Media Lessons That BJP Needs

It is sometimes easier to learn from failures and defeats than from successes. After all, every one defines failure a bit uniformly but it will be hard to find people agreeing on what is success. Don’t look too far, look at the people with heart-burn who will tell you Narendra Modi was not elected by 69% of India. They had desired and campaigned for him to fail and tried their best in vain. They have reluctantly conceded he is the PM of India and now their job is to show you how he is failing from day one. That’s our hate-mongering media. Here’s one of them who has started ranting about Modi already:

Earlier, Kapil Sibal had blamed Modi for high onion prices. Now Barkha Dutt and clowns like her will keep telling you when Modi must speak and when Modi must remain silent. Not a problem! It just doesn’t occur to this scumbagini that Modi remained quiet for 12 years on all the abuse and lies hurled at him and about him. He knows how to speak, whom to speak to and when. Besides, the media may be ignorant of what communications have been exchanged between the Centre and the two concerned States. That is what bothers Barkha. She can no more exercise her clout in ministry formation or eat “gol gappas” at PM’s house that easily. So her anxiety is understandable. She has been outraging over the Pune murder of a “Muslim techie” as if that was Gujarat 2002 all over again. Not just she, but most of the media channels. Take a look at this and you will see why I call the media an “Anti-Hindu” gang of criminals:

That doesn’t need much explanation, does it? We have seen all that a million times. HeadlinesToday also ran a short documentary on that Muslim techie from Pune and by the music and songs they played and the narrative you would think the man was killed on the LOC defending our borders. Murders unfortunately happen but why the hype on “Muslim”? It is such imbalanced nonsense that creates more animosity among communities. The answer is simple: Hate-mongers like Barkha, Rajdeep, Sagarika, Arnab, Kanwal, Karan Thapar, Varadabhai and their entire Commie gang had ordained that Muslims will suffer under Modi. So they will do everything to prove their dream to see Modi a failure. Any Muslim suffering will be directly blamed on Modi; state govts won’t be responsible for law and order anymore it seems. That doesn’t surprise me at all. What alarms me is how the BJP, a winner of the elections, is behaving with the media. Like a sucker! Let’s look at a comic video first. The first part is of John Oliver (who was earlier with The Daily Show) and the second part is from Jon Stewart’s Daily Show itself (6.25 mins):

Most people on the net have seen those videos. Don’t take what Rajdeep said seriously, he was just being a sport and playing along with the spoof. But the other things in the videos are not spoofs. The shouting, the circus clown Arnab, the fake “billion votes” crap, paid news and all that. Much before these satirists lampooned our media I had tweeted about how stupid Rajdeep & Co are to be screaming “billion votes, billion votes”. I have said before that we have borrowed the worst from America when we should be borrowing the best from the West. The actual “real” news in any Indian channel cannot last for more than 30 minutes or at the most one hour if someone is rounding up the nation. So in absence of news the channels will run a soap-opera on AAP’s troubles. Half of the coverage being useless and unwarranted! This filthy discourse has to change. You cannot tell the news media what they should do or what nonsensical debates they should hold. That’s their business. But given that their entire campaign for years has been anti-Modi, especially anti-Hindu the BJP is foolishly playing a part in the same filth even after the elections.

It wasn’t even a week since he was appointed I&B Minister that Prakash Javdekar grandly announced he would seek discussions with the media on 100% FDI in media. Amazing! I wonder how much thought has gone into it. It was BJP who allowed FDI in media and now this guy instantly wants 100% FDI. It’s like the rape victim falling in love and wanting to marry her rapist. It’s not a big secret that most of our media houses (like many other business houses) operate on black money, indulge in money-laundering, fake investments and tax frauds. Everything you see in the underworld mafia, you will find in our MSM. The priority should be to clean up the operations of the media houses since they get substantial govt support. NDTV alone has multiple financial crimes to its credit and that needs to be set right. What is the urgency to suck up to the media? That apart, many of the regional channels and newspapers are owned by politicians. Is that one of the reasons for this love?

The minister or govt cannot tell the news media what to show or what to discuss but there is a desperate need for certain standards to be set. This shouting, slandering and mindless noise cannot be the merit for more investment. Now that the BJP is the ruling party their spokies are still buying into and participating in this. Some of their earlier spokies have become ministers. The ones still on show are Nalin Kohli, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Sidharnath Singh, Chandan Mitra, Vani Tripathi, Sambit Patra and a couple more. This weekend the media channels were debating the problems of AAP. Now the AAP is going through a miserable phase and is in a wreck. Is there any need for BJP spokies to sign attendance like school kids and appear on mindless discussions with Arnab or Bhupendra Chaube or anyone? That some of these spokies are inarticulate and sub-standard is another matter that I am not going to linger on. The leader sets the rules of the market. The leader guards the viewers. The channels may peddle the nonsense they want but the BJP should now say NO to participating in bogus debates.

