The end of journalism, Mr Narisetti?

While the news sites and TV channels are all overjoyed with the Section 377 ruling - I refer you back to a blog post I wrote a long, long time ago. Anyway, while I applaud the Delhi High Court, which at times seems to me to be the only sensible HC in India, I am yet to read the details of the case. talking about stuff I wrote a long time, there is this post about us Indians being more racist than most.
Anyway, this post is about something I read about Raju's new employers that left me feeling a bit shaken. (EDIT: WaPo has their ill-thought out plan off, hope no-one at Times Group got wind of it) One can argue that such things have been happening in ndia for a while, but never 'officially'. Sure, sometimes the editor-proprietor, and we know that the line has been very blurred for a while, has used his 'access' to parley favours for friends. But this is akin to MediaNet and whatever the other news organisations call their equivalent organisations charging for access to ministers and the like. Imagine, The Hindu charging for access to MMS, since their old Delhi CoB is now the Media Advisor to the PM. This is like that.
In other news on the media front, while a bunch of people have been removed at News X, some decent people among them whose fault was to align with the old powers that be (even though that was an incredibly stupid thing to do, if you ask me personally), there are people being hired as well. We hear that PGT, long relegated to Lok Sabha TV will be making a Prime-Time talk show return when the channel is rebranded. I really must stop watching news TV completely now, why can't tennis be a year-round sport. And talking about Tennis, here is an open letter...
"Dear Star Sports,
I do not wish or want to watch Sania, Bhupati or Leander Paes play pointless Doubles games when there is a Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray game on. I will be willing to pay you for that. Yes, I realise that I am paying Airtel a lot for bandwidth and can actually watch the games online thanks to some kind soul somewhere in the world streaming the match. But I would much prefer a decent TV stream anyday. I bought a bad-ass 40-inch panel to watch increasing amounts of live sports. I would li9ke to meet the head of your Tennis programming and whack him over the head with a racket. Preferably a very tightly-strung one. This is why I wish that our players lose Doubles rather fast. At least this year, they didn't disappoint me.
Yours Truly,
K"
PS: Weird no, all the Eastern European chiklets got all the Press, but the two Williams' are playing the Womens finals!

The End?

The NewsX saga has rolled out to its end with the sacking (‘firing’ whatever you want to believe) of 78 employees. However, as usually happens in such cases there has been immense amounts of back-biting and bitching. Nobody other than the truly incompetent should lose their jobs, and believe me there are enough truly incompetent people in this industry. But whenever there is a drastic purge accusations fill chain emails about why A, B or C didn’t lose their jobs and what their political or apolitical connections are.
Here is the funny thing, emails are possibly the worst way to spread canards – IP logging and all, with Google, MSN and Yahoo more than happy to bend over backwards and provide IP addresses. Heck, Airtel even wrongly sent a techie to jail by handing over data and is offering him a restitution of Rs 200,000. That would not have covered the cost of flowers at Sunil Mittal’s daughter’s wedding. But then again, as some of you say, Apple’s and Orange’s.
The dead-tree industry is not doing much better than the indirectly dead-tree industry (Thermal power plants, I know it is a bit of a stretch, but with little time to blog lately spare me) from what I hear. The Times and ET apparently have so much inventory to spare that they’re handing it over to ET Now by the bucketload and I’m yet to see any signs of life on that front. A colleague who is closely related to someone senior in the channel joked that he managed to see the channel for the first time in Allahabad.
The interesting evolution has been with CNBC-TV18’s programming, suddenly it is less about the markets (Markets are so 2007-2008!) and quite corporate but stories that would have been buried as single-columns are getting mad amounts of airtime. Bajaj’s biggest engine yet is a ten-minute story? No doubt, there are some good stories, but somehow I always seem to notice the bad ones.
That said, with Wimbledon on, I don’t really see too much news TV. Actually, last week with MJ’s death I watched too much CNN and BBC. Actually with Iran and all the celebrity deaths (Billy Mays died last night!) I don’t see the Indian news channels much. The ones I do end up watching are the Bangla news channels because of their Maoist coverage.
Back to CNBC-TV18 in an oft-talked about piece of news that is now final, the network has been given permission to start three new channels – ‘South’, “Gujarati’ and ‘Channel 3’. The first two I can guess, the third I’ve been trying to figure out. Not that I think that I will be target audience for any of the three. And just how much money is there in business news? Enough to support so many channels, or is TV18 copying from the Times playbook and using the ‘flanking’ product idea. Interesting to see if this can work in Business channels, it did not work for UndieTV with city-focused channels. Then again, Raghav B is a bit more adept – but why have The V do a show on business tycoons – that show is a snooze fest for us in the know and ends up sounding like a circle jerk festival.
Back to the start of the tale, I feel bad for people who lose jobs in a weak economy and an even weaker media. Not everybody who has lost a job is truly incompetent or a twat. Some people are nice guys, and I wish them well. As for why I haven’t been blogging as much as I used to, I have generally been very busy of late. My Cover Story run rate has shot up and with several more interesting stories in the pipeline, I find myself spending less time in office. I guess things will settle down, and I must admit not being in office is not a great thing at all in this weather. F***, it is hot and with Anil Ambani not providing us electricity, things might get worse.
One last thing, may Anil Wilson’s soul rest in peace. Amen!

