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Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Caravan: Bitchin' In The Back Row



It’s always nice to know someone is repeating what you’ve already said many times over, even if in a very different way. To me the surprise is not why it’s being repeated but why it wasn’t said some years ago. The surprise also is that only one is being picked out for scrutiny. We’ll get to that but here’s what I wrote two years back on November 19, 2010 over Barkha Dutt’s response to Radiagate:

Barkha is also extremely fortunate that NDTV has chosen to respond to this expose in her support... This is also a warning for all media channels not to have their brand names be so heavily associated with "personalities". A media channel needs to be bigger than personalities. Else, one flawed celebrity would be enough to bring the house down”. Yes indeed! The way some of our news channels are structured it will take just one flawed celebrity to bring the house down. After the SC returned the petition seeking Narendra Modi’s prosecution for Gujarat 2002 in September2011, here’s what I wrote again: “I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that the degeneration of TV news owes a great debt to both Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai. You could call them the leaders of the moral decay”. November 25, 2012 when Vikram Chandra of NDTV wondered about the degeneration of news, I once again wrote: “My instant reply was that it was those from the NDTV stable who had contributed considerably to lowering the BAR. Er... That BAR is Barkha-Arnab-Rajdeep”.

His foot soldier gets raided by the Treasury team. Before he smashes the guy’s skull with a baseball bat Al Capone states: “A man becomes preeminent, he’s expected to have enthusiasms, enthusiasms… enthusiasms!” Arnab Goswami and TimesNow (TN) are now preeminent. The editor of a magazine, reincarnated after 12 years, wants to become preeminent. It’s important to put some juicy stuff out there. It’s important to move from the back rows of newsstands closer to the elite front. So Jonathan Shainin, editor of Caravan magazine raids Arnab Goswami. The writer is one Rahul Bhatia who writes on a variety of topics from Bollywood to jeans.

For a start, the article is as long as an older Bollywood movie. Reports have it that some people did indeed read the whole article and survive it. This article by Caravan titled “Fast and Furious: The turbulent reign of Arnab Goswami” is 11 pages long on the Caravan website. In a regular MS-Word file in TimesRoman, Size-12 font it runs into 20 pages with a total of 12135 words. This Arnab does take some serious surgical dissection. Doesn’t he? That’s a mini-biography that would have taken Bhatia at least a month to assemble. Most of it is culled from the grapevine. Except for a few names sources are mostly anonymous, ‘former editors, producers, colleagues’ etc. Is Caravan suggesting that such bitching, bickering and politics doesn’t exist in other channels? That celebrity anchors in other channels are darlings of their colleagues and employees? Never mind! It’s hard to pick but let’s try a few. (Quotes in blue)

As a matter of principle, The Newshour pits people and their extreme views against one another—but its main character is always Goswami…  How is this different from NDTV or CNN-IBN? This is the culture spawned by Rajdeep and Barkha. Have we forgotten that Rajdeep’s most popular programme on NDTV was actually titled “The Big FIGHT”?

They were to follow the Times of India’s lead, and draw out stories of particular interest to an under-represented Indian middle class; namely, the holy trinity of national identity, corruption and terrorism. “They are not a political constituency, and the Times Group was keen that their English news channel would give the middle class a relevance and, secondly, a channel of expression”. In the post ‘Who’s minding thestore – Part 2” I had mentioned that TOI had long done away with the nuisance of editors; that the ‘editor’ types catered only to a few intellectuals and not the aspiring masses. In another post I mentioned that if you have to be successful in India you need to learn to do business with the poor and the middle class. Which is what Dhirubhai Ambani did and which is what NDTV and CNN-IBN are failing at. I call these 2 channels ones for those with a ‘mini bar’ at home. Does Jonathan Shainin have one at home? So who is Caravan meant for? Let’s hear it in their own words: “The Caravan fills a niche in the Indian media that has remained vacant for far too long, one for the intellectually curious and aesthetically refined reader..”. Haha! You see, the new avatar of Caravan seeks the same intellectual folks that NDTV and CNN-IBN cater to. Naturally, they are going to be at odds with Arnab’s middle class approach with TN. Any surprise?

