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Friday, April 13, 2012

India's Worst Journalists - 2012

The previous edition of India’s Worst Journalist in 2010 on this site still remains one of the most popular posts and also a very widely reproduced one. Over the last decade or so our journalists have come to be held in the same contempt that is usually reserved for politicians. Many of them have simply forgotten the art and science of the profession and this is a serious tragedy for aspiring journalists. How they came to such a pass is a long story. The most prominent ones are not even journalists anymore; they are ‘Editorialists’ whose main job is to swing public opinion one way or another. Add to this the epidemic of ‘paidnews’ and some of our news channels and newspapers would be nothing more than Bollywood or Commercials. After all, didn’t the late Christopher Hitchens say: “I became a journalist because one didn’t have to specialise”.

Some prominent faces from the 2010 roll of honour have dropped out. Vinod Mehta has retired from active journalism and remains Chairman of Outlook. We wish him well. Suzy Roy has moved from part-time lie-mongering to full-time Maoist-Hurriyat sympathiser. ‘Pastiwalas’ are over-joyed at the ever growing size and weight of her 50+ page essays – they’re the only ones handling them now. Prannoy Roy was also dropped. He is now more into barbeque chats than any serious attempts at journalism. Even elections don’t arouse him. But there are some new faces with the old ones. Polling for IWJ ended today and thanks to all those who voted. So here are the winners from the poll, the list of India’s Worst Journalists-2012 from the poll results. Their 2010 ranking is indicated after their name:

Large & Larger..
10. Nidhi Razdan, NDTV (New entry): She has come to prominence more for many reasons other than journalistic skills. ‘Left, right, centre’ is her signature programme and happens to be one of those mindless debates on every topic under the sun. She is proof that you can be an expert on everything with specialisation in nothing. The best part of Nidhi? Now, don’t get me wrong, she likes everything large. Whenever confounded by a brilliant argument or point by a panellist she quickly jumps to her favourite line “let’s look at the LARGER picture”. One would have thought that debates are meant to look at the finer small details. No, not with Nidhi, the larger picture is a convenient exit. Training from NDTV helps. My prediction for this debutant is that she is likely to go higher up in the list in the future.

Friendly five member
9. Kumar Ketkar (New entry): Somewhere a brief bio about Ketkar says “He started his life as an active communist worker of the Lal Nishan Paksh (Red flag party)”. Now why is that not so surprising? And that also explains Ketkar somewhat. He is also reported to be a former speech writer during elections for Congress members. Isn’t that an accomplishment any journalist would be proud of? He has been mostly a Marathi journalist and last heard he is editor of Divya Marathi. A respected veteran, he was one of the privileged Five invited to a private press meet of PM Manmohan Singh around June 2011. Ever since, it has been downhill. He achieved his right to be on this list through his performances as a panellist. What can I say? I hope being a veteran he doesn’t appear here in the future.

Your Banal
8. Arnab Goswami, TimesNow (2010 #3): There can be no denying that Arnab is one of the rare patriots among journalists. Almost every one wishes our judiciary could be as quick and decisive as Arnab is. Which is the reason I conferred him the title ‘Justice Arnab’. His performance on TimesNow has definitely battered ratings of NDTV and CNN-IBN. Pick up any scam, any scandal Arnab can throw the documents at you. IB, RAW, GOI have no escape – all documents and papers have to pass through Arnab. Sometime back I remarked: Most of us wake up in the morning and want Coffee or Tea! Not Arnab, he just wants ‘answers’. Such are the never-ending questions he has. Much before Arnab became a journalist the rock band U2 wrote a song for him – “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”. They were the only ones to anticipate all the unanswered questions he’d come up with. Undeniable fact is that Arnab has dropped from #3 in 2010 to #8 in 2012 on this list. That is proof of his ever-growing popularity. He can out-shout anyone in this world. Anyone, except Meenakshi Lekhi and Smriti Irani.
Fine WhINES
7. Vir Sanghvi (2010 #9): I honestly don’t have any idea whatsoever what Sanghvi currently does. I don’t even see him on any Cookery or Foodie show. He must be doing something to merit an appearance on this list again, at a higher position even. Radiagate has damaged him far more than any other journalist, which is unfortunate. He managed to surface sometime back on his home channel NDTV claiming the Radia tapes were doctored and weren’t authentic and were tested by reliable foreign forensic labs. Nobody bought that though. Sometimes, a wayward journalist, at his peak, forgets simple decency. Sanghvi will forever be haunted with two things: Radiagate and the fact that he called Narendra Modi a ‘mass-murderer’. He will regret both episodes. Had it not been for Modi ignoring his stupid outburst Vir Sanghvi would have been in prison writing a cookery book or his autobiography titled “Fine Whines!”.

No facts, please
6. Karan Thapar (2010 #4): Readers must remember that every journo looks tall in the studio but not in actual life. KT is not blessed with stature and the same goes for his journalism. One can say he has improved a bit but still retains the unwanted scowl and growl when interviewing people. Madhu Trehan in her NewsLaundry interview showed up KT for the little puppy he was. Like the ones who just need a hug and a cuddle once in a while. And if you thought you knew nothing about KT, never mind. All you have to do is hear his signature line on his promo for his show on CNN-IBN: “I don’t want to go into the facts, the facts are disputed”. LOL! Facts are disputed? You have to undo a lot of learning to understand that facts aren’t facts and can be disputed. The worst job KT did in 2011 was massaging Kapil Sibal’s brazen attempt at pre-screening content on the internet. As if that wasn’t enough he pulled out Brajesh Mishra, former NSA, out of nowhere to call serving army chief, Gen. VKSingh, the worst ever chief of army in history. My prediction: As long as he is in the business, KT will be on this list.

Wheres the smirk?
5. Vinod Sharma (New entry): For those who don’t know, Vinod Sharma is the political editor of Hindustan Times. That’s right, ‘Political’ is the key word – less of an editor and more of a politician. It’s not very hard to recognise VS on a friendly channel. He has made the ‘smirk’ more popular than child-molester DGP Rathore on television. Sharma has also been acknowledged by many political spokespersons and viewers as the most loyal spokesperson of the Congress party. No matter what the scam or what the scandal you can expect him to staunchly defend even the worst misdeeds of the Congress by blaming it on the opposition or anyone else he can lay his hands on. The one chance to get him off TV for longer periods was a Rajya Sabha ticket, when Shobana Bhartiya, his boss at HT exited, but that unfortunately didn’t happen. So we’re going to be stuck with VS for quite a while. His best moment in recent times was during the debate over Gen. VK Singh and the Tatra trucks scam. He was angry that the debate was going one way (in favour of Gen. Singh) so had to somehow twist it against the tide. In his business time VS writes a blog titled ‘Separated at birth’. I guess that refers to some Pakistani connection or maybe his journalistic independence was separated at birth. Someday we’ll find out.

4.Shekhar Gupta (2010 #10): (Content held back on account of Indian Express' legal action with Google)



I washed my hands in the Hammam
3. Rajdeep Sardesai (2010 #6): Hmmm! The guy is making progress alright. I have always maintained there are two Rajdeeps – One on TV and one off it. Whenever he is off TV his conscience strikes and one can hear a sane person, sometimes profound, sometimes emotional. But his character loses focus in front of the camera. Recently, he lamented on Twitter about being abused as a’Muslim whore and a Motherf$#!#*’. Bad, but the kind of abuse of journalistic ethics that Rajdeep has frequently allowed under his watch is far more serious. He has even given the media the right to ‘conduct hearings’ against personalities. While he wonders about ‘image makeovers’ for others, there is no way he can ever get past the Cash4Votes bungling or the terribly biased reporting on Gujarat riots. His 2007 conduct of an HT Summit which featured a key speaker reflects a character of pathetically low moral values and journalistic ethics. And to top that he defended the tainted Radiagate journalists and was rightly ‘slapped’ by his own community. Death of decent journalism owes a small debt to him. He has rightly earned the nick name ‘Hammamboy’!

