Friends,
With plethora of TV and radio channels, news papers and news magazines, public opinion is moulded by the media, to a very large extent.
In this context, an interesting email received by me is being repeated.
Dhirendra Krishna
Subject: Mirror to Media
Indian Media : The Traitors
Food for thought for you. Watching TV news is just waste of time. Read "The Hindu" newspaper.
Mirror to Media
One sure way to get the wrong answer is by asking the wrong questions. That's how Media hijacks public discourse, by asking biased questions. The beauty of a question is, that a question is an allegation that was never made.
Is Arvind Kejriwal arrogant? Has Team Anna lost its way? Is Kejriwal too ambitious? Is Anna Hazare surrounded by wrong people ? And when it's about Chidambaram after he was made FM, Do you think Chidambaram would bring back good times!!! Do you think Rahul is ready to be PM? It's impossible not to see the bias.
Asking wrong questions, that's how Media has subtle but slowly maligned Team Anna by repeating the same biased questions. BECAUSE A QUESTION REPEATED OVER TIME, BECOMES A STATEMENT!
The way you frame the debate decides it's outcome. Like, if you set the debate as, Pranab Mukherjee. Elevated to President or Rendered politically Impotent? Did Pranab Mukherjee pay the price for signing that dissent note against Chidambaram in 2G scam. Was he cut in size because sections in the ruling party don't find him as loyal as PC ? You frame your Prime time debate like this, do coverage on these lines for days, you would have reduced the President to a Joke.
Kapil Sibal reduced Reliance's fine from 500 to 5 crores. Did he take Kickbacks? Why did Salman Khurshid defend Swan and Loop in 2G scam? Why don't you set up topics like this at Prime Time? Isn't it ironic, the only people the media has questioned about the irregularities of the 15 ministers are Team Anna members?
THE CROWDS HAVE DECREASED. Has Team Anna lost credibility? The crowd's aren't as big as they were last year? Well check your TRP's. Even they won't be as big as they were last year in August! Should we assume the credibility of Media has also faded ? Arnab Goswami asked on News Hour on the 3rd day of fast, "Only 5000 people today?"Sir, Govt. ne permission hi 5000 logon ki di thhi!"
IS KEJRIWAL TOO AMBITIOUS? When Anna was fasting, the whole media was questioning, why aren't Bedi and Kejriwal on a fast. Now when he is on a fast. Oh He wants to project himself. He is too ambitious! Is Kejriwal too ambitious ? Nobody asked in Niira Radia tapes, "Is Barkha Dutt too ambitious?" Media never questioned its own ambition, when it went all out selling Rahul Gandhi as the Youth Icon of the country. Would it be fair to say that some media people acted like PR agents just to earn a few Padma Shri's? With Team Anna, you say it's responsibility of a good journalist is to be sceptical? Wow! Where was media's scepticism when a certain `madam' was busy shuttling across Europe last year? Funny Media never questioned Sibal's ambition when he said, "2G mein zero loss hai". You never questioned Manmohan Singh's ambition to stay PM when he stayed silent on all the scams.
Is Kejriwal ambitious? No! Honest people can't afford to be ambitious. Because being honest is a liability in Public Life. And the media's recent behaviour is a testimony they know it best. Media wants us to believe, Kejriwal has political ambitions. This Anti corruption thing is a sham. Ya, Right!
I mean, Here is a person who meets all the top lawmakers in the country, eminent Judges, Legal Eagles, people from CBI, meets politicians, is insulted at so many places for his misplaced idealism, spends years studying the Indian Law, comes up with a draft of a bill which in his opinion can reduce corruption. Till now there is no Anna Hazare in the picture, then Kejriwal says, "Oh now let me find a guy who can fast for me, we will sit on a fast where 300 people come and that's how I will become famous and push my political agenda!!!" Yes, that's how people have made political parties in the past!!!!
It's worth remembering that it was Chidambaram who made them big by arresting Anna! So may be PC had political ambitions for Kejriwal! Oh Kejriwal ka kuch to laalach hoga! Just because you can't conceive of a life beyond that of personal accomplishment, Is it Kejriwal's fault? Why should his ambition be limited by the narrowness of other's people imagination?