Under Goswami’s watch, reporters were instructed to thrust microphones at their subjects and demand answers because it made for dynamic television. (Cameramen at Times Now called it “the running away shot).. Is this unique to TN? Take a look at the pics in the post “Arnaboxious – The Witch Hunter”. That post talks about these practices in TN as also in all other channels. Incidentally, who is more famous for thrusting mics into angst-ridden people with the question “How does it feel for you”? Surely, this is a crime committed by all channels and even if Arnab calls it “door-stepping” singling out TN smacks of a motivated attack.

“..employees at Times Now say that Goswami felt overlooked at NDTV, and that his frequent derisive remarks revealed a simmering resentment that had still not abated. “It’s not a healthy attitude,” the senior Times Now manager said of Goswami’s distaste for Sardesai”. For that someone needed to speak to employees at TN? Ahem! Just observing them on TV here’s what I wrote in “Arnaboxious-The witch-hunter”: “So what makes AG behave in this fashion? Not sure, but I imagine years of playing third fiddle to Rajdeep and Barkha Dutt at NDTV could be one reason”. Contrary to what these anchors may think, petty rivalries and ego clashes can be seen-through on the TV itself. One doesn’t need to talk to gossip-mongers for such stupid trivia. What kind of Managing Editor deals in nepotism to bring in his wife as deputy editor so that a whole channel becomes a family run affair? This is even when the deputy hardly seems to have any journalistic or anchoring skills. Will Caravan need gossip from CNN-IBN to learn this?

Goswami had spent nearly a decade in Sardesai’s shadow, and he emerged from the experience sour. “Ten years back, in the pit of another newsroom,” he wrote in Outlook in 2008, almost certainly referring to Sardesai, “a now-famous TV anchor had laughed me off when I fought to get a mention for the ten people dead [in a blast] in a remote part of Assam. ‘Ten deaths in your part of the world equals the death of one person from here, as far as news is concerned,’ he had said. ‘It’s unfortunate but that’s a fact,’ he added, looking for and, shockingly, getting a raucous response from his audience”. Well, as far as Rajdeep is concerned that hasn’t changed. The tweet during the Assam riots would tell any idiot that Rajdeep knows which deaths are more important and probably even “pay more” for coverage.

Sardesai seems to make an unflattering appearance in another one of Goswami’s Outlook pieces, from 2011. Goswami again refers to an unnamed “fellow editor of an English news channel”, whom he describes as “a visible cog of a small power elite”, and who privately defends a corrupt chief minister at a meeting of national news editors, and then “punches his fist in the air and looks around for reactions”. Rajdeep and Barkha are both seen as cogs of power elites. Barkha is even seen as a power-broker. There’s something that inspired me to coin the line: “The media is the first line of defence for the corrupt”. I have even written a post long back titled: “Tainted? Have a chat with Barkha”. Caravan only seems to confirm that and if Arnab has noted that somewhere he probably has seen the garbage he was working with. If Arnab has written that then he probably also senses public perception better than his two former colleagues.  

When a member of the Times Now launch team met the former Hindustan Times editor Vir Sanghvi in late 2006, he asked her how Goswami was faring, and she replied that he was doing well. “He said, ‘Really? Then why are the Jains shopping?’” she recalled, and said Sanghvi told her he had been given “an offer to head everything” at Times Now within months of the launch. The senior manager confirmed that a placement agency specialising in media had been retained to search for Goswami’s replacement. Vir Sanghvi? Haha! Hindsight will now tell the world that TN owners must be thanking their lucky stars they didn’t hire Sanghvi. TN would have then been held in as much contempt as NDTV probably is owing to Radiagate. Who knows TN may have even shut down, with Sanghvi, considering it would have been just four years old when Radiagate broke.

