Blame the government

In the days before the model code of conduct comes into the picture and various ministries will be barred from putting up pictures of Sonia, Rahul and MMS in their adverts, the ads are roaring in. Today in a 32-page edition of the Times of India, Delhi there were 32x8 columns (the count being done as eight columns across the page). Now that works out to 256 columns of total space in the paper.
But today's ToI only had 84 columns of editorial material by my reckoning (yes, I counted). Even the Op-Ed page was sacrificed to the Power Ministry. That is an Ad-Edit ratio of 67-33 and almost totally government ads and even if you include the ads for 'Massage Services' in the classifieds, which are a regular feature, this is insane!
Here is the funny thing, newspapers are obliged to carry DAVP adverts and the UPA's gift to the newspaper propritors with a 15 per cent hike in DAVP rates means that on average DAVP ads are not going at 60-70 per cent discounts to rack rates but only around 40 per cent, similar discounts to what an Airtel or Nokia would get.
The Government then, or rather its publicity hungry ministers are keeping the flames alight at the newspapers and also the chartered airline business. But these guys are having a direct impact on the dissemination of news. Yesterday was particularly bad, after Slumdog and these ads just about ten per cent of the paper survived to become regular news.
But that said, I have to compliment ToI for highlighting the Aravali issue (nice story today), and I'm surprised that other media houses haven't picked it up. The rampant destruction of the Aravali's will lead to massive water depletion in Delhi and Gurgaon. I can understand that some papers don't have reporters intelligent enough to cover the issue but it is a story that is right ion front of you.
The rush for 'Exclusives' or 'Specials' to narrate the ills of Narendra Modi (and the BJP in general, and I must admit with characters like Muthalik around they do become easy prey) does not mean that papers should roll over and play dead when it comes to news in their backyard. News, that unlike Narendra Modi's actions almost a decade ago can actually impact their readers lives. But some people get gongs and RS seats, so well, who cares about a couple of hills being blasted away.

Utter crap...

Sometimes on the Internet and the papers you can find gems - like Priyanka Vadra admitting that Indira Gandhi would have acted differently. Erm, her mother runs this government - and despite all the Congress' attempts to prove otherwise, if her mom wanted to act differently she would have no matter what Laloo and Paswan say or do. So Priyanka implied that her mommy is no match to her nan! Wow! Gandhi family politics. Of course, at least she said something her brother was out partying. Maybe doing the same shit the terrorists were on. Sure, this is marriage season, but this single action will haunt the fourth generation scion of this family for years. I know NDTV wants to project him as our future PM, but I don't know about you and yes, I know life has gone on and blah, blah, but this is not what a future PM of this country does. Shame on you, Mr Gandhi, your father and your uncle would have acted differently.
But this post isn't directed at the Gandhi family. People will argue that I am a Sangh-apologist and will forgive anything the BJP does, no I still maintain Narendra Modi's presence in Mumbai was not needed and his announcement of a Rs 1 crore compensation to Karkare was over the top. John Kerry got called a flip-flopper in the 2004 US Presidential election? Americans don't know what flip-flopping is until they come to India. See Indian politicians in actions, like the disgusting commie who runs Kerala. Sir, all the Mallu's I know are bloody proud one of their own died, but not this man. Well sir, fuck you and your fucking party. I know that Prakash Karat at the end of the day is a spineless bastard who will not fire you but hopefully The Malayalee's who will vote in the 2009 election will vote you and your corrupt, land-grabbing party out.
No, the reason I started this post was because of this gem.
"Had they airdropped me from a helicopter in their rescue operation, I would have danced in skimpy clothes and seduced all the terrorist inside and would have killed them one-by-one. I know, eventually they will also kill me, but I do not mind dying for my country."
- Rakhi Sawant
I think being at a loss for words here is an understatement. No Rakhi, they would have not been fucking seduced by you, you talentless twat. They would have aimed at your fucking silicon enhanced appendages and blown them up. Which might have saved your life, which honestly seems to be a pity. Please, Rakhi shut up. Honestly. Many of us will happily say that we will give up our lives for this country, but right now, I am bloody scared and angry and I don't want to see things like this on the Internet. I am seriously at a loss for words!
EDIT: And the BJP has people like Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. I'm pretty sure a majority of Indian male politicians are misogynistic, but for it to come out like this is insane. Listen guys, the 'intelligensia' - you know - the formerly NDTV-watching classes (now pissed off by Barkha) will vote for you in 2009, but please, please STFU!