Cost Cutting?

I was at a bar last night (or tonight if you're reading this in the next few hours) along with quite a few people from Undie TV and around midnight some of them were all getting frantic calls, it seems a late night mailer went out from Radika and Prannoy Roy. It contained the dreaded word - 'cost cutting'. What it said along with the fact that all NDTV senior management are taking 20% pay cuts are some rather ridiculous things - including advising employees to mind phone calls. Now call me a penny pincher - but there are better ways of doing things. I understand that travel budgets need to be cut at every major news organisation and trust me I work at one and we are trying hard and thankfully doing rather well, or so I'm told. At least my business division is. I understand that cost-cutting is a reality, but the best part of the NDTV mailer was about 'floaters' - some people work very hard but there are many people who 'float'. Now I wonder what that means?

Given that Metro Now is probably shutting down, I have received a couple of mails from panicked employees about what is going on, and not just with interns, but even full-time staffers, I don't think the next three months are going to be great. In fact, the media industry, particularly listed companies have been great practitioners of 'creative' accounting and might indirectly suffer the fallout of the Satyam saga. even though Ramalinga Raju surrendered so that he could avoid SEBI questioning, and I think he seriously underestimated the media fallout, but the media fallout might be rather bad both for him and the listed media industry.

More tomorrow, when the Grey Goose wears off.

On the INX affair, please read this post.

Breaking

Naiduniya's Vijay Chhajlani and Jehangir Pocha of Editor of BusinessWorld have formed a JV that has just bought out News X. Guesses as to who the real owner is anyone? More later.

EDIT: Read the snakeman's latest post on the matter here. It sheds a lot of light light on the matter, or non-matter as the case may be.

Return of 'The V'

Read this interview, the last few questions of it. Given that Rajeev Chandrashekhar is a drinking buddy of the man and all this talk of his triumphant return to News X suddenly doing the rounds. In the furore of the past few days, a lot of this got buried, just like VP Singh's quietly unnoticed death. Has the deal already happened? And what does this mean for the several people who quit News X or in one high-profile case were physically removed from News X? I mean, that is, if the news is correct. And given Rajeev Chandrashekhar's tie-up with Star recently, would this, in some form or the other mean that Star might suddenly have an English news channel in India, albeit one with a slightly different ownership from the MCCS-controlled Star News (though 'The V' is very close to Aveek-babu also). It is all seeming very peculiar, but after the traumatic events of early-2008 (actually just read the entire January archive of posts), I cannot rule out anything. And after the hatchet job on Mike yesterday, Bunty and Babli are next in line for the Man. You read it here first!
Though, I still have my original question? Do we need yet another English news channel?

Erm...