Arnab maybe the one who put Anna & Co. in everyone’s drawing room but Rajdeep was the one who ran to Ramlila to get a personal pic with Anna. Barkha Dutt was the one who was booed and shooed away by the crowd at India Gate. Arnab put TeamAnna in the drawing rooms but who were the ones bestowing spurious awards on them? NDTV and CNN-IBN! Rajdeep and Barkha (and Rahul Kanwal) were the ones who ran to Ralegan Siddhi to suck up to Anna Hazare. Undeniable fact is that Arnab has and continues to destroy the consumption of crap that NDTV and CNN-IBN deliver in the guise of news channels. Stands to reason that TN also threatens the consumption of what Caravan is dishing out or hopes to dish out for the “intellectuals”. Arnab and TN aren’t part of any ‘unholy trinity’ that frequently host Musharraf and Imran Khan which has earned the contempt of the common man.

There is no denying that AG has a belligerent style of anchoring. That this is a cleverly thought out act is no secret either. He doesn’t do any Greatest Indian or other moronic programmes to sell his channel. Most of all, AG is not a mouthpiece of a political party while NDTV and CNN-IBN are often seen as extensions of 24Akbar Road. TN managed to cut all the frills and turned itself into a boisterous, noisy middle class channel. But why is Caravan doing this hit job? If at all they wanted to make an assessment of TV shows and anchors they would have carried one on all the senior anchors. Shainin appears quite often on CNN-IBN and NDTV as a panellist. We know the political persuasions of these channels. Is that a reason why their anchors were spared? The most important question when it comes to an anchor and viewers is the issue of trust, reliability and, most of all, integrity. I can safely say whether one likes Arnab’s anchoring or not, nobody doubts his integrity yet. I cannot say the same for some of his peers who are mentioned in the Caravan article or who were past colleagues.

The Caravan article only confirms what everyone already knew; that TN was way ahead in the TRP ratings for quite some time now. While NDTV is battling the TRP case in a court seeking damages, CNN-IBN has altered Rajdeep’s nightly schedule to match Arnab’s. When Suhel Seth told Shainin his was a magazine nobody reads, Shainin held up a tweet that said the opposite earlier. Suhel Seth famously said on TN that he could arrange an ‘Item-girl’ and get crowds of 30000. Caravan is no different from the cheap shots of Seth and uses the same tactics that got Arnab and TN to the top. On any other issue or time Seth and Shainin could have been kissin' in the back rows of movies. I guess Caravan just did an ‘Item-number’ to get the crowds. But will it get Caravan there? I seriously doubt it. Last time Shainin tried it (With Arindam Chaudhari) he ended up with a 500Cr defamation suit. What happened to that? Politically, Arindam, NDTV and CNN-IBN appear to be on the same side. Are these the ones Shainin is kissin’ in the back rows? Er.. right now, when it comes to TN, Caravan is bitchin’ in the back rows.

41 comments:

  1. While going through the Caravan piece, I thought similarly about Rajdeep's comments on deaths in Assam. You rightly juxtaposed it with his justification for not covering recent Assam riots. It shows how petty these so-called "opinion makers" are! All said and done, Arnab has beaten his peers at their own game. Arnab's integrity is not under scanner unlike others. Period

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  2. i havent read your article or caravan's article in full. but i can see that as you always you are up in arms to protect your friend.
    why you are so desperate to protect arnab. he is no better or worse than the other tv goons. i did read the caravan's earlier post on arindam. it was one of the longest article i have ever readin my life. but it does give a complete picture instead of showing one part of the story like your articles on the tv news anchors. 'integrity' alone wouldnt suffice. if arnab has lot of 'integrity' why is it that he is upset that his channel didnt get as much ads as cnnibn or ndtv. that is the only reason he went after kalmadi and cwg. it speaks volumes about his 'integrity'.
    it seems though that you are the one doing item no. to get the crowds.

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    1. @Khaleel

      Arnab is my friend? I can only laugh! I bet you neither read all my articles nor my tweets. A critique of Caravan's motivated crap doesnt amount to protection of Arnab.. Do read what the "BAR" is supposed to mean and the "Arnaboxious" article referred in the post. And yes.. regardless of what one thinks of Arnab, there isnt anything yet to show his "integrity" is compromised..that is in relation to his peers like Rajdeep/Barkha.

