It146;s shocking but is it exclusive?

A week that saw the parliamentary affairs minister say 8220;bull8221; on television...

A week that saw the parliamentary affairs minister say 8220;bull8221; on television NTDV; during the frantic aftermath of the Second Renunciation is perhaps a good departure point for broadcast journalism to consider breaking certain conventions.

The major news channels covered the real big story of the week well. I thought CNN-IBN was the most comprehensive and NDTV, the quickest to spot the government8217;s retreat on the ordinance. But what happened before She was 8220;hurt8221;? The average, informed viewer was hurting 8212; as the target of TV news exclusives.

Star News tagged 8220;exclusive8221; on a story that had a family 8212; the paterfamilias is an ex-bureaucrat 8212; willing to wash its dirty linen on live TV. NDTV Profit branded the Belgian PM being okay with Laxmi Mittal8217;s Arcelor bid an 8220;exclusive8221;. Aaj Tak and CNN-IBN both told us their Maoist story respectively, on Nepal8217;s and India8217;s insurgents was an 8220;exclusive8221;. CNN-IBN8217;s take on Bangladesh terror camps, NDTV8217;s inquiry into the India-US farm agreement, NDTV8217;s story on Air India pilot fatigue, Times Now saying a businessman bilked NAFED out of crores, Star News tracking down other alleged victims of the Mumbai young man in police custody for rape, CNN-IBN catching via spycams, of course illegal tenants in MPs8217; bungalows 8212; all these were 8220;exclusives8221;.

To be sure , each of them was 8212; in the narrowest lexicographic sense. Competitors didn8217;t have the story. But those managing TV news don8217;t need me to tell them that 8220;exclusive8221; really means something else, something more: a story that competitors regret not having, a story that compels them to 8220;follow up8221;, a story that spreads out so far that many forget who scooped the 8220;exclusive8221;.

Because they were not real exclusives doesn8217;t mean they were all iffy stories. Some, like Star News8217;s, were the only way to rescue a Oprah-type TV show is to have Oprah anchor it. But Aaj Tak8217;s trek to Nepal Maoists8217; strongholds looked interesting 8212; good visuals, to-the-point narration. NDTV8217;s story on AI pilot fatigue was perfectly okay. So was CNN-IBN8217;s account of MPs as law-breaking landlords. The point is, how many of them survived even half of the 24215;7 news cycle? A real exclusive survives at least two full cycles, creates a context for related stories, and demands and gets universal attention for days. In recent memory, CNN-IBN8217;s revelation that the law minister was lighting a helpful fire under Ottavio Quattrocchi8217;s frozen bank account was the only TV news story that had such impact.

To know a priori which story deserves an exclusive tag is not rocket science. Then why is broadcast journalism frenetically devaluing newsgathering8217;s most hallowed merit-marker? Competition would be the most ironical of answers. Exclusivity is the last thing these stories bring to the news channels. Just as a deep sense of anticipation or foreboding is the last thing you feel when you see 8220;Breaking News8221; scrolling at the bottom of the TV screen these days.

If Sonia Gandhi resigns again 8212; even though it would be the third time 8212; that8217;d be breaking news. When that plane went into the World Trade Centre tower 8212; that was breaking news. But DICK8217;s successful talks with every Tom and Harry of the Congress8217;s Kerala unit, Karan Singh saying he too has quit, Madan Lal Khurana saying he too is hurt 8212; these are just news.

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We must remember, though, that everything could have been worse. On India TV, Khurana told his interviewer that he wishes now he hadn8217;t listened to L.K. Advani and resigned mid-term as Delhi8217;s CM. If I had been in power for five years, Khurana said, I would have solved Delhi8217;s problems about unauthorised constructions. Thank you, Mr Advani.