India's Biggest Mafia

Of the thousands of comments on this blog site there a handful of commenters that call it a Pro-BJP site. Some add humour by calling it a ‘BJP-funded’ blog. To me, this suggests that these commenters probably do not work in a media outlet or have little or no understanding of how media houses work. And this is not in any way to suggest that all other commenters do. If funding or profit was the only motive for a political blog the only sensible thing to do would be run a Pro-Congress blog. I guarantee you the returns can be handsome. But then again this is not a political blog. If it were, the title and tag line of the blog would have been very different. In the previous post one commenter summed it up stating “…any criticism of the media is pro BJP and anti-Congress. So criticism of media=criticism of Congress?”. This is what has become the mantra of Congress sympathisers. They have been consumed so much by Paidmedia, they are no more able to distinguish the party from much of the media itself. So what’s it all about? Well, there are many gangs in India and this blog is dedicated to just one gang – The media. Lately, the choice of the media to describe such gangs is “Mafia” so let’s begin with some minor understanding of the mafia.

Originally, to be a Mafiosi you had to be of Sicilian origin. In foreign lands the term ‘Paisan’ is also used to describe Italian, Sicilian descendants who could be part of the mafia. The mafia then is a network of many bosses controlling many different turfs and activities. We call it crime, they call it business. And the businesses extend from smuggling, extortion, match-fixing, gambling and so on. Each turf is headed by a ‘Made-man’ who is the local boss. Only a Sicilian or Italian can be a boss. His foot soldiers (who could be of any race) are known as ‘Wiseguys’ (or fashionably ‘Goodfellas’). It’s the wiseguys who do most of the dirty work. So just as after Watergate almost every scandal is suffixed with ‘Gate’ every gang has come to be termed mafia, at least in India.

Our media has successfully tagged every such gang as mafia. So you have Land mafia, Mining mafia, Liquor mafia, Timber mafia, Corporate mafia, Trade mafia, Fake-currency mafia and the list can go on and on. They usually leave out two mafias. Both are bedfellows. One is the political mafia and the other, even more dangerous one, is the Media Mafia. Look deep into our media. You will find extortion, blackmail, murder, connections with anti-national elements, black money. Everything you can associate with a regular mafia you will find in equal measure in the media too. But since they claim to be ‘God’s own messengers’ they will never expose their own mafia.

Every mafia thrives on a few specific sources of income, what’s that for the media mafia? Advertising and through that revenue the power to influence opinions! Circulation, viewership may help the ad rates but they don’t directly generate great revenues. And so this mafia came up with the great idea of paid news too. Earlier, in the print media the art was to bring out spurious supplements which may look like a casual entertaining read but were actually ‘Paid for’ supplements. Now that art has taken the form of great scientific methodology. Take even Bollywood! Every movie release has a scientific methodology to it. Or even ever wondered why Ram Gopal Verma’s movies are trashed in the media even weeks before release?

Now, let’s come back to the question of why any anti-media article or site invariably appears to be anti-Congress. No need for a history class but India has long been ruled by the Congress, and still is, and therefore the greatest income source. Don’t be under the illusion that the corporate world alone is a great ad revenue source. In the past most print media would find it hard to even survive without govt ads and most of them had a person dedicated to dealing with the govt ad department (The DAVP or the State Information Depts.). Now add to that all the PSUs, the various govt. bodies (like PWD, Municipality, Water resources etc.).  Aha you say! It is bigger than any corporate segment and bigger than the land and mining mafias. Yes indeed, it is so damn lucrative that in most states almost every political party has its own media outlet. Yep, even the Congress in some states. Surprisingly, it's only the BJP that doesn't have one yet. 

So you’d ask if it’s all about govt doles why Congress alone? Let’s take Indian Express for instance. This once strongly anti-establishment newspaper is now a big Congress mouthpiece. Why? Because internal divisions and competition has more or less threatened its existence. It survives. And how do you think it does? Now if there were a BJP or some other govt at the centre yes there would be dole outs too but with the Congress the dole outs can be extra-ordinarily disproportionate. How do you explain Shobana Bhartiya being an RS member? Do you expect her Hindustan Times to be fair and balanced? HT has another extension – NDTV. They are linked by the informal association of their editors who appear in each other’s media outlet. How do you explain a financial disaster such as NDTV still on air? How do you explain a consistent loss making CNN-IBN still on air? (Only recently they’ve been bailed out by Reliance).

A media house like Hindustan Times or NDTV having a bias in favour of Congress is not a crime. It is when most of the national media outlets have a severe bias in favour of Congress that it becomes a MAFIA. And it is true that most of the media outlets have become a Congress mouthpiece. The recent elections and coverage of politicians would tell you enough. It is when their bias leads them to commit crimes by spreading untruths, fake reports, excessive spin, fake and fixed debates and even utter lies against the opposition and other parties that blogs like these are born. This mafia has found a very profitable equation with the Congress at the centre. Why would they want to change that, eh? In fact, they will do their best to ensure there is more of Congress in as many states as possible. Isn’t that why all the scams of YSR and Jagan Reddy are only coming out after the former’s death and the latter’s quitting the Congress? Now wait for the Gujarat elections where it’s a clear BJP V Congress fight. Watch how many lies and spins will show up.

Okay, so how else does it profit to be a mafia in league with Congress? List all the names: Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and all the deaths and anniversaries and every major project launches after their names. Where do you think the huge ad and media spend goes? And to all of this, just add ‘Paidnews’. How does it make it profitable to be a mouthpiece for anyone but the Congress? So just like the mafia bosses our editors guard their turf and have regular meetings all together. Secret meetings! The last such opportunity would have been the very SECRETIVE RahulGandhi-‘Off the record’ breakfast meet. Their ‘wiseguys’ are on the field, on the ground and extend the bosses’ work. How do you explain the now commonly used term ‘Hit-job’ in relation to articles by journos? That’s a mafia term, isn’t it? Wait a few years it will be properly known as a "Whack-job"!

In December 2011 Umesh Agarwal premiered his documentary on Paid News under an event of Moneylife (edited by Sucheta Dalal). This documentary titled “The open frame” is now on youtube and other sites going by the name “Brokering news”. Although limited in its effort one must commend the effort of the producers and the director. Do watch the video below:

The documentary does not touch upon the ‘mafia’ like work of the media for very obvious reasons. (It was produced in association with Prasar Bharti). Here’s what Umesh Agarwal had to say after the premiere: “Every aspect of news be it political, business, sports or entertainment had a price tag. Even panel discussions on an important national issue were ‘fixed”. Guests were invited to give the discussion a particular slant. Selection of guests wasn’t dictated by the editorial policy of the group but there were other considerations”.

The 'Made-guy' is free to kill anyone, anytime, even the wiseguys. But no one can kill the Made-Guy unless a majority of all the bosses approve. Does that explain how and why many of our editorialists continue to hold their jobs despite their crimes? 

And that is that! Next time you hear an anchor or an editorialist mentioning the word Mafia just imagine, it could be the media's ‘Wiseguy’ or ‘Made-guy’. It's simply India's biggest mafia talking to you.