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    2. @khaleel lol seem like you are a supporter of NDTV and CNN IBN the so called unbiased channels..ha ha haaaaaaaaa..please dn't mk me laugh..and please gather some knowledge before saying things..look at other news channels and u wil knw why people prefer TIMES NOW..and why channels such as NDTV and CNN IBN talk nothing but crap

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    3. @Khaleel - It gives a complete picture? What picture? It gives a lot of grapevine with no sources. Exactly the kind of crap you will find in filmfare. Ok, if you dont like the guy it will be a nice read. But not for fact-checkers. And when you look at overall picture like Ravinar does, this article is bang-on i think.

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  3. Well, why does AG run to Diggy Dog so often?

    Why did AG play out the Anjali Damania's stupid SMS on national television - under whose orders? (and now we know from the Caravan piece that AG is far intelligent & probably scheming than the other television anchors so he would not have played out the sms just for the fun of it)

    I dont remember all the instances but there are enough of them where AG has taken an 'illogical' pro-Congress stand (ignoring all evidence to the contrary) on many serious economic issues..(or refused to consider real facts but play to the Congress gallery) or has taken a strange rabid anit-BJP stance...

    So integrity (depends on how you define it) I seriously suspect..

    Maybe he is not being so obvious, playing it rather differently from BD and RS....Time will tell..i am surprised at your conviction on his integrity and equally on how late Dhirubhai Ambani's greatness (am sure you read The Polyester Prince - banned in India and why?)

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    1. @ED

      No great person is without controversy. Firstly, Dhirubhai has a lot to his credit. When quoting some of his principles in a context, it doesnt amount to accepting all he stands for. Even Bill Gates doesnt pass that test, nor does Howard Hughes. Ambani is being mentioned only in the context of being able to deal with the middle-class. Polyester Prince is available in full on Scribd in case you want to read. The full version is there.

      As for Arnab's integrity, dont confuse it with biased news coverage and persuasion. Alernatively, give me solid proof that his integrity is compromised. Merely because he chases of witch-hunts some politicians or personalities doesnt mean his integrity is compromised. This again is in relation to his colleagues Barkha and Rajdeep. I hope you come up with more than mere bias to question someone's integrity.

      Even Supreme Court judges are not free of bias. Even you and I arent free of bias. Bias doesnt mean a person's integrity is compromised. In fact, bias in news channels is not all that bad as long as they do not twist facts or alter the truth.

      The simple question here is why Caravan should focus on Arnab and TN alone. Why should it tar his character based on rumour on gossip. That is pretty easy to do for anyone.

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    2. Well as i said depends on your definition of integrity. As such newspapers and television channel owners/editors always have a choice. To pursue fairness and accuracy, balance or keep it grey, just enough tilt or the occasional questioning of the establishment to stay aboveboard (or be considered of sufficient integrity). There are gains to be made by not exercising a certain choice! Thats the choice that pays dividends one way or the other. So while i surely dont have any solid proof of any crime, however, there is no solid proof of 100% integrity either.. :) Reflect on the choice.

      Further on late DA. Man of vision. Only he could have thought through from fabric to crude oil exploration, all the way upstream. Question is on the means adopted. Again a choice. Dont need to read a book. Life is grey, but commerce is always black and white (or in black or white / cash or kind)!!

      And further to your statement: "No great person is without controversy". Only media creates controversies. Since they dont have the courage to question or they need fodder for their press/channels. So coverage in the name of a so-called controversy is what we get now in newspapers and television channels. Controvery is an escape door.

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    3. @ED

      Media "manufactures" controversy.. that is true.. But factually, deeds of many great men arent ones most would condone. And I say that having gone through a lot of history. As for editorial pursuits.. I have said before and said in this post too.. Editors as we originally knew them are passe. What we have are "Editorialists" whose job is to "Swing" opinions. But then the press as we knew it from history is gone too. We now have to confront what exists, each time and every time as appropriate.

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    4. I agree on your take on AG , as far as Integrity, please Explain or Consider the Manner in which AG went after Nitin Gadkari with 20 episodes and why not a single such attempt against vadra or anybody else ?

