Opinion Roads and Phones

Stunning revelations on Rahul and Chidambaram....

Saubhik Chakrabarti

December 5, 2009 10:16 PM IST First published on: Dec 5, 2009 at 10:16 PM IST

DO you want to be on evening news but,not being a newsmaker as such,cant figure out how to do it? You can (a) jump into a hole (b) drive up to the PMs residence and ask the security personnel some silly questions (c) pick up a cauliflower and angrily ask what the government is doing about food prices (this option requires that you be a resident of south Delhi or south Mumbai) (d) join MNS (e) get beaten up by MNS. Doesnt appeal to you? I understand. I dont fancy any of these either.

What I would do if I were you is this: I would travel to somewhere near the India-China border,try and spot some Chinese soldiers and then go nuts. One phone call to a broadcaster and you are on evening news. Remember that the Chinese soldiers being on Chinas side of the border is of no relevance. What matters is what you and the TV channel thats got your exclusive think the Chinese are up to. If,for example,they are shouting,its a national emergency for us.

I would call Times Now. I am not playing favourites among broadcasters here. But if you want to get on TV on Chinas back,your best bet is Times Now. For proof,I offer a mesmerising discourse on international relations that Times Now hosted recently. India,I learnt,stands accused of giving in without grumble. China frowns, said Times Now,and India Trembles.

O God,what happened! Some Chinese soldiers shouted. Work on a road construction project in Ladakh,Times Now said,has stopped because some Chinese soldiers shouted at the workers. What did the J&K government and the Centre do? Did we at least get Indian soldiers to shout back at Chinese construction projects? No. And this is despite,as Times Now said,the road was an NREG project. NREG,the channel argued,is Rahul Gandhis pet scheme. This was an exciting new twist. A Congress government helplessly watching,indeed trembling,and not once shouting,as screaming Chinese soldiers apparently stopped the Nehru-Gandhi scions favourite welfare project. Getting Rahul Gandhi into an India-China border story was high-quality imaginative journalism. I am used to high-quality imaginative journalism from news TV. But this was very special.

So was an NDTV anchors quizzing of Sunil Mittal on cell-phone connection congestion in Delhi. This can be done in several ways,for example,by asking the question straight. I would have done that. But,then,I am not a famous TV journalist,am I? Famous TV journalists do this,as I saw on NDTV,by dropping a VIPs name in the question. We got to know that the famous journalist has phone conversations with P. Chidambaram. Wow! We got to know that during these phone conversations,the voice quality isnt always what it should be. Shocking! We were also told that Chidambaram apparently told the famous journalist that having a proper phone conversation in Delhi is pretty tough. I am so sorry sorry for Chidambaram,that is.

There are many things journalists can do to politicians. But among the things journalists surely shouldnt do is to drop a private conversation with a politician into a public discussion the latter has nothing to do with,and is not present in. I thought this was pretty obvious. Famous TV journalists,who are on the phone all the time with VIPs,will especially know this.

But,then,I also thought Rahul Gandhi had nothing to do with India-China border incidents.

saubhik.chakrabarti@expressindia.com

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