If it's Friday, it must be...
2. Sagarika Ghose (2010 #2): Ms. Cacofonix stays where she was: at No.2. You can’t fault Sagarika for not trying hard enough to be India’s worst journalist. She has made every effort in the recent past to get to #1. Journalism gives her a bad name. For her truly pathetic and fraudulent ‘live’ show with SriSri she would have been sacked from any TV channel in the world. That in itself is a reflection of the ethics and morals practiced at CNN-IBN by her and her boss Rajdeep Sardesai. You can imagine the skulduggery behind all other programmes and debates. And if that wasn’t enough she misses no chance to prove she is a ‘journalistic bimbo’ by mindless tweets on the social network. Be it about ‘ugly Indian males’, or Orange being a colour in our national flag or sending out a Good Friday greeting and withdrawing it she is truly the court-jester of Indian journalism. What can I say? Better luck next time!

Me, Myself & I
1. Barkha Dutt (2010 #1): For the second time in a row Barkha retains her position as India’s worst journalist in the poll, by a whopping margin. The only road to redemption is apologising for past blunders. While she and another one have been vocal in demanding apologies and expressions of remorse from public figures the same standard doesn’t seem to apply to her. No matter what she does the taint of Radiagate and many other indiscretions are unlikely to disappear. The accusations of causing deaths in Kargil or in 26/11 are also going to linger.  She is probably the only news celeb on TV that has a ‘wardrobe sponsor’. All the image makeovers may not help much. Most of us have held Rahul Gandhi for the Congress’ UP election disaster but Barkha and NDTV must be credited with the disaster too. No one has singularly promoted RG and his cause and almost turned him into India’s saviour till the engine got derailed. Her penchant for Pakistani politics and politicians is another thing that disgusts many viewers. In the meantime her language keeps getting better and better. In a recent tweet she responded to sarcasm with: “… ‘ .. if ever language betrayed desperation of loser, it is here…” Losers or not, with over 70% of the votes polled, Barkha is the absolute winner here. Cheers!

So there you are. Let’s also not forget that are many journalists who now increasingly seem to be anti-nationals. Their ties to Ghulam Nabi Fai aren’t even being investigated by the govt. Industry leaders usually raise the standards of performance of the industry as a whole. The opposite seems to be true in the media. Systematically, many of India’s journalists have brought the profession to rock bottom over the years. I continue to maintain, they are the greatest threat to our democracy. 

250 comments:

  1. Wonderful Rating....My Favourites 1,2 & 4....

    Sanky

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  2. Dear ravinar, as usual superb. Among these who would you personally rate as your best?

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  3. I disagree..Sagarika is the worst journalist ever. Such a drama queen.I suggest u come up with ratings for regional/vernacular media too...

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  4. Papa/Mummy/Pati quota journo rule the roost. I think you reserved your best lines for the no 10, your personal favorite?

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  5. Wonderful analysis!! Hats Off sir

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  6. YaY! I thought the poll itself was a great idea and a clincher in itself and this analysis as usually beats your best :-) The best part was not 1,2,3 etc. It is your analysis of each of those characters - Every a top class one. In the end I thought you might as well have just one rank - "Worst"
    Once again, at the risk of sounding repetitive, Great job my friend. More I visit this place, more I fall in love with this place. In my schedule a must drop in place every day :-)

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    Replies
    1. Well said Suresh. And a well written article. Couldn't have said it better myself sir!

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  7. Excellent - your observation and humour. What u missed was Shekhar Gupta acting as spy (Bhopal Gas case)

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  8. Sir,
    How about coming up with worst guest debaters- For eg We have Shabnam Hashmi,Teesta Setlavad,Renuka ,Ms Mishra,Oza from Gujrat,Bhandookwala,John Dayal,Dhananjay Kumar and more to think about .Please call for nominations and run the poll
    smedia4

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    Replies
    1. Maybe one for the worst party spokespersons. I am sure Rajiv Pratap rudy and Renuka Chowdhary woulld compete for the top spot

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  9. Two of the ten, Barkha and Rajdeep made their TV careers over the dead bodies of Gujarat riot victims (not the burnt Karsevaks mind you). Hence their necrophilia.

    Here is a small tidbit about Arnab. Arnab was in NDTV in 2002. He was a novice then. At 12.00 noon on Feb 27, 2002 as he was announcing the barbaric burning of 59 Karsevaks in Sabarmathi Exp, a smile involuntarily slipped off his face. Nothing wanton about it. It was inadvertent. He was trying to impress as a newbie television journalist. He pulled it in immediately.

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  10. Though i loved them, only wish your analysis be as hard-hitting as your tweets!
    I am truly amazed at how quickly you catch even the smallest of their mistakes/frauds & bring out the truth!
    Looking fwd for more.

    Really wish all *journos* read this.. :)

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  11. Fantastic post.But, I am a bit disappointed with the ranking given to Agent Void ( Sharma). According to me he should be @ #2 next only Queen Burqua. Again your comments on Supreme Justice Arnab were rib-tickling to say the least. Also, as suggested by some one you should run a poll for the worst panelists.. My main nominations are Madish Tiwari, Rotten Chowdry, Teesta, Shabnamm Hashmi,that grey pop-cut spectacled lady who commented that both Rahul & Akilesh are young and educated(!!, I can understand this for Akilesh).

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    1. i would call him Vomit Sharma !!! he really vomits as a congress mouth piece

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  12. To those who wanted a rating/ranking of TV Panellists.. there is already a post titled "India's Worst TV Panellists" .. just search within the site..

    The listing of 'Worst journalists' is not a personal rating/ranking but based on the poll itself. Results are on the top right of this page..

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  13. Ravinar,

    Great Job. I don't have words to record my appreciation.

    superb.

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  14. Did u just forget to tag:
    Anti nationals, pro Pakistanis, anti Hindus, pro Muslims, anti military, pro Naxalites, Muslim W....., Pro Pakistanis,Pro Antonio Maino, Paid Media, Dalaal Media, CONgrASS lickers, CON'gi Spoke persons,CON'gi doormats,News Blockers, Lobbyists, Morons, stupids, spinners, twisters, haters, traitors, "SICK"ulars,Chickens, Petitioner cum lawyer cum juries.....

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  15. Dear Ravinar,

    Awesome anlaysis !
    Nidhi would definitely climb up, if she keeps the arrogance.
    Shekhar Gupta should actually be at number 1 but its a tough competition with Barkha, Sagaraika and Rajdeep out there!
    SG has to be number 1 for the simple fact that he has destroyed a great institution of journalism called IE, which was donned by the likes of Arun Shourie. Arun Shourie had inspired many a movies with honest journalist as the hero!
    Arnab with all his noise, I still feel is not partisan! Of course, one can mistake his trying to be politically correct many a times as partisan. If he can manage this being part of the channel owned by Times, it is still good. If he really works on his short comings, he can become a good TV journalist!

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    1. My son who just finished Grade 12, finds Arnab extremely partisan. He feels like "slapping that b@stard" for his bullshit in his recent programme after Cong disaster in Delhi MCD polls

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    2. Kudos....
      Of late, Nirmala Sitaraman is learning to give a small doze to Arnab of his own medicine.

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  16. the best part of the write up is the pictures you have selected. even without the write up they tell the story. I liked the one on SG,Vir, Arnav,and of course the no 1. thanks for the analysis.

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  17. Each one has been described so well.

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  18. dear Ravinar,
    i liked ur rating...but I have a small req. can u makea list with Indias brst juornalists as it can be very usefull for s to choose....

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  19. Now ENDTV24X7 is after Mamta Banerjee alongwith NaMo . Since all the allies of whether it is sharad pawar ,lalu yadav etc etc dont have any courage rather we can say HAMMAM mein sab nange hain .. and outside supporters like SP and BSP toe its line because of CBI .. and Mamta does not believe in yes boss or we may say YES MADAM and proving to be bone in the flesh so now she is the TARGET ... so your rating says it all .. we are watching this space on your view on this .. since everyday whether it is LRC , prime news or buck stops here she features regularly

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    1. So you see absolutely nothing wrong with Mamta's dictatorial behavioral? RSS has always been like that. Anyone anti-Congress is hailed a hero. No matter how they act. Look at the bitch and her pup, Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi. Maneka was villain of the nation at one time. Now she savior of the country.
      Mamta arrests a man just beacuse he made a cartoon of her? Now are you going to blame that on her congress affiliations?

      Delete
    2. It's sad that when we are discussing the transgressions of the media, you can call a lady, however much you don't like her, a bitch, and that too in a public forums where the discussions are civil.

      You don't have a right to point fingers at RSS or anyone else as long as you remain intolerant to others' point of view to the point of using ugly language.

      Swearing is the last resort of the illogical and idiotic.

