IE editorial gives good insight on how journalist and media is manipulated

This entry into Media Watch pertains to an excellent editorial by Shekhar Gupta - Constant Congressman it gave us some insight on How Arjun Singh and congress by extension corrupted journalists by doling out free houses etc

Even though the topic was about Arjun Singh and how close he was to Rajiv Gandhi. It gave good insight on how he manipulated journalists, how he “improved living standards of journalists” while he was CM by giving them houses. It also spoke of how he gave houses to five senior most journos in Chandigarh when he was governor of Punjab and how the next day newspaper had news favorable to him!

Some of relevant portion of the editorial on how he “handled” journalist are

Following is how he took care when he was CM of MP

And When he was governor of Punjab

Surprisingly when we tried to access the editorial later it was not available online(not sure if its there in print). This is what we get

It is still available in Google search

But a fellow twitterati  @asraghunath found a copy of epaper which is below

This was brought to attention of IE

Can you please fix the link its not working RT @ietweet Constant Congressman http://goo.gl/jaSyY

Another day in TOI

Another day in TOI… Look at the priorities of news. Sonams dress disaster is higher than violent mob setting 3 buses on fire!

of course then you have Marde Dras parade and twonkle showing of baby bump!!

ToI labels Sikhs and KPs as activists from PoK

Above is from TOI article PM Manmohan Singh arrives in Jammu

First KP’s get kicked out of their home to become refugees in their own country. Now if we go by TOI caption, they donot even have a country!!

ToI poll on SC firing of CVC

Toi is conducting a poll to understand the impact of SC verdict on CVC. following is the result. Will TOI have guts to report this also

 

NDTV report on New Congress Working Committee & mixes up the names

This is pertaining to NDTV report on new CWC. NDTV in its report New Congress Working Committee announced among writes

Those dropped include Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithvi Raj Chavan, Law Minister Veerappa Moily, and Vilasrao Deshmukh who served as chief minister of Maharashtra but was removed for his links to the Adarsh Society scam -  flats in a Mumbai building intended for war widows and veterans were allotted to politicians, bureaucrats, and retired army officers, who rigged permissions for the building's construction in an area that is highly sensitive because of its proximity to important defence facilities.

It seems that NDTV is trying to portray dropping of Vilasrao Deshmukh as a great moral act and by narrating his wrong doing is trying to imply that he was dropped due to his wrong doings

What NDTV forgets to mention is the in January this year same party (with the blessing of same Sonia Gandhi) appointed Vilasrao Deshmukh as cabinet minister for Rural Development with additional charge of Panchayati Raj

Lastly, It may be a minor detail for NDTV that it was not Vilasrao Deshmukh who was removed Adarsh scam. It was Ashok Chavan. Vilasrao Deshmukh was removed for goofing up 2611. 

NDTV the word is Bhikkhuni Not Nun

Its high times NDTV learns some cultural and religious Etiquette.

NDTV in its article Nepal's singing sensation nun to debut in India calls a Buddhist Female monk Nun.

Ani Choying Dolma, a 40-year-old Buddhist nun of Tibetan ancestry, who took "asylum" in a monastery in Kathmandu valley at the age of 10 to escape the rages of an abusive father, is now one of the best-known singers in the country with followers in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the US and Germany.

Female Budhist monk is called Bhikuni not Nun.

SC fires CVC PJ Thomas your turn media…

Today is a historic day. Perhaps for the second time in history of Independent India supreme court has given a verdict of such immense importance. The first one would be Justice Sinha's (Allahabad High Court) verdict on June 12, 1975, declaring Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha as void.

Media Watch will be closely watching how media is reporting this historic event.

The first one which has caught Media Watch attention is a NDTV report Who is PJ Thomas? 

At the onset, NDTV explains at length how the corruption charges against PJ Thomas is a very old one

Polayil Joseph Thomas, 60, has been in the eye of an unseemly storm for the last five months - a corruption case from years ago and an embarrassing question mark on his integrity came back to haunt him and the government that appointed him as the top man to look into corruption.