Did Martin Luther King have political ambitions ? Did Galileo had political ambitions when he fought for his beliefs agains the anarchy of the Church? Team Anna is fighting for us. Slaves of 21st Century. And rather than admiring their sacrifice, we are busy trivializing their ambition! Even if Team Anna were to form a political party, it will be only because you left them with no option! So being political for them is not an Ambition, that's the worst case scenario!
HOLIER THAN THOU ATTITUDE. The other allegation is, Team Anna is acting holier than thou. They themselves have allegations. One question media was asking , when ED, CBI, IT were busy raiding Team Anna was, shouldn't Team Anna be subjected to the same scrutiny as the Politicians?
Fine, but why was Dr. Trehan raided. Just for taking care of Anna? Here is a person who has served as a personal surgeon of President since 1991, who has been awarded Padma Bhushan. And now just because he took care of Anna, you raid the person you had honoured earlier? Which Parliamentary privilege did Dr. Trehan breach by treating Anna Hazare? If you thought he had financial irregularities, why was he awarded the Padma Bhushan in the first place? Ironic, our objective editors like Barkha, Rajdeep, Sagarika, Arnab never mentioned that bit to the Public. Because it would have exposed the Govt. agenda. Why didn't you ask, why is the 18th most powerful women acting so scared? Isn't it ironic that the Godmother of the world's biggest democracy is so terrified of a LITTLE DEMOCRACY?
SAME STANDARDS FOR TEAM ANNA AND POLITICIANS. REALLY? When the Team Anna people were being harassed, Barkha Dutt famously asked, Shouldn't Team Anna members be put to the same standards of scrutiny as their Public counterparts? Funny, now the same media is quiet on SIT. Speak of applying same standards. The proof of shameful double standards is the fact that, the only person to have gone to jail in the last one year is Anna Hazare! Also speaking of same standards. Kejriwal has paid the tax which IT officials said was due. Is the Govt. prepared to pay back 70,000 crores of the CWG money?
Prashant Bhushan has been charged with a evasion of duty of a crore. This is a man who is responsible for the cancellation of 2G licenses. He has given the country a chance to recover the loss of 1,76,000 crores. That's about the worth of Mukesh Ambani. That's 3 % of countries GDP. You could wipe out half the countries fiscal deficit with that amount.
And here is Indian Media going on about questioning Prashant Bhushan based on allegations in a CD, which was proved to be fake by an independent lab. Why doesn't the Media ask the HM to come on record and clarify, " Why did the HM not allow that independent lab report to be published! Who ordered the fabrication of the CD in the first place? It's astonishing the venom Media has for people like Prashant Bhushan. In any other country, people like him would have been celebrated as NATIONAL HEROES!
KIRAN BEDI INFLATED INVOICES. Par in logon ki to CWG ki invoices hi gaayab hain! Adarsh ki files gaayab hain. She returned the amount that was due, Would you dare ask the ruling party to return the 4% kickbacks which were being discussed in the SCORPENE deal? So let's not talk about same standards, People in Parliament won't be able to match them. And if you have such high standards that you consider people like Prashant Bhushan corrupt, then people like PC in your opinion must be financial terrorists. Funny you always project him as a victim of a smear campaign in 2G. A Reformer. Really? Tell this to a person who hasn't heard of PARTICIPATORY NOTES! Yahan 4 logon ne milke poori stock market fix kar li, and media seems bothered about spot fixing in IPL. Why don't you discuss that on prime time? Participatory Notes: Reform or Scam!
USING UNPARLIAMENTARY LANGUAGE. Mr. Kejriwal has been blamed for using calling ministers with serious charges corrupt. He was then asked to appear in a court in Bulandshahar to explain the same. Imagine if Lord Ram was alive today aur unhone Raavan ko PAAPI bola hota, to instead of fighting the war, he would have been busy answering notices in courts as to how could he use UNPARLIAMENTARY language for RAAVAN. And Media instead of probing Raavan would have been questioning Ram. Well Sorry Media, we can't use the word reform for a scam! Funny anything this Govt. does is a reform. 2G was done for cheap call rates, Coal Scam for cheap power. It's like saying, Laloo did the chara ghotala for cheap milk!!