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    3. While I do not condone abusive language in public forum, I think I understand what the guy means.
      Maybe he wasn't abusing her at all. Maybe he just mistook her for a bitch due to her love for dogs. After all she is barking to save dogs, I mean shouting. While her son is talking about killing humans. It is curious why they love dogs more than humans.
      Jokes and abuses apart, I think that guy was bang on about the whole Mamta thing.
      Arresting someone because he drew a cartoon of her? That truly is intolerance.
      However that is alright, if she censors everything. You will find that congress does not indulge in such acts. Yet when Sibal talks about censoring web content to prevent communally provocative text, that is congress dictatorship? There have been many rumors and cartoons about Rahul and Sonia Gandhi along with Manmohan Singh. Has congress arrested those people who did it? Or has congress censored that?
      However just because Mamta does not toe the coalition lines,she is being hailed as hero. Is it that anyone anti-Congress is hero? However insane or dictatorial he/she may be?
      It doesn't matter if that person will destroy India. As long he is going against Congress. And the RSS-BJP dares to call itself nationalist. BJP are power hungry opportunists willing to court any anti-Congress party to quench their thirst for power. I have no love for congress, However I have utmost disgust for the RSS-BJP. The terrible sort of things that those people spout of about their rivals without any proof is simply disgusting. Just remember, that if they can do about other, they can do it to you if they ever go against you. You should try and discpline them too, like you tried doing here. Or do you render this service for the anti-BJP?
      And from the looks of it, this site is nothing more than part of BJP propaganda machinery.
      While these writers are taking shots at the so called biased Journos above, they are no less biased, under the guise of 'unbiased' observers.

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    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. In extreme bad taste. The work of a perverted professional who couldn't make so much as a scratch on journalism in the country. Attention-seeking stunts as these mean nothing to people who have "won" the "poll". Journalism in India may be in tatters, but people such as this author keep nibbling at it, eager to scurry away with the last crumbs.

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    1. What an idiot! Attention seeking stunt? You find all these journalists spewing out garbage day in day out in good taste?? God help you....

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    2. You talk like a (self proclaimed) 'saviour' of journalism here. Because our name didn't ring a bell in my mind, I wonder what is your contribution to Journalism and how big is that scratch which you have made on journalism?

      Delete
  21. Awesome post - mindblowing analysis of top 10

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  22. Extremely well done! Now what can we do to get rid of these people and make sure they never appear on TV again? In the US (where I live), these kind of journalists have been sacked by their networks never to be heard of again.

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  23. Shekhar Gupta should has actually earned the top ten slots all to himself. RIP Express.

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  24. @ Shubhankar!!

    really!! read between the lines dude!! either you are from the same dumb educated lot who goes to talk shows hosted by these crooks or have a vested interest in posting such idiotic lines.

    WHat more can i say, Did you not know about C kunte affair.

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  25. Prabhu Chawla, Chandan Mitra kept out. The list itself is dubious man. Nothing more than a propaganda. Come out with the real intentions buddy. Who's sponsoring you?

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    1. Who on the list doesnt belong?

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    2. Obviously the RSS. The list has only those who are either anti-RSS or pro-Congress. So no surprises there.

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    3. Chandan Mitra is a BJP rajya sabha member. For him to be pro-congress would be impossible. There are hardly any visible pro-BJP journalists. How many times have you seen Prabhu Chawla on a panel debate - very rarely. This poll is as much about the visible journalists as much it is about the incompetent and biased journalists amongst the set of visible journalists.

      Delete
    4. Damn it! You DON'T seem to understand the meaning of a poll! All these characters have scored top marks for raping journalistic ethics for their interests. I am sure you'll agree on that point.

      "Who's sponsoring him?" Nationalism, Patriotism, Ethics! I think in today's warped environment...that should be labelled blasphemy!

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  26. I think it is unfair - Sagarika Ghose is worse than Barkha Dutt - at least Barkha doesnt have a sugar daddy.

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  27. Rightly said by someone just before me. People like Chandan Mitra definitely deserves to be on the list. Although I ain't gonna sing any paean on the congress, but this list has a smell of saffron to it.

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    1. Chandan Mitra is a BJP MP. His Political affiliation is pretty clear and has nothing to hide. He liked the ideology of BJP and joined the party. You have no right to question his choice. While the above mentioned list contains ONLY those journos who claim themselves as apolitical and unbiased torchbearers of journalism. In fact, these bigots masquerade themselves as unbiased journos and give sermons to people as if they are neutral while being blatantly biased towards Congress. You found 'Saffron smell' in the list. This is the proof that you are convinced that all these journos are against 'saffron'.

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    2. I am against you as well.

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    3. Dude, Kumar ketkar is known to say that journalism can never be 'apolitical' and has clearly stated his support for Congress. So technically you cannot use the excuse to keep Chandan Mitra out if want to keep Kumar Ketkar in.

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  28. shekhar gupta terrible
    i like nidhi rajdhan

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  29. ndhi is good i like her
    devraj

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  30. @ PRK

    Your comment was deleted. Remember, you are free to post comments and your opinions whatever they may be. This does not give you the right to publish unwanted info as if you have accomplished some great investigation. Such info is openly available to all those who want it and doesn't call for being published here as part of your comment or argument. Please stick to the topic.

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    1. You people bash congress for its censoring. And here you delete things which may cause discomfort to RSS and out you as RSS agents. Ya you are 'unbiased' and 'apolitical' alright.

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    2. Hi 'Ravinar'. Wanted to get in touch with you to get a story reaction on the 2012 list.

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    3. Theres a contact button on the right margin of the page.. You can send communication thru that..

      Thanks...

      Delete
  31. pls explore links of journalists with links with fai. Kuldip Nayar, donkey and many of his tribes

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  32. I was told I am harsh on media .. glad to note I have plenty of company (although I may not agree entirely with some of the above) !! :) ... Swami, Bangalore

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  33. the so called tv debates could be dismissed as merely bad entertainment if the slant and mischief was not so obvious and literally 'in your face'.some of these 'editorialsts' suffer from delusions of grandiosity which would still be acceptable only were it not so crooked.

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  34. I want to know who has been a journalist of quality in any of the english newspapers or 24/7 english barking news channels? What makes a quality journalist? He or she should be expressive,fluent,succint in the language they write and in the case of TV they also need good diction and voice modulation.In addition, they need to travel within the country to understand what is going, should be unbiased to understand what is going on.No doubt the ugly list of 10 is justified because they lack journalistic qualities, they are also corrupt and crooked.Simply critizing and creating an ugly list of 10 will not make it any better.Congis will get kicked out very shortly, some of these same journalist morons will change sides and new hindutva toting brigade will surface.By then will the honesty and caliber of a journalist change?Will they be listened with respect for their knowledge and accepted for honesty?I doubt.

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  35. Lets include Chandan Mitra, Swapan Das Gupta and their ilk too. They would hog all the ten slot s, how they have brought journalistic traditions to disrepute. This list is sponsored too.

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  36. Well rated !. In a mad race for better TRP, most of the journalists Hunkey Dorey to their conclusions !. Journalism/Judiciary system shld have people without any party orientation !

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  37. As an experiment, please try doing a poll for best journalists.
    Keep the same set of journalists for the votes. By and large.

    Believe me, you will be amazed by the results you will be seeing.

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  38. Well...my ratings are also more or less the same. My fav jurnos are number 1 and 10.

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  39. Well...my ratings are also more or less the same. However, my fav jurnos are number 1 for "The Buck stops here" and Sl No.10 for "Left Right Centre"

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  40. This is just... awesome.

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  41. This is totally awesome. And thank god i am not the only one who feels this way. Media is seriously corrupt and biased towards the dynasty. Most of the journalists never really go deep into the facts and for the ones who claim to be patriotic, their solution to India's problems is endless debates which give them TRPs. Love this site.

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  42. The MOST SHAMELESS CROOK in the GUISE OF JOURNALIST but a BARKING DOG of CORRUPT & COMMUNAL CONgis is VINOD SHARMA

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  43. BARKHA is NO MORE JOURNALIST but a POLITICAL FIXTURE

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  44. THE BIGGEST CROOK MEDIA - TV CHANNEL NO:1 NDTV followed by CNN-IBN.
    AMONG NEWSPAPER - Hindustan Times, Indian Express (May R.O.Goenka's soul R.I.P) thanks to Sekhar Gupta, T.O.I

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  45. Poll results have an uncanny resemblance to what a common man thinks of the top 10 ( or shal we say bottom 10?)

