Raja's read only memories

When a nation that has been our traditional ally and most sympathetic to our sentiments since independence and an another country which one of our former defence ministers chose to describe as ‘India’s enemy no 1’ sign an energy deal pegged at a little less than half a trillion dollars, you’d expect our TV channels (English) to either report it or at the very least ensure it has a passing mention. However, as witnessed on Wednesday, in all their infinite wisdom, the channels simply chose to ignore the issue – which could be a game-changer as far as India’s foreign relations are concerned. The leading TV news channels – Times Now , CNN-IBN and NDTV – the first in particular, went berserk on the Arvind Kejriwal trial and his subsequent arrest and more importantly the brouhaha around the PMO’s twitter handle. With its non-stop coverage on the issues throughout the day, Times Now set the agenda for what it calls ‘super primetime’ – the shouting matches centering on them, with Arna...

The reactions to media sting operations over time can be a barometer of their relevance. Consider this: In 2001, when Tehelka conducted one such operation on the BJP leader Bangaru Laxman by offering him a bribe; when caught, he was forced to step down as party secretary and was eventually sidelined. Such was the resultant embarrassment to the BJP that, as admitted by Laxman himself in an interview to The Indian Express , it consigned him forever to its margins. Circa 2014, two sting operations conducted in different parts of the nation under similar circumstances seemed to yield little result: while the one conducted by the news website mediasarkar.com on candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party, including Kumar Vishwas and Shazia Ilmi, showed them seeking cash donations in exchange for favours, the party firmly stood by them and discredited the operation. “Why not conduct this on BJP and Congress members?” asked one party member. Down south in Karnataka, when the Kannada news channel TV-...