly season where there was a dearth of stories.
The violent Patel community agitation in Gujarat
calling for reservation and its immediate ramification on Bihar waiting to go to the polls was an
issue that needed to be urgently addressed at
length by the media. There was also the longterm national impact on caste and Mandal politics that could well be the fallout of the Hardik
Patel-led flare-up. And what about Modis muchtouted Gujarat model of a peaceful and orderly
state? This was by any stretch a news development that needed top priority but it was bypassed
for a murder mystery.
On August 24, a day before Indranis arrest,
the Sensex tanked 1,642 points as a ripple effect
of the Chinese stock market crash. The impact on
the Indian and world economy was perceptible
even ten days after the fall. However, once the
murder came to light, the state of the economy
was edged out of the primary focus, at least in
mainstream papers and news channels. So too
was infiltration from across the border, rising
onion prices and the ongoing One Rank One
Pension agitation by the armed forces veterans.
Journalists of the old school would have found

the media coverage of the Sheena Bora case flawed
on various basic counts. The press was moving
heaven and earth to keep the coverage going. In
doing so, it resorted to reporting half-truths, untruths and speculation. It interviewed anyone who
knew the Mukerjeas professionally and socially.
In fact, once reporters began tapping into Indranis family in Assam, there was no end to the
living and dead skeletons tumbling out from her
cupboardex-husband and live-in companion
who claimed he fathered Sheena and her brother
Mikhail, Sheenas acquaintances and classmates in
school and college. All were tracked down by TV
cameras. The fact that Sheena was in a relationship with Rahul, Peters son from an earlier marriage, added a new twist that had to
be explored. Theories galore, some
conveniently manufactured in
the newsrooms by armchair
detectives, were paraded
IN THE EYE OF A STORM

(Above) Sheena Bora in
happier times
(Below) The Hardik Patel
stir, on the controversial
subject of reservations,
was shifted to the
back-burner
VIEWS ON NEWS
August 22, 2015 13
Lede Indrani Case

Media Role
Waiting for a story to unfold, for you

to be sure of facts and fairness, is now
passe.It is because our audiences,
the paying "janata" as Bollywood calls
them, are not complaining.
Shekhar Gupta
as news. Had journalists forgotten the basic ethics

of their profession?
WHAT IS IMPORTANT ?
(Below) The One Rank One
Pension (OROP) agitation
was relegated to the
background due to the
Indrani story
MILKING THE STORY

Manika Raikwar Ahirwal, editor (Integration)
with NDTV, has blogged about many in her channel who wondered why full capital was not being
squeezed out of a sensational story. Manika was
among those who were quick to point out to colleagues that though it was sensational, the case
should not be the only story we covered. Though
she claims her view prevailed, it surprised many.
In a newsroom full of television sets beaming
every movement of the Mukerjeas and anyone remotely connected to them, many wired youngsters
on the desk simply couldnt fathom why, like many
others, we didn't spend every second of every
minute devoted to it, she observed.
A commissioning editor of another channel

contacted by Views On News admitted there was
no question of giving any other news priority
when orders from the top were to leverage more
and more from the Sheena murder saga. It was a
mad race for TRPs, he said.
Indeed, it was this mad race which pushed the
media to explore every angle possible. Even the
Jab They Met moment when Peter was first introduced to Indrani was recalled by the loquacious Suhel Seth for the benefit of TV viewers and
in an exclusive column to The Telegraph, Calcutta. It was at the Library
Bar of the President Hotel that Seth
was ensconced with friendsincluding the late Murli Deoraon that fateful evening when ad guru Alyque
Padamsee walked in with the glamorous Indrani. Peter was floored. Three
months later, he announced his wedding to Indrani.
This critical input and other insights into Indranis character (She
didnt look like someone capable of
killing her daughter.) were offered by
those who knew her. From Vir Sanghvi
we learnt that the lady had talked
about a troubled childhood and that
she was molested by her step-father. There was

even a suggestion in some channels and social
media that Sheena was perhaps born of a forced
incestuous encounter with her father/step-father.
This was later refuted but it dragged Indranis 80year-old father into the sordid story.
COMPLICATED AFFAIR
With so many falsities and kite-flying, not only did
the basic facts (Sheenas body had yet to be identified and no motive was found for the murder in
2012) get obscured but whodunit conclusions were
dished out every evening at prime time and in
newspapers, adding to the confusion. The coverage soon reached a point where any intelligent
reader/viewer would have simply given up. The
story twisted and re-twisted by the media became
too complicated to keep track of.
Unable to keep the story moving forward, TV
anchors resorted to dishing out banalities with as
much authority as they could. However, there was
a false ring to it. Sample this: Someone must certainly be lying; There is a murdered body or the
remains of itwe presume it is Sheenasif Indrani did not commit the crime, someone else
must have; and The truth has to surface sometime. It will be our endeavor to hasten that
process. Then, there was the loaded question to
Peter Mukerjea by Arnab Goswami on Times Now:
Do you believe your wife is the murderer? The
answer was an exclusive: Certainly not, at this
point I find it impossible to believe that. She certainly never indicated to me that shes got some
kind of a murderers instinct in her character.
So why was the media so obsessed by one
story? The simplistic explanation being given is
that it was only delivering what readers and viewers wanted. Senior journalist Shekhar Gupta
summed it up in his column: Waiting for a story
to unfold, for you to be sure of facts and fairness,
is now passe. But that isn't because journalism has
now moved away from old-fashioned values by itself. It is because our audiences, the paying janata
as Bollywood calls them, are not complaining.

Our hypocrisy is not just matched by our audiencesit is, in fact, a response to it.
But can wanton sensationalism to attract eyeballs justify the blacking out of news or low priority being given to important news events? If
newspapers and TV channels are seen as just another product like, say toothpaste, this level of
reasoning is perhaps applicable. But media owners as well as editors also happen to don the mantle of responsible journalism when they find it
convenient. But they were obviously wearing their
marketing bi-focal once the Indrani virus took
over. There was nothing level-headed or balanced
about the news coverage for days together.
This is not to say that the murder mystery
should have been ignored. It couldnt have been
since there was bound to be interest in it given the
people involved. But to bombard the readers and
viewers with fuddled theories and half-baked allegations amounted to disseminating misinformation. When you have no story to tell, you
should have the courage to stand up and quietly
admit it. Fake news is, after all, not Breaking
News. In fact, it is not news in any sense of
the word.
ECLIPSED
(Above) On August 24,
a day before Indranis
arrest, the Sensex
tanked 1,642 points,
but was edged out of
primary focus
VIEWS ON NEWS
Lede Indrani Case

Medias role
Playing Judge
and Jury
Even as the Indrani Mukerjea murder case is being probed,
a dangerous trial by the media is on. And those wanting
their two minutes of fame are seen shamelessly
casting aspirations on her
BY BIKRAM VOHRA
Heinrich Heine wrote:Where they burn
books, they will also
ultimately burn people.
LOSE on the heels of that truism is

another: if we lose touch with due
process and do not assume innocence till guilt is proven, we are
doomed to injustice. And so on this canvas, lets
take the horror of the Mukerjea murder case
and the death of a young girl called Sheena Bora.

Let the killers be brought to court and punished
with full severity. I am all for that. The young girl
deserves justice in full measure.
But till the evidence is in, there has to be some
sanctity accorded to the constitutional right of
every Indian to be protected by the law from vigilantism and self-propulsion of the public. The
lack of procedure and ethics that marks the investigative process is breathtaking.
While former friends and colleagues are rushing like lemmings off the cliff of basic decency
and breaking confidences on multiple TV channels in what is a travesty of Indian upper class society (using the word class loosely) and the
dubious adhesive that binds it, they can be pardoned for sheer bad manners and rancid narcissism. Clearly, the fact that they are only interested
in projecting themselves and the subjectbe it
cabbages, kings or carnageis purely incidental
in this desperate need to be seen on the screen.
he same cannot be said for professionals.

They do not have the luxury of concealing their spite. I watch with slack-jawed
admiration as a psychiatrist cheerfully comes on
a TV talk show and shares memories of the accused, Indrani Mukerjea. She then proceeds to
tell the world that Indrani wanted a false medical
certificate but does not explain why she maintained her silence on a possible fraud or is breaking patient-doctor confidentiality without the
slightest tremor in her conscience.
On other channels we have a senior policeman, a senior lawyerall of them offering opin-
ions without a thread of evidence to back them.

A witness springs up after three years of silence
in Raigad. Was he also not a witness three years
ago when the grisly act went down? What
prompted him to suddenly make a clean breast
of things?
In the interim, the brother of the murdered
girl, Mikhail, announces that he was also drugged
in a hotel room by Mumsy and managed to escape. He then concluded in a burst of incandescent brilliance that since Mum had tried to kill
him once, she would not do it again so why bother
telling the cops that his drink was spiked. Cool.
The same brother sits between two police officials on an Indigo flight and they allow him to
be interviewed by a TV channel. Either he is in
custody, in which case, he should be disallowed from speaking to the media or he
is a free man, in which case, he should
not be bookended by two cops on a
public flight. And did it not strike
Indigo that interviewing someone
in a murder trial on a flight is an
imposition on other passengers
who may exercise their right
ADVANTAGE INDRANI?
(Bottom) The hype
created by TV chanels is
not only unwarranted but
needless and can be
used by the defense
counsel during court trial
VIEWS ON NEWS
Lede Indrani Case

Medias role
HUMOR IN
DIFFERENT HUES
(Clockwise from above)
The Fevicol, Greenply
and Mentos ads
MEDIA TRIAL?
(Above from left)
Indrani Mukerjea at
the Bandra
metropolitan
magistrates court in
Mumbai; Peter
Mukerjea, former CEO
of Star India and
Indranis husband, at
the Khar police station
in Mumbai
to say, hello, this is not part of the deal.

