Tuesday, August 31, 2010

India's Worst Journalists...

(This post was made on August 31. Since then the media skeletons don't seem to stop tumbling out. Some of the faces here are prominently connected in various scams including the Nira Radia tapes. I thought an update to this post may not be a bad idea. Updates made on November 26 are in Red.)

India's 10-Worst Journalists: In a very 'scientific' poll conducted by Mediacrooks the following were voted the worst contemporary journalists around. Readers have to be warned that this poll was conducted only for the English language media otherwise the list would have been longer than 10 and it would have run into many pages. So here goes..

10. Shekhar Gupta, Indian Express: He is the chief of a fast-sinking newspaper and bides his free time (of which he has a lot) in a mundane program called "Walk the talk" on NDTV. Voters found a lot of similarities to BBC's 'Simpson's World' but lacking in any substance. Much of the interviews or discussions on this program is a platform to scratch the back of the interviewee. If you are looking for any serious questions or answers this is certainly not a program for you. In fact, some voters have very strongly suggested that the title of the program should  be called  'Time Pass.
Update: No change in status. Remains where he was. Boring as ever!
9. Veer Sanghvi, Hindustan Times : Voters were unclear why this journalist even appears on television at all. His newspaper his fast losing circulation and readership to a competitor. Apart from mediocre stuff on television he is alleged to have dabbled in appointment of the current telecom minister (who is alleged to be involved in the spectrum scandal). Voters had no idea what Sanghvi actually does, whether news or entertainment.
Update: Since this post, has prominently figured in the Radia tapes. Has climbed 7 places to No.2 on this list and has since also suspended his column "Counterpoint" in Hindustan Times.

8. Vinod Mehta, Outlook: I once wrote to Outlook to stop sending me any more issues against my subscription and that I didn't even want a refund of the balance. So blatant was their support for the Congress. Suddenly, in 2004 before the elections this became anti-Congress and anti-Sonia, and then after the elections, again pro-Congress. Voters have wondered if Outlook sells only in foreign nations as their letters to editor page contains mostly emails from other countries and not Indians. Voters were also under an impression that Suzanne Arundhati Roy won the Booker prize for her articles in Outlook. Mr. Mehta, of course, has never commented on this issue at all. Update: No change, but Outlook published the transcripts of the Radia tapes.

7. Prannoy James Roy, NDTV : Voters were more interested in finding how many communists Roy was connected to. Pioneer of election polls and reporting and analysis, Roy's NDTV is perhaps the most reliable indicator of election results, swings and all that. It is just a matter of sheer bad luck that on most occasions NDTV predictions on Gujarat polls did not work out well for the Congress. Voters were curious to know how NDTV and its anchors became such huge fans of Narendra Modi. NDTV is, of course, India's only 'secular' channel, broadcasting in India, Pakistan, Middle-East and elsewhere. Update: Has climbed up the chart to No.3. His NDTV has come across as the puppet of the Congress. A long held belief of many viewers has proven to be true. Appears more frequently on the channel now to cover up for the mess created by Barkha Dutt. Has yet to show any spine by retaining Barkha Dutt.


6. Rajdeep Sardesai, CNN-IBN:  I'm personally a big fan of Sardesai, especially because his dad was such a great cricketer. Voters felt he left NDTV because that channel wasn't enough anti- Narendra Modi. So CNN-IBN really gave him the platform to spew venom at Modi. Its not on the TV channel alone, Rajdeep did not spare Narendra Modi even at an HT Summit where he was the host. (Of course, he ended up with egg on his face though) Voters still give Rajdeep some credit for reform and balancing his approach to news, especially when his channel runs extensive coverage of issues of national impotence like Rahul Mahajan and his Swayamwar and all that. Update: Has been a little more cautious on his utterances. Read my post "Hammam mein sab nangein hain"

 5. Suzanne Arundhati Roy:
She is India's only global journalist. Be it a politician, a minister, head of state, saints, print journals, tv channels, everyone relies on her to deliver considered and scientific opinion on everything. And she never fails. Be it literature, nuclear threats, dams, environment, maoists, naxalites, mining, rocket science, environmental problems on the moon and mars, saving martians from pollution. She knows everything! For her knowledge, writings and sympathies for Maoists many voters believe she was awarded the Booker prize. Last heard Ms.Roy was being offered the leading role in a remake of "Mother India" by Bollywood. Update: Has since degenerated into a lunatic scumbag. Wants azaadi for Kashmir. If we had more patriots like this asshole, we wouldn't need enemies. FIR filed against her for seditious speech.