      In the 2G case especially on P Chidambarams acquittal both at HC and SC , Navika reaction was as if India has won the World Cup.

      For every valid Critical point / question raised against Congress , arnab tries to balance by blatantly being Anti-BJP 10 times magnified

      Agreed Arnab plays caters to the Middle class aspirations in Crticial of all politicians ; but am sure middle class is clever enough to know Congress is 100 times worse than BJP and Arnab twists it the other way.
      if my perception is wrong, i dont think even God can save INDIA from the jaws of Congress

      Among the 3, BAR Arnab defintely has much better INTEGRITY than Burqa or Slurdesai.

      He has a limited zone to play with considering the Financial compulsions one might have ,he is doing it well.
      100% integrity and honesty is moralists and not for pragmatists, not even for honest people reading your blog during worktime and answering comments like this.

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  4. This is my first visit to this blog and I ind this very interesting.
    If you ask me,time has come when someone lie and few of my friends have given up on meda,which has lst it's credibilty completely.
    If one was to ake a poll...majority might agree with me

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  5. Humm, Ornob is no better! but yes he is slightly better than BD & RS. ornob is more dangerous than RS & BD when it comes to biases and paiddebate/paidnews/paidwitchhunts etc because viewer have such perception as you have of his integrity.
    Well, as i am a regular reader of your blog, I know BAR and many other article where you have not spared Ornob. and how can one forget "Justice ornab Goswamy" ha ha ha ha.

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  6. The MediaCrooks FB page is up and running. Spread the word.

    https://www.facebook.com/MediaCrooks

    Thanks All and Ravinar!

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  7. Pls look at this video which exposes our social genius.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdgP9jJIrp4

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  8. Except for lighter shade of grey, Loudmouth Arnav is as dangerous as Beefeater and Burqa donner

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  9. Really good piece. Agree with you, Arnab can be loud, boisterous, even irritating at times.. but I do not doubt his integrity.. not yet, anyway.

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  10. kissing in the backrows or on the backside ??

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  11. The Indian media is so biased, ideologically blinded and is clone after the leftist British BBC which is funded by the TV licence holders in the UK to the tune of $200 per TV per year! Of course the other UK media the Indian sickulars and leftists quote is the Guardian!

    I was so upset with the CNN-IBN for fixing & spin doctoring the greatest Indian after Mahatma Gandhi campaign. What they did in that campaign was after getting the people to vote by text messages they exercised a jury role by short listing the top ten instead of declaring the outright winner which could have been A P J Abdul Kalam instead of Amedkar the British stooge! These are the same channels who want to mount a challenge against Modiji via Nitish Kumar in a new incarnation of Divide&Rule. But what these media crooks don't realise is that whilst they can lie with their pen&tongue their body language does not lie and clearly exposes them. Please if you have a few minutes to spear read the legal notice to CNN-IBN by clicking the link below,

    http://johnsonthomask.wordpress.com/

    Thanks&Regards,

    Johnson

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  12. Is the article a consequence of Times Now's decent reporting of Balsaheb's death and cremation???

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    Replies
    1. This is a rectum driven conclusion or a brain driven one?

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    2. @Praveen

      I believe Lakshmisha is referring to the Caravan article..

      Delete
    3. Oh, sorry. Didnt get that from statement. Can you please remove my comment then?

      Delete
  13. Now our dear Aamir Khan is also a high level media person. CNN IBN, Times NOW run to get his opinion in many societal issues.

    He comes with truth reports after truth reports on Satyamev Jayate. What a hysteria he created on morality, values, truths !!!

    IMO, he is much more dangerous than these Newswalas!

    Will you please do a post on this?

    I trust that you will bring -
    1) how Aamir called his dog shahrukh
    2) the ridiculous hate mongering in Narmada Bachao Andolan and rub off one state (everyone knew one state will stop getting water
    3) Fanna film gets banned in Gujrat and he says BJP is against him!
    4) Brand ambassador of Coca Cola and joining Arundhati Roy who gives country dividing speeches, but joins with Arundhati Roy who opposes Coca Cola - two highly volatile people do not make a good cause - do they?
    5) Was fighting with Chetan Bhagat on 3 idiots and when he actually made himself an idiot as everyone knew the book is the primary story-line for the film
    6) Says BJP is party without national interest/communal ...but then says there are people like Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley (I am not a supported of BJP, but do support any candidate who good and clean - BJP or Congress or CPM or any party)
    7) Alleged to have love child with two women at least !


