The Devil's Pygmies

In an interview with PA Sangma who ran for President last year, this is what KaranThapar said to him:

“Mr Sangma, even if you look at the BJP, who you said a moment ago had increased their support for you to 26-28 per cent, are using you… as a stepping stone over the bridge to Jayalalithaa and Naveen Patnaik. Mr Sangma you are a tool. You are a part of a strategy that supports their convenience. That’s why they are supporting you, not because they believe in you”.

Imagine, someone calling a presidential candidate a “tool”. Ever since that day I have nicknamed KT “The Tool”. KaranTool (KT) is the son of late General PN Thapar under whom India lost the 1962 war to China after which he resigned in disgrace. Naturally, that makes KT an expert in how the Army lives and conducts itself. So after Narendra Modi’s speech to ex-servicemen in Rewari (Haryana) on September 15 KT has a load of advice for him in “Lessons the Army can teach Mr Modi”. Where does he write it? Of course, in one of the members of the Unholy Trinity called Hindustan Times. Fair enough! We can all learn lessons from the Army. It always amazes how the soldiers’ legs are exactly in alignment in a march-past, how when they hold the rifles they’re aligned too. When they stand in rows or columns, the space between two soldiers is almost exactly the same. These are routines that come with a lot of training and practice. The soldiers help each other in getting these routines right. Okay! So when KT writes balderdash, who endorses him and seeks “action” not “abuse”? This guy Ram Guha, the “eminent distortian”! Here’s what Guha tweeted:

Alright Guha, what action do you want against some stupid analogy that KT draws because Modi addressed an ex-military crowd? Oh by the way, I wonder if Guha thinks calling a presidential candidate a “tool” is action or abuse. Let him ponder. So one writes crap the other endorses by scratching his back. Guha and KT are like two random hearts that fell in love with each other because they hate Modi. So what does KT really have to say? I’ll just pick a few samples and that will tell you the general idea of his whole article.

Regiments of the Indian Army, depending on their character, have their own mandirs, masjids, gurudwaras or churches. They have regimental maulvis, pandits, granthis, and priests. The Commanding Officer participates in all religious festivals. On Eid he will happily wear a topi. On other occasions a tikka or a pagri… An article in Daily Bhaskar.com (16/9) says: “(The) Army is the only place where you can see a maulvi conducting the proceedings of Janmashtami as Panditji was on leave.”… The truth is you can serve in the Army for years without being conscious of the religion of your colleagues. It simply doesn’t matter except in their private lives… Fortunately, Mr Modi has realised the Indian Army is the country’s most secular institution. In fact, he wants us to “take lessons in secularism from the Army”. Perhaps he should be the first.

Those are excerpts and anyone wanting to read the full crap should visit the HT page. While claiming to be “public intellectuals” (As Cacafonix fondly describes them) these guys don’t pause to look inside and think for a moment. KT probably wrote the article before the Nairobi massacre where the terrorists killed 39 and injured another 200. They were kind. They first asked all Muslims to leave. The Mail even reports: “Charles Karani, 41, an IT engineer, said: ‘I hid under a car with my daughters, and I saw the men line up maybe 40 people and ask them who was Muslim, and if they were to prove it by saying the name of the Prophet’s mother. Those who got it wrong were shot”.

Most of us have been to school. Kids wear the same uniforms, attend the same classes and learn the same lessons. People from different religions work in the same office and share the company’s mission. If a group of Indians were to travel on a ship with other nationals and it were to sink, who do you think the strong Indians will save first? Would they ask whether you are Hindu, Muslim or Christian? This is what morons like KT and Guha don’t get. That when you travel the same journey and share the same mission, religions and prejudices tend to take a back-seat. This is even more so when one is in the Army and is trained to combat enemies of the state. Imagine a Hindu and Muslim playing in the Indian cricket team. The Hindu is not going to say “I won’t take the catch off that bowler because he is Muslim” and vice-versa. Whether it’s a sinking ship, an office, a school, a cricket team or the Army, the members have a “shared cause” and they live and operate in a very controlled or mission-oriented atmosphere. That is not true for society at large.

The politicians and the political party these two guys so lovingly support and the news media have divided the nation so much that Indians as a whole DO NOT share many causes. These may be political, economic or social causes. When laws are made based on religion and caste the shared mission is eroded. When crimes of one community is overlooked, the shared mission is eroded. When SoniaG and MMS visit only Muslim victims of communal riots, the shared mission is eroded. The Army’s shared mission is fortunately not eroded so far but the politicians and media are working hard at it. The Army doesn’t have separate rules for Hindus or Muslims. It doesn’t even disclose the religion-wise composition of its members although one govt Committee did make an attempt to “sickularise” the army too. They wear the same uniform. They become one. They aren’t constantly bothered whether someone wears a skull-cap, tilak or a pagdi. The politicians and media will constantly bother and remind you of who wore a skull-cap and who didn’t and make it a national issue. That’s how stupid KT and Guha are. They have a very poor understanding of “structured organisations” with a uniform “mission”.