Does NDTV mean to say that seriousness of corruption charges decrease with time? It may be minor detail that P.J. Thomas is the eighth accused in the Rs 2.8-crore palmolein scam and has not been exonerated yet. In 2005, the then Congress government even moved the Supreme Court seeking that the palmolein case be withdrawn. Luckily, congress lost election and new Left government blocked the Congress government's move to get the case withdrawn. Now the trial is pending in the case as the SC ordered a stay on it based on Karunakaran's plea in 2007.

Also, Its intriguing NDTV missed any mention that PJ Thomas role at the DoT came under heavy criticism for a variety of reasons.

• One, he did not take any action against officials who allowed 85 firms to get licences even though they did not qualify (this was exposed by the CAG).
• Two, Thomas did not levy penalties on firms which did not fulfill their roll-out obligations, or recommend that their licences be cancelled — the CAG had to do this.

In fact, NDTV themselves in their report Is the new CVC against 2G scam probe? dated sept 08, 2001 had raised questions on integrity of CVC putting a question mark on whether the new CVC is in favour of probing the 2G scam. NDTV unearthed

In the note dated July 10, 2010, the Department of Telecom objects to the Comptroller and Auditor General or CAG's scrutiny of the 2G scam. PJ Thomas was the Telecom Secretary when this note was sent to the Law Ministry, seeking its opinion on the CAG's right to scrutinise the 2G spectrum allocation.
The Law Ministry replied to that note on August 13, 2010 saying the CAG or the CVC have no powers to challenge government policy.
In that note, the Law ministry clearly says the CVC can only probe corruption cases, not government policy.

Even SC questioned the tenability of P J Thomas supervising the Central Bureau of Investigation's probe into the 2G scandal. ASC observed

chargesheeted official doesn’t qualify as an outstanding civil servant.

Its shocking that inspite of all these grave charges, NDTV brushes off the the charges as “a corruption case from years ago”. Media watch would like to quote our esteemed PM on this

“Caesar's wife must be above suspicion ”

Then NDTV proceeds to imply that govt was caught unaware as CVC hid his assignment as Food and Civil Supplies Secretary or the palmolein case that happened during that time. NDTV reports

Curiously, his bio-data on the Central Vigilance Commission website lists all his assignments but not that as Food and Civil Supplies Secretary. The UPA government has said the bio-date that it saw while appointing Thomas did not mention this stint or the palmolein case that happened then.
The profile on the CVC website mentions Thomas' other assignments - that as Additional Chief Secretary (Higher Education), Chief Electoral Officer & Principal Secretary to Government, Director of Fisheries, Managing Director of the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation Limited, Secretary, Taxes (Board of Revenue). Even District Collector, Ernakulam, Secretary, Kerala Khadi & Village Industries Board and Sub Collector, Fort, Cochin. One assignment listed merely states - Secretary, Government of Kerala.

Does NDTV want us to believe that GOI depends upon the biodata submitted by candidate for his service information especially when the candidate is being considered for a sensitive position like CVC? Wonder why NDTV missed to mention Home Minister P Chidambaram assertion that Selection Committee meeting to chose Central Vigilance Commissioner did discuss the issue of Palmolein case against P J Thomas. NDTV also missed to mention the dissent of Sushma Swaraj. In fact this was the first time in the last 15 years that government and the opposition differed in the choice of a CVC.

NDTV then finishes the report with some rave reviews

He also served as Telecom Secretary till he became CVC, and those who speak for him point to how much better the 3G spectrum auction was organised as compared to 2G.
The Supreme Court, which is also monitoring the CBI's investigation into the spectrum scam, suggested that it would be inappropriate for Mr Thomas to preside over an inquiry that could subject his own actions in the Telecom Ministry to scrutiny. Mr Thomas then recused himself from the 2G investigation.

One has to give it to audacity of NDTV in praising PJ Thomas especially on a day when SC has struck down his appointment as CVC.  

Similar act but different headlines from TOI one for BJP one for Cong

This entry into Media Watch is to show how TOI treats news differently depending upon who is involved. It seems they have one standard for BJP and another for Congress

Background is visit of BJP president Nitin Gadkari to Barak Valley and a similar visit by Tarun Gogoi, Congress CM.