4. Karan Thapar: He is India's most charismatic journalist. He is also the only one whose programs have been plagiarised by the BBC. In fact voters strongly feel Thapar should file a case against Tim Sebastian or Stephen Sackur for plagiarising his program on BBC's 'Hard Talk'. Karan Thapar has a very beautiful smile but to really annoy and irritate his guest as also the viewers he puts on a scowl, grits his teeth and growls like a hundred wolves so that the guest is forced to speak the truth. Some believe he was once voted as having the most beautiful smile among all TV journalists. Update: Appears to be more sober on his programs. Will not pronounce yet if he has learnt any lessons.


3. Arnab Goswami, Times Now:  No one in the world of TV in India can be
as serious and short as Arnab. Guests on his show have often complained that he does not ask any questions at all,  and if at all he does they are so short that they have too much time to answer such questions. This often leaves the guests idle on his shows. Sometimes the guests on his show are rotten, they do not allow Arnab to ask questions or speak at all. Voters have hoped this will change and Arnab will get to ask some questions in the future. Update: No change. Times group's double speak on 26/11 and emotional claptrap over victims are available elsewhere on this blog.




2. Sagarika Ghose, CNN-IBN:
She is the only journalist in India to have journalistic qualifications from the state of Gaul (the one in Asterix comic books). It is for that very reason that she is fondly referred to as "Cacofonix" by our voters. Of course, the Vegetable Vendors Association Of India are planning a protest against her for drowning their voices with her unwanted screaming and loud voice. For her expert knowledge on law and on matters of defence of accused she once got a figurative spanking from none other than Ram Jethmalani.
Update: I wish she was gagged. 




1. Barkha Drabu Dutt, NDTV:
The Buck for worst journalists really stops with her. She has been so unbiased and critical of the Congress and the UPA that the government threw the Padma Shri at her in an attempt to shut her up. But the daring Dutt won't stop. Her unbiased reporting of the Gujarat riots apart,  the Congress is also disturbed for her deep affection for Narendra Modi. A staunch defender of Hindus, she has been wrongly accused of being very pro-muslim, anti-BJP and there are blogs that unfairly call her a "terrorists dream come true" for her reporting on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Voters were also appreciative of her program called "I The People" on her channel. One voter in fact showed us copy of a book authored by NDTV on "How to scratch a politician's back and win a Padma Shri"  Barkha also has fan pages on Facebook " "Take Barkha off the air" and "Barkha for worst journalist on the planet" !! Nobody, nobody does it better than our Barkha. She was a hands-down winner !! Update: Is now on the defence over the Radia tapes leak. Retains her no.1 position and probably is now too low for even zero.


Disclaimer: Author would like to inform readers that in all 7 voters participated in this poll. This is in line with the daily polls that our TV channels conduct regularly. Except that in the polls that the TV channels conduct by SMS there are normally 5 participants, so we have exceeded them by 2. We have received complaints from the Hindi and other language channels on their journalists missing from the list. That poll is for another day. This is a work of fiction and protected from plagiarists, especially from our TV channels.

80 comments :

  1. i would like to pick particularly rajdeep sardesai.i want viewers to have a look at how he conducted himself on the highjack of ia plane to kandhahar. every second minuite he was interviewing the relatives of the passengers, putting tremendous pressure on the govt to release the jailed pakistanis.his show was simply anti national.pakistan tv defending the highjack started quoting rajdeep. i have absolutely no respect for this self seeking fellow, and i urge every one of you to have a second look at the above programme and if possible, throw it at rajdeep.