As Alice would say, it gets curiouser and curiouser. Though she might not add that the common
factor in all this is the magic of media, something
she did not have at her disposal when she went
down the rabbit hole.
ets examine how the media has so

thwarted the investigation and piedpipered even the investigation representatives into its visual trap. Come on TV and say your
piece and if it messes things up, the devil take the
hind leg.
The leader of the pack, Arnab Goswami, labels
Indrani an evil woman. He stresses this trait several times. Based on what? Her arrest? The fact
The media has so thwarted the probe and

pied-pipered even the investigation
representatives into its visual trap. Come
on TV and say your piece and if it messes
things up, the devil take the hind leg.
that she is a suspect? His clones on other channels

follow him with gusto. Since there is no use of the
escape hatch tag alleged, they are technically
open to charges of libel.
Even Peter Mukerjea, a TV man himself, is
not immune to the blandishments of the small
screen. He gives an interview to Goswami a day
after his wife is arrested, not for jaywalking but
for murder. Who in his right mind would elect to
get browbeaten by this TV anchor, knowing he
would go for the jugular?
If you have watched these shows once, would
you see them as your saviors in times of trouble?
Yet, Mukerjea himself a media moghul, happily
opens his doors but refuses to be video-taped. Because he isnt good-looking. Say what?
Incessantly, for the past several days, all Indian
news channels and their pigeons-in-the-hole
debates have concentrated on this murder. For

the lawyer who finally takes Indrani as his client,
all this is super stuff and forms a concrete basis for
declaring a mistrial on grounds of extreme prejudice and the fact that she will not get a fair trial because the press has already indicted her. What can
be more laughable than a suitcase found in Peters
garage that has been lying there to accommodate
Mikhails body when he is finally murdered. The
other suitcase was allegedly used for the sister. Five
days after the arrest, the incriminating suitcase is
still in the garage!
t present, there is no forensic evidence to

link Indrani to the murder. So, for all intents and purposes, she is innocent despite her accusers now crawling out of the woodwork. Legally, all the statements and character references are in the public domain and they can be
used as admissible proof of that prejudice. The
psychiatrist, the celebrities who are shooting off
Arnab Goswami labels Indrani an evil

woman. Based on what? His clones on
other channels follow him. Since there is
no use of the escape hatch tag alleged,
they are open to charges of libel.
their mouths, the supercop, the lawyer and the
editor of a website who purports to recall her conversation with Indrani, can all be summoned as
material witnesses in the case.
This is not a chat show. All these people have
to explain why they were silent on any aspect of
the life of Indrani Mukerjea for up to a decade
and that makes them accessories before the fact.
Any smart lawyer will easily eat them for breakfast. Where the oddities in the conduct of the
dramatis personae is almost laughable, the issue
here is singular.
Can medias lure derail cases or change their
tack? The element of pre-emption is so dangerous
that our individual bias and prejudice dictates
what we say.
FODDER FOR MEDIA

(Below left to right)
Sanjeev Khanna,
Indrani's ex-husband;
Shyamvar Rai,
Indranis driver
VIEWS ON NEWS
Lede Indrani Case

Medias role
secure, mentally unstable and not responsible for

her actions, including committing murder. Immediately, the charge can be pleaded down from
Murder One to manslaughter by way of temporary insanity.
He may not win it, but the plea bargaining
now has basis. You dont need to be a lawyer. Any
reasonably smart person could debunk the deceit,
absurdities and inconsistencies in the stories of
the individuals involved and run with it.
FEEDING THE PRESS

(Right) Indrani's son
Mikhail Bora
(Below right) Vir
Sanghvis comments
were distasteful as
he breached
a confidence
How do the
channels
know that
Indrani is not
co-operating?
That the
former
husband
confessed he
was sleeping
in the car
while the
girl was
murdered?
Take for example well-known writer Vir

Sanghvis statement made on television that Indrani Mukerjea confided in him that she was raped
by her stepfather and suffers from the shock waves
even to this day. To many folks, Virs comments
may be seen as gratuitous and distasteful because
he breaches a confidence. But wittingly or otherwise, Vir has provided the foundation for a defense
that is vigorous and valid. A good lawyer, once he
is factored in the Sanghvi statement and brought a
platoon of psychiatrists into the fray, including the
TV lady, will show Indrani is a victim of PTSD, in-
hen, some other good friend will appear

with another sob story about the agonies
she suffered and the goblins that ran
around inside her mind. This muddying of the
waters is further made opaque by the ridiculous
ease with which updates are given to the public
like feeding biscuits to dogs. Bit by tasty bit. How
do the channels know that Indrani is not co-operating? That the former husband confessed he
was sleeping in the car while the girl was murdered? The police have found the car. That Peter
went to the police officers mess to meet some
senior officer? We even know Indrani and her
former husband are squabbling. This flow of legal
lava will continue over the days and the nation
will be force-fed with interpretations from gushing reporters.
Who tells the media all these details almost in
real time? We are told they are on their way to
Raigad or Mumbai or Delhi or whatever. By the
time this case goes to trial, the evidence will be so
knotted, the link between the murder and the
murderers made tenuous by time and the scene
so contaminated for forensics that Indrani Mukerjea will stand a fair chance of dodging a legal
bullet currently going straight towards her.
And there, Watson, lies the rub. Should media
be allowed to second guess the law? Your call, because public opinion has been formed even before
the curtain rises on the legal aspect.
After all, if the killer gets away, be it on the
head of the Fourth Estate.
Lede Indrani Case

Media Role
Inside the
Newsroom
Views on News visited TV channels to
get a feel of the frenzy that engulfed
them as the Indrani story broke
BY SHANTANU GUHA RAY
UT to visuals, I do not care,

screamed the executive producer on
duty, his voice booming across the
glass-paneled newsroom of one of
Indias top channels. A rival channel
had just reported that Indrani Mukerjea, wife of former
Star TV and NewsX group of channels head, Peter
Mukerjea, had been arrested on charges of murdering her
sister. The race must start.
But can we confirm first; thats a rival channel, asked
a producer. Just do it, thundered the executive producer.
By then, all channels had the same news as Breaking.
The poor librarian hid in the toilet; he was called
for the first time in his life by the channel CEO, asking
for Indranis images. Better be quick, he barked. The
librarian messed up the first lot, offering images of a
model. He nearly lost his job. An intern salvaged the
channels pride by offering some from Indranis Facebook
page, else they had to be copied from rival channels.
Hold it, there still is no story. It is 40 minutes into
breaking news. No piece to camera, no phone-ins from
the home of the Mukerjeas.
Is this the death of the reporter then? Perhaps yes.
SHEER MADNESS
The channels by then had gone into an overdrive. The
market leader had a distinct advantage as it was based in
Mumbai; the rest had to rush reporters there. The same
madness, for the first time, gripped channels in Kolkata
and Assam too. They were now part of national pride.
The same visuals, same commentarymostly halfbakedsame cops and accused continued to be on the
screen for long hours. By then, Sheena had turned from
sister to daughter, a brother had emerged, a former husband had confessed to the crime and the live-in partner
was discovered with his face covered.
Everything must be on air, everything, argued TV
producers across India. This is Indian news channels acid
test, the reporters were reminded. We are living inside a
pressure cooker, confided one.
Crude judgments followed, extrapolated from what
was essentially raw footage, everyone had an opinion
about good mothers and bad mothers and why men
should not fall for female fatale. It was Neetas Natter
on tube.
Siddhartha Das, Indranis former live-in partner, also
emerged after a news portal said he had escaped to
Bangladesh. He was actually in a fish market in Kolkata
someone tweeted: Ki farak painda, Kolkata ya
Bangladesh.
Following Siddhartha was his landlord. He also
seemed to want his two minutes of fame. Worse, the landlord was identified as Siddhartha and remained on air
for over six hours before the error was detected at
21.00 hours.
But the executive producer was least bothered. Dont
worry about it, there is a tinge of Sid in him yaar, he
argued.
Anything connecting to Indrani would do. After all,
this was a TRP game, news could take a backseat.
VIEWS ON NEWS
Lede Media Monitoring

TMM Survey
HOW MUCH COVERAGE DID THE INDRANI

STORY HOG ON TV CHANNELS BETWEEN
AUGUST 26 TO AUGUST 30, 2015
IN A TOTAL OF 60 HOURS?
This is based on a survey done by The Media Monitor

(TMM) among six channelsTimes Now, India Today, ABP,
AAJ Tak, India TV and Zee News
By VON Team
22 VIEWS ON NEWS
September
No of Special Programs on Indrani Case

(between Aug 26 and Aug 30, 2015)
40
37
35
30
25
15
10
10
0
0
Times India
Now Today
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
20
20
ABP
3
AAJ
TAK
INDIA
TV
ZEE
NEWS
No of Debates on Indrani Case

18
3
0
Times India
Now Today
ABP
AAJ
TAK
4
0
INDIA
TV
ZEE
NEWS
Percentage of News on Indrani (out of total)

35.10%
46.60%
25%
35%
31.60%
20%
Was There No
Other News?
Times Now
India Today
ABP
Aaj Tak
India TV
Zee News
HE Indrani Mukerjea case has riveted the nation for the past one
week, with every day throwing up
new theories and counter-theories, lies and
half-truths and new characters crawling out
of the woodwork. While the case has all the
spicemurder, sex, lies, celebritiesto interest any viewer, the fact is that the story of
the crumbling lives of Peter Mukerjea, former Star TV India CEO, and his high-profile wife, Indrani, a former HR consultant,
carried on for too long at the cost of other
important national news.
This story was about Indrani being arrested by the Mumbai police for the alleged
murder of Sheena Bora, her daughter, whom
she claimed was her sister. Other participants in this grisly story were Indranis former live-in partner, Siddhartha Das, who
claimed that he was Sheena and her brother
Mikhails father; Sanjeev Khanna, Indranis
first husband from whom she had a daughter, Vidhie; Peters son, Rahul; and Indranis
former driver who is believed to have helped
in disposing off Sheenas body in Raigad.
While this was, no doubt, a gripping and
horrific story, did it warrant maximum coverage on the part of news channels, each of
which claimed to have breaking news?
Being national news channels, did they not
think it important to cover issues erupting
in other parts of the country, be it Bihar
politics, Hardik Patel angst, floods in Assam
or the Telengana crisis?
A survey conducted by TMM among six
national news channelsTimes Now, India
Today, ABP, AAJ Tak, India TV and Zee
Newsshowed how much time each gave to
the Indrani case in terms of the number of
special programs, number of debates and
percentage of total news between August 26
and August 30, 2015, from 10am to 10pm,
making it a total of 60 hours.
Coming to the number of special programs, Zee News led the pack with 37, folVIEWS ON NEWS September
23
Lede Media Monitoring