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  46. Very often these news channels use their own abbreviated forms for people's names (Yeddy for Yeddyurappa, Chiddu for Chidambaram, and so on) some of which do not sound very pleasant! How would the Barkha Dutt's and Sagarika Ghose's like it if people shortened THEIR names to Bark and Sag ??

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    Replies
    1. Barks twitter id is @BDUTT , iwould remove D ,perfectly suits her political ideology to Congress

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  47. Leaving out Chandan Mitra from being considered is injustice to him. He quintessentially symbolises along with others mentioned in this poll, the debasement of journalism

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  48. Strange how the most obnoxious people bear the initials SG.

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  49. I have no major disagreements with the poll excepting that the sample is abysymally small.. You need to use the social media to get more noticed... Its agood effort but unfortunately its credibility because of the small sample size is suspect... BTW most of the ten mentioned barring Razdan and Ghose are interesting to watch read... Rahul kanwal who is boring dooes not appear in the list.. If you bring aBest Ten list then we will know who the comparison is with.. and i will bet that quite a few of those in the worst ten will appear there too

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  50. Absolutely meaningless.
    Pity the bloggerworld which has to carry the burden of such "crooks" as the author of this blog.

    The author keeps on telling about journalistic ethos but could you please enlighten us on how you conducted this poll ?
    what were the methods adopted ? what parameters were used specifically to analyse their skills and weaknesses ?

    Should we believe in self appointed journalistic apostles like you or journalists with reputation ? Only thing that they quizzed bjp or modi sometimes make them lesser mortals as journos ?? Let me tell you, there are a billion people who has serious questions against modi, not just the 10 people you listed.

    If you talking about balance in reporting, your blog shows you don't have that either. Why can't you admit yourself as the self appointed spokesperson of India's most hated chief minister at least for the sake of clarification of your venomous identity ??

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    Replies
    1. Dear Niedheesh,

      1) This Blog is not about Mr Modi & never would be. This blog is about enlightening the masses about corruption & hypocrisy of entire Media which is consistently slow poisoning ordinary Indian minds through 24 hrs propaganda,
      2) I believe we are a democracy & everybody must have equal opportunity. Hence its seems strange when you accuse the Blogger to be Pro-Modi. Yes the Blogger is Pro-Modi but without the political opportunism which has become a regular activity for most of Media. Nothing wrong to appreciate Mr Modi if you are not a stooge of Congress & Sonia Maino.
      3) A billion people hating Modi ???? Are you writing this from somewhere outside India?
      4) The most interesting aspect is that when the entire Media is busy in demonizing Mr Modi for past 10 years without a shread of evidence, why should you feel threatened by a small pro Modi blogger ????

      Delete
    2. not part of the "secular mob"April 28, 2012 8:32 PM

      NIDHEES MK..dear

      will u plz clarify what u mean by "india's most hated chief minister"??

      justify this if you have balls...what are your sources??
      who are these billion people u r talkin abt??
      can u back up ur claim of "billion ppl hating modi" or is this just a opinion u have??
      oh wait!! u r the one who is self-appointed spokesperson of a billion people...

      in india criminality is established by the court of law...not by some ragtag bunch of "so-called secular" mob..there is a big diff between evidence & opinion..right dumb-head??

      modi is the chief minister of 6 crore ppl...learn to live with it but still if ur frustration at not being able to prove anything against modi overwhelms you..i suggest u go cry out loud under ur bed but plz spare us ur "secular" opinions...
      come back when u have evidence..ciao

      Delete
  51. Excellent idea, this. Only I would have elevated pulpit-thumper Arnab Goswami to second or third spot. Let me float another idea. We really must consider making a similar list of the 10 most obnoxious politicians. The current topper would be Mamata di who is now crowing like a rooster on its own dung hill. And Nideesh, the author does not have to prove anything to anybody. Even if only 3 or 10 persons voted in this poll, it is a fair poll in a democracy. You of course are free to start your own blog and conduct your own poll. Radha Rajan

    ReplyDelete
  52. Sounds like a fairly representative survey and the comments are appropriate. One thing which separates Arnab Goswami from everyone else is his nationalism. After all he was most supportive of Anna movement and also General V.K. Singh. He also argues for taking positions while editorializing. I hope he manages to move out of this list. Top slots are bang on

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nationalism? With Aman ki Asha and Kasab moving simultaneously on parallel tracks?

      Delete
  53. I just found this article in timesfeed.com. This is My first time in mediacrooks.com. BTW I am really impressed with the list. Arnab Goswami, a journalist who knows everything, from vagina to penis, he talks fast, and doesn't listen to anybody.LOL

    ReplyDelete
  54. We need to distinguish between journalists with a bias in reporting and journalists who are just plain incompetent. Sagarika Ghosh falls in the incompetent category. Nidhi Razdan religiously follows the NDTV editorial line - she adds very little of her own. And Arnab acts as the Supreme Court - that's his style - so be it. Barring these three, everyone else have pretty much sold their journalistic integrity to a particular political party. Kumar Ketkar's role in concocting propaganda and outrageous conspiracy theories during the Anna hazare movement is well documented. he was made to look like a fool when Shazia Ilmi called him a part of the propaganda against Anna Hazare. A veteran but a sold out veteran..

    ReplyDelete
  55. Awesome analysis...Great work!!

    Now, to see other side of the coin, who would you/people rate as the best journalists?

    ReplyDelete
  56. Wow.... you claim to expose "political leanings" that "characterize much of our media."... From your tone, its very obvious that you are anti-UPA, pro-BJP, pro-mass-murder, pro-saffron..... Its amazing how you are all of the above and you act so sanctimonious

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ordinary & Not AnanyaApril 25, 2012 5:43 PM

      sanctimonious..eh??
      wow thats heavy...

      & from your tone, its very obvious that you are anti-BJP, pro-UPA, anti-national, pro-corrupt, pro-dynasty politics, pro-vote bank politics, anti-hindu, pro-dictatorship, anti-federalism etc. etc.(boy, this list is pretty long)

      also let me point you out something...being anti-upa, pro-bjp, pro-saffron is not a crime unless you are a journalist, which this blogger is not & as far as pro-mass-murder is concerned i would like to believe that sc appointed SIT is more credible than you for what they have is evidence & what you have is merely an opinion..but then i guess if its left to you, you would probably go to a sharia court to pronounce modi guilty...

      so, carry on with your hallucination..cheers!!

      Delete
  57. 012
    Media Crooks: India's Worst Journalists - 2012
    Media Crooks: India's Worst Journalists - 2012

    Sir,
    Print and electronic Media is in clutch of around 20 business barons- (mostly family owned). Agenda for Press freedom is defined by these families- they decide and direct as how and when the nappy and apron of the media editors be changed. Beyond this "baby press" in India has no freedom. With terrorists placing guns all around and Taliban tightening the terror noose, the Press in Pakistan (working under a variety of threats), may be doing doing much better than us - notwithstanding our free-tap rhetoric and lip service to the press freedom in "the largest democracy. " Your have done well by really straitening a range of talkers allegedly doing "Seedhi Baat" !. Deepak Upreti

    ReplyDelete
  58. The coming generation would get a chance to critically evaluate their celebrity journalist and learn to be more responsible.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Published in www.gfilesindia.com
    Well-oiled breaking news
    The ruling party in Karnataka allegedly pays journalists to the tune of nearly half-a-crore rupees every week and the process is looked after by an eight-member committee with great precision
    by Venugopalan & Harishchandra Bhat


    What do you understand by yellow journalism? You got it all wrong if you are in Karnataka and in the company of journalists. Here ‘yellow journalists’ mean two categories of scribes: those who refuse to receive and those who are not offered ‘gratification’ by the ruling party of the day! To make you more curious, this gratification amount for individuals varies from Rs 7,00,000 per week to Rs 15,000.

    Karnataka, surely you know, is a leading state in India. So, it is quite natural that even in the age of Nira Radia leaked tapes, the establishment in Bengaluru has not allowed its scale of gratification to turn insignificant by allegedly distributing every week, through an eight-member committee of the ruling party, one crore, forty-three lakh, seventy thousand rupees.