    arnab is no saint either.on a recent programme covering amit shah the guj home minister, he went on asking" where is amit shah" why is he absconding" etc etc, while the ticker running across the show was announcing amit shah"s scheduled meeting with the cbi.not only it aws silly, it also brought forth, the bias the so called young and frre media persons bring up on their shows. in general, the english speaking media persons, think and behave as though they dont belong to this country or they are doing a great favour by staying back in india.they certanly suffer from the colonial hangover and behave every inch a brown sahib

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    Replies
    1. time is ripe for viewers to shun CNN IBN

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    2. time is ripe for viewers to shun CNN IBN

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  2. Whatever happened to that kickass blog - warfornews ? Is it true that some of the jokers above conspired to shut it down?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous, this superb blog was forced to close by none other than Rajdeep Sardesai, when he found out that one of his journos was actually running that blog! That extemely talented journalist is today languishing in another channel in an insignificant position. General warning went out to all channels not to employ him!

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    2. is there any way to get t.e blog articles? Would love to read them/

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  3. I have forwarded this mail to Mr. Shekhar Gupta for his comments. It is only fair that a person should be able to defend himself.

    Rajiv Mathur

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  4. good, for me Dutt should go off air.

    Now her present agennda is Aazadi to Kashmir. for her stone pelting is the peaceful form of pretest. She wants the AFPS to remove.... She is antinational......

    We should boycot NDTV as loong as she is aired.

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    Replies
    1. THESE PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THAT INDIA IS HINDU MAJORITY COUNTRY AND BY THE HELP OF THESE TYPE OF PEOPLE ,WE WILL BE EXTINCT IN INDIAN SUB CONTINENT .

      Delete
    2. THESE PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THAT INDIA IS HINDU MAJORITY COUNTRY AND BY THE HELP OF THESE TYPE OF PEOPLE ,WE WILL BE EXTINCT IN INDIAN SUB CONTINENT .

      Delete
  5. @ Rajiv Mathur

    Defend himself against what??

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  6. He would take some time to be on par with veterans like Barkha Dutt and Sardesai, but let's welcome the new kid on the block: Rahul Khandelwal.

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  7. Where will these ppl go, after spoiling the whole country. They have to live here only, rite? Then, why are they spoiling the society beyond repair?

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  8. Its time that Pranoy Roy displaces Barkha to the No. 1 spot for his ignorance of what his channel head has been doing for years. Pranoy indeed deserves to be No.1 on the worst list for allowing the rots and weeds to prosper in a media house he owns. Pranoys Ignorance 24x7 makes him the undisputed No1.

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  9. I would like to point out that whoever has written this is nothing but a spiteful person who has no bones in tarnishing the image of select individuals. Let me remind you that every one of these jounalists have their own achievement to be proud of and have reached heights which some of us cannot even dream of. So instead of jumping down each others throats, let us wait for the truth to be out.

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    1. What a Height they have achieved...Now they are King Makers(contact them if you want to become a corrupt minister in UPA Govt, you don't have context an election). They are so great that they can decide to donate part of India to Terrorists.. I am sure you are also from this great category of journalists who sold their, voice, heart and soul to congress for huge some of Money.

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    2. What a Height they have achieved...Now they are King Makers(contact them if you want to become a corrupt minister in UPA Govt, you don't have context an election). They are so great that they can decide to donate part of India to Terrorists.. I am sure you are also from this great category of journalists who sold their, voice, heart and soul to congress for huge some of Money.

      Delete
  10. @ Kavita
    I do agree with you view point that the above said "top" journalists has done a great "service" to our country on several occasions and have reached "heights" that none of us could even dream of. Having said that, and also setting aside the undercurrent of sarcasm, the unholy nexus between these "top" journalists and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia has been exposed. Nobody can shy away from this fact. As far as I'm concerned, although I'm not a big fan of NDTV, (which earlier I used to be... when I was kid ....meaning immature); I really want to see how or queen Barkha 'cross-examines' the corrupt politicians from now on.

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  11. @ Kavita

    I had made this post much before the Radia tapes were out and I was also one of the first to re-post the Radia-Barkha tapes on Nov.18 (in one single file)

    When news persons start misusing their own media to propogate their bias and slanted news it constitutes a direct fraud on the paying viewer. It would have been fair for these news persons to have publicly declared their loyalties one way or the other.