By sucking up to the media is Javdekar or the BJP expecting the criminals will change their ways or stop their anti-Hindu, anti-BJP propaganda? Does it occur to those in charge for media in the BJP that the media’s anti-BJP rant is only going to grow shriller the more they realise their old luxuries have disappeared under the Modi govt? The priority should be to set up proper standards for media conduct. There is a desperate need for an independent autonomous body that will enforce fairness in news reporting and protect the viewers from lies and propaganda. Has Javdekar even thought of this? And this autonomous body, after formation, should be free from govt and the media. It should have respectable citizens with a record of honesty and sense of fair-play. How the body will continue after its initial formation independently of the govt and media is a matter of mechanism. The govt’s job should only be to fund it. The PCI, currently headed by M Katju, also needs a complete revamp. These should be top concerns of Javdekar and BJP and not sucking up and feeding money to the media.

For 12 years the media hounded Modi using fake news, lies and fraudulent operators. Is the BJP going to ask any questions or let things stay as they are? Most members of the BJP are as disconnected with people as the media is. If not for Modi they would have suffered another defeat. Modi has called most of the media propagandists “Newstraders”. I call most of them criminals who feed poison into our society. This is a significant tweet by Modi that the BJP members and spokies would do well to save and keep in mind:

He has been restrained and kind. What he excluded was “lies and propaganda of MSM” could not succeed because of social media. The BJP and their spokies would do well to strengthen the SM reach and network. Invest energy and money in ensuring more people are connected and opened to truth, correct history and understand the lies of the Commie media. The MSM will continue to do what it wants. Their job is to LIE and twist matters. BJP need not be defensive or be an active participant in their filth. Participation in their bogus debates is not obligatory for the party or the govt. The govt is answerable to people and if at all it has to interact through media then regular pressers should be used with a Q&A.

It is important that while media funding needs are attended to, the course and quality of discourse is given the highest priority. Earlier the news media was considered the protector of people against evils of govt. Now it’s the people that need to be protected from the evils of the MSM. BJP would do well to learn some lessons and not play a lapdog to media.

Delhi Protests - When Chickens Run To The Media

What do the protesters in Delhi over the Gang-rape incident want? Almost everybody wants death penalty for rapists. The only thing that doesn’t seem to fit is why they are protesting at Rashtrapati Bhawan. After all, the president doesn’t make laws, he just signs them. The previous president probably made the current one a victim by pardoning some brutal murderers and rapists. Grievance, whether real or imaginary, affects all of us. The protests were long overdue and it’s quite a surprise that none in the media ever mentioned the amazing “resilience” of Delhizens to so much crime all these years.

In times of crises leaders speak with people. They deliver reassurance and confidence to them. They can feel the pulse of the people. Instead, what were our folks from GOI doing? They were all talking to the media. Well, the one thing we did get to know is how many daughters some of our politicians have. Everyone who spoke in the media made sure they told us “I have 3 daughters, I have 2 daughters” and so on. Home Minister Sushil Shinde even told us the Delhi Police Commissioner has 2 daughters. They are checking with everyone on how many daughters they have before speaking to the media. Why should I be left behind? I checked with everyone I could chat with about how many daughters they had. Next time there’s a murder we may have to check how many murderers some politicians have. Oh don’t laugh, that’s not a joke. If you see this clip from MailOnline you will see why politicians are hesitant to talk to people. Over 200 people with rape cases contested elections it seems. Other reports mention at least 2 MPs and 6 MLAs from various states who have rape cases against them. This doesn’t include “petty” crimes like murder, kidnap or assault.

There is no harm in a statement or two to the media through a presser. But let’s do a roll-call of the sound-biters. We had RPN Singh, Manish Tiwari, Sandeep Diskhit, Ashwini Kumar, Sushma Swaraj, Sushil Shinde, Renuka Chaudhary (She spoke in Telugu too for added emotional effect). Then we had Sheila Dikshit using all TV channels as a weeping pillow. Er… that is all channels, but TimesNow. I’m sure she will face the full fury of Fastcourt Arnab sooner or later. Then, moment of the crises arrived, when Sonia Gandhi finally got down on her knees to speak with some protesters. Only, nobody knows who she spoke with. Naturally, some suspect these so-called protesters were hand-picked NSUI (Congress supported union) members chaperoned by RenukaC and others for a special audience with SoniaG. Take a look:

