But revenue? Once informed how the BBC’s revenue model works—government funding but independence guaranteed—Khan says that’s what we need. Turn, for starters, DD into an Indian BBC.

And newspapers? Does he think a ‘‘serious’’ newspaper can also be run by government money? Isn’t publicly funded independent newspaper an oxymoron? Khan doesn’t agree. ‘‘Public money can be used to set up a newspaper. Pay journalists well so that you get quality staff. But since there will be no profit motive, news can become as serious as it should.’’

‘‘People of India will fund such a newspaper or a news channel..That’s the ‘need of the hour’...That’s what people like me would want.’’

So, it’s a good idea for society at large to think of ways to fund ‘‘serious’’ journalism? Absolutely, Khan says. ‘‘As a citizen of my country I can’t voice my opinion if I don’t know accurately what is happening. Corruption in news reporting is dulling our senses.’’

He insists on elaborating. ‘‘I probably don’t know half the news that I should know.’’ He gives an example of an acquaintance telling him about recent security forces’ actions in Assam. ‘‘Newspapers didn’t inform me of this.’’ But that could have been because of the news hierarchy newspapers have to follow—not all regions can be equally important for all newspapers. Maybe, Khan says, ‘‘maybe it came out in a small item but it is the kind of news I don’t get to see’’.

But how many news consumers does he reckon feel like him? How many in Bollywood? Khan frowns but relaxes when he’s told he isn’t being asked to name co-actors, but to tell us whether his professional colleagues share his views on the media. ‘‘If you think of Bollywood as only stars—maybe I am an odd guy. But that is irrelevant. The industry is not just about stars, there are hundreds of others, assistant directors, editors, production staff, other people who make up the industry.’’ Many of these people, Khan says, share his discomfiture with how news is selected and presented.

... contd.