Why Indian MSM Wants Social Media Dead

In recent times Herman Cain, an Afro-American candidate, pulled out of the race for the Republican party’s nomination for US Presidential election in 2012. Three women from his past had alleged sexual harassment by Cain which eventually forced him to abort his campaign. In contrast, Abhishek Manu Singhvi (AMS), MP and Congress spokesman, resigned on April 23 from various posts after his alleged sexual adventures were leaked through a video on the internet. That was enough for the Mainstream Media (MSM) and even PCI Chairman, Justice Katju, to start screaming for controls over the social media. The sex CD which involves AMS and a female lawyer was reportedly made by AMS’s driver and according to AMS was “fake, doctored and morphed”. How a driver went to Darbangha (Bihar) and found enough money and support and morphed a tape will remain a technological wonder for a long time. His alleged motives are “dog-bites and low pay”. Seriously, many of us may complain about our salaries but going to the extent of morphing our bosses into sex videos is taking even revenge too far. Tsk, never mind!

The case was brought to public light not by the driver or by the MSM or by the social media. It came to prominence when AMS filed a police complaint against the driver and got an injunction from the Delhi HC against airing of the CD. On what basis the HC gave the injunction is another mystery and it almost sounds like pre-screening. Naturally, people wanted to know what was on the CD and what the facts were. This is where the MSM failed as it completely blacked-out the story. The court had stayed airing of the CD and not the reporting of the story. It was then that the story spread like wildfire on Twitter, Facebook and other social media and finally parts of the CD were uploaded by some on the internet.

In response to the public clamour for the story Rajdeep Sardesai even responded by calling them “Eternal Voyeurs”. Such is his disdain for ordinary people. Rajdeep also asked why the Opposition was silent over the issue, as if they, or any political voice, should determine what the press or media should be reporting and discussing. A dead give-away. 

Even so, when the cookie finally crumbled, the MSM wasn’t discussing the AMS sex incident, they were busy debating whether ‘Internet is above the courts’ (For uploading the CD against the court injunction) and some like Justice Katju and Sagarika Ghose were discussing ways and means to ‘check’ the social media.

Nothing would please our MSM (and some politicians) more than to see the death of social media. It has come to challenge their monopoly, their bias, their spins, their lies, and their selective reporting. In the US the Internet media has seen the death of many newspapers and quite a few TV channels. Some 300 newspapers have died in a small country like UK. Unlike print and TV, social media requires the regular MSM and public figures to be interacting with people sensibly which is where they have failed in India. Public opinions can be suppressed in newspapers and TV but not on the social media. So while raging against the people on the social network and wanting to desperately ‘check’ them the Indian media really needs to understand the way social media works and harness it productively and profitably. Comments under the post “Media as cover-up artist for Seedy Singhvi” will reveal how even keen news-watchers were totally unaware of the AMS incident. That is how successfully the MSM blacked-out the story.

The Internet wasn’t created in India. The Internet didn’t evolve in India. None of the major social media engines were created in India. For all its other problems the US still remains a country with absolute freedom of speech. President, Pope and even religion are no exceptions to such freedoms. Books are not banned and books can be burned. Nazi group marches through Jewish localities to offend them is allowed. Protests at funerals against dead ‘gay’ soldiers, in bad taste, are allowed. Bad taste is not a crime. Therefore, for Internet and social media to thrive in the US environment wasn’t as big a challenge as it is in India. Mind you, the same laws that punish defamation or illegal activities otherwise also apply to social media in the US. It does in India too. It is just that in India free-speech is largely reserved for the powerful and the MSM. Now that the situation is changing it’s causing unease among many in the media and politics. US citizens over many years have grown used to and cherished their freedom of speech. Most of them know what to believe and what to ignore. The Indian govt and media simply doesn’t trust ordinary people to have the good judgement over issues.