    Poor newsmen of Bhopal! They themselves became news by not paying rent to the tune of Rs 18 crore for the government bungalows occupied by them. Bengaluru-based mediapersons have several houses and sites allotted to them in G category. Over and above, 173 plus 21 scribes belonging to both print and electronic media have been allegedly receiving, every Saturday, favours in cash. While 173 members are allegedly getting the ‘alimony’ directly, a so-called public relations unit comprising 21 journalists is getting Rs 6 lakh every week.

    In the true spirit of the cyber-city, things have been organised with precision. The committee of ‘Eight Wise Men’ has a supporting staff of 25 bike-riders, who take the parcels to the ‘destinations’. The list often undergoes change as some journalists change jobs and new ones come up. The resources are allegedly pooled by prominent ministers through a legislator, who also takes care of the party coffers.

    Even the hierarchy for receiving ‘alms’ is well-defined. The highest paid individual is allegedly an editor of a Kannada daily, who is also the head of a television news channel. He, it is said, gets Rs 7 lakh per week. Other recipients of Kannada dailies are not that lucky as they get mere Rs 3 lakh each. English, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Urdu scribes are placed down below. Many get the hafta on what is known as ‘door delivery system’, while others get paid through conduits. Some representatives of national news channels are not spared. The list, a copy of which is with gfiles, also doubles as a Who’s Who of the Bengaluru Reporters’ Organisation.

    The gfiles has in its possession a few of the weekly lists of beneficiaries. The payment varies from time to time, depending on the situation. For example, the money allocated to be paid on October 10, 2011, was Rs 1,43,70,000 (one crore, forty-three lakh and seventy thousand). The amount on December 12, 2011, grew to Rs 1,51,35,000 (one crore, fifty-one lakh and thirty-five thousand).

    Ruling parties in Karnataka during the last decade have taken to a healthy
    competition to woo scribes by offering them gifts like house sites, awards and such other
    favours. Another way of greasing the palms of selected reporters is by transferring government
    servants as suggested by them.

    A freak recording by a cameraman, capturing a couple of ministers glued to a mobile phone during a debate in the House, created a dubious history of sorts. The recording was allegedly the handiwork of a ‘favoured’ mediaman. He bargained for a higher sum of money and it was only when the talks broke down that the story was allegedly telecast. And, the very next Saturday, the number of favoured scribes in the list of payments was reduced by 43.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Fantastic! I was led to this site from rediff of all people. Compared to BBC our chappies are new born discovering their tongues. The way Rajdeep goes hyper I feel he must have caused more deaths than Bhopal gas, two decades of high decibel. Arnab needs psychotic drugs lest he starts flying off the chair (maybe someone tie him up). All jokers. Vinod Sarma must have been nailed a long time back; Sekhar's stutter is worse than this grovel; Barkha sees a halo around herself but I love Ms Ghosh. Her mouth raise laughs n blouses...let's leave it. You have captured the media circus best.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Amazing article. Loved it.

    I just have one question...shouldn't Prabhu 'Seedhi Sachchi Baat' Chawla be on the list too?

    ReplyDelete
  62. Gr8 Analysis... I was hoping when do we get rid of un-jurno jokers!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  63. Ravinar, I read every tweet and every article by you. This is great analysis. and good platform for like minded people to share their opinion.

    By the way, with some of the analysis like 'larger view' etc - you should write script of a parody program like Saturday Night Live in US. Many of these Journos and panelists should be made fun of - thats the only way to stop them. Bring their moral down - they are flying in high ego.

    On the same topic - it would be great idea (like others said) top 10 worst panelists or top 10 most annoying politicians or top 10 worst news papers, top 10 worst news websites etc. All these news websites are not even family friendly - they are very vulgar in pictures and news content.

    On a serious note - why these news channels like NDTV give our airspace to pakistani spokes persons. this gives those pakistani people chance to brain wash indian viewers many of whom already have some soft-corner. these channels are anti-national. One cannot be neutral at the cost of nationalism. One having anti-national opinion is fine - but that does not mean they are allowed to publish their opinion to millions of people via this channels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That'e because Pakistan is Barkha Dutt's baby. Every journalist has his or her own journalistic interests. Because Barkha pretty much rules the roost in NDTV, you're going to see a lot of Pakistan-centric programmes on NDTV. She excels in areas where there is heavy emotional content and less complexity - partition, separation of families, victims in terrorist attacks, rapes etc. Letting the Pakistani viewpoint filter in is not anti-national.

      Delete
  64. Fantastic. Someone had to say this out loud. Job well done. These guys should be behind bars for their Kangaroo courts and misuse of media.

    ReplyDelete
  65. 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?).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is no doubt many of these are talented. That does not entitle them any special advantage w.r.t their profession. You are definitely wrong about non-political matters too. Look at recent sting operation on Delhi police. Neither anchor nor panelists are ready to debate other side. Next two days the channel continued to gather support for what they did.

      In US one in every six women raped at least once in life time. When similar thing happens in Delhi Bharkha comes up with a program "We are not country for working women?" How can anybody brand a society or country based on few incidents?

      Delete
    2. I am sure the misreporting happens in non-political matters too. But because there is no immediate gain or incentive to the media house from misreporting these, it is more likely to be due to plain incompetence or their own personality biases. I feel malafide or deliberate biases happen more often in matters with high political stakes.

      Delete
  66. Fantastic. The List captured the reality. But I am disappointed with one place. Blabbering SAG, who "F"s The Nation, should have been at #1. Wait what to do with BDUTT. Well its a choice between devil and deep blue sea.

    I seek your permission to translate this article into Tamil with due credits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What is your site's name? Can you give me some info please?

      Delete
  67. can't decide which one is more disgusting...arnab, barkha, karan thapar....but on current form, i'd rate sagarika's grating voice and ratty wardrobe as the most demeaning phenomenon on television.

    ReplyDelete
  68. some good ought to come out of all this. maybe a new set of idioms to colour our speech. for instance, HER SAG IS WORSE THAN HER BARK. or RAJ DEEP IN A PILE OF MANURE

    ReplyDelete
  69. Awesome rating...It is true that the so called leading journalists are the worst creatures in media!

    Regards
    village girl

    ReplyDelete
  70. Hello Ravinar,
    As usual nice analysis and apt rankings. One name sorely missing was Vinod Dua, who too sports an uncalled for scowl of SUPER INTELLIGENT,I ALONE KNOW ALL attitude like Vinod Sharma. I am sure, he will feature sometime later. Thanks and regards - KRV

    ReplyDelete
  71. Hello Ravinar,
    Thanks for introducing me to "newslaundry.com". WOW...It was a great pleasure to watch Madhu Trehan washing Karan Thaper clean. Thanks again. Regards - KRV

    ReplyDelete
  72. Hey Ravinar,

    I personally appreciate the way Arnab conducts his program with more maturity & seriousness. But your comment on him " Pick up any scam, any scandal Arnab can throw the documents at you. IB, RAW, GOI have no escape – all documents and papers have to pass through Arnab" was absolutely hilarious. It almost made me fall on the floor with laughter. Thanks for that. You Rock!

    ReplyDelete
  73. I am surprised that Prabhu Chawla (of Seedhi Baat) is not in the list.

    ReplyDelete
  74. shekhar gupta could have shared the first position. great job

    ReplyDelete
  75. Oh! .Some time when I commented on Media people, I was wondering if I am alone. I am glad, I have company. When do we see some cleaning up???

    ReplyDelete
  76. u missed Rahul Kanwal , he is a disaster, like Jr.Arnab or worse or u purposefully avoided Headlines Today to target NDTV & CNN_IBN

    ReplyDelete
  77. I don't quite like this rating. Not because I love these journalists, but because Arnab ought to have been first. There's little difference between Amitabh Bachhan's monologue at the start of Lagaan and Arnab's initial "two-bits" every evening. I would not be surprised if he practices in front of the mirror until 8 every day. Perhaps Lalu Yadav was correct in mocking him when he said "Arnab ko hi Pradhan Mantri bana do." At least then people wouldn't attack the Prime Minister's silence....

    ReplyDelete
  78. These are what this blog considers the national crooks but there are hundreds of smaller regional crooks. In Delhi, for instance, there is a Vir clone who "edits" at a tabloid daily who Vir himself fired from HT and has referred to as a "corrupt fatso". There need to be regional rankings also.

    ReplyDelete
  79. Other than Arnab and SG all the other eight unworthies can be clubbed together at Number 1. SG should be given Life time achievement at Number minus one. Arnab may be put on probation for one year.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Isn't there a curse of popularity impressed upon this list?