TMM Survey
lowed by Aaj Tak with 20 and Times

Now with 10.
In the number of debates devoted to
the Indrani case, Times Now led with
18, followed by Aaj Tak and Zee News,
both with four. Times Now debates were
mainly focused on Newshour, hosted by
Arnab Goswami. On the other hand,
Aaj Tak and Zee News conducted their
prime time debate shows, Halla Bol and
Taal Thok K, respectively, with Anjana
Om Kashyap and Rohit Sardana, under
the following titles:
Aaj TakOne murder how many mysteries
Aaj TakTruth will be revealed out?
Zee NewsTehkikaat
In terms of the percentage of news
devoted to the Indrani case out of their
total news during this time (August 2630), Times Now again led with 46.6 percent, followed by Zee News with 35.1
percent and then, India Today with
35 percent.
Ironically, though India Today had
no special programs or debates on the
Indrani case, it devoted 35 percent
news coverage to this case. This probably means that it was just focusing on
the actual news rather than indulging
in speculations and contentious and
needless debates.
Sadly, in the pursuit of the Indrani
case, national news channels dropped
many other important news stories.
These included:
Another Nirbhaya case in Assam,
where a 13-year-old was brutally raped
in a bus. This was highlighted in a regional newspaper, Sikkim Express, on
August 27, 2015.
Three officials suspended over a 10day-old babys death allegedly after
being bitten by rats in Andhra Pradesh
on August 27, 2015.
Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Naved produced in court.
Reservation issue of Patels in Gujarat.
Blast in Manipur killing eight.
24 VIEWS ON NEWS
September
Whats A National News Channel?
ET us now turn our attention to

what is the meaning of a national
news channel. Are these supposed to
be channels which cover news from the
length and breadth of the country? Are
they channels which, therefore, give equal
importance to all regions of India?
Contrary to the popular notion, most
national news channels are seen as northern centric, and as expected, the NorthEast is a blind spot for them with little
attention being paid to this vital region.
Most dont lay much importance on the intelligence of the audience and this is especially true for Hindi news channels. Many
telecast shows based on TV serials where
they titillate viewers and give gossip about
and see which regions they gave importance to. Out of a total of 154 news segments, India Today had 79 on the Northern
Region, followed by 33 on Western and 30
on Southern Region.
Out of a total of 203 news segments from
Aaj Tak, 135 were on the Northern Region,
followed by Eastern (47) and Western (21).
Times Now had 89 for Northern Region,
36 for Western and 27 for Eastern Region,
out of a total of 178 news segments.
India TV had 121 news segments on the
Northern Region out of a total of 203, followed by Western and Eastern Regions at
No of News Segments on Different Regions

300
9
15
9
250
200
150
2
7
17
136
30
100
89
50
36
27
TIMES
NOW
135
79
51
21
33
11
INDIA
TODAY
4
8
9
54
47
AAJ
TAK
ABP
the actors of serials. Many have Tarot card

readers and astrologers telling people
about their future and babas who claim to
rid them of all their difficulties. The focus
is on sensationalism, irrespective of the
merit of the issue.
A survey done by TMM between August 17 and 28, 2015, shows that most
channels concentrated on the Northern
Region of India in terms of their total
news segments. This includes debates,
special programs and general bulletin.
Lets take each individual news channel
3
5
6
48
22
9
NDTV
121
Northeast
Central
South
North
West
East
39
22
INDIA
TV
39 and 22, respectively.

ABP News had Northern Region (136),
Eastern (54) and Western (51), out of a
total of 274 news segments.
NDTV News had 48 for North India, 22
for West India and nine for East India out
of a total of 93 news segments.
It is obvious, therefore, that these national news channels, most in NCR, have
a limited vision and are missing out on big
news elsewhere.
Anchor Review
Indrani Case
HOOTING &
SCREECHING
OVER INDRANI
Anchors of most channels devoted an inordinate amount of time to this case
with differing decibel levels of excitement
BY BHAVDEEP KANG
INDRANI Mukerjeas salacious saga of lust

and violence titillated TV anchors as well
as audiences this fortnight. The coverage
was handled with differing decibel levels of
excitement, with Times Now hoot and
screech above the rest. Erstwhile buddies of the power couple, Peter and Indrani, blossomed on TV screens to muddy
the already murky waters.
Arnab Goswami slammed the Mumbai police and its
commissioner for failing to answer The Burning Questionestablishing a motive. Little flames emanated from
the bottom of the screen and the words The Burning
Question leapt out at viewers, just in case they missed the
point. His guests varied from five to an astonishing nine at
one go, comprising academics, lawyers, former cops, Page
3 divas, film industry have-beens and a random collection
of those who knew Peter. His questioning of Mukerjea
a coup for Times Nowwas surprisingly gentle. Peter, a far
cry from the suave, mustachioed high-flyer with the engaging grin, stuck to his story: He hadnt known.
India Todays Rahul Kanwal quivered like a sensitive
beagle in his semi-formals as he informed viewers of the
high drama attending the saga. Where is Siddartha
Das? he demanded and when that worthy surfaced a couple of days later, questioned him with an endearingly soft
touch. Pacing up and down, flapping his arms, he actually
managed to elicit more information from dada than the
very correct Rahul Shivshankar of NewsX, who played

hardball with Mr Das. He also scored with his interview
of NewsXs former chief Vir Sanghvi, who revealed Indranis confidences about sexual abuse in her childhood.
His colleague, Gaurav Sawant, was even more excited
with Virs interview, sinking into a semi-crouch as he
shared the astounding revelations with viewers. As for
Rajdeep Sardesai, he brought the same intensity to the
case as he does to matters of national security or cricket.
Rajat Sharma blinked his way furiously through
slightly off-the-mark coverage, devoting virtually an entire episode to the theory that Siddartha Das was, in fact,
dead. Even his family does not know where he has been
for 10 years, he stated gravely. Das brother, he added,
was in great tension as he hadnt been able to contact
him for a decade. Das, he hinted, had been done away
with because he knew where all the bodies were buried
(metaphorically speaking). That was on August 31. The
next day, Das surfaced, with interviews to other channels.
Rajat had by then moved on to Bihar and a less shiny tie.
Taking time off from Indrani, anchors devoted some
time to other issues: cricket, OROP, the trade union
strike, Bihar elections and Rani Mukherjees pregnancy.
The winner of the week was Aaj Taks So Sorry, featuring
Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar-as-Amitabh
Bachchan, spurning his offer of moneyuntil he sees the
size of the cheque.
VIEWS ON NEWS
Small Screen
Study on Digitization
How the
Dish Blew
Away the
Antenna
Photos: Anil Shakya
With the DTH revolution sweeping India and the increasing emphasis on
entertainment, what does it mean for Doordarshan which is losing viewers?
BY RAMESH MENON
EMEMBER the days when we

used to see antennas of all
shapes and sizes jutting out of
balconies and rooftop terraces? How many do you see
today? Technology has brought in directto-home (DTH) telecast, driving out terrestrial
broadcasting.
This is not just in urban India, but more so in
rural India. Increasingly, new TV households are
moving straight to DTH. The only exception is
Andhra Pradesh, where cable still dominates.
These dramatic changes have happened in the
last few years, when digitization has changed the
way the poor access television today.
A study done in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat and Odisha by The Media
Foundation and supported by the Ford Foundation between June 2012 and July 2014, shows that
a majority of households prefer to pay for DTH
rather than take the free dish given by Doordarshan as they want the freedom to choose the content of their choice. The Study is titled When the
Dish Knocked Down the Antenna: Impact of TV
Digitization on Low Income Viewers and Public
Broadcasting.
Interestingly, in 1962, there were just 41
households with TV sets. But by 2013, this
exploded to 167 million, showing the immense
potential in this market. Of these, 76 percent had
ADVANTAGE INDRANI?
(Top) The hype created by
TV chanels was not only
unwarranted but details
exposed could offer her
an advantage once she
faces trial in court
color TVs. In 1993, 12 million rural households

had TV, which climbed in 2013 to 89.6 million.
In contrast, in 1993, 28 million urban households
had television and this climbed in 2013 to 77.7
million. This shows that rural India had overtaken urban India in TV ownership.
ATTRACTIVE CONTENT
Interestingly, it is content that is driving the
choice of technology. If viewers are migrating
from the terrestrial broadcasting system (antennas) to DTH, it is mainly because of content as it
offers them a wide variety of choicesserials,
films, childrens shows, sports, devotional programs, news and current affairsthat are more
attractively produced. They also want the freedom to choose what to view at any point of time.
DD Direct may be free, but viewers do not care as
they want better programs.
The study showed that between 2006 and
2013, DTH connectivity had grown in rural areas

from 6 percent to 29 percent, while terrestrial connectivity in these areas had declined from 64 percent to 27 percent. From 2006-07, there were
36,27,000 homes that had DTH connections. In
2012-13, it had increased to 2,61,75,000 homes!
However, Prasar Bharati continues to allocate
a substantial part of its budget to maintain its terrestrial network of 1,400 transmitters. Many of its
senior executives feel that Prasar Bharati has a role
to play in terms of education and sensitizing the
population about real issues like health and
empowerment.
This is in spite of the fact that today, the
growth of television access in rural India is riding
on the digital revolution. They strongly feel that it
must not get swayed by the fact that private channels have stolen a march by moving to DTH as
they are focusing on catching eyeballs by whipping up entertainment content.
RURAL LEAP
(Above) In 2013, there were
89.6 million households
with TV in rural India, much
more than the 77.7 million
urban households
VIEWS ON NEWS
Small Screen
We have great talent in

DD, but we need to
give them the
opportunity to do
creative work and not
put them through
bureaucratic tangles.
SY Quraishi, former
D-G, Doordarshan
Path-breaking
programs like
encouraging pregnant
women to consume
iron tablets changed
the health scenario.
PK Srivastava, head
of programming,
DD Kendra, Raipur
New TV households are increasingly bypassing

the public service broadcaster, preferring private
channels through cable and DTH. The DTH market has grown, especially because players are offering concessional introductory services with the
purchase of TV sets. So, while Airtel has collaborated with Sony, Tata Sky is given with Samsung
and Videocon is piggybacking on its own low-cost
TV sets, making its DTH services popular among
low-income groups.
The study found many interesting nuggets of
behavior. Villagers told researchers that they liked
the fact that DTH was not free, as during school
examinations, they would just not recharge it as
they did not want their children to be distracted.
Another surprise was the increasing popularity of
Discovery, Animal Planet and National Geographic,
which followed popular entertainment channels
from the Star and Zee stables.
The biggest earning

comes from agriculture
programs and not
entertainment. There
is an audience for
development programs.
Rupa Mehta, assistant
director, Programs,
DD Girnar
POVERTY BARRIER
As far as barriers to television watching are considered, the study found that poverty was one of
the reasons why many could not afford even a TV
set. Other reasons included frequent power failures and scheduling of programs at wrong times
when they would be busy working in the fields.
Other findings were that content on DTH
platforms was often not ideal for family viewing
as it was titillating and embarrassing to sit with
children and watch. Many respondents complained that the remote was monopolized by their
children and so, they had no choice but to watch
what the kids wanted.
The study found that digitization had made
watching TV less affordable for the urban poor.
When the cable operator was around, the poor
said they often could bargain and plead with him
for discounts or for delayed payment. With DTH,
The Punjabi music

