Left looks to score Marx on prime-time TV

The West Bengal Film Development Corporation (WBFDC) has been asked to work out the nitty-gritties. Subrata Mukherjee, managing director of the WBFDC, said talks are on with several satellite channels for software. “The government wants to beam in its performance in different sectors, organise panel discussions and news features. It is also contemplating a cultural section to provide entertainment.” The talks however, are at a “preliminary” stage, said Mukherjee.

A second advertisement issued by the government was to acquire a studio on rent, in Calcutta or a nearby location, for “shooting and online editing of TV programmes with ultra modern facilities like digital cameras, operable on hi-band, Umatic or Betacam format.”

Official sources said the government is now keen on setting up its own studio and is exploring the finance involved. Interestingly, the Marxists in the state see the print and audio-visual media as biased against the LF government.

Senior CPI(M) leaders,including the Chief Minister, have always made it a point to attack the media in all their public meetings, the latest being a Left Front worker’s convention at the Netaji indoor stadium where Basu launched a scathing attack on four print media houses, accusing them of “conspiring” against the government. Along with such vitriolic utterances, the CPI(M) party organ Ganashakti uses its columns fairly regularly to denounce media reports.

As far as electronic media is concerned, the CPI(M) was involved in a feud sometime back with a private Bengali channel. In fact, a couple of months ago, party state secretary and politburo member Anil Biswas had announced at a press conference that the channel was being “boycotted” by all its leaders and ministers. The private channel had later offered a formal “apology” before the ban was lifted.

With a slot at its disposal, the government feels it would be on a level field to undo any damage that the media could cause before the crucial 2001 assembly polls. Senior officials of the Information and Cultural Affairs department — which is involved with the project — said that in its bid to earn credibility, the government is also trying to design software so that programmes do not come across as mere publicity. Emphasis is also being given to rope in anchors and presenters with greater acceptability.