Sunday, February 03, 2008

Enough aleady...

Let me be completely dispassionate about the entire NewsX/INX affair, neither party is going to end up smelling like roses over here. The events at the channel where the management went after people seemed something a paranoid management scared of losing control would do. However, as the point has been raised, people who were fine about the ownership pattern (no matter how dubious) of NewsX were quiet until now. getting vindictive, and trust me, the amount of emails doing the rounds about a person at NewsX who has been promoted following the events and also about AS are crazy. And even though I would like to draw a line on the affair, I doubt it has played out completely.
sadly, given the people and the monies involved, I also believe that a lot of reputations - of managers and journalists both will be ripped asunder, if they haven't been already. Also, before I get accused of bias, let me be very clear, I think what the management did was unprecedented for a major media company in the spotlight, though these sort of incidents do often take place across the country in many language news channels. Nobody raises a noise about the way the media in Andhra Pradesh is treated for example, not even our 'Dear Minister'.
Also, I do not think very highly of all the journalists involved, one in particular who is being deified does not exactly make it to my list of 'best' or even for that matter 'decent' journalists - we all know the Champions Trophy which England won according to The Hindustan Times once upon a time. Were the London and Paris bills obscene? Yes, but c'mon for god's sake.
But that said, was what happened correct? I don't think so. Should the minister get involved? No. But in case financial irregularities have taken place, the finance ministry should get involved, but a witch-hunt, which this government is very capable of doing will only sully the name of self-styled food critics.
Many people had a bad feeling about this news channel, but nobody expected it to go down in a flaming pile of crap. Because that is what this is. And for now, we must move on, so the next post will look at one year of Papermint. Something I personally find a lot more interesting than this.

5 comments:

thalassa_mikra said...

All that is really at stake here is the following question: were the journalists wrongfully terminated?

Or was there a clause in their contract that allowed termination without notice? That is all.

Anonymous said...

I've worked at Star TV and this is Mukherjea's preferred way to sack staff. Doomed employee has no clue he / she's doomed, comes in to work, finds no computer, no phone, all his / her personal stuff already packed in a box, security guard standing by the desk with a termination letter in his hand and a cheque for three months' salary less / plus dues. Doomed employee then escorted out of the building by said guard, never to return and no phone calls ever taken by HR or anyone else.

The contracts there allowed termination without notice but with three months' salary. Don't know if the contracts are similar at NewsX, but chances are they are. This kind of contract seems to work across all media.

Anonymous said...

I think this happens across industries and across levels. its the global way i hear. sadly, but thats the way. yeah the three months clause is a basic one now across industries. can any one describe a good exit? unless retiring. a good way of being sacked? i dont think so, in the end, its the same s*it.

Anonymous said...

Greetings from the management side of 9X. No I am not Pawan C or one of his employees who have been so faithfully blogging on this site. But I think you need to know the entire story.
While all of you have been obsessing about Avirook Sen and his sacking, you have missed the real story: the parent channel is in a state of complete collapse and will be lucky to last till the end of the year with the present management structure.
Three blows have broken its back. The first is that NDTV Imagine launched with a weekday audience share of 6.8 versus 9X's share of 3.5. Investors are asking how Imagine can do better in its first week without 9X's 75 crore marketing budget than 9X itself has done in three months. There are sure to be changes in the programming team (many are already looking for jobs) and a new CEO.
Also, there's the NewsX fiasco. No investor wants to be associated with a messy spat and they are asking how Peter Mukherjea can now launch the upmarket channel he promised them when all key members of staff have quit and nobody good is willing to join.
Finally, the inquiry announced by the government into INX's funds has investors running scared. INX's position is that Indrani borrowed hundreds of crores from kind friends. These friends will now be investigated as will all the investors. No foreign fund wants to be interrogated about a possible benami deal.
That's the real story. Not the fight about Avirook.

Anonymous said...

it is shocking and flabbergasting how a buffoon like jitarth continues to be in news X, a rustic hobgoblin who cannot utter a word properly and indulges in tomfoolery is doing yeoman disservice to the channel. he is deadwood and peter, wyvsley should get rid of him immediately.