The Naval Chief had a presser today before the start of Navy Week. That in itself wasn't surprising nor was the public admonishment of two TV channel reporters for breaking an embargo (CNN-IBN and Headlines Today) but the way heNavy Chief recounted events surrounding a senior female journalist in Kargil.
No really! The man recounted the incident blow-by-blow, and if anyone of you attended please send in details. And some channels carried this live. This is the same reporter who is facing hell for her pro-Jihadi reportage in Mumbai. I'm sure the print guys will be a bit circumspect with the news, but then again, I didn't say anything, Admiral Mehta did.
In other news, Rajeev Chandrashekhar has been offered the Mukerjea stake in News X, and this is only supposed news. What is also 'supposed' is that he refused to buy at the price quoted, which apparently was Rs 200 crore for half the channel. Athere might be some details regarding UndieTV disposing some of its entertainment channels very soon, despite a convoluted ownership structure. Watch this space.

Why PR sucks in India...

When you give a product out for review, check it once before you hand it out to make sure it works. You know, that is a nice and rather simple thing to do. Instead of being mindless drones that keep calling on my mobile number unable to gauge the level of my irritation at times. "Is this a good time?" just doesn't cut it on the etiquette front - texting does. Sorry, but after having a rather harrowing day fending off some people I'm rather bugged.
As for Outlook Business, I knew that Sonal Sachdev is going to Undie Profit. What can you say - frying pan to fire or rock to hard place? I don't know which analogy fits better. And as for one comment, about how Mint resembles Apple - great looking product but lacking substance - I liked that actually. But just look at the great top of mind recall of Apple and the fact that the all the 'cool' people use Apple. That said, I would like to point out that Apple PR in India borders between the horrendous and the abysmal.
In fact, BS could well still be ahead of Mint in circulation and readership, but among the people who matter, Mint is slowly but surely building up tremendous equity. Just shows you what a little bit of patience and some decent marketing can bring about. For a previous example, just look at the way the Times decimated Deccan Herald in Bangalore and riding roughshod over HT in Delhi. The latter example is quite dramatic, it was a slow and steady erosion for years and then the 'flip' happened. I worked in HT those days and people screamed and shouted that 'HT had better editorial content' and other yada yada, while The V started a personal crusade against Medianet (though since then, paid placements have ripped through Indian journalism, everyone is guilty). But today, ToI is a strong #1 in Delhi, and strangely enough has improved its editorial ever since it took over pole position. Again, some of you might read far too much into this, but I'm just saying it as it is. Lessons have been learnt, but defensive strategies can also be formulated, and it would be interesting to see the phalanx that BCCL develops (and be assured they will) and maybe the new TV channel is a start.
And someone is desperate for me to cover NewsX and UTVi, and I'll be brutally honest - I'm sorry I just don't watch either channel. I've switched a lot of English viewing over to Times Now - and there are two (male) anchors on X whom I just can't stand (one can't speak) and UTVi somehow just doesn't seem to enthuse me. Neither channel does, you know, and there is no compelling reason to watch them. Sounds silly, but really, that is the way I feel.

How to save face!