    Also, would you please do the dummy media wallas who come to discussion on issues - the so called esteemed panelists

    - OR Do not you think they matter? There are many people who are extremely biased on everything and come to media discussion to swing opinion.

    I could not believe when people like A. Sighvi shows up on studios for women issues after alleged video went viral on the net!! Please do some pieces on these pseudos once a while.

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    1. I too raised this question whether Amir wants to be an Abdul Kalam or a lowly communist British stooge like SRK or Sachin!

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    2. @bharatjohnson

      It is well known that now Aamir Khan is Congress stooge. I think it is okay...he has a political affiliation, so let it be.

      But what is disgusting is when he starts preaching morality, domestic violence and so on.

      I mean come on:

      1) This man has 1st of no rights to talks on domestic violence on the 1st place after what happened to his 1st wife.Also he was fighting with his own father for the custody rights of his younger brother ! Who is doing domestic violence?

      2) He comes on National Television and says that 50% of men are abusive. Really....What data you have? How you found out on it? As per National Crime Records Bureau - twice the married men commit suicide every year as compared to women. Just check their report on - ncrb dot nic dot in. Close 100,000 cases are filed on 498A (and DV act now which has 498A embedded), which have ruined lakhs of men and their families....

      And now when a men, who came of his program of SMJ in TV was killed in honor killings - our media went rushing to ...who Aamir Khan...and he paid lip service and vanished...

      Talk of Shoot and scoot ...all for few minutes of fame and more money!

      Delete
  14. Lot of comments on why justice AG is being spared the rod. I think, what is being missed is the context. Post is clearly about bumchummies that caravan and BAR are. In no way it exonerates AG, just that shainin is the new knight in armor (lots of chinks in that armor though) for the unholy axis.

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  15. I haven't read this particular Caravan peice yet, but I've appreciated and enjoyed their work in the past a lot. So I don't see why you're so surprised that Caravan picked Arnab over Rajdeep and Barkha. They normally pick people who are kind of controversial, but have something to their credit as well. In the past they have written articles about:
    Narendra Modi - don't need to say anything.
    Arvind Kejrival - don't need to say anything.
    Kapil Sibal - despite being arrogant and a spin-doctor for congress, has introduced interesting reforms in education.
    Manmohan Singh - despite being a weak PM, used to have impeccable integrity and is credited for economic liberalization in India.
    Lalit Modi - despite the charges he against him, without him IPL wouldn't have been possible.
    .. So I agree with you that Arnab's integrity is not questionable so far, and maybe that's the reason Caravan chose him over the likes of Rajdeep and Barkha. Maybe that's a good thing. What do you think?

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  16. Brilliant take indeed. Not a fan of Arnab. But the caravan piece indeed is agenda driven.

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  17. The Common Man doesn't find his aspirations and views expression in today's Main Stream Media. Media whose responsibility is to present the Truth and Facts without distortion is now manufacturing their own versions of Truth which suits their own individual ends. This frustration is now exhibited by the youth and nationalists in social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. As far as Arnab and TimesNow are concerned they seem to be less biased than others as you rightly pointed out in an earlier article that The Times Group does not depend on Government for ads and aids for sustenance instead it has developed long term relations and contracts with big businesses and brands to achieve enough revenue as required to be impartial and away from the seduction of the current UPA government and its media submission and manipulation policies.

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  18. Isn't Arindam Chaudhary anti congress?

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  19. One thing that I observed is at least Arnaboxious is more patriotic, again wrt/compared to Barkha & Rajdeep.

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  20. @ Ravinar - y dont u start a Youtube channel atleast? You would surely get better TRP's than some of the news channels! Btw, someone needs to control this Arindam Chaudhuri guy, he is all over the places and claims to be a "Guru". Wonder who bestowed him all those titles!