    The media persons who have appeared on this list would appear on such a list in any poll. I guarantee you that. As an avid media-watcher I do take the trouble of carefully analysing every word and line they utter. A closer look at all my posts will tell you that. I do, however, welcome your views nonetheless. I wish such open and free exchange were available in the mainstream media itself. I look forward to your comments in the future.

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  12. bloated egos. thats all. All these B******* have bloated egos and think they can take the country for a ride. A*********

    One exception : at least Arnudhati roy writes good. (still crap, but nice)

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  13. remember that barkha, rajdeep and arnab are all from the prannoy roy school of television journalism. they started their television careers with ndtv

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  14. I remember long time ago, in india, every media had to declare annualy its address and details of ownership. Why this is stopped now? to hide ownership of ndtv, CNN IBN by missionary evanglists or to hide money inflow from saudi arabia for anti modi campaigns?

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  15. pls consider south india also in your list.why did you miss ramoji rao.he would rank first for the whole of india.the media baron directly asks the readers to vote for telugu desam in his eenadu paper.anybody like him so far? hard to find a line in his paper that adheres to journalistic standards.

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  16. Mr Ravinar,

    I do apologise for the hint of sarcasm in my comment. Please consider it the immaturity of a 16 year old. I am happy to know that u put up such posts after having carefully analysed all the facts( a quality which some in the media lack).

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  17. @kavita... the truth will never come out....our leaders are so corrupt from the top down...39 billion dollars is a lot of money, which will never be recovered...justice will never be enforced....the guilty will not be jailed or punished, they will resign, thats all, so wake up..the future luks bleak for the young, if men of integrity/credibility dont stand up....this is the truth....

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  18. these journalists are operated by foreign media. they are such if obama is here thy go for obama, if fasion go for faison. it doesn't means 1%doesn't wear fasion cloths. tehy never talk of manhgai, becoj foreign can't see it. our journalists are like actor of BALAJI TELEFILMS ACTOR WHO wear jewwlaryand fasion cloths at sleeping bet. they can't see the truith. saara india shining ka aser hai.
    our journalists are psedo secular. they say one thing on screen and others inside.... sabhi ek hi thaali ke chatte batte hain.

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  19. A good eye opener to those who do no know the true color of our nation's TOP? journalists!

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  20. Kudos to the Author of this Blog. Truly Stunning writing and a reality placed so well in front of the Indian People. Great Efforts !! Keep it on. Screw the A**HOLES in the rotten media !!

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  21. i m reading your blog since past 2 hours and read most of your post(though i m dropping the comment on this post).

    ranvieer ji, you have provided a great catharsis, otherwise these news channels are
    becoming torturous day by day.

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  22. Bollywood could not have scripted a more thrilling whodunit than the
    2G Spectrum Story!!

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  23. I think, journalists like Veer Sanghavi & Barkha Dutt are black spots in the field of journalism who have sold it for a song, but a very expensive song. And, little said about Arnob Goswami, the better. That loud mouthed bugger just wants t o stuff words in people’s mouths he interviews & all news for him is a BREAKING NEWS. He is a judge & a prosecutor all in one.
    But, I think you’re wrong about Vinod Mehta. He is a dedicated journalist, kind of those who were in the time gone-by.
    And, I don’t know why you thought that Arundhati Roy is a journalist. For, she herself doesn’t know her creative DNA. She is a half-writer& a half activist and hardly a journalist.
    Rakesh Agrawal
    Dehradun

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  24. Dear All,

    Thanks for the comments and kind words. You keep me inspired to research and write.

    Thanks again!
    Ravinar

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Man, you just wrote what I felt in my heart. Keep it up. And in case you find anything good, please do write that also. It's good to write the good part of life also. Cheers!

      Delete
  25. THE SUPER WORSTS IN THIS LIST OFCOURSE ARE VINOD METHA & ARUNDHATHI WITH A CROOKED SMILE ON HER FACE & HER TWISTED COMMENTS CALLING MAOISTS PATRIOTS.