programs of the
kendra are highly
popular, though not
Punjabi serials.
Dr Om Gouri Dutt
Sharma, deputy
Director-General of
DD Kendra, Jalandar
there is nothing like delayed credit payments.
Though DTH brought in more choices as far as
channels go, low income viewers said they had
substantial, unmet information needs that could
have improved their lives. For example, many
wanted programs on employment opportunities,
youngsters wanted those on communication skills
and development of skills that would help them
find work and so on. There was also a demand in
rural areas for health programs as consciousness
about being healthy increased.
LOCAL CONTENT
However, there were technological barriers to information programming. One of the key findings
of the study showed that local content was preferred, but it was not available on the technology
platform that viewers were now opting for. For
example, Doordarshan did not have the local lan-
Some DD programs
effectively combine
entertainment and
education.
Sona Sharma,
Advocacy and
Communication,
Population
Foundation of India
It would be worthwhile
to reach out to the
7 million households
in India in remote
places that have no
access to television.
Arti Jaiman, station
director, Gurgaon
ki Awaz
guage or localized programming on these platforms as it was available only as terrestrial signals.
Ironically, even the DTH platform of Doordarshan does not carry programming from its narrowcasting kendras or in local languages like
Kutchi in Gujarat or Halbi in Chhattisgarh.
Unfortunately, people often miss out on
Doordarshans programs due to the shift to cable
or DTH. For example, the staff in Chhattisgarh
often came up with wonderful stories and programs from the deep interiors, including Naxalite-infested areas. But these are hardly seen as
most viewers in the state have cable or DTH.
The study showed how Indias public broadcaster has been caught in a mesh where content
and demand are mismatched. DD executives told
VON that there was pressure to raise funds. This
was the principle reason why it was creating
entertainment content, ignoring key areas like
VIEWS ON NEWS
Small Screen
development, health, agriculture and regional

news. Ostensibly, this was the original raison dtre
of the public broadcaster in the first place. The survey found that viewers got their entertainment
needs from DTH telecasts and expected DD to
meet their other needs like having programs on
agriculture, health, education and the like.
ROOTING FOR ENTERTAINMENT
When Doordarshan did a month-long content
mapping of programming in 2012, it found that
there was a clear mismatch between the content
segments provided and the content for which there
was a demand. It found that on all four 24-hour
DD channels, entertainment ruled the roost. On
DD National, it was 51.25 percent, even though
Olympics was on when the research was con-
There is no substitute
for good writers and
they should be roped
in by DD to script
programs. They would
be willing to work
for DD.
Mrinal Pande,
senior journalist
Viewers also want

information, not just
entertainment. They
want programs on
health, agriculture,
employment and
careers too.
Sevanti Ninan,
The Hoot
ducted. The content mapping of DD National was

performed from August 1 to August 31, 2012, and
18 hours of programming daily was monitored.
Dr Om Gouri Dutt Sharma, deputy directorgeneral of Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandar, told
VON: We run Punjabi music as it is very popular.
Feedback has shown that. However, Punjabi serials are not so popular.
The situation differs from state to state. In Gujarat, Rupa Mehta, assistant director, Programs,
DD Girnar, said that their biggest earning came
from agriculture programs and not entertainment. Development programs, she said, could
catch attention if they were well produced and
DD Girnar was a good example of that.
Sona Sharma, additional director, Advocacy
and Communication, Population Foundation of
India, said: The drama series on DD National,
Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon, was an excellent
example of how entertainment and education
could be effectively combined. It was about a
Mumbai doctor who went back to her village to
work. It dealt with serious topics like womens
empowerment, family planning, child marriage
and sex selection in an entertaining and interesting way. It elicited six lakh calls from viewers during its 52 episodes.
CONTENT IS KING
SY Quraishi, former D-G of Doordarshan, said:
What matters ultimately is content. Jasoos Vijay
was a popular interactive detective serial that had
subtly weaved in the message of HIV-AIDS. It
was later funded by NACO. We have great talent
in DD, but we need to give them the opportunity
to do creative work and not put them through bureaucratic tangles.
Senior journalist Mrinal Pande says that there
is no substitute for good writers and they should
be roped in by Doordarshan to script programs.
Good content creators would be willing to work
with the public broadcaster, she stressed.
PK Srivastava, head of programming,
Share of entertainment in
DD National programs
Share of program categories in

DD National
60%
60.00%
51.05%
50.00%
40.00%
39.84%
37.88%
Entertainment
Science
Information
Health
Education
Agriculture
51.25%
40%
30.00%
30%
21.46%
20.00%
20%
12%
10.00%
0.00%
50%
Andhra
Odisha
Gujarat
Chhattisgarh National
10%
0.%
0.58%
3.02% 1.88% 3.22% 4.43%
Doordarshan Kendra, Raipur, told VON that some

path-breaking programs were done like encouraging pregnant women to consume iron tablets,
which ultimately changed the health scenario.
Then, there were a series of programs dealing with
how widows were being regularly killed on some
pretext or other. This may not have brought in
revenue, but see the change such programs
brought in Chhattisgarh, he said.
DEARTH OF INFORMATION PROGRAMS
Incidentally, as the antenna disappears with digitization, farm programs are no more seen as it is
available only on terrestrial transmission.
Researchers found that there was an unmet need
among rural viewers for such programs. Farm programming was found to constitute less than eight
percent of the total programming on DD National,
DD Odiya and on Doordarshans Telugu and
Gujarati regional satellite channels.
Media watcher Sevanti Ninan who runs The
Hoot, a website that critically analyses the media,
said: Viewers also want information other than
entertainment. Viewers want programs on health,
agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, employment news, career guidance and how to develop communication skills.
Arti Jaiman, station director, Gurgaon ki Awaz
Community Radio, pointed out that there were
nearly seven million households in India that had
no access to television or news. They were in

remote places but if the government could give
them free dishes, it would be worth it, she said.
A separate study of DD Direct viewers conducted by DDs audience research cell showed that
36 percent wanted entertainment, 20 percent
wanted information, another 20 percent, wanted
news and current affairs and 17.5 percent, programs on education. The most watched channel
was Zee Smile, followed by Aastha, Sanskar and
Star Utsav.
Obviously, there is a lot that DD has to achieve
despite the fact that India today has over 800 TV
channels. With a public broadcaster that has
nearly 33,000 employees, there is a lot of answering it has to do.
HARD DEAL
(Above) Urban households
feel that with DTH,
the scope for bargain
with the cable operator
and delayed credit
payment is gone
VIEWS ON NEWS
Small Screen DD Kisan
Sowing New Seeds
Doordarshan has
broken new ground
with a 24x7 channel
for farmers. And it is
nowhere near the
staid Krishi Darshan as
it is interspersed with
entertainment,
dramas, reality shows
and movies
BY BHAVDEEP KANG
32 VIEWS ON NEWS
AL Muni Devi is a landless daily wage

labourer and mother of nine. In 2011, she
attended a two-hour workshop on mushroom culture in her village near Patna. Inspired, she took a loan of Rs 600 to start
mushroom cultivation in 2011. Today, she
earns ` 60-70,000 a month through fungiculture and owns two
acres of land. And shes trained 30 other women in her village in
mushroom culture.
This was one of the several success stories Doordarshans
three-month-old DD Kisan channel came across while researching content for its program, Baat Rajyon Ki.
E-CONNECT WITH MANDIS

At the same time, using modern technology to access markets appears to be a priority. The channel
Week 32
64.7
70
Week 33
DD Northeast
DD Madhya Pradesh
DD Rajasthan
DD Oriya
DD Lucknow
DD Bihar
DD Urdu
DD Punjabi
DD Sports
DD Bharati
DD Yadagiri
DD Bangla
DD Chandana
DD Sahyadri
DD Podhigai
DD Malyalam
0
DD News
21
14.5
17
8.3
15.5
10.2
11.4
6.5
7.1
6.3
5.1
4.6
4.9
4.3
4.1
3.1
4
1.3
3.6
2.1
1.9
1.2
0.8
11.7
10
DD Kisan
20
17.7
30
27.8
23.9
27.2
33
35.6
31
29.4
40
40.6
45
32.8
50
46.6
60
13.4
SCEPTICAL REACTION
The channels launch was met with scepticism,
with even Prasar Bharati insiders anticipating that
it would be an expanded version of DDs longestrunning and arguably most boring show, Krishi
Darshan. Perhaps with that in mind, channel executives included entertainment segments, notably the mythological drama, Draupadi. Theres
an up-coming reality TV show and movies from
time to time.
Given the big institutional push the channel
has received, its natural to wonder whether it represents the stated policy objectives of a technology
enamoured government or the traditional farming
approaches of the RSS. Channel head and DD
ADG Ranjan Mukherjee sees no contradiction:
Food security and farmer prosperity is the lietmotif... a second Green Revolution, based on
environmental sustainability and improved productivity and the technology to get us there.
The very fact that this is a 24x7 channel for
farmers means there is a leaning towards organic
or low external input farming systems, which are
informationrather than capital-driven. The
focus on animal husbandry as integral to agriculture and indigenous, low-cost technology options
seems to support that contention. As does
Mukherjees assertion that the channels approach
is Gandhian: The farmer is not just a producer
and a consumer. Hes also a craftsmen and an artisan. Were aiming at the Gandhian village, a selfsufficient farming community.
All DD Channels Performance, GVL (Gross Viewership in Lakhs)
DD Girnar
DD Kisan, touted as the worlds only 24x7

farmer-focused channel, was launched on the first
anniversary of NDA II (although it was 1st
mooted during NDA I). It was clearly intended to
showcase the governments commitment to farmers and pulled 21 million viewers in its 33rd week.
Source: Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC)
promotes the National Agriculture Market, which

intends to liberate the farmer from the APMC
(Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee) by
allowing him to e-connect with mandis countrywide. Mandi prices from the Agmarknet and
NCDEX scroll across the bottom of the screen are
occasionally interrupted by weather information
from Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
A tie-up with the 62 central agricultural universities, Kisan Call Centres, Krishi Vigyan
Kendras and institutions like IMD, Indian Council
of Agricultural Research, National Dairy Development Board and Indian Agricultural Research
Institute obviously helps access information
FARMERS FRIEND
(Above) A screen grab of
DD Kisan
(Facing page) Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, I&B Minister of State
Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
and others at the inauguration of
the channel
VIEWS ON NEWS
33
Small Screen DD Kisan
The Kisan channel is intended to showcase

the governments commitment to farmers. It
pulled 21 million viewers in its 33rd week.
It has a tie-up with nearly 62 central
agricultural universities.
NEW REVOLUTION
This channel is
dedicated to farmers
and their welfare
and technology. The channel plans to set up studios at these institutes to broadcast on-site reports
in real time.
The big question is whether the `45-crore
budget allocation for the channel is justified in
terms of viewership. Prima facie, 21 million viewers may seem an impressive figure for a threemonth-old niche channel, but it is impossible to
judge, because it is the only one in its genre. It cannot, for instance, bear comparison with Discovery
or National Geographic, which are far more
general in their programming and command vast
viewership. This was a fact pointed out by the
International Chamber of Media and Entertainment Industry while giving it a special award last
month: This is the only channel of its kind in the
whole world, dedicated to the farmers and their
welfare...serving more than 65 percent of the
Indian population.
RECOGNIZING INNOVATION
As for on-the-ground feedback, 624 kisan moni-
34 VIEWS ON NEWS
Bharat Krishak Samaj president Ajay Jakher

sees the channels potential but feels it would
benefit from a healthy dose of professionalism.
Farming has nothing to do with ideologies, so
they need to stay away from that. A tender system for inviting programs will never work;
theyll have to bring in professionals. And its the
farmers and experts who need to tell DD Kisan
what kind of content is needed, not the other
way round, he said. Currently, most of the programming70 to 75 percentis in-house. The
model followed is that of self-financed commissioned programs, although it intends to invite
sponsored programs in the near future.
Upping its game will be important from the
advertising revenue viewpoint, particularly if
the channel prefers not to give primacy to
multi-national corporations which sell seeds,
fertilizer, pesticides, farm machinery and irrigation equipment to Indian farmers. A marketing strategy which involves targeting
indigenous corporations with sizeable CSR
(corporate social responsibility) funds, PSUs
and domestic farm input manufacturers is being
put in place.
Should the channel prove to be self-sustaining, other Lal Muni Devis might share their stories with the world.
EDIA-GO-ROUND
Big Bs account hacked

