Editors' Access Baggage

So the mafia is angry. The mafia is frustrated. It is all starting to show. They want the PMO to be friendlier to the “Editors” mafia and open up communication lines with them. On any other bright day I would have said it’s a fair demand but not when it comes to our media mafia. It is not a big secret that we have some of the most corrupt and incompetent editors in the history of our media, especially TV. Ever since Narendra Modi formed the new govt he has kept this crooked bunch of thugs at a safe distance and rightly so. Just as he has shut down the privilege pipelines of many Babus he has also shut down some “privileges” of many media crooks. Let’s read what the demand of the Editors Guild of India is (Report):

“A statement issued by the Guild said that a "top-down, one-way interaction in a country with limited internet connectivity and technological awareness cannot be the only answer for large masses of readers, viewers, surfers and listeners. Debate, dialogue and discussion are the essential ingredients of a democratic discourse… By delaying the establishment of a media inter-face in the Prime Minister's Office, in restricting access to ministers and bureaucrats in offices and in reducing the flow of information at home and abroad, the government in its early days seems to be on a path that runs counter to the norms of democratic discourse and accountability," it said.

Hmm! So our crooked editorialists who crawled all these years as slaves of a dynasty suddenly talk about democratic discourse and accountability. Let us ask these people what accountability they have. You know, if there are riots in Saharanpur or Moradabad they scream Modi is responsible, Modi should act when it’s the State govt that is in charge of law and order. Take the case of Barkha Dutt, the alleged group editor of NDTV, and their recent nonsense (I prefer to stick to the recent instead of going into the history of NDTV crimes):

Now, NDTV has regularly and consistently trashed Modi and BJP with fake news and twisted news items. Whenever people point this out to Barkha she grandly claims she is not in charge of their website or Twitter account. So what exactly is an editor responsible for? In a newspaper, the editor is responsible even for the content of advertisements that appear in the paper. That’s the law. But Modi is responsible for Saharanpur or Pune but SoniaG or MMS were never responsible for even rapes in Delhi. This political pimping by “Sickular” editors has not gone unnoticed by people. Under the Sonia-MMS decay, all these editors had been “Durbaris” who enjoyed all the luxuries in the world while accusing everyone else of abusing their official positions. How did MMS operate with the media? Here’s a shameful Durbar he conducted with only FIVE editors of select newspapers in June 2011 (mostly made up of Congress cronies like Kumar Ketkar):

Does that look like a formal or regular press meeting or a private “Durbar”? I remember that because I called it PM's Press Meet - 'Friendly Fire' and here is what I wrote back then:

“I believe it’s very unfair to call it a ‘press meet’. It looked like a luncheon meet of the ‘mob’ for a friendly discussion on the state of affairs of their turf. It’s strange you would think. A Prime Minister holds a press meet with five select editors from the print media and then needs to be defended by his own spokespersons. That is precisely what Manish Tiwari and Ambika Soni were doing on  June 29.

Some of the firm assertions of Manmohan Singh at this meet were “I am not a lame duck PM” and the media is an “accuser, prosecutor and judge”. I agree with the media part though. That is their general approach to all issues. Other than that, the PM generally blamed the opposition for the lame duck tag. These statements were made when most of the ‘chosen’ editors were ones who are known to be friendly to the Congress.”

Is this the same nonsense that the Editors Guild is demanding now? Don’t forget, the same MMS held a previous meeting with only TV editors (in February 2011) as if they are some privileged class of royal durbaris. I am sure many will remember Harish Khare snubbing Arnab Goswami in that private meet telling him it is not an “inquisition” of the PM”. Barkha, who didn’t honour the PM with her presence then, later lamented that none of the editors talked about Pakistan. iRudali! It should also be remembered that on both the occasions MMS called editors only under the heavy burden of scams which he had to whitewash and not as a “routine” interaction. Unfortunately for the editor-mafia, Modi does not have any scams so far that he has to wash or defend. And Modi is absolutely right in keeping this mafia at a good distance. They are known to have twisted every word he has uttered in the past. Therefore, it is proper for the PM to speak directly speak to the people or communicate through social media. Some of these editors have also wanted the same social media dead or regulated.

The editors are demanding that the new PM and the PMO restore the old “coterie” through which Barkha ate “Golgappas” at PM’s parties and relay to us when SoniaG was happy or unhappy as advised by Ahmed Patel or through which juniors like Pallavi Ghosh reported planted gossip from the PMO or Congress office. Of course, all this is in the interest of “Democracy” as they dramatically claim. Access Journalism is a curse on journalism itself. Access Journalism, which is what our editor-mafia is seeking shuts out genuine reporters and their work and replaces it with bogus soundbites and “breast-fed” reports. How criminal are these Access Journalism specialists? Let me replay an old video from 2009 of Jon Stewart and it should  shock you how the “Access” journos lie to you, don’t care to ask real questions and suck up to criminals (Video edited to relevant portions – 6-17 mins):

There is nothing that I need to add to the video. All these “Access” editors do the same thing. They chummy-up and don’t bother verifying any reports or any information but base their entire reporting on political-swing and gossip. Every single day they troll Narendra Modi with something or the other; with fake news and deadly headlines. Take a look at these:

NDTV (Hindi) apologised for their nonsense in the first pic. This is a routine with NDTV and other channels as they play mischief with headlines concerning Modi (or BJP). I call it deliberate mischief  because I have never seen such a mistake happening with SoniaG, RahulG or Congress. The motivation is obvious for the Hate-Modi brigade. And these same editors now beg for a durbar? What about the second pic above on dates of Modi’s US/UN visit? Why in the world would morons at CNN-IBN tweet about a forthcoming speech on September 17 on September 25? Do they have any logical explanation? None! What about the other three rogues – ABP News, NDTV (again) and TimesNow? All of them uniformly concocted the date of October 27 and then some engagements on October 28 and 29. How? I tweeted MEA India to seek a clarification and Syed Akbaruddin tweeted back stating the dates given were very clear:

With all the nonsense that these editors can spin on their own why do they want “Access” to PM or PMO? They anyway write all the crap in the world about the PM without any relevance or truth. They have been doing so for over 12 years now. Lies, filth and absolute trash is what they peddled and they are still doing so with many G-37 morons as accessories. There can be a new beginning only if they acknowledge and do penance for their crimes (Like Tarun Tejpal decided he would do). I have a small, modest suggestion. These editors can start by writing Modi a small letter of penance:

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I forgot the infamous “Puppy” episode with which these same editors spread a mountain of lies implying Modi wanted Muslims dead. Well, I have saved that in case I have to write a sequel. Before I leave, I would like you to take a look at the newly constituted Working Committee of the Editors Guild:

“According to Ajay Upadhyay, General Secretary, Editors Guild of India, the 15-member Working Committee includes Sachidanand Murthy, Raj Chengappa, Shravan Garg, Barkha Dutt, Coomi Kapoor, Shekhar Gupta, Jaydeep Bose, Sanjay Narayan, MK Razdan, Vijay Naik, Seema Chishti, Sheela Bhatt, and Kumar Ketkar, among others”.

Some of these members belong in a rogues-gallery and not in any working committee of editors. They don’t deserve “Access” but the “Axe”.

PS: You can now buy the book "Social media as watchdog" with Credit/Debit cards.. Please click on the image link of the book on the right margin of this page to follow the process..