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  26. Mohan RamchandaniDecember 25, 2010 8:47 PM

    Out of these ten journalists, the traitors among them should me immediately caught and out behind bars.
    1.Veer Sanghvi
    2.Prannoy James Roy
    3.Rajdeep Sardesai
    4.Suzanne Arundhati Roy
    5.Arnab Goswami
    6.Barkha Drabu Dutt

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  27. NDA opening up FDI in Media was a big mistake and ended up to be a fatal one for both BJP and India.

    CONgress could not be erased from India if these CONgi cheerleaders continue to exist.

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  28. pranab roy is doing for barkha what the PM tried to do for Raja.

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  29. My relative wrking in one of the courts in bombay, brought my attention to these facts and he tells me that there r a few things which media has never been shwing to the public with regards to the adarsh issue...'coz as per him it puts them(anchors and journos) to shame for blowing up a matter wthout any verification and based on incorrect partial info. and moreover it will be too damaging to its credibility if this fact is known to the nation. since as it is the joutrnos are having a hard time proving their credibility and this kind of news would expose how news gets twisted and planted to suit the editors pockets as it creates sensation and helps them gain TRPs but the facts are actually very far from the projection by media.:-
    1) With regards to the Adarsh issue, the MMRDA under the current leader that is the present CM, has gvn an affidavit in the court that all permissions granted were after chking all legalities and they are fully legal....whch only DNA and I think IE too has published just once and not shown anywhere on TV, and not played over and over as the sensational stuff the TV pple created.

    2) Min of Defense has stated in the affidavit gvn to court that the land is not owned by them as per records but they would want to own it now....this also has never been published/shown with the same passion as the false claim was .

    That means the two issues of illegal building and the land belonging to army are now resolved by statements made by both gov authoruities..and was actually a story sensationalized to suit the media TRPs.. But apparantly media has decided not to tell it to the nation!!!reasons!??

    3) more over he tells me that court has seen that the building was conceived much before the Kargil happened and was never meant for ONLY kargil. The society was initially meant for army pple only, that is all including those who were involved in the latest war...but the wrong that happened was gettng babus in to it...!But media gained all sensation by using Kargil to its benefit, but apparently is not coming out with the wrong it has commited in using Kargil to sensationalize a issue and take the nation for a ride on emotional issue of a war with the enemy, when there was no such fact existing!
    These are facts but never published by media...and as per his statement...babu's shldnot hv been in this!
    I DON'T THINK ANY ONE IN THE TV CHANNELS HAS THE COURAGE TO SAY THE RIGHT VERIFIED FACT AND APOLOGIZE TO THE NATION FOR EMOTIONALLY BLACKMAILING ON THE ISSUE AND DEFAMING PPLE FOR ITS PERSONAL GAINS?

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  30. LOL! Cacofonix :D
    On the same lines, "Stringatrix" for Barkha just for the famous lines "I was stringing along". Looks like the G String needs to be strung hard :D

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  31. //As far as I'm concerned, although I'm not a big fan of NDTV, (which earlier I used to be... when I was kid ....meaning immature);//

    Same here...

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  32. What ever it might be, i find Karan Thapar's interviews always interesting. He comes up some tough questions always which keeps these politicians on their toes

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  33. Absolutely hilarious! I specially liked the paragraph on Arundhati! Cant wait to read more now...

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  34. Media houses are under control of various corporate interests, and are therefore not necessarily accountable to the public for their reports. Like all corporate employees, they have their own profits in mind. Why is it shameful for Barkha Dutt to connive with Radia in influencing the formation of the Union Cabinet? She has built up her contacts and is now utilizing them. Other lesser known personalities also try to influence but are unsuccessful. Their main weapon is blackmail, sometimes subtle, sometimes direct.

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  35. Awesome article. These pea-brained journos think that they can fool everyone by their white lies and shouting loudest. Keep on writing and don't be discouraged by detractors like Kavita here. Seems like she belongs to the same flock you wrote about.