The funny thing with having a competitive news industry is that sometimes stories that appear in rival publications or television channels are almost drowned out. Unless of course the break is too big to ignore, when most rival papers just shrug and start follow-up reporting. Like this break by the Times of India yesterday. This story deserved to be a flyer and yesterday every TV channel was agog with the news, and Priyanka even went on record saying she 'did visit' Nalini in jail. So therefore this headline in The People's Daily of Chennai was bewildering. Personally, I thought it stank of sour grapes, but this headline implies that the 'First Daughter' of the country is a liar. The body copy is more rational, but the headline is worse. But then again, this is the People's Daily which insists that the Dalai Lama clique is guilty of terrorism and that we should play softy-softy with the Naxals. But of course, there is this Sunday ET headline which contradicts itself - growing during a recession? Aren't growth and recession mutually exclusive - this is economics no?
There has been a long and interesting history of how to save face when you miss a story and your editor calls you in to explain. There is the patented ToI/ET method, which I remember was told to me many years ago by a women who was then in ET - "If it has not appeared in ET, it isn't news", in response to why she lifted a story I had done for HT a month ago. Thankfully, said reporter isn't in ET anymore. There is the 'HT method' which is to deny everything that appeared in the Times, no matter how stupid you look - therefore when the Times questioned why Delhi's legislators were so lazy and got into trouble for printing public statistics because said lazy legislators did not like being called lazy, HT gleefully reported that the Times was hauled up. Of course, this is the same paper that until yesterday pretty much defended the insane BRT corridor (and if it wasn't for Delhi's Chief Secretary realising the chaos the BRT has led to, would have continued to defend it). And now we have the afore-mentioned method in The Hindu, which today according to a story in Mint are so scared of Times that they want to raise money by selling a small stake to Fairfax of Australia - the guys who run the Sydney Morning Herald among other papers.
In other news, we finally have the first edition of The Financial Chronicle - or at least a e-Paper since there might not be a Delhi edition for a while. Yes, and you have to login for the service, so I really don't care to read much beyond looking at the front page. The IPL fiasco has become more interesting, firstly with Lalit Modi being forced to back down by the newspapers, which has made the broadcasters who agreed to many of the terms upset - so now they are threatening to boycott the IPL, poor guys!I think the BCCI which can take on the ICC, Cricket Australia and the ECB has met its match with the Indian media. Anyway, come what may, I'll be in the clubhouse at Kotla on saturday to see the Delhi Daredevils take on the Rajasthan Royals (McGrath vs Warne!), so if any of you are coming there, I'll see you there.
And finally NewsX, I watched it for a while yesterday, and yes while the anchors might have English issues and some of them overcompensate by putting on fake accents, this is not a problem restricted to this channel - after all nobody can understand some anchors at Headlines Today (even in real life) and some achors at Undie and Rajdeep TV have 'issues' to put it bluntly. Liked the fact that the layout was clean, the anchorettes looked good and there were no talking head shows. I mean not that one would liked to see 'The Champagne Bathtub Chronicles' (Which led me to an interesting question, how many Champagne Baths would Rs 7.96 crore buy?), but so far so good. Not that I'm going to watch much. And I have one question for CNBC TV18, do they have a features anchor/reporter other than Shereen? Really, I think the poor girl is going to die soon with her workload!

Human Rights experts

Over dinner last night I was told that China is hosting a summit on Human Rights next month and had invited some very senior journalists to take part to talk about how 'Human Rights' in the east is different from the western view of the topic. Now, even though I find the main argument dubious, the invites to the summit were sent out way before the recent crisis in Tibet. It sems that one of the invitees has pulled out citing illness, though he told me that it is the 'prudent' thing to do and the Chinese are very touchy of criticism. The NHRC Chief who was supposed to go has found another summit in London to attend and is sending a lowly B-grade officer - though the NHRC is 'officially' attending. But guess who the keynote speaker at the 'Human Rights' summit will be - N.Ram of The People's Daily of Chennai. I wonder what he will say? Even though given that Xinhua will give the summit wall-to-wall coverage, I'm sure we will read about it.
Talking of China, I would like to see what happens on Thursday in Delhi when the Torch is carried through the streets. I've got a funny feeling with all the bandobast (which is why a parallel relay will be run), there won't be too many protests but given that there are so many journalists who have gotten stoned at the cemetary at St Johns in the Wilderness at McLeodganj and have slight pro-Tibet sympathies I'm wondering if a member of the Fourth Estate will do something silly. I'm not going because there will be far too many cops and it'll be too hot.
In other news, NewsX has made onto Tata-Sky. Damn, now I will have to watch it soon. And Financial Chronicle has (supposedly) launched in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore (though no-one has seen it) but no website is still in sight for either news organisation. I though media companies have a web strategy in place nowadays before they have a physical product ready - internet age and all, so launching with no website in plain sight (first page of Google) is a problem methinks! And UTV's new biz channel is launching on the 25th (supposedly).

Happy belated birthdays!

