A News Channel with a Difference?

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Ever since we set off on our journey of discovery on CNN_IBN exactly a month ago, we have received a fair response, the good, the bad and, of course, the ugly. Fortunately, or perhaps because its only wishful thinking, the positive responses have far outweighed the negatives so far (maybe people tend to be kind to a new kid on the block). Critics (and there will never be a shortage of those in the world, especially within the deeply insecure world of journalism) sometimes turn around and say: whats so different about you, you guys are just like NDTV. I don't quite see that as criticism since as someone who has been emotionally and professionally attached to NDTV (and the emotions will never go), I take such a response as a positive. After all, NDTV has been a benchmark of excellence in journalism for so long, so if in the space of four weeks, we are being actually spoken of as an "NDTV clone", then I can only say: thank you very much.

Look, there is a certain format to 24 hour news that you can't break out off. And yet, I would like to suggest that we are different, we have our own sense of individuality and identity. Its a bit like the art of batsmanship. There are certain things about a cover drive that are essentially the same: the hand eye co-ordination, the arc of the bat, the direction of the shot. But there will always be something about a Virender Sehwag cover drive that will be different to the one executed by a Tendulkar to the one played by a Dravid. All three will send the ball to the ropes with some comfort, but each will have an individual stamp to the stroke. Much the same with television channels. It is very possible that the coverage of a news event like the political crisis in Karnataka will appear the same across channels. Stand in front of an OB and give a bhashan, be part of a forest of mikes outside Deve Gowda or Dharam Singh's house: hell, theres only so much that you can do. And yet, each reporter will have a style of their own, each will play the political cover drive in Bangalore with a certain distinctiveness.

Ultimately, though the differences emerge in the mind. A Sehwag gets a half volley first ball in the match, and he might go for the full drive. A Dravid may want to wait to see the pitch before making his move. Much the same with news. Let me give you an example. On Makar Sakranti, most channels had in place the routine "festive" OBs. We decided to break away from the pack. From Rohini Mohan eating sugarcane in Madurai during Pongal with children in the village to Himmika Chaudhari taking a dip in Gangasagar to Bikramjit preparing tilgul to Naveen Nair taking the climb up to Sabarimalai to Priyanjana Dutta covering the aarti in Bangalore to Revathi doing rangoli in Hyderabad to Swati in Jaipur flying kites with the Thakurs , there were a range of stories that explored the limits of plurality of this amazing country. Not to forget the remarkably effortless Paras Tomar selling kites on the streets of Ahmedabad. I think by showcasing a network of reporters, we were able to reflect the true spirit of 14th January. I have little doubt that other channels also will do similar experiments in the future, and that each channel has innate strengths, all benefitting the viewer who will now enjoy the buffet of news being laid out before him.

One final thought. Just think of this: we could all be Rahul Dravid, but isn't there the spirit of Sehwag nestling somewhere within us? Perhaps, the best compliment we have got in the last month was when a friend, whose journalistic instincts I respect, rang up and said; "Yaar, you are doing a Hindi channel in English!" I don't know about that as yet, but I do believe that the challenge is to combine some of the robustness and aggression that is in the DNA of the Hindi journalist with the solidity of the English i.e. combine a Dravid with a Sehwag to throw up a Tendulkar. Ain't going to happen in a hurry, may never happen, but remember this is work in progress. As for the viewer, you can sit back and enjoy. And if you don't like what we're offering, I have a simple solution: take that remote and simply switch channels.