Two high-profile interviews. Two broadcasters. Two newsmakers. Two great journalistic opportunities. Two reasons I could have said in this edition of the column,oh what a great,instructive time I had watching news TV this week. One reason I am unable to say it: Where were the obvious questions?
NDTV got Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday,an exclusive at the height of the medias Tharoor focus,good for NDTV,and good for those who love the colour blue,there was a lot of it. But,bad news for those who love news. Tharoor is articulate and his articulation was especially impressive because somehow NDTV never got around to asking him the obvious and important questions. Some examples; the list isnt by any means exhaustive. When Tharoor was replying to NDTVs first question on Sunanda Pushkars Rs 70 crore sweat equity,the minister made great play out of the fact that he could not have guaranteed that the Kochi team would win. It was,he said,a closed envelope process. Indeed. But the point is not that Tharoor ensured Kochi would bid the highest amount. The point is that Kochis management gave sweat equity to the ministers close associate. Even if Kochi had lost,the question would have survived. Tharoor is in the dock because he was backing Kochi and a person he is close to was given a sweetheart deal by the team management. This is pretty simple,no? Yet NDTV didnt stop him; this was one occasion when an interruption was richly deserved.
Arundhati Roy is very articulate too. And CNN-IBNs exclusive with her,not quite as exclusive as NDTVs exclusive (Roy has been on TV and talking about Maoists plenty of times),was also a pleasure to listen to,provided you could stay calm when you heard Roys elaboration of the mining economy. Private mining benefits others economies while wrecking our ecology,she said. It benefits our economy too,as a matter of fact,and while mining and ecology have a problematic relationship,condemning private mining because it is private is,well,a heroic reinterpretation of economic reality. Did CNN-IBN ask her this a very basic point? No. Did CNN-IBN ask her to give some data when Roy said Indias tribals were fighting their own annihilation? Thats a big claim,no? If I say it,I have to support it. If you say it,you have to support it. If CNN-IBN says it,it has to support it. So why didnt CNN-IBN ask Roy to support her claim? True,CNN-IBN with Roy was better than NDTV with Tharoor. CNN-IBN asked more questions and more pertinent questions,for one. It also appeared to have done more homework. But where was the questioning that some of Roys claims so justly deserved?
Roy said Indian democracy is only real if you stay in GK-1 (south Delhi). I stay in GK-1. So,maybe,I am biased. But star activists who habitually call Indian democracy fake must be interrogated more closely by those who,like CNN-IBN,believe that our democracy is real. Among the many reasons why it is real is because even those who move from five-star hotels to a nice house in Lutyens Delhi as Tharoor did have to face questions. If only news TV,when it gets the chance,would ask those questions properly.
saubhik.chakrabarti@expressindia.com