Both of them talked about the plight of Hindu refugees in the valley as they were upset over a recent remark of AICC general secretary and Assam in-charge Digvijay Singh on the question of Hindu refugees. Digvijay Singh  had said

if a Hindu from Bangladesh comes to India after a stipulated time-frame he also should be treated as an infiltrator or a foreigner. There's no constitutional provision to treat Hindus coming from Bangladesh and Pakistan as refugees.

Now lets lets see what TOI says

ToI reports Gadkaris visit with a headline Gadkari plays Hindu card in Barak and writes

Everytime there's an election in Assam, BJP invariably plays the Hindu card at least in the state's Barak Valley region that shares a border with Bangladesh. This time too, the situation is in no way different as party president Nitin Gadkari has said no Hindu who came to India from Bangladesh and Pakistan should be treated as foreigners.

Nitin Gadari in his speech said

The people of India understand under what circumstances the Hindus had to flee the two neighbouring countries. They were compelled to do so. Nobody can send the refugee Hindus back to Bangladesh and Pakistan. BJP will not allow anybody to do so. If the Congress government terms the refugee Hindus as foreigners or illegal migrants, the people of India will throw the party away to Bangladesh

TOI reports Gogois with a Headline Eye on polls, Gogoi pledges 1000cr package for Barak and writes

Keeping in mind the coming assembly elections, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, promised the Barak Valley a Rs 1,000-crore package if the Congress wins in all the 15 segments of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi.

The chief minister tried to appease Hindu Bengalis in his speech who were upset over a recent remark of AICC general secretary and Assam in-charge Digvijay Singh on the question of Hindu refugees.

Gogoi in his speech said

The Congress has sympathy for those Hindus coming from Bangladesh under certain circumstances

If readers would notice both Nitin and Gogoi said exactly the same thing but TOI reported the news one with a positive sping and other with negative disdain! Most amazing is the contrast in language used for heading!

Can we assume that since its election time and Nitin might have not yet bought the “positive news” package.

Thanks @centerofright for lead

Did Media underreport this news about Rahul?

Its surprising that Indian Media who normally reports even when Rahul sprouts a beard did not report this neww report which was published first in Rediff.

Rediff in their report HC notice to Rahul Gandhi on missing girl writes

The Lucknow [ Images ] bench of Allahabad high  court on Tuesday issued notice to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi [ Images ] on a petition seeking information about the whereabouts of a missing girl and her family.
The girl and her family are alleged to be "untraceable" ever since they called on Rahul during one of his visit to his parliamentary constituency, Amethi on December 13, 2006.
Moving a petition on behalf of the family, Kishore Samrite, former Samajwadi Party MLA from Madhya Pradesh [ Images], has accused the Congress celebrity and his five foreigner friends of indulging in criminal assault on the 24-year-old Sukanya Singh.
Claiming to have learnt this from some news website, the petitioner has stated, "I was moved by the news. So I came all the way from my home in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh to Amethi where I found the girl's house locked. Local villagers were tight-lipped about the whereabouts of the family."
He has, therefore, sought the intervention of the Allahabad high court "to issue a writ of Habeas Corpus to Rahul Gandhi to produce the missing girl Sukanya, her father Balram Singh and mother Savitri Singh."
While issuing the notice, a single judge bench comprising Justice SN Shukla did not fix any date for hearing the case, the petitioner's advocate Surya Mani Raikwar told rediff.com.

Till Now no other media house except Rediff and Economic Times has carried this news! Economic Times reported this is their report HC issues notice to Rahul Gandhi for girl's illegal detention

Media Watch calls upon all well meaning citizen to rise against medias blackouts! Media is an important pillar supporting our democracy, its important they report news fairly and objectively.

Thanks @kiyer10 for lead

WTF!

Journalist or political activist?

This is the view of Bureau Chief of NDTV in Kashmir on Indias main opposition party! How can such a person report objectively?

Media didnot publish this news

IE bluffs on Rahuls Fracture

This entry into Media Watch is pertaining to IE report Rahul fractures leg, advised ‘complete’ rest.

IE reports the cause of fracture as

Rahul’s accident comes after a hectic trip across UP, Maharashtra and the North-East.