BIG B AMITABH Bachchans
Twitter account was reportedly
hacked on August 31. The actor
alleged that the hacker planted
adult sites in the following section of his Twitter account.
Bachchan tweeted: WHOA!... My
Twitter handle hacked! Sex sites
planted following! Whoever did
Sathiyam TV challenges I & B ministry

A TAMIL NEWS channel approached the
Delhi High Court and challenged an order
passed by the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, alleging that two of its broadcasts had shown Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in poor light. The ministry had issued a
show cause notice to Sathiyam TV and on
May 12, had passed an order stating the
news channel had violated provisions of the
Program Code prescribed under the Cable
Television Network (Cable) Act, 1995, and
the Cable Television Networks (Regulations)
Rules. According to Mint, the counsel for
Sathiyam TV argued that the two programs
were based on daily news reports which had
no political leaning. The petition by the news
channel calls the order arbitrary and states

that it had failed to examine the theme and
contexts in which the remarks were made.
The court has issued notice to the
government on the matter and has sought a
reply from it.
Ramayana series fall prey to threats

EMINENT MALAYALAM CRITIC MM Basheer
was forced to discontinue his column on Ramayana in Keralas Mathrubhumi daily due
to repeated abusive calls. Former professor
of Malyalam at the University of Calicut, the
septuagenarian Basheer was writing a sixpart series on Valmiki Ramayana in August

but had to discontinue because of a sustained hate campaign and telephonic threats.
The unknown callers hounded him for writing
on Lord Ram being a Muslim.
According to a report in The Indian Express, the abusive calls started pouring in
after Basheers first column titled Sri
Ramas Anger was published on August 3.
He ended the series after the fifth article as
he couldnt take it anymore. Though no outfit
took responsibility, a right-wing group called
Hanuman Sena put up provocative posters
near the dailys head office in Kozhikode.
this, try someone else, buddy, I

dont need this! Bachchan has
16 million followers on Twitter,
and is very active on
social
media. After the Twitter hack,
Bachchan approached the
Juhu police station to complain
about receiving dirty SMSes
for over a year.
India has
over 350 million
internet users
INDIA HAS ADDED 52 million internet
users in the first six months of this
year, taking the total user base to 352
million as on June 30, 2015, Internet
and Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI) said, according to The Hindu.
Interestingly, 213 million users
accessed the worldwide web through
mobile devices, ie around 60 percent
of the total users. The number of
internet users has grown by over 26
percent from 278 million in October
2014. The number of mobile internet
users has also grown by about 40 per
cent from 159 million users in October
last year. IAMAI added that the consolidated numbers affirm that internet
in India has now become inclusive,
which augurs well for the industry
and society.
VIEWS ON NEWS
Book Excerpt
Journalism: Ethics and Responsibilities
Indian
Media: Just
Another Wall
In baiting and pillorying
China and thwarting
cooperation with India, the
media seems to be more a
player than a fair, objective
and dispassionate observer
and recorder of events and
developments
BY SHASTRI RAMACHANDARAN
HE deficiencies of the Indian media, including indifference to informed and indepth

coveragecombined
with
ignoranceof foreign affairs, especially
the neighbourhood is a matter of concern. This needs to be addressed for Indian media to prevail in
the region as a free, fair, credible and responsible entity that
people, states and civil society can look up to for a resolution
of the issues of poverty, backwardness and various internal and
cross-border conflicts.
Media here means journalism or public service journalism
(although journalism is shrinking as media expands) because
any scrutiny of the media from the viewpoint of public service,
democratic values and the interests of the majorityas opposed to corporates, market drivers, advertisers and
business/commercial operatorsassumes that media is journalism and vice versa. When people say that Media has failed
or Media is exaggerating, they are not referring to the content
of entertainment, sports or religious channels; they mean
media as journalism and journalists, not the IPL icons, the
new-age gurus or film stars. In short, when media is blamed,
the accusing fingers are pointed not at Ramdev or Rakhi
Sawant, but at those in publications and channels

in the business of news and views. Similarly, when
the government or terrorists seek to bend the
media to serve their respective interests, they, too,
mean the news media.
Flawed coverage and failure to be fair
The media may be a mirror, but in mirroring
realities and transmitting news, views, images,
emotions, perceptions, interpretations, opinions
and comments, it is more than witness and purveyor. People depend on the media for information about the world, and this makes the media a
dominant source for shared attitudes, ideologies,
strategies, lifestyles, prejudices and beliefs. It is an
intermediary. Its role and relationship with its
consumers should be seen in the context of what
media does to us, our world, our lives and our
rights as much as that of our neighbours.
Indian medias coverage of the neighbourhood
is seriously flawed. Medias failure to aid, enable
and advance peace and promote cross-national
understanding between peoplesall too evident
in the everyday content of newspapers, television
channels and websitesis worrying.

More than any other neighbour, China brings
out the worst in the Indian media. The reporting
and coverage of China raises disturbing questions
such as: Does our reporting of events in these
countries promote peace or tensions? Why is there
this distance between India and its neighbours?
Why is the Indian media indifferent to reporting
in depth?
I take the case of China to make my point because India is obsessed with it, and not in a good
way. China, the worlds most populous nation and
fastest-growing economy, is a rising power. Only
the US economy is larger than Chinas. Indias
relationship with China is marked by irritants, as
are relationships with many other countries. Yet,
the Indian media is openly hostile to China to a
point where it has lost all objectivity.
The media was

disappointed
that far from a
confrontation
or increased
signs of
hostility what
was visible
was a smiling
Khurshid
gloating
over how well
his visit had
gone....
Player on China and India-China relations

Medias coverage of the India-China stand-off
in Ladakh in April-May 2013, the visit of (then)
Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid in early May
2013 and Premier Li Keqiang choosing India
INTERPRETATION
GONE WRONG
MEA
(Left) The way the Indian

media reported on then
external affairs minister
Salman Khurshids
meeting with Chinese
Premier Li Keqiang in
Beijing showed its
inherent bias
VIEWS ON NEWS
Book Excerpt
Photo Division
LOSING INTEREST
(Above) Prime Minister
Manmohan Singhs
meeting with Premier
Wen Jiabao during his
China visit in 2008,
didnt interest
mediapersons as the
boundary dispute
didnt figure in it
for his first foreign

visit after taking office in the decadal
power shift illustrate
how the media acquitted itself.
The External Publicity Division of the
Ministry of External
Affairs had scheduled Khurshids press
conference on a Saturday afternoon. The
choice of Saturday
(being a weekend)
was unusual but not
rare. It may well be
that the Foreign Minister wanted to meet
the press soon after
his return given the
crisis manufactured by the media based on the
standoff.
The coverage of Khurshids Beijing visit as
much as his press conference was extraordinary
for reporting what was not said and what did not
happen: That Khurshid did not ask them why they
had violated the Line of Actual Control; that the
Chinese did not regret (not even express regret)
or apologise; and, so on. At least one media house
and its print and television representatives were
not interested in what the Minister did or talked
while in China and what responses he elicited
from the Chinese. Khurshid showed this section
that two can play at the game by adding for good
measure that he liked China, liked a lot of what he
saw there and would like to live in Beijing, though
not as External Affairs Minister. The prejudiced
media rose to the bait and the papers report next
day portrayed him as a person (least actuated by
national interest as defined by this newspapers
reporters) who was talking of how he would like
to live in Beijing when China had just pulled back
from a dangerous game of brinkmanship.

What such a section of the media led by the
leader was seeking to drive home was that China
is an enemy; it ought to have been shown its place;
beaten back if necessary; or, at least subjected to a
flexing of our military muscle; that neither the
minister nor the ministry was up to the job of defending national interest; that the MEA cannot
be trusted to do its job because it was covering up
for the Chinese, glossing over their military transgressions and actually being obstructive of the Indian defence forces and standing in the way of
what the Ministry of Defense would like to do.
Much of the media was convinced that: China
was in offensive mode; deliberately aggressive;
bent on provoking a conflict given the military
moves just weeks before Premier Li Keqiangs visit;
the Government of India should show them, give
a befitting response; call off the foreign ministers
visit and force Premier Li to cancel his trip. The
media was screaming for conflict and repeatedly
described the standoff as the worst such confrontation since 1962.
Understandably, this media was disappointed
that far from a confrontation or increased signs of
hostility, what was visible was a smiling Khurshid
gloating over how well his visit had gone and
that the Government of India had not scaled
down expectations from the visit of Premier Li as
expected by the media. All this was grist to the
anti-China industry that thrives in India, especially as manifest in the media.
Obsession with boundary issue
Five years earlier, during the momentous summit
meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and Premier Wen Jiabao, most mediapersons accompanying Singh lost interest in the mission the moment they learned that the boundary
issue was not on the agenda.
Far from looking at what was important about
the visit, why it was important for the two leaders
and their delegations to meet, what were the issues
they dealt with and how it would affect bilateral

relations and reporting on these, most of those assigned to cover the summit kept repeating that the
border issue did not figure in the talks.
The prime ministers centerpiece on this visit
was his address at the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences where he spoke of Asias two rising powers and the promise of growth premised on peace
and cooperation. One media outfit had sent two
representatives, yet neither were present when the
PM delivered this address. During the Ladakh
stand-off, there was no dearth of online comments
dripping with visceral hatred of China, the Chinese and anyone in India who did not hate the
China as much as these nationalist netizens.
What triggered the stand-off is no
longer a secret. More pertinent here is:
Why did the media, now, as on past
occasions, ratchet up tensions with
China? Why is the media pushing for
conflict, if not a military confrontation?
What interests motivate, if not dictate,
such media involvement?
Is the medias aggressiveness a cover
for its ignorance, indifference and
inability to provide fair, accurate, informed and credible coverage?
Media shuts out book on Nehrus stubbornness leading to 1962 War?
One other instance, which would still
make news, happened in December
2010 when AG Nooranis book India-China
Boundary Problem: 1846-1947 History and Diplomacy was released by Vice-President Hamid
Ansari. There appeared only brief, innocuous reports of the function. The conspicuous omission
of any reference to the contents of the book has
given rise to suspicions, which persist to this day.
The book was being released during the week
of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabaos visit to India.
Barring one report in The Sunday Times of India,
the bookwhich asserts on the basis of research

and archival evidence that Nehrus stubbornness
led to Indias 1962 war with Chinahas been denied due coverage and has hardly been debated.
Noorani, an expert on legal and constitutional
issues, known for his study of the boundary issue,
records that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
shut the door to negotiations on the (IndiaChina) boundary on July 1, 1954.
Nehrus refusal to negotiate and the 1960 rebuff to Chou En-lai when he was visiting and
SEEDS OF DISTRUST?
(Top) Did Nehrus
rebuff to Chou En-lai
during his India visit
lead to the 1962 war
(above)?
VIEWS ON NEWS
Book Excerpt
seems to be more a player

than a fair, objective and dispassionate observer and
recorder of events and
developments.
BORDER WORRIES
(Above) residents of
Demchok village in
Ladakh standing
along the LoC during a
face-off with China
JOURNALISM: ETHICS AND