More than meets the eye.

A former Times Ahmedabad man told me that the 'crisis' in Ahmedabad will just blow over. Times' RE in Ahmedabad Bharat Desai, who has also been mentioned in the FIR's is pretty close to Modi. But then again, Police commissioners are also political appointments. Gujarat, like many other states, has a history of fairly dodgy cops - some are murderers others cheat on exams and everyone knows that there might well have been complicity during the riots.
But, hachet jobs on people, especially when they are the lead stories require a couple of things. First, the knowledge of very senior editorial people as well as a very good political source. Just like the Lalit Modi story as HT's lead might well have been an excellent plant by Modi's rivals in the BCCI, and believe me, Modi has his fair share of rivals straddling the political spectrum. Journalists don't just 'come upon' stories unfortunately, there is always an agenda behind them. Covert slaying Sharad Pawar? Well, MJ and Suresh Kalmadi go back a long way. Every story like this, where an individual is a target has a fairly well-established agenda behind it.
So, I'm not so sure what is going on? Is the Times' caught inside Gujarat BJP hi-jinx? The BJP is not immune to intra-party fueding, though in Modi-Land it has been kept to a minimum thanks to Modi, but I am pretty sure that petty difference exist. I wonder...

Trouble in Modi-Land!

There is this rather ridiculous charge of 'sedition' against the Times in Ahmedabad. Now, the Times isn't prone to doing hachet jobs, a la HT, but this was a good story.
Now, the Times has a stranglehold on the Ahmedabad market, a almost 90 per cent share and the Times' brass is very close to Narendra Modi. Mathur probably knows he is cornered, and is looking for a way out but like all cops looking for a way out of a difficult situation of late (UP Police) but the man will not go down with a fight, he is purportedly digging out old cases and is threatening Times journalists in true mafia style, getting more coverage to the case which might take on a political angler, though it is unlikely the story did not have some sort of 'official' blessing earlier. Now Narendra Modi does not want to alienate the national media all over again, the 2007 Elections did allow him to repair his image with a lot of the middle-classes. A loose cannon of a policeman is the last thing he needs.
Though if the Congress gets involved, he might just say, 'Screw It!', though given that Arun Jaitley might want to matter to die down sooner might mean some action will take place. The charge of sedition will never hold in court and arresting journalists, including some close to him (and also tied into the pro-Modi Gujarati media) is anathema. The Times is not Tehelka blowing up some lame 'sting' operation.
What do you think will happen? Will the right-wingers in the Times Group get through to BJP top-brass and prevent a meltdown? Will Modi realise that if he is to ever become PM, he should not make enemies with the English language media all over again, after all Gujarat doesn't have that many seats in the Lok Sabha and delimitation just increases the power of cities (where people read the Times). I personally think this will blow over by the middle of this month, but given that this is the Times, things could stretch.
Moving on, we stick with Jain-run company. Yes, the self-congratulatory stories aside, why did the Times Group foray into Radio in the UK? I have a funny feeling that the 'Radio Mirchi' brand will be stretched and from being a purveyor of sad Brit-Pop, it might actually start going after rich desi's in the UK with sad Indi-Pop. Long live Globalisation. To clarify, HT Media's tie-up with Virgin for Fever FM is not affected by this deal since 'Beardy Branson' (to quote Jeremy Clarkson) runs that through Virgin Radio International.
Also, to be fair, this is not the worst government since 1977, because I forgot the VP Singh, Chandrashekher, IK Gujral and Deve Gowda governments. But those are like footnotes in Indian history, this government will likely be the worst full-term (or close to full-term) government we have ever had. I am not saying that because of my affilliations for the BJP, I am saying that thanks to the complete and total economic mismanagement of the country. It isn't all the UPA's fault, depending on such great allies like Prakash Karat, what could you expect.
Oh yeah, and the Financial Chronicle website is frikkin scary.