Society thrives in identities and prejudices; religion, colour, caste, creed, race, sexual-orientation. You won’t find KT or Guha complaining about ads for fairness creams, would you? It’s a reality only fools will deny. Narendra Modi didn’t create these. The best that Modi has done to combat this is “Sabka Vikas” and “India First”. On his stupid shows KT still sounds like “Pakistan First” and in an interview Madhu Trehan asked him why he was being seen as a “Paki agent”. KT may deny, but who created that perception? People? Or was it Modi?

The most classic line you will hear is that “Justice is blind”. Let me expand that line: “In this courtroom... justice is blind in matters of race, creed, colour, religion or sexual-orientation”. I love great lines from movies as most of us do (Video: 2.10 mins):

That’s a scene from the famous movie “Philadelphia” where Tom Hanks is sacked because he has AIDS. I wonder if KT or Guha would like to work with someone who has AIDS. I wonder if they would like to work with people not buying their vicious ideology while calling others “abusive”. The answer to the judge by Denzel Washington is simply stunning:

“With all due respects your Honour, we don’t live in this courtroom, do we?”

The Devil’s pygmies who pose as historians and media anchors would do well to learn that lesson. With all due respect to these Fiberals who distort and lie all the time, all of us don’t live in the Army, do we?

CNN-IBN: Twist & Shout

When the previous post ‘Robert Vadra & the innocence of journalists’ was pointed by someone on Twitter to Rajdeep Sardesai he, at his wits end, was naturally rattled. Instead of responding to the tweet Rajdeep sends the person a DM with a message about Media Crooks: “Now he is what is Paid Media. Paid to abuse media”. That is nice! Now all I have to do is to wait for Rajdeep to send me my cheque so his dry dream comes true. I have only one objection though. I have rarely used the term ‘Paid media’ and that too mostly in quoting someone or in the context of some report. I find the term is not as respectful as MediaCrooks which I coined to honour some of our media celebs. Oh there’s the “abuse” part too. Isn’t that the cover these folks use in defence when they have nothing to say? His deputy editor has even complained of being abused because she’s a “woman” after the Sri Sri episode. I wonder what Rajdeep’s excuse is. Abused because he’s a “man”? Haha! Anyway, the laughter challenge bit is over. Let’s get into some more of CNN-IBN’s “Twist” and “Shout”. Yep, twist headlines, questions and shout misleading information, even LIES.

What does one understand by the term “accused”? In casual conversation it can substitute allegations, finger-pointing and so on. But is the news business casual conversation? People in the news business would be careful about terms they use. ‘Accused’ is normally used when a person or entity is legally charged with an offence and is likely to be prosecuted. Umm ... not so when it comes to CNN-IBN! You see they have the license to concoct headlines the way they would like to see the story.

Given that the Robert Vadra (RV) financial allegations have had the media running for cover in defence they seem bent on somehow balancing the damage by desperately tarring someone from the Opposition. Narendra Modi would have been handy but they are still searching for some real muck on him. So they have to make do with Nitin Gadkari, the BJP president. On the night of October 6 the CNN-IBN kept scrolling a headline: “Gadkari is an accused in the Goshikurd irrigation project”. Really? This is, of course, in connection with the Maharashtra irrigation scam which has been in the news. Gadkari seems to be trigger-happy when it comes to issuing legal notices for defamation. I guess CNN-IBN just gave him one more reason. So Rajdeep and his channel have the license to concoct and twist headlines, abuse media power with even lies, and taint people and then cry “abuse” when challenged and exposed.

The twists of CNN-IBN didn’t start there for that night. It actually started some hours prior with the Karan Thapar (KT) - Arvind Kejriwal (AK) interview over the latter’s allegations against RV. Now, we are not going to deal with AK’s answers to Thapar’s questions or statements. We will dwell merely on some of what Thapar asked or said. The only thing that was disingenuous by AK was that he claimed never to have read or heard about the ET report on RV till the previous evening. Surely, AK didn’t wake up with a dream one night that said “go after RV”. There has been enough in the print and online media that would have motivated AK and team to go after RV. Even if AK didn’t actually read ET as he claims, one can be sure there are enough watchdogs in his team to educate him on the news.

