Southern Discomfort

10

Think about it.. more than 60 per cent of the english speaking audience for television news channels is south of the Vindhyas (atleast thats what the television audience meter ratings tell us). Yet, more than 75 per cent of the news reporting on television is confined to the metros of Mumbai and Delhi according to a survey conducted by a research group. Its a dichotomy that is embarassing. Why is the south so poorly covered on the news channels? Several explanations have been offered. The easy one is that the 'tyranny of distance' works against the south. If news channels are headquartered in Delhi, then its so much easier to reflect the concerns of Defence Colony than it is of any suburb of Chennai or Bangalore. Since most news channels have large bureaus in Delhi or Mumbai, the two cities do get disproportionate news coverage. So much easier....

Sting Season !!!

10

In my new avatar, most people who call or sms me to wish a happy holi are usually job-seekers. A few days ago, a young aspiring journalist rang up to ask me if he could be accomodated in CNN-IBN. What would he like to do, I asked. Pat came the answer: "Sir, I would like to focus on sting operations!" Call it the honeybee effect, but the "sting" seems to have well and truly arrived in Indian journalism. What started off as some form of "parallel" journalism when Anirudh Bahal and co first used the hidden camera to expose match-fixing and defence deals has now become "mainstream". In fact, when the Tehelka story first broke, most journalists were dismissive of the hidden camera. At best, it was seen as "intrusive", at worst, downright unethical. Questions were raised over whether ends could ever justify the means, whether the "noble" traditions....

The Face of Intolerance

10

An editor once told me that he believed his magazine had "arrived" the day two legal notices were slapped against it (no, we're not referring to the editor of Maxim but someone who prides himself on "serious" journalism). By that reckoning, CNN-IBN has well and truly arrived. So far, we have received three legal notices, each one received with a mix of concern and unconcealed glee.. Lets be honest: journalists thrive on "confrontation", especially if they've got their facts right. We don't mind if you hate or love us, we don't want you to be indifferent to us. And yet, a legal notice is one thing. Physical violence is quite another. So when our car was burnt in the heart of Lucknow last week and the driver beaten up, within days of our telecasting a story on Mayawati's assets and only a week after we had exposed a....

Amar Chitra Katha

10

You cannot help feeling a little sorry for Samajwadi party leader Mr Amar Singh as he scurries from city to city, from one tv channel to another crying hoarse that his phone is being tapped. Gone is the ready wit, the easy swagger and the broad grin that is part of the A Singh persona. Sure, the combativeness hasn't entirely disappeared, but somehow one senses the flamboyance that made Amar Singh's UP's first page three neta has been replaced by a more subdued politician, aware that time may be running out for him. Contrast the Amar Singh of today with the man who dreamt of being at the heart of Indian politics only 20 months ago. We were following him on the election trail in the 2004 general elections when we asked him about the role of the Samajwadi party in the post-election scenario. The eyes twinkling with....