    There seems to be a direct co-relation between popularity and getting on this list.

    I don't see lesser known names here OR for that matter big names NOT on this list... i think the business channels have been spared, but again mostly because they arent that popular.

    Popular Bias mars what could have been a good excercise.

    Suggestion: Try crowd-sourcing the entries too

    ReplyDelete
  81. regarding vir sanghvi's comment on narendra modi as "mass murderer" most of the "non-sanghie" population agrees with it and sanghies will defend him. that is where this rating gone all wrong.

    burkha dutt is surely the worst journalist with anti-India agenda.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, I guess by Vir's (& all the non-Sanghi's) definition, the 1984 & other riots make Rajiv G & the Congis mass-murderers as well. Unless, you're willing to overlook those like many in the list & grant them awards...Bharat Ratna to Padma Shri! It's not the rating's fault...it's your skewed thinking to satisfy your own view-point! I suggest you go dig history for corrections or visit your neighbourhood optician for better glasses!

      Delete
  82. Does anyone find it odd that almost all names on this list are on TV? Do people actually believe that newspaper and magazine journalists are extraordinarily good?

    ReplyDelete
  83. Not that I don't agree with many journalists on your lists, but your commentary below their ranks is fairly dismal. You decimate them for their pro-establishment bias, while your own anti-Congress vitriol is so blinding, we'd need SPF protection. The irony about biases in general seems to be missed by you : )

    ReplyDelete
  84. keep up the good work

    ReplyDelete
  85. Arnabgoswami should be made the Chief Justics and he knows everything under the Sun, and he is always correct, has all doucments that his argument to prove himself.
    This is good

    ReplyDelete
  86. No wonder the list is leading by the two most "dumb" and hatred ladies in India..

    ReplyDelete
  87. After watching the Great Tamasha daily from 9 pm onwards nowadays ther will be stiff competition for journalistic admissions in the colleges throughout India and this line would beat every other field hallow in the years to come and sow seeds for Feature India when u will find only this tribe competing with the other ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  88. Excellent and on the Mark. I just din't get it why Barkha is after Gandhi Pariwar so much before UP elections. These journalists are equivalent to corrupt polticians

    ReplyDelete
  89. >>> The irony about biases in general seems to be missed by you : )

    First, it is not pro-establishment stand but pro-congress stand. Second, this blog aims at exposing that bias, whereas media claims neutral but supports congress party openly.
    Trying to equate them is like shooting the messenger.
    Yes this blog too will join those 'media crooks' on the days it starts cover up for some other group or person.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Nice analysis. The listing of 'Worst journalists' is not a personal rating/ranking but based on the poll itself. Results are on the top right of this page. I think there is a direct co-relation between popularity and getting on this list.

    ReplyDelete
  91. @Barkha is one egoistic jour. i asked her to comment on one issue during the ram mandir verdict ... in october 2010 ...
    " if
    a HINDU supports a HINDU religion he is COMMUNAL ?? and if he Supports a
    Muslim he is Secular??? and if a MUSLIM SUPPORTS his Community he is
    SECULAR and can also support Hindu is secular ?? CANT U SEE THE
    DIFFERENCE ? " <-- she told me Shoo away extremist ?? i have more muslim and christians friends then barkha can imagine.... but.. anyways... the meida people must understand one thing... its the crores of people watching thr news...

    ReplyDelete
  92. Karan Thapar - Somehow I like this guy a lot. He pushes the interviewee to the corner and makes him/her to answer

    ReplyDelete
  93. Thapar I guess is a borderline case. Rajdeep could have been ranked lower, but I guess Sagarika pulled him long - he is responsible for tolerating her. Ketkar deserves a promotion - he should be on number 2 and so does Vinod Sharam. Though, I think it is fine to keep Vinod Mehta out for he makes no bones about his biases - transparent to that extent.

    ReplyDelete
  94. I do not quite agree with the author of this article - Ravinar. While these journalists do package news with liberal sprinkling of spice, one cannot rubbish all of them and all their reporting. It's the print and electronic media that is keeping our politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen on their toes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Media keeping them on their toes is due to the inherent nature of the media as an expository channel - the journalists themselves add very little to this exposition. There are enough opportunities and situations that allow these journalists to exercise discretion. Take the Anna Hazare movement. Many of these channels were reporting live telecasts of the movement because there was a viewership market for it. Everyone did a great job telecasting the movement - that's the inherent nature of media at work. But the subsequent debates within the channel studios were pretty much fixed because the anchor carries a lot of discretion in inviting people, posing questions, strategically intejecting etc etc. You get Vinod Sharma and Kumar Ketkar as "independent" journalists to talk about Anna- you pretty much know what the anchor is trying to achieve. Bottomline: You need to discriminate the qualities of Media as an institution from qualities of the journalists that work within the institution. The latter often serve to inhibit the effects of the former, especially in matters that involve heavy political stakes.

      Delete
  95. umm..Ok SO these are the worst..can you list out the best?

    ReplyDelete
  96. DrLSKrishnan.
    At the outset I'm thrilled to be introduced to this forum and I fully endorse the rankings.
    I feel that only because of such journalist's wrong and committed intrepretation of facts that many of our fellow citizens come to have incorrect opinion about many happenings in our country,eg,Godhra riots,Mr.Narendra Modi's role etc.

    ReplyDelete
  97. This looks like Nagpur's worst journalists list. The writer is either a jealous hack or one with links to Nagpur who is mandated with running down every other secular journalist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh God! Not another RSS conspiracy theorist. lol.

      Delete
  98. N Ram somehow seems to have escaped being on this list. He is an amicus curiae of the Chinese Communist Party, and his words are worth 24 Karat gold, if you know what I mean.
    Two years ago, he filed a report from Lhasa saying that the Tibetans were very happy under the Chinese jackboots, thank you - this piece of filth was splashed on the front page of his red rag.
    He gives undue publicity to the Reds when they seem to be losing every election under the sun. Although he makes pios statements about democracy and other nice things, there was absolutely NO democracy in the mess that was The Hindu. He got into an ugly spat with his brothers, and quit only after appointing a puppet. When his daughter passed her journalism course, it made last page news - we are thankful that it did not make it to the front pages.
    Every economic analysis presented in the Business Line has a Marxist bias. When Karunanidhi was in power, he ensured that not one editorial or leader was critical of him.
    Ram is one of the ugliest trolls in the hournalistic fraternity today.

    ReplyDelete
  99. #2 is really a cacaphony!!! wenever i switchon tv at around 9 in the evening ... i seee this loud mouthed "virago" barking at her peak ..,i feel like begging at her to lower her volume of the loudspeaker that she possesses , only to my disappointment ....it will never ever happen

    she never ever ever ever give a chance to speak to the panelists who come to CNN thinking of probably to debate , much to their disappointment though...of course she does give a chance to start answering the question asked by her but when they start answering the question ..after 2 -3 wrds she comes up with this famous lines of her’s " is that what u r saying" and she herself comes to a conclusion and answer with her loudest ever loudspeaker at peak ...

    i feel she should be plastered with fevikwik fevicol at #1 forever

    ofcourse no one can ever frget what according to her were the threee colors in our national flag

    shame that she a journalist on a frontline media channel, is still working as a journalist.....

    if that remark were made by any celeb or beaurocrat.... these media persons would have made their lives miserable telecasting that 24/7 until they receive some money to stop that being telecasted on tv !!!!

    ReplyDelete
  100. #10... i donno much about the way she carries the journalistic legacy ... i never listened to what she said or what she raised in a debate....

    reason is this... its very simple....

    ive once cme across her in a saree with a very sweet smile on her face... and googled what her name is through the name of her show.... i feel many watch her show just to watch her and not to listen what that program is all about !!

    since then every night i go to my living room and switch on my tv and start looking at her smile and expressions with a mute button ... because i didn't want renuka chaudhury or manish tewari(with all my respect's to this man as a lawyer... i take this man's ability in defending congress and counter attack opposition as rolemodel material and i am now preparing for LAWCET ) or abhishek manusinghvi or tavleen or any other to disturb my attention ....

