New-age reportage recently in evidence crosses the boundaries of decency and sets worrying new principles.
Years ago, a newspaper editor taught me a few principles of story writing. “Never make direct personal attacks. Twist the knife ever so tenderly and you will be surprised at the results,” he advised. His own favourite story was his description of Shiv Sena lion Balasaheb Thackeray as “the gentle Mr. Thackeray.” The media veteran earned a torrent of abuse for it!
Rookie reporters also learnt other dos and don’ts: Attribute, confirm and hear out the other side — rules that could be set aside only when the story was a major scoop needing protection and secrecy.
But that was another world and another time, and as much hit me like a thunderbolt as the IPL mega scam exploded on television and print media alike. TV is by definition loud, fast and sensational. It is futile to expect a delicately mannered anchor with a commitment to facts and fairplay to beat the competition, much less bring the coveted TRPs. Most certainly not when a story breaks with the force of an avalanche as happened when Minister of State Shashi Tharoor was revealed to be complicit in a deal that offered a bounty to his lady friend. The Shashi Tharoor-Sunanda Pushkar story was god’s own gift to the TV channels and they grabbed it with both hands, delving into Ms. Pushkar’s past with all the finesse of a rampaging bull.
Reporting epidemic
In the days since, the IPL reporting fever has spread like an epidemic, taking in its embrace mainstream newspapers as well as reputed magazines. Over the past week, scoops and stories have tumbled out at a breathless pace, some of them truly able to expose the rot behind the glamour and glitz of cricket’s brashy new offspring but many others irresponsibly speculative. By all accounts, IPL is a humungous wheels-within-wheels affair. Just how many people it will eventually implicate, if it does so at all, is anybody’s guess given the complex pattern of franchise ownership, benami stake-holdings and a score of affiliated legal and illegal activities, ranging from telecast rights to money laundering, betting, match-fixing and so forth.
When imagination takes flight in this volatile situation, the results can be tragi-comic. A reported e-mail sent from Minister Praful Patel’s office to Mr. Tharoor had two newspapers reach opposite conclusions. One held Mr. Patel guilty of helping Mr. Tharoor. The other accused him of trying to mislead the former Minster into giving up the Kochi Consortium bid.
A weekly magazine in its last issue dug its nails deep into Sunanda Pushkar, turning Mr. Tharoor’s companion into a virago with an insatiable appetite for men, power and money. The author might have been Ms. Pushkar herself, considering the easy and expert access she seemed to have had to her subject’s mind. The “belle from Bomai (in Kashmir)” was apparently so devilishly clever that she mapped out her future while still a teenager in college, taking the “marriage route” to escape the dreariness of everyday valley life, ensnaring her husband’s best friend on the way and chasing after the good life with a “vampire-like” thirst that ironically, by the author’s own admission, did not get her subject too far. For, despite “clawing her way” into Dubai’s event management and entertainment circles and charming a variety of sponsors (she had them “eating out of her hands”), not to mention a talent for acquiring a procession of “companions”, Ms. Pushkar, the author says, struggled to stay afloat for the most part, “orbiting into the inner circles of the mega rich” as recently as 2009. The author concludes that though aided by “heavy make-up, false eyelashes and seductive couture,” Ms. Pushkar ought to be reconciled to the fact that pedigree-obsessed Delhi would not accept a “wannabe”.
With so much venom packed into the narrative, it is hardly any surprise that the Pushkar profile and its author have become the toast of the glitter-twitter world. Author and gossip queen Shobaa De posted the “juicy, masaledaar” piece on her website. Complimenting the “hugely talented” author on her “delicious” reportage, she wished she had written it herself.
Salacious details
Not to be outdone, a Mumbai tabloid gave out salacious details of a surgery performed on Ms. Pushkar by plastic surgeon Ashok Gupta. Dr. Gupta, a 2009 Padma awardee, confirmed to the paper that Ms. Pushkar came under the knife. Not only this, he supplied the “before” and “after” photographs to prove the transformation. So much for the Hippocratic oath and so much for the Padma awards!
It is not my case that Mr. Tharoor and Ms. Pushkar are innocent of all wrongdoing. Far from it. However, their “sins” do not fall in the same category. Mr. Tharoor can be accused of a corrupt practice but not Ms. Pushkar who, as a private citizen, was free to accept job and equity offers, provided she did not run afoul of the law. To be sure, there are legitimate questions about whether her professional qualifications were such as to earn her a large "sweat" equity.
However, none of these concerns warrant the dissection of her personal life. Those who claim to have been entertained by the weekly profile of Ms. Pushkar must ask themselves this question: Entertainment at whose cost? Tragically, many of Ms. Pushkar’s detractors are themselves successful women basking in the fame and spotlight of Page 3 events and parties. Ms. Pushkar has been pilloried for her ambition. Which woman who has reached any position of importance can claim to have got there without ambition?
Now imagine a man with qualities attributed to Ms. Pushakar. Surely he would have been seen to be on the fast-track — a workaholic focused on his job and able to connect with a wide cross-section of people. And so what if he broke a law here and there? That would only add to his dash. A woman similarly placed becomes a social-climber, especially if she was a “wannabe” without the social sanction afforded by “pedigree.”
When witch-hunt journalism of this kind comes into the mainstream media it sets a new principle: That it is kosher to get into people's personal territory. That no attribution need be made, that if the person being profiled is judged to be completely without a virtue, her version can be dispensed with.