RESPONSIBILITIES
Edited by Seema Mustafa
Har-Anand Books
`595, 168 pages
appeared ready to settle the issuemay well have

sowed the seeds of the 1962 India-China war.
The important and explicit directive, from
Nehru, in a 17-para memorandum, cited by
Noorani in his book, says: Both as flowing from
our policy and as a consequence of our Agreement
with China, this frontier should be considered a
firm and definite one which is not open to discussion with anybody. There may be very minor
points of discussion. Even these should not be
raised by us.
Theres a sense of dj vu when one reads
about an irresponsible opposition, an uninformed press and a restive Parliament, all fed on
bad history , especially in the context of China,
India-China relations and the boundary issue.
India and China joining hands to pursue a
conflict-free path to mutually beneficial economic
development would mean growth with equity for
over 2.5 billion people on the planet. The two
Asian powers could be the game-changers for
recasting the worlds politico-economic order and
reforming international and financial institutions.
What stands in the way of India and China realising their full potential and forging ahead is
poverty. In baiting and pillorying China and
thwarting India-China cooperation, Indian media
Neighbors as walls, not

friends or allies
Clearly, China, unless it is
bad news, is unfashionable
for Indian media. It is hardly
surprising then that there is
not a single country in the
region, which India can
count upon as friend or ally,
or where it enjoys the peoples goodwill; not even in
Bangladesh, which owes its birth to India and Indira Gandhi.
Such a thought only brings to mind yet another glaring omission by Indian media: that it has
never enlightened its audience on why India
arouses such negative feelings among every one of
its neighbours. It does not inform and educate the
Indian public about our neighbours and Indias relations with them. It has little or no influence on
public policy in India or its neighbourhood. It is
not interested in enabling and strengthening
cross-border understanding for pursuit of common interests.
Indian media, like the visa and other restrictive
regimes of India and its neighbours, is just another
wall that keeps people of the region distanced
from other. Thereby, Indian media serves the objective of these states to deter people-to-people relations and understanding.
Adapted from Shastri Ramachandarans essay
in the book Journalism: Ethics & Responsibilities,
edited by Seema Mustafa and published by
Har-Anand Books for the Prem Bhatia Memorial
Trust. The author is a senior journalist and a
foreign affairs writer
S THE WORLD TURNS
Two US journalists shot dead on air

TWO TV REPORTERS of WDBJ7
were shot dead by a former colleague
during a live broadcast in Virginia. The
gunman recorded the killings and
posted the video on social media
after fleeing the scene. The murders
were carried out deliberately so they
could be played out live on TV.
Reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were broadcasting a
live interview with an official when

both were shot in the head. The
official was also injured. The accused,
Vester Lee Flanagan II, was a former
TV reporter at WDBJ7, with the on
air name, Bryce Williams. He died
several hours later after shooting
himself. The Virginia shootings have
again raised the need for tougher gun
laws in the US.
Alison Parker
Adam Ward
LinkedIn revamps its messenger

LINKEDIN ANNOUNCED RECENTLY that it
was revamping its messaging features to
make them easier for users to keep the conversation going. The networking site for professionals, in its official blog, said its
messaging feature will allow for shorter and
more casual conversations. The company also
said it had rebuilt the feature for a cleaner and
more streamlined look and an improved chat
style interface for faster back-and-forth messaging. LinkedIns new revamp is to compete
with similar social networking sites like Facebooks Messenger, Twitter and Snapchat.
LinkedIns 380 million members can send
messages to each other through its InMail
service, but this new feature lets them add
emoji (emoticons) and GIFs (Graphic Interchange Format) to messages.
Google
Filmmaker
gets new logo
Wes Craven dies
GOOGLE REVEALED A new logo, the

most significant change since 1999.
The new logo is in sans-serif typeface,
resembling the logo of Googles new
parent company, Alphabet. A doodle
shows the old logo being wiped off and
a hand scribbling the six letters in the
four colors. Google is also changing
the tiny g logo that you see on
browser tabs. Its now going to be an
uppercase "G" that's striped in all four
of Google's colors. The search giant,
in its official blog, said that the change
was needed because people were now
reaching Google on mobile devices
rather than just desktop computers.
AMERICAN HORROR FILM director Wes

Craven, creator of Nightmare on Elm
Street and Scream series, succumbed to
brain cancer. He was 76. Craven wrote
and directed the famous A Nightmare on
Elm Street in 1984. His iconic character,
Freddy Krueger, horrified viewers for
years. He died at his Los Angeles home,
as reported by the The Hollywood Reporter. He is survived by his wife, producer
and former Disney Studios vice president
Iya Labunka and three children.
Egypt sentences
three journos to jail
THREE AL JAZEERA journalists were sentenced to
three years in jail for broadcasting material harmful
to Egypt and spreading false news, a verdict which
has been condemned as an attack on the freedom of
the press by various rights group and media organizations. The verdict was issued against Mohamed
Fahmy, a naturalized Canadian who has given up his
Egyptian citizenship; Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian;
and Australian Peter Greste, who was deported
in February after spending 400 days in prison. The
three are accused of aiding the banned Muslim
Brotherhood group, an allegation they have denied.
VIEWS ON NEWS
Advertising
Humor
What are the pros

and cons of using
humor as a tool in
selling? When does
it work and when
does it go overboard
and become
counterproductive?
BY KRISH WARRIER
HE author of Scientific Advertising, Claude Hopkins,

said: Dont treat your
subject lightly. Dont lessen respect for yourself or
your article by any attempt
at frivolity. People do not patronize a clown.
There are two things about which men should
not joke. One is business, one is home. An eccentric picture may do you serious damage.
One may gain attention by wearing a fools cap.
But he would ruin his selling prospects.
The other advocate of the above-mentioned
school, ad guru John Caples, said: Avoid humor. You can entertain a million people and not
sell to one of them. There is not a single humorous line in two of the most influential books in
the world, namely, The Bible and the Sears Roebuck catalog.
Is this good advice to follow? Do funny ads
run the risk of confusing or offending your customers and prospects? Is it prudent to stick to
the straight and narrow? Is tickling the funny
bone a strict no-no? Well, having been in the
Tickling
the Funny
Bone
to Sell
GENERATING HUMOR
The print ad for Omax
Wide Angle Lenses
business for over 25 years, I can safely say, it isnt

necessarily so. As Morty Schiller recognized as mail
order copywriter extraordinaire in the US says:
People dont buy from sourpusses.
So, what works and what doesnt? There are
three theories that work in humor.
The incongruity theory happens when you go
against the grain of expectation: an outcome other
than the expected one happens. The Fevicol ads
have utilized this effectively. The fisherman ad, the
cyclist ad, et al, are part of the Indian advertising
lore. The dimag ki batti jala de Mentos commercial
is another case in point. The student backtracking
and getting the better of the lecturer ups the funny
quotient. As somebody pointed out: experiencing
different sets of incongruent thoughts and emotions is funny.
The second, superiority theory, borders on
schadenfreude: it happens when people laugh at
other peoples misfortune, stupidity or mistakes. But
its highly recommended to be prudent while using
this theory. Because theres a danger you may end
up being mean. The Sprite parking commercial
comes immediately to mind.
The relief theory occurs when a situation creates tension which is then broken by an unexpected
happening or humorous comment. The Greenply
commercial where a cute child goes back in time
remembering his past life, with the payoff line:
Greenply, janam janam ka rishta, or words to that
effect, belongs to this category. Then, there is an Indian Airlines commerciala great case of understated humor which also tugs at your heartstrings.
In this commercial, a young girl teaches a suave
gentleman to use the various facilities on his airline
chair. The denouement of the adhes a pilot,
makes for a great television commercial.
HUMOR IN PRINT
Humor is more easily doable in the electronic
media, feels Ramchandran NV, strategist at Paramin Marketing and Advertising. There is time.
But what about the print media?
Again the principles are the same.

Using incongruity, schadenfreude, and relief
theories. The print ad
for Omax Wide Angle
Lenses is one such advertisement. Says Balkishan Goenka of a
Mumbai-based creative boutique, Maxim
Advertising: In print,
tongue-in-cheek
is
very effective. As an example, he
recalls an advert for The Times of
India, Chennai (top right).
The response of The Hindu
(right) was equally noteworthy:
Touche! (The best way to retaliate
to a dig is with a dig).
The idea is not to be a comedian (People dont buy from clownsClaude Hopkins) but often a
light humorous touch adds an element of humanity that engages and
involves the reader and actually
gives you more credibility. Now, if
you consider direct marketers, they
have shied away from humoror
at least from outright slapstick.
(Then again, who are you more likely to buy from:
a smiling shopkeeper or a glum-faced one? Its anybodys guess that you are more likely to buy from a
smiling guy).
DIFFICULT TO BE FUNNY
David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of
Marketing and PR, says: Most marketing and communications programs from business-to-business
software and technology companies are dreadfully
dry and painfully boring. I mean if some of these
companies tried to smile at themselves, their screens
would crack. But guess what? Your buyers, no
WAR OF WORDS
(Top) The tongue-in-cheek
effect is effectively used
in the print ad for The
Times of India, Chennai
(Above) The Hindu
responded to the ad in
equal measure
VIEWS ON NEWS
Advertising
Humor
HUMOR IN
DIFFERENT HUES
(Clockwise from above)
The Fevicol, Greenply
and Mentos ads
The latest
wave of
factor-analysis
reveals that
humor can now
sell.... But I
must warn you
that very, very
few writers can
write funny
commercials
which are
funny. Unless
you are one
of the few,
dont try.
David Ogilvy,
ad guru
matter what sort of organization you work for, are

peoplereal people with a sense of funnot nameless, faceless, corporate drones. Sometimes a bit of
the unusual and funny can work wonders.
What does the guru of advertising, David Ogilvy,
have to say in this regard? Claude Hopkins book
Scientific Advertising changed the course of my life.
And he never forgot Hopkins sermon: Ad writers
forget they are salesmen and try to be performers.
Instead of sales, they seek applause.
But writing about How to make TV commercials that sell, Ogilvy said: Conventional wisdom
has always held that people buy products because
they believe them to be nutritious, or labor-saving,
or good value for moneynot because the manufacturer tells jokes on television.... I think this was
true in Hopkins day, and I have reason to believe
that it remained true until recently, but the latest
wave of factor-analysis reveals that humor can now
sell.... But I must warn you that very, very few writers
can write funny commercials which are funny. Un-
less you are one of the few, dont try.