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  36. There could be no better venal journalist than Veer Sanghvi. He should have been No.1 Almost all the TV Channels tend to lean towards the ruling Govt. Because access to political power almost means access to news inside the Govt as the Barkha episode showed. There are no tangible benefits for leaning towards an Opposition party. However the political leaning tendency may get diluted a little whenever there is a massive event against the Govt, like the Anna Movement. The benefits of TRP rating are soo high during these events, no channel risks sticking to their traditional political leanings. All channels fiercely do a cost-benefit analysis. Both NDTV are CNN-IBN today are currently busy in raising issues of legitimacy of Team Anna rather than discuss a clause-by-clause analysis of the Jan LokPal. Arnab was the only one who conducted a clause-by-clause debate on this. He is not as smart as a Barkha or a Rajdeep but still comes across as relatively more sincere.

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  37. I agree with Anonymous (July 06 2011 10.25 AM)Arnab is far far better than the crooks you mentioned Rajdeep,Barkha,Vir etc..Been following Timesnow for a year now, one thing they aren't UNPATRIOTIC,the rest are all anti-national Sonia Gandhi poodles..I don't give a rat's ass if they(timesnow) are over-the-top so long as it is not harmful because NDTV and CNN-IBN especially are akin to terrorists scary with malicious agendas..

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  38. Both CNN-IBN and NDTV have virtually stopped publishing comments of posters on issues that often invite Govt. criticism. Several of their recent reports are free of any comments, particularly on issues relating to LokPal or the Mumbai bombs blasts. The only comments that seem to be being published are the non-important ones such as beheadings in Saudi Arabia. Yet ano0ther instance of leaning to the dictats of the Govt.

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  39. I expect the media to black out or substantially water down Anna's movement on August 16th, given that most of them will be under strict instructions from the Govt. Are there any other media channels who may be more willing to provide a live telecast of the event?

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  40. It is almost an year when you posted this, but this seems to be true even today!

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  41. I believe that Karan Thapar should not be there at 4. I would rate him somewhere at 7/8. Yes, he scowls and irritates his guests. But he also comes up with really hard questions which the guests never face. (remember Thapar vs. Jayalalitha) The good thing about him i believe is that atleast there is one man on this wretched TV channels who can give a hard time and make people sweat and mince words when the others just want to scratch the back of any sensational news. I agree Thapar tries to extract sensational answers, but i also find that some questions asked by him are very logical and what many people wish to ask the guests. Awaiting a reply.

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  42. @ Goutham

    I have noticed that since the time Karan Thapar started and since the time this post was made he has made substantial improvements. His approach then was to first stick the 'convict badge' and then throw the questions. Now he seems to be a lot more sober as my update also mentions. Asking tough and hard questions can be done without intimidation and unpleasantness.

    Thanks for your comment.

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  43. I am Not sure Vinod Mehta of outlook can quite feature in this this list.They are no doubt part of secular brigade but i remember them also doing a story on how pakistan schools teach hatred against india n indians in text books etc. I dont think other secular media normally utters a word against musilms-be in indians or saudis or pakistanis.
    Recently, after Anna movement, I have started liking Arnab Goswami as he was showing some spine to question govt whil
    his contemporaries were stil hidnidng behind the mask.
    Arnab took lot of people liek aruna roy to task!
    yes, agree that Burqa dutt and rajdeep are the toppers of the game

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  44. I like all of them. Some of the story may be controversial. But they break so many stories. So why blame to them? I don't know whether they support the political parties? Instead of running, INDIA's 10 WORST JOURNALIST, Please run a campaign where we can fight against corruption & etc.... Pls.....

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  45. While I agree with your opinion on most of the people on this list, I strongly believe that Arnab Goswami is certainly not in the same category. If you have been following him since CWG scam broke out, this guy has been single-handedly taking on the congress and their corruption. He is ruthless, at times full of self righteousness and patriotic fervor in these times of revolution (Anna, Ramdev etc).

    On the contrary, I strongly believe that he deliberately does BJP "bashing" to appear neutral. My reading of him is that he hates the NDTV brigade of leftist journalists (Brakha, Prannoy, Rajdeep etc). Try to deconstruct him - to me he is one of the few journos to listen to these days for correct reporting.

    Compare him to Barkha Dutt now - the idiot who smirks while discussing the fact that Digvijay Singh kicked a shoe thrower at congress press briefing. Dutt, along with Vir Sanghvi, whole of NDTV, Sardesai are the scum of journalism.

    I am not counting Sagarika Ghose here since I believe she is too bloody dumb to be counted as human, forget a journalist.