Fortunately, good taste does seem to prevail outside the rarefied circles of Metro high society. The reader response to the Pushkar profile (posted on the weekly's website) was one of revulsion. Said one reader: “Every sentence in it reeks of a deep-seated upper class prejudice which ridicules and sneers at the ambitions and processes of social mobility of many people of India, especially those from mofussil regions.” Commented another: “This writing looks to be a case of libel. Vindictive and sexist to the core.”
I could add a line: This journalism requires no sweat.
Keywords: journalism, Vidya Subrahmaniam, Sunanda Pushkar, IPL controversy, Shashi Tharoor
Comments:
congratulations for this article.These days journalists seem to have forgotten or they do not any basic principles of journalism and they tend to write any rubbish making a mountain out of a mole hill.
Can't agree more. There seems to be a great dichotomy today between what happens and what is presented.
Good one article by Vidya. I was trying hard to understand why tabloid and TV media are discussing about Ms. Pushkar's private life. She is not a public servant like Tharoor.
We, all right thinking people should encourage 'The Hindu' in this world of highly competitive and paid for news era. My only fear is 'The Hindu' being a true readers newspaper facing problems like newyork times and CNN. Foxnews with its masala news/debates has overtaken CNN in US.
This article is a relief. It reinstates my belief in true Journalism.
In the name of democracy and freedom of speech, journalists these days stoop to the bottom level of decency. It is hight time the state implement measures to make these 'herd' accountable for their articles.
An excellent article that can influence the TV journalists to rethink on how serious reporting can be!!
Very good article. TV journalists should be re-directed to journalism schools. Anchors and correspondents ape the editors of TV channels. Even these editors need to reorient their style of reportage. The article should be an eye-opener.
An excellent article advising moderation in reporting. Print and visual media have a great responsibility in shaping the views of people. Apart from big economic and social problems we are facing, we face a loss of cultural values which should inform social relations. Thanks to Vidya Subramaniam and The Hindu for pointing out this important side of the story.
Really glad to have read this. Vidya Subramaniam deserves our collective thanks for her attempt to restore sanity to the world of reportage. News is now entertainment and what better entertainment than gossip and character assassination?
Don't try to act smart. Don't try to frame big rules. The people need/wish to hear see things like these and that is why the media is reporting "sweaty issues".
Try to swin against the tide and you are dead.
You did a really job here, Vidya- please keep it up! Having said that, tabloid journalism has its place- but in India there are too many tabloid journalists and too few serious ones. Also, the tabloid journalists are cowards and often won't target influential politicians and they are manipulated easily by experienced politicians.
Vidya Subramaniam has raised a valid point. But there is another side to the story. The media have been giving people what they want. And such slimy reportage will continue as long as people want it to be consumed. It is not a byproduct of this age. Ever since journalism began, yellow reporting has been there. And it will continue to be so as long as we enjoy the carnal pleasures. Moderation looks best for a paper like The Hindu and its readers.
Thanks Ms.vidya for the article. Am glad someone had the sense to point out the vulgar reporting. I, as a journalist, still hold our heads high thanks to a handful of objective journalists like u. Otherwise, today's journalists are all the same-unethical, greedy and rotting in their self-centred world. Kudos to The Hindu and to you.
While it is good to condemn the news channels and publications that thrive on the Page 3 syndrome and ripping apart the personal lives of celebrities for the 'entertainment' factor, it is equally disturbing that such stories attract large audiences in India.
As a cartoon in 'The Hindu' itself reflected a few days ago, at homes people watched the IPL controversy presented on news channels with great interest and found it to be more entertaining than the tournament itself. The voyeurism of people and the greed with which they consume such news items is equally condemnable as are the media organisations that cater to such tastes...
wat is wrong with this kind of journalism??? at least the truth is not hidden, unlike your paper which reports only what it deems fit to???
Covering the truth is much worse than exposing the darker side of the truth.
And come off your high 'Hindu' horse. You guys have a plush life and do not have to go through the rigours of journalism. You are the prime example of arm-chair reporting.
Come out on the streets instead of sitting in your air-conditioned rooms and passing judgements. Self delusion and self-righteousness are the worst sins of journalism. And just because you have an opinion does not mean that it is right.
Get out, listen to other views and then judge.
And remember you shall be judged by the same yardstick that you employ.
Thank you Vidya. I wish there were more of you and less of shobhaa De around in my beloved country.
A vain hope Alas!
good article....what you convey is the reality that mustbe a guiding force to a valuable journalist.impartiality will never hurt a citizen whose rights and liberties must be protected by a responsible journalist through his/her writings.Here biased journalism is growing like mashrooms. Today scoops and special stories are originated in the political market where ''Bulls survives by dirty tatics and a good journalist must evaluate before a scoop in its nuke and corner.thanks and go ahead with your mighty ideals
Delicious piece!!...Indian media has been taken hostage by the likes of Shobha De, a nexus of average and self-indulgent elite....I had given up hope on Indian media...the Hindu keeps my hope alive!
Excellent article. My faith in The Hindu continues, as a source of true, old-world journalism that still understand its meaning and calling.
Maybe it is time for the Government to consider appointing a Media regulator - much like the IRDA or SEBI. A special Court (with as much powers as a High Court) should be set up for the Media regulator to take legal recourse against errant media.