    ReplyDelete
  101. arnab is really a patriotic journalist!! i once remember him in an interview with jammu and kashmir's CM omar abdullah .... he kept on getting irritated himself by askking the same question again and again to omar expecting omar to confess that he had done something wrong.... he looked like he will never give up until omar abdullah finally says to him "yes i did that crime ..." but that never happened ... and finally arnab's ceo came to my rescue and may be yelled at him in the microphone in his ear asking him to say thanq very much omar ... and conclude the show because he didnt give time for commercials ,neither he gave brk to omar to even drink a glass of water... kept on going .... his body language is disgusting to watch.... he for sure needs to take some training under barkhadutt or sagarika ...i whole heartedly thank god that he is in the list of 10

    ReplyDelete
  102. #3 is a good choice he should have been at #2or #1 ... tough competetion from within his channel +home .... and his former workplace

    i always hope that he gives some time for those panelists who come to speak... but he doesnt even give half the same amount of time that he gives to commercial breaks!!

    thats inevitable !!

    next time i see this 10 worst journalists in india i am optimistic that i see both rajdeep and sagarika take that #1 spot together and go home happily with

    rajdeep saying "hum donon ko koi alag kar nahi sakthaaa " and

    sagarika replying to that with " agle janmon me bhi hum #1 peh hi chipke rahenge .... is that what u r saying??" :P

    ReplyDelete
  103. #6 can never ever be ignored from being in the list of top 10 worst journalists of all time in india

    the way he looks at those who come to his show is really applaudable... no,not by media persons or by audience... but by serial killers!! even they would be ashamed of themselves for not having such a look on their faces...

    he would do justice to a job if given in CBI's enquiry department on acccused & criminals .. he collects such huge amount of data and he has such voluminous thesis i always wonder why doesnt he submit that in court or giv that to govt and see wat happens...

    journalism would not suit his tone and face ...not to forget his look!!

    ReplyDelete
  104. #1 is an universal choice ....audience's favorite , best in this category ....

    with barkha at #1 the buck really stops here!! :P

    often wonder how people who are involved in some sort of controversies come in public with themes of tranparency,flawless reporting and discussions about govt being crowded with flaws and opposition is not fair... and soon and soforth....

    they themselves have to look at what they are doing...because journalism is such a noble profession and these persons just do it for the sake of their TRP's

    she certainly deserves #1

    ReplyDelete
  105. Hi Ravinar,

    First of all, i really appreciate the effort you have taken to highlight the issues concerning our media. i found the list absolutely hilarious (considering i perform sketches and impersonations of arnab in chennai) even though i dont agree with the complete list :) this really does through some light into what we actually consume everyday.

    P.S Barkha is an excellent choice considering the fact it was ironical of her to file a case against a guy who spoke about her for a person who seems to champion the cause of
    free press in the country.

    Btw have you tried sending this list to justice markandey katju?

    all the best
    long live free speech.

    ReplyDelete
  106. anyone who doent agree with my views or neeed some clarity regarding my expressions may be contacted at chandrasekhartangirala@gmail.com ...
    because i wont visit this site 24/7 ... :P

    i sincerely will hope to reply ...

    dont abuse me here if u dont like my views on your favourite journalists if at all ...>:D:<

    ReplyDelete
  107. Hi,

    I certainly had my laughs reading this list, as I would watching a Michael Moore documentary. But I do think that the writer's sarcasm has been counterproductive to his effort of being taken seriously. I don't think anyone who is even mildly well-informed of Indian media would counter Barkha Dutt's elevation to the top spot. In most countries her career would have been over after Radiagate and its a sad testament to how things work in our country that she's still out there, spewing nonsense and hamming it up.
    Regarding Narendra Modi - I don't think any other CM in the country has been as pro-active and effective when it comes to promoting development. Mr. Modi's certainly become a darling of the corporate world, and with good reason. But there's just no getting away from the fact that he's a bigot, and was directly responsible or facilitated mass genocide. For all the good he's doing, he still deserves to be at the receiving end of a human rights tribunal.
    This is positioned as a funny post which is dead serious in its intent. And I think most readers here appreciate it for that. And the author can like Modi - that's a personal ethics choice, but to put Veer Sanghvi's comment on Modi to bolster Sanghvi's credentials for beng on this list seriously affects this blog's credibility. I, for, one, will have no part in such obscurantism.

    ReplyDelete
  108. Great, albeit predictable right wing list.

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  109. karan thapar should be sent to pakistan or should get married with sonia gandhi

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  110. of all journos I follow only Arnab Goswami. He is always and will be #1 news anchor. The only anchor who presents nothing but the truth. No unfair news commentary. Congress party have had a really tough time with Arnab and his Times Now team. Even Barkha, Sagarika, Rajdeep & of course, Karan Thapar are no match for Arnab. All he does is pursue only the truth which ,unfortunately, other anchors fail.

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  111. the rating order is gud,but wt about the true real journalism has it gone for a toss?? nd is there a solution to this buss of shabby journalism to really come out its pro a political party ?? coz diff personalities r going to come and go wt abt journalism is ther a way out??

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  112. Just a question... When would you be contesting the elections with a BJP ticket?

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  113. Keep up the good work! How low will journalism in India go further.......? i wonder sometime that each one of these above named are trying to out do the other and in the bargain the viewers are forced to watch one sided stories. In fact the moment some panelist puts his point contrary to the anchor's, he is made to shut up.

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  114. Sagarika should have got the No. 1 spot. For the sheer cacophony that she creates in each and every programme. She doesn't allow herself to be heard; and she doesn't allow others to be heard. Barkha should be credited for calling first names of leaders and celebrities. That is a "disease" that has spread among the anchors like plague. Even the junior most guy/gal calls a Chief Minister as "Omar" on a show. Barkha was unmatched in this when she addressed Jethmalani as "Ram"! I was waiting for the day when she would address or PM as "Mannu". But then our PM does not appear on TV shows! How sad! Just imagine a CNN anchor addressing Obama as "Barrack". Or does the US President have a nickname?

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  115. what about such notables such as Kanchan Gupta, Chandan Moitra etc etc?

    Are these omissions a signal to the authors obvious political bias?

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  116. Whant to throw ACID on burkha dutt ugly face :)

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  117. Unfortunately....their popularity is in the reverse order

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  118. some of the people who didn't make it to the list may falsely feel that they are better than the ones who made it. but they are wrong. people didn't vote for them because they are less known than other.

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  119. nice effort. Some more awards needs to be given for the worst graphics, presentation, background music and irritating loud presentations. Its so cheap and irritating to see lots of banners, horrible graphics and some crappy background music in all the news channels. I like Doordharshan for that matter. These channels need a thorough counselling on professionalism and ethics. I hope some of these jobless B-grade movie directors of these channels learn them.

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  120. " ....they are the greatest threat to our democracy....". Whosoever wrote that has my respect, I could not agree more.

    One thing I love about China is that It has "educated" all Its elites specially "journalists". If India is to survive, they will have to do the same, one way or another.

    A leaderless country being misled by media! How much worse can things get?

    Thanks for an excellent the article.

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  121. It’s disheartening to see so many “anonymous” here. We are discussing media crooks who blatantly misuse their live time on TV. The least we can do for our country is to boldly identify ourselves with a movement for a change in Indian media and to effect a democratic trend, free of biases, prejudices and favoritism. Like the TV of past years, the Internet is the movement of change nowadays. Let’s use it boldly and without fear, favor or bias. Only a strong movement like the one here which allows people to voice their protest by democratic and non violent means can bring about a change. There are already attempts to stifle this voice of change. Let those powers not beat us down into silence.

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  122. The journalists should be mandated to give the end result from their school of thought so as to elicit what they have in store over the subject they broach so that public could understand their stature easily to which side they lean

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  123. Surprised to see Vinod Sharma on No 5, guess even Congress might have helped him getting to no 5 when actually he deserves to be the Worst journalist of all time. Congress ka chamcha. Maximum people including me prefer to just skip the show where this chamcha comes to defends Congress ! Rest assured this poll will be an eyeopener who follows these journalist ! Completely agree... Hamam mein sab nange !

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  124. "He has made the ‘smirk’ more popular than child-molester DGP Rathore on television. "......almost died laughing.....Great job buddy, who so ever you are.

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  125. Nice compilation. I don't know if you, yourself, hold any political allegiance to the Right, but I am surprised that someone like Kanchan Gupta has not made it to the list!

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  126. nice work... hope to see the best ten journos..

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  127. Dear Ravinar..your analysis clearly smells of your bias in the Gujarat riots. BJP/RSS- what's your affiliation?

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  128. Nidhi Razdan too..."NO-way"..she's a cutie-pie :P :P #tad-bit-unfair

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  129. I still have a doubt.. are they journalists? they are stupids..