    Lastly, Vinod Sharma of HT - how could you forget him? His passion for defending congress on anything under the sun is more than that of congress party itself. He is the most shameless when it comes to blind defense of congress - no matter what the accusation is.

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  46. Folks,
    I don't care about politicians or religion . But how Karan Thapar has stooped. Our Delhi-centric is how they treat they very own who lay down their lives and give them te freedom of speech? They sue one and all. I have never seen nation abuse our motherland's honor. The sight of Indian mediawallahs going ga-ga over “flamboyant” and “dashing” Pakistani Generals is hardly anything new. But when Karan Thapar joined the bandwagon, it came as a bit of a surprise to me. Because Thapar is no fool, or so I used to believe. His interviews with politicians and other big wigs are at times, simply brilliant. So when he readily bought into Gohar Ayub Khan’s ludicrous allegations about Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw being a Pakistani spy, I smelled a rat. Calling Ayub an “officer and a gentleman”, and going weak in the knees at how “dashing” and “suave” he was, was certainly not what I expected from this “aggressive interviewer”. The troubling fact is that, though no one in India has ever accused Manekshaw of being a traitor, many have been jealous of his rise through the 1960s. The Army Headquarters in the 1960s was virtually divided into two groups, as has been brought out in the various accounts of the 1962 and 1965 operations. Nehru's defence minister Krishna Menon was grooming his own coterie, the most prominent among whom was B.M. Kaul whom he appointed commander of IV corps in the east. Menon also appointed the pliable Gen. P.N. Thapar to succeed K.S. Thimayya (whom Menon hated) as Army chief.
    http://elmihiro.blogspot.com/2007/05/karan-thapars-hatchet-job-on-sam.html
    Thimayya's favourites-mainly Lt-Gen. S.P.P. Thorat, J.N. Choudhuri and Manekshaw-were sidelined during the Thapar-Kaul days. Thorat, who was a contender for the chief's post against Thapar, retired as a lieutenant-general. Thapar and Kaul also tried to block Manekshaw's promotion by instituting a frivolous inquiry against him.

    The fortunes of Choudhuri and Manekshaw looked up after the Thapar-Kaul duo goofed up the 1962 war. Thapar resigned forthwith, and was succeeded as chief by Choudhuri. Thapar later managed an ambassadorship in Afghanistan. It is said, Thapar's Kabul appointment papers were the last papers signed by Nehru. Kaul had to quit in disgrace; he was succeeded by Manekshaw as IV corps commander. So there we have it! Thapar does have a bone to pick with Field Marshal Manekshaw! He makes it a point to mention that he is a general’s son. What he conveniently leaves out, is the fact that he is the son of an officer who was popular with the likes of V.K. Krishna Menon for obvious reasons. An officer whose incompetence probably lost India the 1962 war against China. An officer who had tried to create hurdles in the way of Manekshaw’s promotion. As Prasanan rightly points out, “Thapar has the distinction of being the only Army chief who had to quit in disgrace. And Manekshaw has the distinction of having been the most successful chief ever.” http://elmihiro.blogspot.com/2007/05/karan-thapars-hatchet-job-on-sam.html

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  47. definitely........
    vinod sharma deserves the honour of being one of india's worst journalists....so sad he missed out;)

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  48. Prannoy roy should be number 1,Dutt number 2,Sanghvi no 3,Sagarika ghosh no 4,Star news Deepak chaurasia number 5,Vinod mehta number 6,Shekhar gupta no 7,Karan thapar no 8 and so on....Arnab would like to think of himself as unbiased...but I have one question to arnab..Why do you always address Naxalites as Naxal Terrorists but never ULFA as ULFA terrorists?
    Anybody else notice this strange differentiation?Is it because he is from Assam?I will wait for the day he starts calling ulfA as Ulfa terrorists.

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  49. Vinod Sharma, Kumar Ketkar - these two cartoons take the cake.

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  50. I am hooked on to your blogs since yesterday and have read almost all of them.. Great stuff!! Echoes my personal sentiments against all these biased and unpatriotic journos...