If the AMS CD was uploaded on the net it was because the media didn’t discuss it. It got uploaded because people generally believed that this level of gagging by a court and black-out by MSM can only mean there is truth in the story. That a prominent lawyer like AMS would seek an injunction and instead of continuing the FIR against the alleged conspirator reach a settlement with him further reinforces the belief that the CD is neither morphed nor doctored. Apart from the frivolous discussion; “Is Internet above courts” on CNN-IBN (who else but Sagarika Ghose?) and other channels, NDTV even discussed if ‘India is going the US way’ on the media issue. Among participants on NDTV was Shoma Chaudhury, editor of Tehelka, a near-gossip tabloid, and the same tabloid that famously used call girls to do their jobs. That is enough said for morality in media.

If there is evil in the social media, it is prevalent elsewhere too, particularly in the MSM and politics. It is how we respond to it that counts. It is not easy for someone to survive in the social network by constantly peddling lies and misleading information. In Indian media it is definitely possible and sometimes it even seems they are paid for it. For those screaming about morals so much in the MSM there is an example of a prominent journalist Keith Olberman who was suspended from his channel, MSNBC, for a small but undeclared donation he made to politicians. In contrast people like Barkha Dutt are celebrated in our media despite established wrong-doings. In the US Barkha Dutt would have been permanently trashed and out of the media for good. So people like Rajdeep Sardesai would do well not to sermonise on morality, which he often does. The likes of Shoma Chaudhary, Sonia Singh (NDTV), Sagarika Ghose should also be frequently reminded of the sordid NOTW affair in UK. That tabloid is what much of Indian MSM should be compared to and not values of ‘Freedom of speech’.

In the last US presidential election Youtube was successfully used by CNN to allow ordinary people to put questions to the candidates and have them debate the issues. Many other clips from Youtube are also used by US news channels in their reports. Why Indian media cannot find productive use for social media other than promoting egos of individual journalists is simply the fear of sharing their turf. Forget harnessing social media productively, the frequency with which our news channels twist and manipulate tweets to suit their agenda actually amounts to abuse of social media by them.

The MSM perceives a loss to the social media on the issue of AMS, his sexcapade and his final resignation. This is hardly the truth. Social media did not bring AMS down. In the final scene of the movie ‘All the President’s men’ WaPo editor Ben Bradley chides Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein thus: “You know the results of the latest Gallup Poll? Half the country never even heard of the word Watergate. Nobody gives a shit”. That’s right half the US didn’t know and didn’t give a shit till Nixon finally resigned. That was despite tremendous coverage by the Washington Post and a few more newspapers. Here we are, an entire MSM blacking out the AMS story and they want the world to believe it is the evil of social media that has to be ‘checked’.

Social media didn’t bring AMS down. He brought himself down with his dirty deeds, social media just showed the courage that MSM did not just as Woodward and Bernstein didn’t bring down Nixon on their own. MSM, and Justice Katju, would do well to partner social media rather than try to check it. If ever ‘Power to the people’ made sense in a democracy it is Social Media. Celebrate it!

Media As Cover-up Artist For Seedy Singhvi

It’s been a devastating start to the week for the media. If bad things happen to the Congress party it’s the media that gets a viral infection. Two such events drove the usually raucous media into a corner. First, a CD of sexcapades of Abhishek Manu Singhvi, spokesman of the Congress, surfaces and second, the party suffers a terrible defeat in the Delhi MCD elections. On a day like Tuesday, April 17, all the regular spokespersons of the Congress went into hiding. The only ones on TV shows were rookies like Ragini Nayak who, under the circumstances, put up a brave defence for the party.

Sheila Dikshit who led the Congress campaign in Delhi was nowhere to be found for a comment on the results. She showed up on Wednesday, April 18, to claim that the defeat and result was a “collective responsibility”. Of course, failure doesn’t have an owner. I do wonder why Dikshit went into a hiding earlier because NDTV had already set the tone of the party’s defence with a brilliant headlining story: MCD polls: “BJP retains Delhi, but Congress makes gains”. So there was nothing to worry about as the Congress had made gains in an election they lost. No further analysis required.

..Blurring the lines...