There was a power blackout yesterday and on Sunday. A 2 lakh crore Nuclear power plant of 10000 MW is being set up in Tamil Nadu. Govt. could have put 4 coal fired plants of 10,000 MW in the same amount. In the country reeling under power shortage, Was the 4 times more expensive nuclear plant just a way to earn thousands of crores of kickbacks? How come nobody is sceptical about such obvious contradictions in public policy. Where was Media's scepticism when MMS gifted Coal mines to underwear companies? Those companies just sold off the coal to other companies. and now the scene is India has to import coal from Australia .
CHOOSING PANELISTS. A few days back very eminent lawyer Harish Salve accused Arvind Kejriwal of causing policy paralysis in the govt. With due respect Mr. Salve, 2G isn't a policy, CWG wasn't a policy, KG wasn't a policy. Neither was Wheat Scam, Rice Scam or the others. But Mr. Salve might have his reasons for supporting such policies. Because he fought the KG gas pricing case for RELIANCE in the SC. A case where Prabhu Chawla told Niira Radia that both Ambani brothers are trying to fix the SC judgement!
http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?268069
The same Radia tapes where Ranjan Bhattacharya admitted to Niira Radia about Mukesh Ambani telling him, "Haan yaar, Ab to Congress apni hi dukaan hai!"
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?268088
CAG later said, Govt. gold plated the costs by 35,000 crores in KG! Shouldn't the media be sceptical of such lawyers on news panels, especially the ones who represent such corporate interests like Reliance? Isn't it obvious what their response to Jan Lokpal will be irrespective of its merits?
TEAM ANNA BACKED BY FOREIGN POWER. Media is even ready to discuss if Team Anna is backed by Foreign power. Why don't you ever discuss the connections of Sharad Pawar with Dawood Ibrahim? When Abdul Karim Telgi was asked to name the Politicians involved in Stamp Paper scam under the NARCO TEST. He said, "I can't! I fear for my Life. Later he named Sharad Pawar!" When he was told later, that he had named Pawar, He went back on his statement. Why didn't you ask Pawar then, Sir under what pressure did Telgi backtrack from his statement?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i8iz7cT-_A
A person has confessed to Sharad Power's name in a test recorded under TRUTH SERUM on Video. And that's fine. But Fake CD's of Prashant Bhushan are enough to convince media that Mr. Bhushan is corrupt.
HAS TEAM ANNA LOST ITS WAY? Earlier it was about Jan Lokpal, now it's about SIT. Have they lost their way? I think the question that needs to be asked is, Do you think Indian Media would support Team Anna in their demand for SIT against 15 ministers. With names of eminent journalists featured in lobbying in Niira Radia tapes, do you think the Media would want a SIT on Chidambaram in 2G? With prominent media houses having mining interests, do you think Media would support a SIT on a minister accused in illegal mining? Do you expect Media to allow SIT on Sibal who benefited Reliance? Won't that hurt their advert revenue. After selling Rahul as youth icon and demonizing Modi for years do you think Media would support a SIT which might lead to fall of Govt. jeopardizing the dream they shared with their youth icon?
MEETING WITH PMO. I am not saying Indian Media is sold out. Because let's be fair, PMO doesn't need to pay you to shut you up because that will be like showing too much respect. Politely telling you to not cover Telangana and Team Anna over tea sounds more plausible :) In all probability PMO treats the media the exact same way they treat the CBI and the rest of the country. You are free to do what we tell you to. In any case, thanks again to the News Media for everything.
Of course you are entitled to your opinion and I might be wrong, but in either case, I have a small request though. If you can't support the movement. At least don't discredit it! On Sunday thousands of people are moving across the Jantar Mantar, with about 8,000 sitting in the front. The total footfall during the day would have been easily more than a Lakh. Media conveniently forgot to mention the people who were in a flux via Jantar Mantar!!! and reported only the sitting attendance. You don't expect media to make totalling mistakes like Kapil Sibal.
So if you can't support the movement, Please don't discredit it. Because if following govt. line was your idea of journalism, you could have all worked at Doordarshan and Rajya Sabha TV. Why did you even bother opening your own news channels?
And finally something for all of us to introspect! Some people say, Fasts are getting frequent, people are getting tired. Funny, we didn't get tired of watching IPL 60 days an year, living a life of fear, Keeping quiet against the establishment like slaves. And now when a few people have given us a Voice, we are too tired to speak. Because it's the third time in a year we have been asked to stand up and be counted!
plus see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i8iz7cT-_A&feature=player_embedded
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