To Papermint (Mint, for the rest of you) and MetroNow (in Delhi), both papers have surprised some by their very survival and I must admit, it has been a steep learning curve. can't really do a year in review, since I cannot claim to have read the papers on a very regular basis, but lets start. MetroNow's biggest story of the year was the Gitanjali Nagpal aka 'Babe on the streets case', this was the year's highlight which the rest of the media picked up. But nothing else that metroNow really did was spectacular. Yes, it reprints some stuff that comes out in Mumbai Mirror, but somehow it seems to lack the irreverance of the Mumbaikar. MM is bindass, like the city, MetroNow is, well... Sadly, the paper suffers because of its rather weird parentage (where Bennett and HT Media both have 50 per cent stakes in an attempt to make sure the India Today-dail Mail paper didn't do too well) - so weird in fact that Metro Now does not have a website which works (two internet organisations with equally clueless plans). Not in the sense of paid or free, there is nothing beyond a billboard.
And you can't really have that criticism about Papermint, their website is fantastic and now registration free. Pity, EchTee's website is still irritating, given that they are in the same group and all. But, what about the paper itself? Like the size, like some of the stories and Papermint has the penchant for nice soft stories, even though the one they launched - shit on the railway tracks or something was pathetic then and it still is - it is as if these guys want to out-Express the Express. But, somehow Papermint is, as a rather famous dot-com entreprenuer who is a fan of the paper told me, 'A great way to read WSJ content for the low price of two bucks.' But when it comes to great news content, while Papermint is a not bad, it still is the 'Mint with a hole' as they might say.
However, there is also 'Lounge', Mint's saturday section, which is very interesting to read at times, not always, but definately at times it is fantastic to read. Pity that they have a sanctimonious old man who keeps on trying to tell us that the Beatles and Led Zepplin rocked. Yes, they did, but get off the pot man! Oh wait, he never did pot - as was admitted in a sanctimonious food article written sometime ago! But, it isn't just this one column in Lounge, while I like most of the columnists in Mint, some of them are truly batty and out of the planet. Anyway, these are just my thoughts on these papers, if you work here, don't take anything to heart and get offended and throw eggs at me while shouting racial obscenities, I mean what can you say, "Bong's are all pricks." Thanks but I already know that.
Back, to everybody's favourite topic on this blog, NewsX. Well, Arup Ghosh has joined them as Newsroom Head, and there have been rumours linking Karan Thapar, Vasu, Rahul Srivastava, Bhupen Chaubey and G-Ban. Strange! In other news, it appears that people have already started to dig through the channels sources of funds and in the coming days, certain nwspapers may print details of this. Keep in mind, that Peter is a British citizen, so ownership issues could be very muddled here. Comment moderation stayed enabled for the time being, though most comments do get cleared and moderation just keeps everything relatively clean.

Yikes!

According to some sources it appears that The V, for lack of anything to do is going back to EchTee, and not only am I surprisied at the decision, I'm surprised EchTee is allowing this. In the last six-eight months the paper had managed to pick up some of the pieces after the Times consistently trashed it in Delhi both on readership and circulation. From all indications, the coteries in the newsroom had been broken (weakened in any case) and the place began to finally resemble a somewhat professional place.
What will happen now is unclear, but I am pretty sure that the people over at The Times of India are rather happy. EchTee had finally stopped using the line that, "Our editorial content is better", because over the past two years, it was evident that it wasn't. There is still a lot of deadwood in EchTee that needs seriously cleaning up. In the early 200's, the paper lost a lot of capable young twenty-somethings (including myself) to both television and rival papers, and there was no concerted effort to hold onto these people. When efforts were made, they were so half-hearted, that really no-one cared. Most of these young things have gone on to do fairly well wherever they joined, the Times of India in many cases.
Don't get me wrong, I still am very grateful to that newspaper and I still think that the The V is a great writer. But I'm not sure getting him back in an controlling position editorially is a terribly good idea. This also leaves the question of what will happen to those who went off with The V to join him at NewsX, will they all be accomodated back in HT? Some of these people burned all the bridges they have at the paper, and getting them back might lead to an open revolt among some of the people who have joined the paper since they left. So EchTee, which has been in a state of flux editorially for the last three years will stay that way. I have a bad feeling that a concerted effort by another paper could see them topple EchTee from the #2 position too, if they decide to strike now.
Also, on the NewsX front, it seems that Arup Ghosh, who happens to still be around, is joining them as Newsroom chief. Weirder things have happened.