Biased Media? Really?

There is a mail circulating among members of the Editor's Guild of India which essentially ccuses the Gujrati media of 'corruption' and bias and that they tacitly supported the BJP during the recently held elections. Of course, some members are crying 'blue bloody murder' and demanding a 'fact-finding panel' which of course gives unemployed former journalists something to do. Now, I do know that media in smaller towns are far more 'commercial' and more in the 'old school' of 'I'll rub your back if I you can do something for me later on', and some of it is pretty crude, but then again, local TV channels and media outlets in many cases in Gujarat were already owned by BJP members.
Anyway, my point not arguing that the media in Gujarat was biased, but so was a vast majority of the national media against the BJP. So please go ahead and appoint a fact-finding panel but also investigate the role of the clowns who were sent to report from the frontlines, heck, cover the international media as well, because their reportage is almost completely based on that of the Delhi-based english media. Bhupen Chaubey aside, most TV reporting was virulently anti-Modi. Print reporting was a bit more balanced despite the screams of Tehelka which got lost in their own hype, even the Indian Express was a bit more rational.
Back to the point, can the media help but being biased? The Gujarati media was in a sense reacting to virulent Anti-Modi talk spouted by incompetent reporters (yes, I mean you NDTV - send people with brains to cover elections next time and not people who try and find people to find their stories) by the Delhi-based media. So what we got was no sense of balanced reporting, other than the occasional agency article from either. So, so to those guys who are suggesting that the role of the Gujarati media should be investigated, do a through report and do some introspection.
What say?
Plus this comment got me making many phone calls at night, and two people didn't confirm it, but did not express surprise either. "What did you expect with a clown at the top?" one told me. I've heard that there are lay-off's happening at that channel, and some of the boffins over on the print side are rather happy of this state of affairs.

Modi's back...

At around one yesterday when the scale of Modi's victory became apparent, I sent an SMS to a senior BJP (sort of) spokesperson related to me which was a simple 'Congratulations'. The reply, 'Thanks, I hope secularists learn some lessons'. But still this is not a time to be smug and point out to the english media at large that three successive good monsoons coupled with the fastest economic growth of any large state in India, the only state where the implementation of Special Economic Zones (SEZ's) has been without trouble, which, despite the fact that Modi withdrew free power from farmers, giving them a regular supply through the day instead, would mean that people are fairly happy.
Nope, Godhra had to be brought up, Tarun Tejpal had to chase some RSS cronies disillusioned by Modi's development talk and got them to blabber out lies. The look on Teesta's face yesterday has quite tragic honestly, but the fact of the matter is that even if you go around claiming that a 'particular community' is sinned against and 'ghettoised', their socio-economic indicators are the best in Gujarat and not in states where their 'political' interests are taken care of. Look, I did not want to watch NDTV or CNN-IBN harping on about this stuff, what they have done now is create a middle-class hero. Anyway, this post isn't going to try to make sense of the electoral thumping, but sound economic policy can win you elections. No matter what people say against Modi, spend some time in Gujarat and you will understand why Modi stormed back. OK, so the comb-over was a bad idea!
The problem with Modi coming back to power is going to be quite simple for many other parts of the country. Firstly, after shutting up the fringe loonies in the right-wing movement, the RSS cannot protest the possible clearance of alcohol sales in certain parts of Gujarat. Expect alcohol sales to be allowed in certain hotels very soon. This would make Ahmedabad a far more happening city, now that the riverfront work is almost done. But the biggest problem for the rest of India, and particularly Maharashtra and the southern states will be the lure of Gujarat. The new deep water ports in that state are going to seriously upset the apple-cart for many older businesses. Gujarat is building more shipping capacity than the rest of the country has, and while port development in the rest of the country is hamstrung by some protestor or the other, it has stormed through in Gujarat.
Five more years of Modi and Gujarat will become a gigantic SEZ! I don't pretend to know what will happen in 2009, but this poster-boy for the BJP could really help them, even though it is pretty certain that the BJP will lose Madhya Pradesh which has a clown in charge.

