By Shruti Kesavan:
The term ‘diversify’ is something that our politicians tend to take very seriously today. After having successfully infiltrated mines, real estates, education and even cinema, the only place that they had to take under their wings was the media. The one place we look for unbiased news is now the comfortable abode where our not-so-busy politicians sit, chat and make news. Of course, news which favours them and not the truth! Finally what goes to the guillotine is good journalism and the hardcore truth which is tactfully masked by clever lies.
It seems to me that, most powerful Indians happen to suffer from Parkinson’s simply because actors, cricketers and housewives (of our very own politicians) are becoming politicians and they end up either trying their luck in acting and directing and if they fail all they do is shift their gaze from the large screen to the small screen. If they are not cordially invited simply because of the fact that they are under qualified, which we don’t consider while we make them leaders to decide the future of our country, it doesn’t make a difference to them. Well, they are more like cockroaches, the only ones that survive even after a nuclear war or in our cases a 2G scam, they just don’t give up. There is always loads of black money in their Swiss Bank accounts for them to simply buy a news channel. That way, black money is converted to white money and they get a chance to finally be of some importance somewhere across the face of the universe. Clearly a case of where there is a will (and heaps of black money) there is always a way -just that here their way is the media and journalism.
Coming into the limelight for almost all the wrong reasons, again, are our very own Gandhi family, trying their luck in media this time around. Why allow Kerala and Tamil Nadu or even Bangladesh to stay ahead in this new trend? Recent speculation says that the Gandhi, mother-son duo is now going to start their very own news channel. Why waste money convincing news reporters not to air something when you can sit at home and make your own news? Sarkozy decides what goes on air in the French media so why should the first family of India stay behind in that case? It looks like Dr. Manmohan Singh would have to retire from his permanent role as lead in the puppet show run by Mrs Gandhi, as she has a new puppet to play, manipulate and display for the world to see!
Recently the Reddy brothers, right after their court hearing came out with the statement saying they will come up with their own news channel and name it ‘The mining republic’ as aired on CNN-IBN. This not only shows their audacity to challenge the public with such smart use of words, but also take for granted the media. According to recent statistics, India has 120 channels out of which 40 channels are owned by politicians which range from Sun TV( Karunanidhi), Kaliangar TV (Karunanidhi), Sakshi TV(Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy) , Jai hind TV (Congress, Kerala) Captain TV(DMK), Kairali TV (Communist Party of India), Kasturi TV (Kumaraswamy, Karnataka) and News Live (Assam), to name just a few.
“If content is King, then distribution is God” is something our politicians have understood very well. This sort of interference not only disrupts the working of different sections but also reduces the quality of work. The jack of all trades has always been the master of none and it is best when we do what we have to rather than try your luck almost everywhere. Last but not the least I would really want to know what Mr. Subramaniam Swamy would have to say on the decision of the Gandhis. Would he support them or simply file another petition in court against them? Besides, I’d rather see a Rahul Gandhi dance to the tunes of “chamak challo” than edit news. Also, Sonia Gandhi should try her hand at learning a South Indian language if she is really looking out for a new challenge and leave journalism to the journalists.