Drama

Yes, the epic story of NewsX does not end just yet, after getting rid of The V, it seems that the the rival faction has decided to get rid of The V's people. With the help of a person described as a 'snake in the grass', a theory I can concur with with knowing how said snake treated his ex-girlfriend who is a close friend. Anyway, the sequence of events according to a source, which has been corroborated by several other people, went with a meeting being called by wife with several anchors. The snake (not Snakeman, UPDATE : READ THE LETTER ATTACHED AT THE END OF THE POST mind you who also was targeted by the wife) suggested several names who have to be removed, including Avirook and Arunda.
Later on, the wife sent an army of acolytes and security guards to take away Avirook's computer, at which point all hell broke loose in the newsroom. Supposedly names were called and some people were roughed up in the newsroom, and the party ended with not just a few bruised egos, but some bruises. Anyway, the day ended with five people being fired and a further nine quitting. More people were fired today morning and according to one person over fifty people have quit after organising jobs at other channels. Members of the newsroom are wearing black armbands and are looking for jobs.
This has gone from being a televised drama to full-fledged Bollywood tear-jerker. Given the incestuous and friend nature of the media,. events at INX Media are the talking point of every media office today morning and will be for a while. Further updates to come through the day and comments by those who witnessed the events, from 'either' side are welcome to comment.

UPDATE : We have the text of Nag's resignation letter which I have cut-and-pasted from his website.

My Resignation Letter
from: Narendra Nag to: Vynsley Fernandes cc: nick pollard, saubhik chakrabarti, Dhruva Sen, Indrani Mukerjea, Peter Mukerjea date Feb 1, 2008 12:49 PMsubject My dismissal
Dear Vynsley,
In a meeting with anchors on Thursday, January 31, 2008, NewsX chairperson Indrani Mukerjea told some of my colleagues that I, along with others like Executive Editor Avirook Sen, Head of Domestic News Rajesh Sundaram and Editorial Adviser Nick Pollard would be asked to leave NewsX "very soon". My email was blocked soon after -- around 6.30 Thursday evening.
That I had to find out my services are no longer required in this manner has left me shocked and disappointed -- especially, considering the email you sent me just last week praising my good work since I joined here April 1, 2007. In the same email you told me I was up for a raise.
As you may appreciate, these events have made my position here untenable. That you would not know about my dismissal -- as you and Dhruva indicated in our conversation late Thursday evening when I returned the laptop issued to me -- is difficult for me to believe.
In recent times I have seen, with increasing dismay, the manner in which this organisation has been run: the scant regard for journalists is only the tip of the iceberg -- the manner in which senior management has chosen to operate leaves me with the firm conviction that professionalism is a word to be bandied about but disregarded in every activity -- that respect and dignity are alien concepts -- that NewsX has become an organisation few would want to work for and almost no one would hold as an example of how a world class news channel should be created, or run. You may, of course, choose to disagree.
As one of the first few employees of this place, it pains me greatly that I have been summarily dismissed in so cavalier a fashion -- I can only hope for the sake of those people who continue to work at NewsX that Thursday's dismissals -- Avirook Sen, Arun Roy Chowdhury, Kailash Menon, Rajesh Sundaram and myself -- are exceptions rather than the rule.
I am writing in protest against the complete lack of professionalism of Mrs Indrani Mukerjea and the way she has ridden rough shod over all journalistic ethics. The last straw was the mistreatment of the channel's Executive Editor by a band of security guards and junior managers acting at the behest of the top management Thursday evening.
Such an incident is unparalleled in the history of Indian journalism. Not only do I question Mrs Indrani Mukerjea's credentials to run a channel, I am also perturbed by questions about the source of her funds. She has told the press that she owns over 60 per cent of NewsX. Is this her own money, or is she fronting for somebody? I believe an investigation is called for.
Please let me know my earliest date of release as per the terms of my contract.
Warm regards,
Narendra Nag

The End?