So let’s read some of the questions and statements of Thapar. I must mention that these are transcriptions and though I may have missed a word or two here and there, the essence of what he said has been kept intact. (All questions/statements from the interview are in blue):

KT: Was it politically motivated or morally improper? Huh? How do you answer this question? Pick either option and you’re screwed. Nice try. On the other hand since AK is now a politician where is the need to seek a political motivation?

KT: He (RV) is not a ruler, he’s an ordinary citizen, you have libelled him without giving him a chance to explain. Really? I have little doubt that every citizen in India would like to be as “ordinary” as RV. Any idiot can tell you that Vadra would be less than ordinary selling some handicrafts in Moradabad if not for his relationship with the Gandhi family. Now then, if RV is indeed so ordinary why is he entitled to exemption from security checks and screening at airports? I guess the wiseguys at CNN-IBN don’t rehearse the questions before they ask. This is a question many people are asking. Who knows what RV is taking out or bringing in through all the airports in this country. Also, do the media usually stand up so much for “ordinary” citizens? Amazing!

KT: If a newspaper or channel had done what you have done it would be accused of biased journalism. Will they? But then CNN-IBN and KT batting so much for RV doesn’t seem to them to be bias at all. The twisted headline indicting Gadkari doesn’t seem to be a bias at all. Is it?

KT: You encashed the fact that he is Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law. You are using RV to target Sonia Gandhi. To this I don’t even have to offer any comment. AK’s reply was stinging enough as he sarcastically asked: “Am I encashing … or is he (RV) encashing this fact?” That’s right! Between AK and RV who does the public think is encashing his position? AK may be politically encashing the hit but in the case of RV the term “encashing” could even be taken literally given the financial allegations.

KT: He (RV) became a pawn in your political ambition. Haha! I do have the choicest description of pawns in the media and have written about it elsewhere. But hey, does anyone remember who was called a “Tool” by presidential candidate P.A. Sangma? So any allegation going against the Congress political capital is either using a “pawn” or is being a “tool”. The shameless Thapar even called Sangma a “tool”. So what nonsense is he talking here? Twisting it like his channel’s agenda?

KT: You are being deliberately anti-Congress, you have a bias against Congress. So you see, this is really what hurts KT that the allegations are against Congress. Now, if RV is an ordinary, private citizen how do the allegations amount to a bias against Congress? But that’s what bothers KT and CNN-IBN. It’s hurting their own favourite political party. Elsewhere, KT even asks why AK is not targeting BJP leaders. All this after the allegations being aired against Gadkari by TeamArvind and even the fake headline of “Gadkari accused” being scrolled by the channel. Another shameful performance by both KT and CNN-IBN.

The rest of the interview went along the same lines. In a 20 minute interview, KT spoke for 11 minutes and AK had 9 minutes. When the host talks more than the guest you are assured that the purpose is not to know or educate but to defend the Congress. CNN-IBN and KT are getting to be good at it.

After being recently slapped by Mamata Banerjee with “you people don’t have guts” to ask Sonia Gandhi, then Subramanian Swamy again slapping Rajdeep with “innocence of journalists” AK too joined the party. He slapped KT with: “If you have guts, call him (RV) on this program and ask him for an explanation, you don’t have the courage..”. I wonder how many slaps it will take Rajdeep to understand twisting and shouting untruths and abuse of media power doesn’t sell anymore.

Sangma Slaps Karan 'TheTool' Thapar

In the American-Italian mafia business everyone had a nickname. Among the famous ones is George ‘Babyface’ Nelson. Then there’s the introduction to the GoodFellas: Nicky ‘Eyes’, Frankie ‘TheWop’ (A slur for those of Italian descent meaning  ‘Without Papers’), ‘Fat’ Andy, and the best one had to be when Henry Hill introduces Jimmy: “And then there was Jimmy ‘Two’Times’, who got that nickname because he said everything twice”. And the typical response by Jimmy TwoTimes: “I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers”.

Sometime back I had already explained why the MSM is ‘India’s biggest mafia’. One of the ‘honourable’ members of this MSM just got a new nickname: Karan ‘TheTool’ Thapar. This was in his interview of Presidential nominee of Opposition parties, P.A. Sangma. Anyone who saw the interview would easily agree it was indeed motivated, sometimes in poor taste, and mostly ‘Karan The Tool’ clearly seemed to be campaigning for the other ticket, Pranab Mukherjee. Such is our criminally biased media that far from interviewing Sangma, The Tool was actually ridiculing him on many counts. That Sangma is an ‘underdog’ is not good enough reason for the media to campaign for Pranab, which they have been doing so far.