Heres what Bill Bernbach, the man behind the
creative revolution said: Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not
a science, but an art.
He felt: It is insight into human nature that is
the key to the communicators skill. For whereas the
writer is concerned with what he puts into his writings, the communicator is concerned with what the
reader gets out of it. He therefore becomes a student
of how people read or listen.
In other words, one is talking of a paradigm
shift. Humor is merely one of the tools to do this.
So whats the bottomline?
Use humor ifand only if: (a) it makes a point
and supports your proposition; (b) it is friendly, and
not slapstick; (c) it attracts and not distracts; (d)
above all, remember: you are here to sell.
Now, dovetail all this with:
What is humor, asked one clown of another. The
other died laughing!
Web Crawler What Went Viral
Back to
Hogwarts
POTTERHEADS ALL over the
world cheered in celebration
when JK Rowling, author of the
Harry Potter series, tweeted
about James Sirius Potter, son
of Harry Potter, making his way
to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on the Hogwarts Express on September
1. Soon after her tweet, Back
to Hogwarts started trending
on Twitter, with Potter fans

speculating about sequels and
further information about the
next generation of wizards.
On September 2, Rowling
took it a step further when she
tweeted that James S Potter
had been sorted into
Gryffindor, much to the disappointment of Teddy Lupin
(Hufflepuff), Head Boy of Hogwarts. Messages congratulating and wishing luck to Harry
Potters eldest offspring
flooded social media immediately after Rowlings tweets.
Whats the truth?

A VIDEO of an Israeli soldier manhandling a
young Palestinian boy has garnered more than
2.5 million views and been shared across all social media platforms. The video was first shared
by Ramallah City Official Page (Ramallah is a
city in Palestine) on Facebook. The video, which
shows an IDF soldier placing an 11-year old in
a chokehold at gunpoint, has led to serious criticism of Israel in international media. Israel, on
the other hand, claims that the soldier was patient with the child who had been pelting stones
at him to provoke him.
Horrifying
visuals
IMAGES OF A drowned Syrian
toddler found on the shore of a
Turkish town have raised alarm
across international media as the
complete horror of human
tragedy struck the world. The
condition of Syrian refugees fleeing war and the brutalities of the
IS have gained renewed attention.
There was an outpouring of
anguish and anger on the social
media at the apathy of European
governments.
Flipping out
A BACK-FLIP at the edge of a cliff takes
some serious daring and Parkour enthusiast,
Toby Segar, did just that. The 21-year-old
who hails from Godalming, Surrey, performed the somersault on the edge of Trolltunga or Trolls Tongue cliff in southern
Norway. The flat rock on which Segar performed the stunt stretches out over a 700
meter drop on the edge of Ringedalsvatnet
Lake. In a report by the Daily Mail, UK, the
parkour artist who has been training for almost a decade says: Everyone is scared of
heights, it just takes time to learn how to deal
with that fear rationally. The stunt made
headlines across international media.
VIEWS ON NEWS
DATE
20/8/15
21/8/15
21/8/15
21/8/15
24/8/15
25/8/15
25/8/15
26/8/15
NEWS
NEWS
CHANNEL TIME
Badminton player Saina Nehwal

becomes world number one.
MEA says terrorism only agenda for
NSA level talks; India against
Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz meeting
Hurriyat representatives.
Separatist leader Shabir Shah to meet
Pak NSA at 4.00 on Sunday; will leave
for Delhi at 10 tomorrow.
Probe into CNG fitness scam declared

legally invalid by the Ministry of Home
Affairs.
Train mishap in Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh
leaves six dead, twenty injured; Nanded
Express collides with granite lorry.
Patel community demands reservation
under OBC quota; rally to be held at GMDC
grounds in Ahmedabad ; Gujarat government dismisses demands for reservation.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal meets Narendra
Modi; talks include anti-corruption and
Swachh Bharat campaign.
Nitish Kumar launches scathing attack on
Modi, Nitish says PMs special package
announcement a false promise, nothing
new in the centers package.
12.43 AM
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6.30 AM
Here are some of the major news items aired on television

channels, recorded by our unique 24x7 dedicated media
monitoring unit that scrutinizes more than 130 TV channels in
different Indian languages and looks at who breaks the news first.
DATE
26/8/15
27/8/15
30/8/15
30/8/15
31/8/15
1/9/15
2/9/15
2/9/15
NEWS
CHANNEL TIME
NEWS
PM Modi appeals to stay calm, maintain

peace in Gujarat. I request everyone to
please maintain peace, violence benefits
no one, says Modi.
12.52 PM
12.54 PM
Urban Development Minister Venkaiah

Naidu releases list of smart cities to be
developed. Total 98 cities selected from all
over the country. UP gets 13 cities.
12.24 AM
12.25 AM
12.26 AM
12.27 AM
11th edition Mann ki Baat. Prime Minister

Narendra Modi says till now 17.74 crore
accounts opened in bank, only development will solve our woes.
11.01AM
11.02 AM
11.03 AM
11.04 AM
Lalus statement from Patnas Gandhi

Maidan: Modi has betrayed Ganga Maa
and Lord Ram. Modi wants to win by
sending me to jail.
3.30 AM
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Goa government bans Sri Ram Sene

chief Pramod Muthalik from entering
Goa; Supreme Court dismisses
Muthaliks plea against the same.
India registers a series win in Sri Lanka
after 22 years; Sri Lanka all out at 268
in second innings.
12.55 PM
3.48 PM
12.55 PM
3.49 PM
Ten trade unions go on a nationwide

strike; stop Himgiri Express in Arrah, Bihar.
Sangh-BJP three day meet begins today

in Delhi; Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat
also present.
VIEWS ON NEWS September 22, 2015 47
Governance
Focus
Sharad Pawar
PLAYING THE
CASTE CARD
Maratha leader Sharad Pawar sullied his
image of being forward-looking by stoking
caste politics when folk historian Balwant
Purandare was awarded Maharashtras
highest award for his work on Shivaji
BY ABHAY VAIDYA
HERE was a time when Sharad

Pawar was the darling of Maharashtra. Everything was right
about him and he could do no
wrong. He was not just a
visionary but also a man of action with excellent administrative skills as the chief minister of Maharashtra. No wonder he not only served a
record three terms as CM but also holds the record of
being the youngest one in Maharashtra at the age of 38.
Much water has flown down the Krishna since then.
The 74-year-old Pawar, whose dreams of becoming
prime minister have been all but shattered, cut a sorry
figure in Maharashtra recently when he played caste politics. The issue was about conferring the states highest
awardMaharashtra Bhushanon 93-year-old folk historian Balwant Babasaheb Purandare for his stupendous work in singing paeans to the great warrior-king,
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Over a span of some 75 years, the Pune-based
Purandare has authored the immensely popular Raja
Shivchhatrapatia two-volume, 900-page biography of
Shivaji (first published in the late 1950s), produced a magnificent play (Jaanta Raja, the Enlightened King) which has been presented on
stage almost 900 times and delivered innumerable
lectures on Shivaji within and outside India.
All of this has been widely appreciated by the
people of Maharashtra right from the time of the
states first CM and Pawars political mentor, YB
Chavan. The Maharashtra Bhushan honor for
Purandare, therefore, was not just fitting but long
over-due.
HISTORY DISTORTED
However, the first cry of protest against the award
ceremony came on August 19 from Pawars blueeyed boy, Thane MLA Jitendra Awhad. According
to Awhad, Babasaheb, in his biography of Shivaji,
had presented a distorted account of history with
a Brahmanical prism and unsubstantiated references to Shivaji, his father Shahaji, mother Jijabai
and others. Awhad was also critical of the depiction of the Brahmin teacher, Dadoji Konddev, as
Shivajis teacher and mentor. The MLAs stand that
Pawars support to the anti-Purandare

agitation emerged clearly as a strategy to
consolidate the fragmented Maratha-OBC
vote-bank in the state and revive the
fortunes of a dissipated NCP.
Maharashtras highest award should not be given

to Purandare as he was not a historian was endorsed by Pawar.
Apart from the NCP, the other prominent organization that opposed the award to Purandare
was the Sambhaji Brigade which hit the headlines
in 2004 as it vandalized the Bhandarkar Oriental
Research Institute (BORI) in Pune to protest
against American scholar James Laines book on
Shivaji, Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India.
Soon, a number of prominent politicians, writers and social activists took opposing views on the
issue, polarizing Maharashtra on Maratha versus
Brahmin caste lines. While the Congress and
POLITICS OVER LITERARY

MERIT
(Below, L-R) Sharad
Pawar is opposed to the
decision of giving
the Maharashtra
Bhushan award to
Balwant Purandare
VIEWS ON NEWS
Governance
Focus
Sharad Pawar
Pawar had cultivated his image as a

progressive politician. At the height of
his popularity, he had even gently
rebuked a journalist for referring to him
by his caste as a Maratha strongman.
the NCP opposed the award to Purandare, the