    I thought I am the only one who hates the sight of Burkha dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai.. but looks like there are many more.. Great to know that all right thinking Indians have not surrendered their intelligence to these Cong sponsored channels..

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  51. Lol. Although I agree with some, how does Vinod Mehta feature? And how much do you know about him? I admit journalism is at a sorry state but that does not license us to spit at every one in the profession.

    "she once got a figurative spanking from none other than *Ram Jethmalani*"

    Hope you weren't praising Ram Jethmalani.. For if Sagarika is an ass, that guy is a proven bastard.

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  52. How come you do not have Prabhu Chawla in here?

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  53. BTW, great idea to create a blog on this subject and wonderful posts all of them....we need a site like this to share thoughts and views about conventional media. rascals most of them if not all.

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  54. fantastic analysis. keep up the good work.
    gps

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  55. Great job ...,i want to know that these media present themself as most patriot and careful about common ppls cause , but i have never seen them stopping advertisement no matter whatever news it is , for example take 26/11 , i found each and every News channel taking ADD break on regular interval , how sad and inhuman...

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  56. Never realised the reality of so-called secular media. That's the reason the bogey of pseudo-secularism & communalism is raised to enforced their fake ideology. Will have to support to end this crap.

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  57. Interesting for tearing mask...
    Y Tarun Tej Pal left.....not featuring in top 10...is he other side of coin.....

    pls if possible get us list of pple of other face of COIN...worth looking upon...

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  58. I have stopped watching this Shitty News Channel..All are f###king ridiculous assholes who are sharpening there tongues on corporate dollars. I would not be surprised if these assholes have swiss bank accounts.. I still remember during the Bombay Siege of Taj Mahal Hotel there filthy assholes were showing exactly where the army and police were positioned, all the terrorist had to do was switch on one of those f***king news channels. That B***ch Barkha Dutta was going and interviewing people who were waiting to receive dead bodies of there near and dear ones and asking them to explain how they died. What a CUNT.

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  59. How could you miss N RAM of The Hindu?? oops... the ex-editor of Hindu.. The paper should be renamed anti-Hindu

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  60. Well... we've seen everything on PEEPLI LIVE !!!

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  61. I read your rankings of India's so called top media journalists with great interest, and I must admit that it really was delightful to read most of these scumbags being panned by you. They deserve everything you have written about them, and of course you have been fairly mild about them (perhaps for fear of facing a law suit?)You hit the target when you called them anti national ( that supercilious bitch A.Roy is not the only one )and its going to rile up these bastards quite a bit! They wont mind being hammered for their avarice, lack of news sense, sensation mongering, open and shameless support of the government in question, but by God, anti national? That must surely rankle in their petty little hearts even though they are usually heartless. According to me, the biggest scamster in journalism is Arnab Goswami, the screamer par excellence, followed by Sagarika Ghose , Rajdeep Sardesai in that order...others dont matter actually.

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  62. It will be great if you also publish your list of India's 10 best TV journalists? Please feel free to include some wonderful and sincere anchors, who keep breaking good stories, but keep getting scuttled by their senseless and idiotic editors who dont see TRP ratings in such stories! Case in point is the recent story on the Indian couple's children being taken away in Norway by the authorities!

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  63. please add Uma Shanker singh of NDTV

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  64. I hope the mediacrooks blog don't give the readers the impression that all the media-anchors are biased 24 hours of the day. Many of them are very good journalists - Barkha, Rajdeep -which is precisely why they are used by the political and corporate class to project their own interests. To be a biased journalist available for sale, you first need to be a good journalist. Many of these journalists do excellent jobs on news items which do not intersect with political interests. But come a news item in which a particular political party has much to gain or lose, that's when the bias creeps in. And the bias is inserted in very subtle ways - by inviting the "right" people to a debate, by asking the "right" questions to the "right" people as to elicit a desired response (the VK Singh is the worst Army chief trick executed by Karan Thapar is an example of this) or by giving the debate a title in such a way to give a heavy slant to the discussions (e.g. Is Anna threatening democracy?).

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  65. I always had this question. Why didnt indian right wing media sprang up. In US, amid of democrat dominated media, after a long time, fox stood up in support of republican. Why dont that happen in India. Any views?

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