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  21. As always,brilliant and spot on analysis.No mincing of words,no sugar coating..just simple,pure truth.Absolutely right about Caravan's sour grapes etc about the best news TV in India.I repeat for the nth time..Arnab might be loud,persuasive,chaotic but ...no body can question his integrity or patriotism..Imran Khan/porki lovers NDTV and Cong poodle CNNIBN are a disgrace to media.Any day,I'd support Arnab who might as well hanker for TRP's along the way over corrupt,anti-national Congress stooges Rajdeep&Burkha..Also appreciate your unflinching yet, qualified and justified support to Arnab..ignore the haters,rock on !!

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  22. Raise the BAR to BARS (otherwise pagalika will feel left behind) :)

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  23. I was watching an NDTV feature today on Delhi being insensitive to the needs of the disabled, when I realised that these programs are made by people who like to imagine they are living in some highly developed country.

    Not at all in touch with the reality of India. Why are they talking about only Delhi? Is the rest of India very highly considerate about the needs of the disabled? Are normally-abled people even aware that such sensitivity is required?

    And they bring a disabled person on a wheelchair talking about it to prove their points.

    I am sure their intended audience is comprised of lotus-eating morons. I had no say in the choice of channel being shown.

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  24. Hi Ranvir,could you please write some article on 108 communal clashes reported in UP in last one year and so called secular media silent on it.

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  25. Why has many of them confused this piece as one that is Pro-Arnab (or defending Arnob or professing his integrity)

    Damn it!!! It is about Caravan's bitching and reasons thereof Jonanthan Shainin has to earn his livelihood and Caravan performance is simply not enough. Hence sucking up to other channels to get invited. Remember 5K is no small deal for an out of job man on street or head of a sick company (which is worse)

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  26. I am mighty sure that the author is not defending Arnob! Pity that a lot of them did not get that point!

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  27. I have seen tweets of bonhomie between Caravan editor and Rajdeep.Rajdeep also had tweeted that he had breakfast and an enchanting session with Jonathan about month ago. Not sure the inspiration for this story was born there? And the former unnamed sources based on which the story was written could also well have been inspired

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  28. writer and the most of the commenters here say that 'arnab is patriotic'. no he is not. he is jingoistic. if he is that patriotic he wouldnt be doing aman ki asha just after 26/11 attack. what type of patriot would do that. and not to talk about their program on australia. firstly he was exaggerating the attacks to get more eye balls. and after the attack news he was running the foodie show live from australia. and you call this guy a patriotic? my foot. he is just a product of the crass commercialization dancing for the masses. he is out to make as much as he can exploting the current condition just like every other news anchor. and he is the best at that. nothing wrong with that. who is not going behind money and fame? he and his show is a trp driven show. thats all. patriotism and integrity has no place here. we all love his animated shows and we all also love potato chips and aerated drinks. his 9 pm show is just that. period.
    the reason he is so famous than other news anchors is due to his adrenalin pumping entertainment hour, his pro bjp attitude and barkha dutt. he has a lot to thank barkha since primarily due to her lobbying fraud that his stature rose. some people are caught some are not though i dont think he will ever get into lobbying. but paid news. yes.
    most of the english media viewers are pro bjp so his pro bjp stance helps him.
    and his integrity cant be questioned? as some body said it depends on how you define integrity. he dumped one full day for a funeral of a goon who lived by terrorizing people as if it is the funeral of a saint. he never really countered bal thackeray or the other goon raj thackeray as he knew fully well that his studio would be no more the day he raised questions on their atrocities. so much for his guts and integrity. pathetic life for a pathetic man.

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    1. so according to you who are secular and patriotic here..the kashmiri separatists? tell me.. because of people like you india is going down..you guys just blame if anyone speaks up fora hindu..or if anyone is truely secular..arnab is far better den the prejudiced people of ndtv..cnnibn aaj tak..and why is you attitude pro congress and anti hindu..and yes bal thackeray ws a good man at least for the marathi manus..so buzz of..

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