There’s a reason Justice Katju once said our so-called journalists are not well-versed in History (or Science or anything). Take a look at the picture on the left. The headline says “Dewey defeats Truman”. The man holding up the newspaper and smiling is definitely not Thomas Dewey the Presidential candidate against Harry Truman in 1948. Truman was the underdog in that election and almost everyone had predicted he would lose. No one gave him a chance. The presidential elections were held on November 2, 1948 and even before final results were announced the Chicago Tribune had released its early morning edition of November 3, 1948 with that headline. Many newspapers even ridiculed Truman’s campaign and candidature, just like Thapar The Tool and the rest of Indian MSM do with Sangma. A New York Times article editorialized that "If Truman is nominated, he will be forced to wage the loneliest campaign in recent history". Everybody loves an underdog. Fact: Harry Truman won the election. You won’t find a bigger slap on the media in history than that headline carried by the Chicago Tribune. But the likes of Thapar TheTool, CNN-IBN and others in the Indian MSM don’t seem to learn from history.

Even if a candidate is an underdog, even if the media favours Pranab Mukherjee journalists would tread a bit cautiously in making extreme statements. The Tool’s interview of Sangma smacks of arrogance, extreme bias, motivated and in very bad taste. Here are some of the questions and statements (in blue) from the interview  (Read the full transcript here):

Mr Sangma I have spoken to many people and practically all of them, including many of your sponsors, say that you have very little chance of winning. Then, why are you contesting..

I guess nobody taught Thapar The Tool, that in a democracy it is almost a ‘Sin’ to not contest elections and allow any candidate to be elected unopposed. This is the very foundation of democracy. But slaves like CNN-IBN, The Tool and others in the MSM want Pranab to be elected unanimously. Was democracy created for unanimity? Shameful!

Mr Sangma let me put it to you, people are fond of you, they indulge you, but they are laughing at the fact that you believe that you can win. Nobody believes it but you.

By sheer logic why was The Tool’s channel breaking so much sweat over Lee-Hesh and Tennis players for the Olympics. Does anyone seriously expect them to win a medal? What is the motive for deriding a person’s candidature? It can’t be mere bias or sympathy for the other ticket. It has to be a lot more than that. And those who play or contest elections must firmly do so with the belief they can win. If not, they should behave like losers like The Tool.

Are you a little worried that by standing in the face of such odds and they are incredible odds, you might make yourself a laughing stock?

A laughing stock? Where does such language come from? Only uncouth, uncivilised and badly reared journalists talk to a presidential candidate in this filthy language. I wonder if such journalists are becoming the speciality of CNN-IBN. In reference to BJP’s support for Sangma, The Tool comes up with this:

Mr Sangma are you reducing the killings in Kandhamal, the killings in Dang, the Graham Staines, as a few incidents?

And then morons like The Tool and his channel keep screaming about “Secularism” and “One nation”. What has Kandhamal got to do with Sangma’s candidature? Has The Tool asked Pranab about Emergency? Given that Pranab was directly involved in certain actions during that time? Has The Tool asked Pranab about favours and offences relating to benefits allowed to some corporate bodies?

Mr Sangma, even if you look at the BJP, who you said a moment ago had increased their support for you to 26-28 per cent, are using you… as a stepping stone over the bridge to Jayalalithaa and Naveen Patnaik. Mr Sangma you are a tool. You are a part of a strategy that supports their convenience. That’s why they are supporting you, not because they believe in you.

Those are not questions. Those are inferences and theories spawned by the interviewer himself. That’s CNN-IBN journalism for you. But Sangma responded with a resounding slap for The Tool: “You think we are ignorant of which media is whose tool? Mr Karan, you think we are ignorant of which media is whose tool. Mr Karan don’t talk about tools”.

Karan‘TheTool’Thapar:  Are you suggesting that my questioning is motivated?

Candidate PA Sangma:   Yes, yes, you are also a tool….

In trying to campaign for the Congress candidate Pranab Mukherjee, Thapar The Tool ended up making up an absolute fool of himself. I always knew that Thapar The Tool is a motivated, biased and a journalistic moron. Sangma just confirmed all of it and exposed him to the whole world. However, there is always this bright side. Given that the MSM is India’s biggest mafia, Karan Thapar has a first to his credit. He is the first one to be nicknamed by a Presidential candidate like in all mafias and the nickname suits him in many ways. He is now Karan ‘TheTool’ Thapar. He and CNN-IBN can celebrate! 

PS: Vote for India's best journalists - Top right of this page.

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.