At every second bar where they play rock in this land of ours, The Doors' The End is the anthem song to end the night. That is the song that some people must have been listening to as the sordid tale of NewsX came (temporarily at least) to a screeching halt. Whatever happened there over the past few weeks might never come out in a no-holds-barred book. Well, you never know, I still think it would make a great made-for-TV drama. Of course, if one side does 'fictionalise' it, you could end up with something like 'Star Stories'.
Anyway, as Deccan Chronicle goes all out to launch their new business paper, they are making what it seems to be some very strange recruitment decisions. But then again, 'paragon' of journalism, that group is not. In fact, the person they seem to be tapping up to head their Delhi operations has barely three years in the profession and according to those who know him well, he takes instructions (read: stories) over the phone from PR reps.
Also interestingly, tomorrow will see the last of the 'Indian of the Year' award shows and the person will be a fairly suitable, non-controversial person whom everyone can hug. Like the Prime Minister, who was awarded by UndieTV. But, lets be honest, you give Manmohan Singh, who has been the most ineffectual Prime Minister in India's history (including that 1979-vala PM) the award? Shouldn't the Indian of the Year go to the guy who got the most headlines? Or the most SMS votes? Well, about SMS votes, the votes are 'weighted' so that a certain Chief Minister doesn't end up hogging all the awards. At a leading newspaper, NM managed a huge number of votes, much more than anyone else and they were so scared of declaring him the winner, they 'weighted' the votes.
My right-wing sympathies are not a secret, but for crying out loud! But, as a senior editor at a news channel told me, this is just a way for the marketing types to figure out a way to make more money and a chance for the reporters and editors to get drunk at the post-awards show ceremony. As he said, 'Who cares?' Because as another person told me recently, 'All news is entertainment and all entertainment is news.' After all, who gives a flying f?

X Update and more.

On popular demand, this is what we know. Meetings have happened at Jodhpur Mumbai and now a meeting is taking place in Delhi. Essentially the meeting is between The V and Pratim with a view to saving the marriage, but from all indications is marriage is beyond saving, and these talks are on essentially to ensure that the divorce is as amicable as possible. But with some is the News X camp upset at Pratim's wife's vitriol-laced attacks on them and their 'Dear Leader', they want their pound of flesh and it seems they are going all guns blazing to get it.
Talking about TV, it seems that certain builders with plans of starting a lifestyle channel with a soon-to-be-driving-an-Audi A4 channel head might have been pushed back a bit. But these guys intend to start a network of 18 channels in the next five years, all of them apparently showing off the virtues of their bungalows I presume. UndieTV's latest partner, NBC has sent over a group of Yanks to teach their senior reporters the art of American journalism. But you see, I do not think the problem is with UndieTV but such paragons of journalism such as News 24, which are so mind-bogglingly inane, I really worry.
Anyway, on yet another TV note, while everyone talks about the News X saga, another yet-to-be launched channel has been quietly building up an extremely solid team. The Govindraj Ethiraj headed yet-unnamed UTV Business has been getting some solid people, so much so that they have gotten CNBC TV18 scared and worse still, people at Undie Profit are dreading dropping off the radar to third spot in the business stakes. I don't believe Govind will manage to beat Udayan and Co, but I am pretty sure much like Mint became a #2 overnight in the business daily space, so will this channel in the business channel stakes. This news item about UTV buying out ITNation becomes rather relevant in this context as well, because I am sure Govind, a longtime blogger who is quite a tech-head too will leverage these purchases on teh channel. Should be interesting to track that too. Erm, I don't hold out much hope for Mint TV with their current staff, but is Mint TV an euphemism for the Fox Business channel in India?
What about NDTV Imagine? Well I get it on Tata-Sky, but I can't be bothered to watch it yet, but then again I haven't exactly had the time of late. But do make time to watch Star Stories on BBC Entertainment, fantastic show, and MTV's 'Meet or Delete' show I believe is doing quite well.