Who are these people? First, on Saturday night (Dec.22) SoniaG meets a few kids outside 10JP and then the next morning she meets six of them. TOI-Delhi headlined the story as “Delhi gang rape: Unknown six meet Sonia, Rahul for justice”. Unknown six is fine to begin with but even after a day they are still the ‘secret six’. This govt has a funny way of meeting people. I remember last year Manmohan Singh met the “secret five” editors in a closed-door, private meet. The TOI report further comically adds the response of the six:

They (Sonia, Rahul) have assured us that certain sections of law like 201 and 307 will be added to rape cases so that the accused are severely punished. They also told us that the law and order situation in the city will be improved so that women feel safe," said one of them. Renuka Chowdhury said that the same group of protesters was seen outside 10 Janpath on Saturday night when Sonia came out to meet them around 11pm. "Sonia had asked them to come and meet her this morning. None of the protesters knew each other and they all have different backgrounds," said Chowdhury. Another protester said, "Rahul said while it is natural for us to be emotional, we should not be irrational. They have also told us that capital punishment is being considered for this case and it is being slotted under the 'rarest of rare' category. We are now appealing to all protesters to maintain calm and continue protests non-violently.

What exactly is the need for RenukaC’s clarification on the ‘mix’ of protesters? And the clincher, of course, is from our fearless national leader, Rahul Gandhi. He is reported to have said: “capital punishment is being considered for this case”. Really? So the ‘game-changer’ with politics in his pants and shirts is going to have a law for “this particular case” or is he now Justice Gandhi? If RahulG advises protesters not to be “irrational” as the TOI report mentions then he should first start with himself. But well, that is too much to ask. Even so, if this was indeed the thinking of the Congress heads then what was the idea behind excessive police force, water cannons, lathi charges, beating up innocent protesters, injuring journalists? Doesn’t make sense! It doesn’t make sense because like some media “lumpens” the Congis were busy making absurd statements in the media.

Did I say lumpens? Hmm! The protests had started off peacefully but by the third day headlines started changing. All the media channels were now flashing “protests turn violent”. Frankly, none of the protesters, aged 5 to 91, looked like violent types. So the specialists came in to fulfil the prophecy of a known media charlatan. These were the nice guys who came far more prepared with stones, sticks and inflammables. There are many who suspect these sponsored “lumpens” were from the NSUI and word got around on Twitter and Facebook too. The picture of violence does not seem to be from students, men and women who started the protests. There were women of all ages, even some over 70. Many claimed to be house-wives or working mothers with daughters. So who sponsored the violence? There’s only party that can gain from disrupting the protests and that is not hard to guess. So while the sponsored violence happened on the ground the ministers continued to float on the air. Home minister Sushil Shinde was everywhere.

Shinde said he met protesters on a Sunday. On Sabbath? He’s lucky some Jewish Rabbi didn’t hear that.  He asked if 100 Adivasis were killed in Gadichiroli should the govt rush there. No sir, definitely not; the GOI should go to Kudankulam, there’s no Congress govt there. Then he warned that if the govt met students today they’d have to meet Maoists tomorrow. Come on! That’s not true. The govt does meet Maoists whenever they kidnap people and hold hostages. I wonder if Shinde was secretly suggesting students too should start holding hostages. This guy would have made a great VP for George W. Bush. “We failed in Afghanistan. So what? Let’s go bomb Iraq”! In defence of Shinde I must mention that he is not a complicated man but making some genuine points but with some bad analogies. His act followed the wailing Sheila Dikshit who wetted our screens through CNN-IBN and NDTV. It’s unfortunate SheilaD is in politics. She could have been a great replacement for the late Meena Kumari, the tragedy queen. She told everyone how helpless she was and how she had no guts to even go and meet the rape victim. These are the Ministers people elect and then complain.

So when Shinde and Sheila failed to conquer through the media, the Congress pulled out its most powerful WMD; Weapon of Mass Delusion. They sent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. I doubt anyone, other than media stenographers, even remembers what MMS mumbled in the few minutes that he read from a POP (Piece of paper). But to his credit MMS did leave the whole nation in good cheer and stomach-cramping laughter as he looked up from his POP at the end of his mumbling and asked “Theek Hai?” (Is it okay?). Debates are still on over FB and on Twitter as to who MMS was asking that question to. Some say the cameraman, some say SoniaG, some say Barkha Dutt, who desperately yearned for his speech. I even thought he was asking the national guest for the day, Vladimir Putin.

It amazes me that seasoned politicians don’t learn that media is made up of scavengers who live off bad situations and victims. Manish Tiwari’s I&B Ministry even sent a threatening advisory to curb the media showing ugly pictures and reports (read Google-translated version on Bhadas4Media). They say politics is the last resort for a scoundrel. They forgot to add that for headless chickens who have lost touch with people the first and last resort is a corrupt media. Instead of talking with people they were doing photo-ops and interviews in the media. Imagine how they are going to handle law and order.