The cover-up of the various misdeeds of Sheila Dikshit is a stunning example of a completely compromised media. They had done very well not to mention CWG scam or how SD’s son was found with 10 Lakhs cash in Bhopal. Those stories had gone cold without a trace. The conduct of Sheila Dikshit herself during the campaign was unbecoming of a Chief Minister. Like others, she too thought dragging in Narendra Modi would fool muslims. Here’s what she said: “They (BJP) often say that their next PM would be Narendra Modi but they never call him for campaigning in polls. This is because they know that if he ever comes here he will be stoned by people". For the record, the Congress candidate from Ballimaran area where SD made the statement also lost. There is a thin line between journalists and politicians that should never be crossed. I’m not sure I can say that about our media. The pic of Barkha Dutt and Sheila Dikshit says a lot more than my words can.

The other devastating story of the Congress, the sex CD of Abhishek Manu Singhvi (AMS),  has so far been muzzled by the media. The best they could come up with is if public figures have a right to privacy (CNN-IBN). That discussion was, of course, moderated by Karan Thapar. NDTV completely blanked out the story. Naturally, the question everyone is asking is: What if the CD had involved a BJP or TMC leader? Public or private, all hell would have broken lose in the media. First, the private affairs of public figures definitely need greater scrutiny than an ordinary citizen. Sonia Gandhi’s tax returns maybe private but their scrutiny is in public interest. AMS didn’t have illegitimate sex with his partner at his home or in a private resort. He is reported to have had the joyride in his chambers in the court complex and that is certainly no private hideaway.

...With pants down..

AMS is the same man who responded to the Karnataka MLAs porngate story with the comment: “This is the real chaal, charitra & chehra of BJP” which, translated, means the real face and character of BJP. Another of their spokesmen, who else but Manish Tiwari, responded with “.. they are defiling temples of democracy”. Tiwari’s response was to the fake Gujarat porngate. The story about the AMS CD is less important than the manner in which the media has dealt with it. While he claimed that the CD was “fabricated, morphed and doctored” none in the media, many of whom have seen it, were willing to challenge it. Morphed and doctored? Surely, there are better models around to use than AMS for morphing sex CDs. Secondly, the media chose to hide under a court injunction that restrained airing of the CD. The court had only restrained airing of the CD and not the reporting of the incident and the episode itself. Yet, much of the media totally blacked out any reports on it. That is seedy and shameful conduct by journalists.

Here’s the most dangerous part which is not being touched upon by any channel or newspaper. AMS’s partner is also reportedly a lawyer who is aspiring to be a judge. Was the act of sex an advance for any favour? If so, then it’s a crime of a very serious nature. This is the reason the incident requires a thorough probe and cannot be dismissed as mere indiscretion and opportunism by AMS. The court granted a stay against airing the CD as it may cause damage to the reputation of AMS. Well, even without the stay there is really no need for the media to air it. I have often said, in this day and age there is really no place to hide. Some images from the CD are already on the internet and sooner or later the whole CD will be out there somewhere. Also, if the CD is ‘fabricated and morphed’ as AMS claims then that too is a serious crime against a public official. However, by all accounts and images available so far the CD appears to be genuine in which case AMS would be guilty of lying to the nation and to the court. This is what media should be investigating and this does not require airing of the CD itself.

The real funny part is: Why was the CD made in the first place? Who made it? Is AMS such a dumb idiot that he allowed his driver to video shoot his adventure? Was the driver witness to the act itself and shot the video on his own? Or did AMS have the video recorded himself for use at a future date for some reason? Did some potential blackmailer get blackmailed? These are the questions the media needs to ask. But they won’t, for obvious reasons. Regardless of the outcome of the incident, AMS will find it morally unfit for him to hold any public office till the full truth is established. He should resign from all parliamentary panels and from the Rajya Sabha membership. He would do the Congress a great favour by quitting on his own. Sacking him at a later date, when more gory details emerge, will only add to the embarrassment of the party. As for the MSM they have played cover-up artists in the episode but it’s unlikely the social media will let seedy journalism pass.