The new(s) Merchants
News has become a commodity for sale in the country. It can be created, nurtured and even destroyed for a price. It can be preserved, used later or leaked earlier. It can be altered, broken or rebuilt. And like in any economic activity there are middlemen, whole sellers and retailers.
Elections are won in newsrooms; prepolls and exits managed opinions are built and destroyed all for a price. The recent prepoll survey in CNN-IBN is yet another pointer. Now NDTV will compliment it in their exits and slowly they will bring their desired result in the state. They have done it before and hoping to repeat. In fact in Tamilnadu assembly what gave DMK victory was the free sops plus the prepoll surveys. All were stage-managed and the propagandists were all rewarded after the election. Congress is trying a replay.
What is news, how much dose of it, how long is it news, what is its expiry date are all directly proportionate to the income due from it.
What is hot news for jaya is not news at all for rest. And what is hot for the kalignar is cold for jaya. Well this is natural. But see what others do. Raj and Sun almost second kalignar. Makkal is pmk voice, Tamilan vck voice. Vijay has no news.
Recently in Times now I saw Arnob the greatest merchant propagating the vodafone line in their dog controversy. He summoned both sides and tried to give a loud and clear verdict all written by him, probably for a price. In fact the News hour seems to fill coffers for the times, now. Regarding the vodafone ad, it was cute, but their customer care is filled mostly with the barking and howling variety. Try delaying payment by a day and you will know how different they are. It is for this I object the advertisement. My grievance is doing the advt with the wrong dog, while the animal activists are angry because of no South African trip? Well that was what Arnob tried to convey. So the merchants also decide the texture of the news. It is like coffee. The strength, taste, odor and variety all depend on the maker.
While Priyanka’s secret mission to vellore was hot news for all channels, the denial of such event by the Jailer was just like a passing cloud. It bought drops and thunder but vanished soon with the noise. Baalu was all over for a week and now probably he is in swiss for cooling and maintaining a balance. So many channels and so much news, the newsreader and the audience have all become numb to any news. A bomb or a corrupt minister it is breaking news for a hour and then in some distant corner of the archive. No news is followed upon and many die a natural death. Some are killed and some are elongated unnecessarily. All depends on the income.
And for the first time, news was hidden for more than a month and made to coincide with a launch of a news edition. How much and how many would have become richer is any body’s guess.
A congress spokesman openly says that any complaint by subramaiam swami is ought to be ignored by the government because of the bias he has and no one questions his wisdom as to having a biased mind does not take away the sting of the allegation. Whenever BJP throws an allegation, the congress says what right does a party who has Bangaru laksman in its side have any right. And the news channels show this more times and take away the sting. Well so news can be colored also, by will. Even a criminal has a constitutional right to ask for an explanation and so why does the BJP keep silent when they face this dilemma. Probably of a fear it might give light to different news, which they may not like.
Traditionally Congress has been a better news manager inside India and poor outside and vice versa for BJP. If BJP has to win it has to learn the tricks. They need to find more pramods and jaitly and prasads. They also need a strategy. They also should learn to buy news hours and Psephologists. All is fair in war and love and so they have to.
In the state Karunanidhi is setting an example not only for the state not only for the country but also for the world. As a journalist he knows all the methods and has invented many more. He knows how silence will kill any news, he knows when to make it news, he knows to eavesdrop, he knows to appoint commissions to kill news, and well he is a genius. And similarly Jaya has to learn and that too quickly how to ‘ manage’ news. News in her channel is only for her eyes. The same news should be made news for other channels also. The solution is this but how to do it is her problem.
More and more politicians and business men are joining jounalism and television for they are wise to realise that they are more in news when they are in the business of news.
And together they have all made News the most expensive commodity on earth. For the common man any news is 100% gas and for the rest it is more of steel and money.
Continued…..