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  130. A nation gets the journalists, politicians, ex-servicemen-benefits, roads, railways, income tax officials, movies, quality of air, quality of life, dignity, prestige, police, judicial-system and what-have-you that the nation deserves. We need to make do with what we have and collectively consider if whining about the abysmal quality levels that afflict us doesn't have some basis in what we as individuals and as a nation are.

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  131. Barkha Dutt, Sagarika Ghose and Rajdeep Sardesai are aptly rated. Arnab Goswami has been too leniently treated, in my opinion. Regarding other journalists, there is not a lot of point in rating in these journalists as all of them are equally bad.

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  132. Name one journalist among these who barked on the Rape case of Rahul Gandhi. One who yelled at BCCI or Kris Shrikant for all the ghotalas. Once Kris yelled even the double face Arnab did not utter a word. Barkha says Pak will not attack and our soldiers should step back from Siachin, what an Indian- sorry Pak cancelled the talk on the same. NDTV supports Cong, Aaj Tak - BJP etc that is how it is. Just business, at the end of the day.

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  133. Strangely, you considered people as Journalists, who aren't really. They earn their living, propagating something that may not be even a news. The create more, and cater less. Journalism all over India today is nothing more than being advertising someone's own and thought and whims. The one could be anywhere, within the news makers, outside or even beyond borders. Any discussion today is predetermined to its outcome, with chosen panelists. Anyone with little sense, can really make of its outcome even before it starts. So were we discussing about news really?

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  134. No1:Barkha Dutt, deserves it the most by a huge margin. Her moto- I-Me-Myself-no one but her hog screen space!!hope viewers will remember coverage of 26/11!!as if she was the whole and sole to tell minute by minute account and NDTV had no one else? Dr.Roy must give serious thought to her over dominance for slide of the Channel.Manoj.

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  135. OK. Can you name some journalist(Indian) you ACTUALLY think does justice to his/her job?

    Thanks much.

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  136. what about a list for india's best journalists/presenters? we need them more!

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  137. Very good analysis. I some sometime feel NDTV has become mouthpiece of Congress Party. Most of the channels are sold to congress.
    Secondly I feel that, the big journalists do have a lot of information about scams to a lot more things happening the country and they might be using to their use.

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  138. It seems that very few journalists are now working uninfluenced by politics, I think Arnab Goswami could be one...by the way he calls spade a spade...

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  139. any channel or newspaper who has the guts to uncover the exploits of ROBERT VADHRA is my favorite! i will consider it the most honest newspaper/channel this country will ever have!

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  140. Brkha dutt is no doubt the worst of all She consider herself an expert She should rate herself first before passing verdict for others

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  141. I may agree with some of the comments but all said and done.. what credibility does media crooks have with this list...who and what do u do????????????? dont think u (media crooks) are aware of the industry and this seems like a mud slinging match for people who could not make it to the top or even be considered one of them...

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  142. I don't agree with your ratings, but your article's an eye-opener. I didn't realise that TV also had paid news like newspapers.

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  143. Strange and unfair that while you almost praise Arnab Goswami for all the qualities & accomplishments mentioned,you still even consider 'worthy' of your list.IMO he should not be nominated at all :) coz this man while loud,opinionated & overly persuasive is NOT corrupt or a traitor unlike the rest.So please cut some slack and take him off your list.He's the best we've got and deserves some credit for withstanding tremendous pressure I'm sure from Cong and its media managing goons,still be objective and forthright.

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    Replies
    1. @Karthik

      Just pointing out to you.. None of those in the list are made up of "personal" choice or opinion by me. There were nominations, there was a poll and that's how the list was formed. The results of the poll are also pasted under the post. Hope you will be able to see the difference.

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  144. @Ravinar got it bro.Thanks for pointing out.Good day!

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  145. I have to admit I am not very surprised by the list here. But IMHO, Sagarika Ghose and Arnab Goswani are a blot on journalism! The other disappointing thing about almost each of our TV journalists is they cannot conduct a debate successfully! Its a shame, really! The whole idea of bringing in 5-10 panelists for a debate is stupid! How much airtime are you going to offer to each speaker for him/her to make a case? TV journalism needs an overhaul for sure!

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  146. These days I find Nidhi Razdan, most irritating, biased and numb head reporter(I would not call her a journalist) on earth...she is insulting to whoever is against UPA, she don't let them complete arguments, she throws bizarre statements...I mean her conduct is not proper to be a news anchor/moderator on debates...she is a complete faillure.

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  147. This list does not include bhupendra chaubey from cnn-ibn. He talk
    as if he is the spoke person of the congress party..

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  148. arnab goswami is bold and unbiased.i am addicted to the newshour debate because of him

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  149. I would have put Sardesai on top just for screaming like Mithunda on all his so called debates where fail arguments by him are quickly diverted by "fair enough"'s

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  150. It is interesting to read this post. I would like give a title Media Epidemic.

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  151. Want to share this disgusting and insenstive piece of journalism by Barkha over five years ago, which i still cite as an example to anyone who raves about our great TV journalism I remember she was interacting with a woman who had been gangraped...''I know it must be terrible to be gangraped (with a pretentious look of sadness on her face)can you now share your experience with us''!!! Interviewers like her would be kicked out of the studio in developed countries where much of studio journalism is stimulating and enrichening. The problem with our TV anchors is that they forget the VIP of any programme (whom the viewer wants to listen to) is the person being interviewed and not the reporter or anchor. Juvenile, amateurish screaming marks TV journalism and a whole bunch of youngsters think this is actualy journalism and aspire to be like these jokers. Prannoy Roy is the only TV anchor who actually listens to the person he interviews.

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  152. I am disappointed at Arnab Goswamy going up to the 8th position from the 3rd (?) in 2010. Though he ran a kangaroo court & was the judge, jury & executioner in media trials, he was fair in targeting the right people. 'Times Now' stood out in relentlessly targeting the corrupt & supporting Anna & IAC strongly amidst all odds. Now 'Times Now' looks absolutely like a paid channel what with Arnab acting as a yes man to the likes of Renuka Chaudhary in targeting Anna hazare, Arvind Kejriwal & various members of the IAC. Now he makes a show of talking about Robert Vadhra but has conducted an 18 part investigation on Nitin Gatkari to appease his congress bosses. Looks likes he should be no 1 in the list. He has pulled down 'Times Now' to a standard lower than NDTV & CNN IBN. I really appreciate this much needed service of yours & I totally agree that politicians have spread their tentacles like octopuses, in the army, police force, bureaucracy & now the media to corrupt everybody & very unfortunately for the people who trusted & elected them, been very successful in their 'carrot & stick' methods.

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  153. Excellent list and great comments... atleast there are few unbiased intellectuals left in India

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  154. I loved this! I had just posted the following remarks on Sekhar Gupta at http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-i-didn-t-want-to-fast-in-mumbai-but-was-forced-to-do-so.-my-health-deteriorated-/1027258/0:

    SG is the editor of IE, a newspaper with its own reputation but I do not know how long will it last or how much SG will damage it the way he is talking off the hat.If he is worth a fraction of the exalted post he is holding he should check and confirm if the date of birth controversy of Gen V K Singh was started by HIM and if it started AFTER he became the Chief. For the sake of those who have been misled by the likes of SG the fact is that the controversy began with a conspiracy by the triumvirate of sardars- Man Mohan Singh, Gen(?, I am ashamed to consider him one)Joginder Singh and Gen(?) Bikram Singh- when Joginder Singh was the COAS and he wanted to pave the way for another sardar to be the COAS when a sardar was the PM! And they did succeed, thanks to the apex courts' complicity in denying justice to Gen V K Singh!

    And here I find him next to the top on the list of worst journalists! But I agree that all of those who are listed here are really amoung the worst examples of journalists.

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  155. Print media representation is very low.

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  156. Got to know of this blog today via a tweet & it didn't take me more than a few minutes on a couple of your posts to figure out your ideological leanings.

    Anyway, All the Best :)

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  157. In a great dilemma! There is a surfeit of talent available to fill the top 10 and the succeeding top 10 also! Am pulling my hair (what's left of it ) in trying to rank these weirdos! Each one of them sinks to the bottom faster when taken up for analysis! Maybe will make up my mind before next years edition of India's worst journo!

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  158. MEDIA; Handle with care.........

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