Crazy Conspiracy Conundrum...

Pretty much the exact transcript of a conversation I had last night...

"Tell me something", a friend asked, "what if the Narendra Modi planned this entire 'sting' fiasco himself?"
"You crazy or what?" I replied.
"Think about it, the Congress gets blamed for being cynical and planting this story, the BJP rebels lose their agenda and Modi manages to polarise the Hindu vote in Gujarat. All while looking like the victim."
"It is a bit crazy, more crazy than the Indhira Gandhi had Sanjay Gandhi killed story."
"Ah yes, but that is true. Of course, you do know that there is one theory that Rajiv Gandhi never died, but that is too far-fetched, too Elvis-y."
"Anyway, why do you think Modi engineered this entire thing?"
"Think about it, nobody is arguing what Modi did or claims he did not do in 2002 is defensible. Shit happened back then, lots of people died, but the guy has been under electoral pressure from the rebels not so much the Congress."
"So what does this 'sting' do to them?"
"Name me one of these rebels who are nothing more than political opportunists in the Amarmani mold who did not lead a mob. Just like all these small time Congress leaders led mobs in 1984 to prove their loyalty, the same happened here. These guys lose their agenda."
"Yes, but Aaj Tak broadcast it, c'mon, it wasn't Rajdeep's channel or something."
"Yes, but think about it, what if the sanghi high-command already knew and ordered Aaj Tak to play along..."
"For fuck's sake, you're losing it dude!"
"And Tehelka?"
"Taken for a jolly old ride. People don't talk about such things to even their closest friends, so they would not tell a stranger unless they were in the loop. And this story isn't exactly cutting-edge journalism is it? It is your same old Tehelka journalism, only this time they didn't need to honey trap anyone..."
"Hmmm..."
"This isn't crazy talk after one too many glasses of Scotch, I really do believe this is a classic set-up..."
"I need another glass of that..."

Why do I get cynical?

Listen, I never said that nothing happened in Gujarat. There is and actually has never been much doubt that there was a systematic murder of individuals from a particular community. Yet, I still believe that the timing of the 'sting' is awful. Plus, back in 2002, soon after the riots there were elections too, and Modi was voted back into power. We get the leaders we deserve, unless of course, you're a communist where you can just win a JNU election once in your life and thus become an expert on global geo-politics, because Hu Jintao says you are.
Why did Manmohan Singh lose South Delhi in the Lok Sabha in 1999? After all, isn't the South Delhi LS constituency one of the more rich, urbane and better educated constituencies in India, next only to South Mumbai LS perhaps? Because he denied 1984 and tried to claim that the BJP caused 1984. I didn't vote for him, and I am pretty certain I won't vote for the Congress going forward either.
Yes, the awful truth in India is that we make leaders out of rioters. This isn't just true in Gujarat, look at Jagdish Tytler and that murderer who was given a life-term yesterday. Despite the case on him, the guy did win election to the Legislative Assembly. See, at the end of the day, no matter how 'explosive' and how 'shocking' any revelations are, if we keep on voting these people to power, we, as a people, only have ourselves to blame. I do not believe that the Tehelka 'sting' will have any impact, because the people of Gujarat will most likely vote Modi back. They care about the more money, nice roads and development (as do most voters), in Ahmedabad actually that depends on which side of the river one stays.
We get the leaders we vote for! he problem is that everyone who stands for election is a crook or a son/daughter of a crook, so we're in a damned if you do or damned if you don't situation. Anyway, this blog isn't supposed to be about politics, it is supposed to be about the crazy antics of the media and nothing will be crazier than the massively overhyped Fortune 'Global Forum' taking place at The Imperial next week. The only Indian journalist invited as a participant is Ms Dutt (she of the Kargil fame), I am pretty surprised that Mr Sardesai isn't there, because isn't Fortune part of Time-Warner and isn't CNN a part of that?
Anyway, India Today's and Daily mail's new paper - Mail Today is expected to hit stands sometime towards the end of next week and INX is also going to starting soon judging by the billboards... Weird advertising campaign though!