Shiv Sena stood by its alliance partner, the BJP,
which was determined to confer the award. The
Maharashtra NavNirman Sena, led by Raj Thackeray, supported Purandare and criticized Pawar
for stoking the flames of caste politics.
EXPECTED CRITICISM
(Below) MNS leader Raj
Thackeray criticized
Pawar for stoking the
flames of caste politics
MARATHAS VS BRAHMINS
The fact is that till a few years ago, Purandare was
a popular celebrity in the state and absolutely noncontroversial. Even today, the issue at heart has
nothing to do with Purandare per se but with the
fact that he is a Brahmin by caste, as is the states
CM, Devendra Fadnavis.
The Marathasthe caste to which Sharad
Pawar belongsconstitute the dominant political

caste in Maharashtra ever since the Brahmin
intelligentsia lost the upper hand in the post-Independence era. Anti-Brahmin sentiments were
revived after the controversy over James Laines
book, which cast aspersions on Shivajis paternity.
Apart from vandalizing BORI (because scholars from there had assisted Laine), Maratha activists of the Sambhaji Brigade took umbrage at
the depiction of Konddev as Shivajis mentor.
Maratha community leaders accused Brahmin
historians of distorting history to this effect and
forced the Pune Municipal Corporation to remove an installation showing Konddev guiding
young Shivaji with his mother Jijabai looking on.
Since Brahmin scholars were being accused of
distorting Shivajis history, the Maharashtra governments decision to confer the states highest
award on a Brahmin folk historian like Purandare
and that too for his work on Shivajiwas unacceptable to the NCP and Maratha organizations.
Every available avenue was explored to scuttle the
award, ranging from political opposition, vandalizing of government property and a meeting with
the state governor, C Vidyasagar Rao.
PIL DISMISSED
Even a PIL was filed in Bombay High
Court to oppose the award. However,
one day before the award ceremony on
August 19, the high court dismissed
the PIL and fined the two petitioners
`10,000 for wasting the time of the
court. Chief Minister Fadnavis stood
firm and proceeded with the award
ceremony after changing the venue to
the Raj Bhavan for better security.
Purandare, who was presented the
award by the governor, defended his
approach to history and said he had
not distorted facts. At the same time,
he said he was open to correction if any
distortions could be established.
THE POLITICAL DIVIDE

(L-R) Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis
ensured that the award
function went ahead
smoothly; Thane MLA
Jitendra Ahwad first
raised objections to the
award to Purandare
In a magnanimous gesture, the nonagenarian

bard added `15 lakh from his own purse to the
award of `10 lakh and donated the entire amount
for the welfare of cancer patients in the state.
Perhaps as a snub to Pawar, a video clip was
screened at the awards ceremony which showed
that Pawar had praised Purandare at a public
function.
PAWAR POLITICS
Pawars support to the anti-Purandare agitation
emerged clearly as a strategy to consolidate the
fragmented Maratha-OBC vote-bank in the state
and revive the fortunes of a dissipated NCP to
which he belongs. The party is in a shambles with
corruption cases and allegations against its former
ministers, and has barely 41 MLAsless than the
Congressin a House of 288. In the 2014 Lok
Sabha polls too, the party lost out to the Modi
wave, securing just four seats out of 48 in the state.
It was, however, unbecoming of Pawar to become a part of the anti-Purandare lobby because,
ironically, he had praised and felicitated Purandare when he was presented with a DLitt by the
DY Patil University in 2013.
The Maratha leaders game-plan was noticed
by his political opponents and he was roundly
criticized by sections of the press and by Raj

Thackeray and others for spreading the poison of
caste politics in Maharashtra. Pawar brushed
aside Thackerays criticism by saying that there
were many who made capital out of his name and
Raj was doing just that.
The fact is that Pawar has soiled his own image
cultivated over the decades as a progressive and
cultured politician. At the height of his popularity,
he had even gently rebuked a reporter of a national magazine for referring to him by his caste
as a Maratha strongman.
During his years at the helm in Maharashtra,
Pawar always stood out as a forward-looking, softspoken mass leader, with an enviable record in
winning elections. He was simply invincible in
Baramati constituency, which he vacated for his
daughter, Supriya Sule, and moved on to another
constituency.
In spite of his share of controversies relating to
assets, investments and real estate (Lavasa and DB
Realty-Panchshil being just two of them), Pawar
was always seen as an all-inclusive leader who was
above caste and communal politics. Much to his
misfortune, that image now no longer holds true,
with the Maratha leader resorting to playing caste
politics in Maharashtra.
The issue at
heart has
nothing to do
with Purandare
per se but with
the fact that he
is a Brahmin
by caste.
VIEWS ON NEWS
Editors Pick
Harish Khare
Gujarat Starts Process of
Disowning Modi
VON brings in each issue,

the best written commentary on
any subject. The following
write-up, posted on The Wire,
has been picked by our team of
editors and reproduced for
our readers as the best in
the fortnight.
Future historians may trace the political meltdown of

Narendra Modi to the events this week in Ahmedabad and
the rest of Gujarat
BEFORE THE
STORM
(Below) PM
Narendra Modi
at Red Fort on
Independence
Day, oblivious
of the
impending
threat
EING the very smart man that he is,

Narendra Modi will be the first to
recogniseeven if he does not acknowledge it publiclythat August
25, 2015, is the day when Gujarat
finally started the process of disowning him. Future historians may even mark August 25 as the date when it all
unravelled and the Modi political meltdown began. An
over-statement? An exaggeration? A wishful fantasy?
Consider this: from March 2002 to August 24, 2015,
nobody, and that means nobody, other than Narendra
Modi had been able to collect a crowd of five lakh people

in any part of Gujarat. The last time such a large-scale
mobilisation took place was way back in the mid-1970s,
during the days of the Navnirman Andolan. The August
25 congregation, right there in the heart of Ahmedabad,
took place despite Modis wishes and his long-distance
monitoring and micro-managing of everything political
that goes on in Gujarat. And, not since 2002, has the
Army been asked to come out in aid of the civil authority.
Words in headlines like curfew, police firing, deaths
belonged to a bygone era, so we were told. The rockstar
who mesmerised the suburban Gujaratis at Madison

Square Garden has been upstaged by an upstart: a hitherto unknown Hardik Patel, who has the native Patels eating out of his hand.
It is ironic that only 10 days ago, on Independence
Day, the Prime Minister was using that grand pulpit at
the Red Fort to exhort us to beware of the danger of
casteism and communalism. And then, a few days later,
he was in Gaya, Bihar, showering goodies and special
packages on that bimaru state, singing songs of his own
politics of development, and preaching against the vendors of caste politics such as Nitish Kumar and Lalu
Prasad Yadav. Now, on his own home turf, the caste calculations and demands have erupted gloriously.
THE BACKSTORY
There is a context to this Patel eruption. And, it is necessary to recall that context.
In 1981, it was the Patels of Khadia in downtown
Ahmedabad who raised a violent voice against a new
reservation regime. That agitation was directed at the
newly elected Congress government, headed by Madhavsinh Solanki. The Congress had stormed back to
power, riding on the KHAM strategy. The KHAM
If the Gujarat model of development

was so successful, so transformative,
so revolutionary, how could a
22-year-old become the fulcrum for
a caste-centric mobilisation?
Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adivasis, and Muslimsinclusive
promise had yielded massive electoral dividends and
Gujarats political landscape was drastically re-arranged.
The Patels were ejected from the commanding heights of
Gujarat politics which they had occupied for many
decades. In the 1985 Assembly elections, the Congress
repeated its performance, consolidating its political dominance. The Patels again soon found an excuse to raise their
voice against reservation. This resentment among the
upper castes, especially the Patidars, was easily shoehorned
into the new Hindutva project. Over the years, the Hindutva forces patted themselves on the back for their ability
to invoke the religious idiom to get the better of the castecentric KHAM and its inclusive politics of
social aggregation of the disadvantaged.
Now, the same Patels are demanding reservation.
Gujarat is back to the 1981 days.
THE END OF THE POST-2002 ERA
The Patels were and are at the core of the Modi
constituency. They are vocal, aggressive and assertive in
their sustained support at home and in the NRI portals for
the post-2002 Modi and his narrative.
The post-2002 Modi and BJP were able to enlist, enthuse and ensnare the Gujaratis in an epic battle in defence
of Gujarati asmita. The Patidars applauded the new Hindu
hriday samraat, first as he struggled against Vajpayee who
chanted the strange mantra of rajdharma. Then they
cheered him as he locked horns with a Sonia Gandhi who
levelled the maut ka saudagar charge, and next they sided
with him against the vicious UPA that would demand
accountability in fake encounters.
The Long March to Delhi ended on a triumphant note.
The Hindu hriday samraat is the lord and master of all he
VIEWS ON NEWS
U-TURN
(Left) In the
1980s,
Patels were
opposed to
reservations
Governance
Editors Pick
Harish Khare
The Patels were and are at the core of

the Modi constituency. They are vocal,
aggressive and assertive in their
sustained support at home and in the
NRI portals for the post-2002 Modi.
A NEW FORCE
(Right) Hardik
Patel has
changed the
political
dynamics of
Gujarat overnight
surveys from Raisina Hill, the pseudo-secularists are licking their wounds, and even the judiciary seems disinclined to uphold secular values and practices.
The majority in Gujarat has nothing to fear. Its protector
is the chief magistrate and sheriff. The intimidated Muslims have already retreated into their pitiful ghettos.
The eruption in 2015 of Patidar violence from the same BJP
strongholds of 2002 suggests that
the objective conditions that propelled the Modi phenomenon in
Gujarat became redundant with
his election victory on May 16,
2014. Suddenly, the objective conditions that sustained the Modi
phenomenon have melted away.
In pure realpolitik terms, the
2002 business has finally lost its
power and raison detre. Even antiCentrism, the main plank of the
Modi phenomenon in Gujarat, got
dismantled on May 24, 2014,
when the new Prime Minister
took his oath of office in the Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt.
WHATS LEFT OF THE GUJARAT MODEL
The all too obvious communal underpinning of the Modi
project apart, the Patidar eruption demands a sober
reassessment of all that we have been persuaded to believe
about the Gujarat model of development.
The thinness of the so-called Gujarat model now
stands so demonstratively exposed. Those who questioned the claims made in its name were dubbed anti-Gu-
jarat and damned as pseudo-secularists. The pain of

deepening economic inequalities was never allowed to intrude into the vibrancy optics. Rather, those at the receiving end of the harsh economic realities were palmed
off with the Hindutva rhetoric and practices. Those realities have not vanished.
Nobody, for example, was allowed to ask how many
local Gujaratis had been given jobs in the famed Nano
project at Sanand. For that matter, no one knows the
terms of the agreement between the Gujarat government
and the Tatas. All we have been told is how a pro-business,
pro-market, pro-growth, pro-industrialisation chief
minister had grabbed the opportunity to entice an entrepreneur, scorned by those backward looking politicians
in West Bengal.
That was the defining moment when the vibrancyof the
Modi model was reaffirmed and
consecrated. Soon the captains
of industry were queuing up in
Ahmedabad to issue the certificate of good conduct to the then
chief minister. The road to Delhi
was mapped out.
Before and after 2014, there
was no dearth of cheer-leaders
extolling the Modi phenomenon and its relevance, demanding that it be replicated
throughout the country. The
best and the brightest among the
pundits proclaimed that India
stood tutored in the new grammar of development, merit,
growth, liberating modernity. An alternative reality
emerged on August 25.
If the Gujarat model of development was so successful, so transformative, so revolutionary, how could a 22year-old become the fulcrum for a caste-centric
mobilisation? And why should Bihar buy into the presumably post-caste development rhetoric?
Harish Khare is Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune
RNI No. UPENG/2007/22571
Postal Regd. No. UP/GBD-204/2015-17

3ULQWHGRQ HYHU\PRQWK 3RVWHGDW6XE3RVW2IFH6HFWRU1RLGD
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