Since its hard to believe hectic travel causes fracture, Media Watch decided to do own own little investigation. It seems that Rahuls injured his leg during adventure sports in Kodagu where he was vacationing along with his friends looking like foreign tourist(in ToI language). This is how ToI reported the incident

While participating in adventure sports in Kodagu, Rahul injured his leg and was treated at a private hospital at Ammathi. Rahul was so well-disguised he succeeded in making the doctors mistake him for a foreign tourist

IE also reports

Incidentally, brisk walking has been Rahul’s preferred way of moving around in villages rather than addressing gatherings.

Not sure what IE meant by this statement. But if we go by the report Rahuls seems to understand his weakness and strength very well.

Media hypes up Rahul Gandhi Playing the Good Samaritan,

Before we start this, Media Watch appreciates the Rahul Gandhi going out of way to help an injured person. We wish every Indian follow the example.This in no way is intended to show Rahul Gandhis gesture in bad light. Our only objective is the expose the media hype which is distasteful.

This entry into Media Watch is the hype media created on Rahul Gandhi helping a person involved in an accident.

India Today reports melodramatically  Delhi: Rahul Gandhi saves life of man hit by taxi

Kale Ram, a resident of Khichripur in east Delhi, was seriously injured when a taxi rammed his motorbike.

So if India today is to be believed, Rahul Gandhi saved the life of a person who was seriously injured in an accident.

NDTV as always was at the extreme end in their poetry laced report Rahul Gandhi gets out of car, helps accident victim

Rahul ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath. 

Indian Express while reporting Rahul Gandhi spots accident victim, rushes him to RML changes the religion of the person involved in accident. They changed Kale Ram to Kale Khan. We hope this was an innocent mistake.

The incident was reported around Tuesday afternoon from Krishna Menon Marg in Lutyens’ Delhi when a motorcyclist was hit by a taxi. The victim has been identified as Kale Khan, a contractor with the New Delhi Municipal Council. He suffered injuries and was left bleeding on the road

HT in their report Rahul’s good turn ‘shocks’ survivor upgrades Rahul to messiah in white! Which makes one wonder do messiahs have dress code like Thy shall only wear white

When 55-year-old Kale Ram, an NDMC contractor lay injured on the road waiting for help after a taxi hit him on Tuesday, a ‘messiah’ in white walked up to him and saved his life.

Kudos to The Hindu who gave most dispassionate accounts of the incident . According to the report Rahul plays the Good Samaritan

Playing the Good Samaritan, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday helped rush an injured man lying on Krishna Menon Marg here to a hospital in one of his escort vehicles.

Kale Ram lost his balance, fell on the road and sustained shoulder injuries.

Kale Ram dislocated his shoulder in the accident

Only the Media in India will have the audacity to report shoulder dislocation as a life threatening incident and the person help as “messiah in white”. Media Watch is glad Media has found gesture of Rahul Gandhi commendable. Media Watch would like to remind media that they themselves have been found wanting in situations which required them to play good samaritan

IE rehashes old propaganda material from TOI & Midday against BSY

If you have nothing bad to publish what do you do? Its easy when it comes to Indian Media. Just use the old propaganda material used by others. IE’s report Astrologer Bhanu, BSY’s mystic mentor published on sunday falls in this category. They just reused the old reports published by Midday in report Black magic CM published on 2011-02-01 and Times of India report To ward off evil, BSY to do yoga in the buff? published on Feb 1, 2011

Media Watch had earlier written on this Outrageous Article in Midday and Propaganda war against BSY continues–now TOI takes lead

Its the same old Bhanu Prakash Sharma, his same old claims. Its amazing a National news papaer can publish headlines just based on claims from a quack!

IE quotes Congress leader Siddaramaiah

“But you don’t run a government this way. As Chief Minister, he should run the government within the framework of the Constitution and the Constitution says the CM should have a scientific approach. All this is foolish. I don’t believe in these things,”

Amusing that IE found it appropriate to seek Congress leader Siddaramaiahs opinion but it seems a clarification from the man who was at centre of news – BSY was not sought!

Guess this may be IE’s way of saying Happy Birthday BSY…..