Opinion Budget Unmasked
If I were the FM I would have been sorely tempted to put a special tax on FM masks on sticks. I wouldnt have done it,of course.
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If I were the FM I would have been sorely tempted to put a special tax on FM masks on sticks. I wouldnt have done it,of course. This is a free country and if a major news broadcaster wants to use FM masks on sticks as a significant,indeed defining,prop for its pre-budget programming then its inalienable right to do so should not be fiscally discriminated against. But,as I said,if I were FM I would have been tempted.
CNN-IBNs If I were FM clips are,I think,a window to the deepest human motivations. What motivates CNN-IBN to equip itself with FM masks on sticks? What motivates some of my fellow citizens when they agree to get filmed on busy streets,holding up those masks? I dont think TRPs are the answer. Neither is it sufficient to say people will do anything to be on TV. Something deeper is at work here. I dont understand it. But I am fascinated by it,especially the bit when,having said the introductory line (recession is a problem,or education is important),the citizen goes behind the FM mask on stick to deliver the punch line. That moment,I think,sums up news TV.
Sadly,and surprisingly,CNN-IBN has so far not extended this marvellous idea to other aspects of public policy. Why not If I were EAM (External Affairs Minister) clips as we head to the first Indo-Pak talks in a long time? Or If I were HM (Home Minister) clips after a Naxalite strike?
Axe the Tax,another CNN-IBN initiative to bring the Budget and the people closer to each other than some might argue is desirable,is tame in comparison with If I were FM. Theres some good stuff like a citizen saying after paying income tax theres nothing left and CNN-IBN evidently taking the editorial call that this is a valid,serious,broadcast-worthy statement but without the mask on the stick it just isnt the same.
However,NDTVs strictly mask-free pre-budget programming has its own attractions. Dear Pranab Babu,says a small-scale salt manufacturer in Gujarat,subsidise potassium iodine. Dear Pranab Babu,says a pastry-shop owner,hold on to the price and give a big favour to society. An entrepreneur in the gold business wanted our dear Pranab Babu to ensure that our speculative foreign currency figures and gold prices (are) in coincidence .
Dear NDTV,I understand that you are trying to showcase industry concerns and that this is serious stuff,but it is actually so much fun because you decided that the point was not necessarily that what was being said should make sense; the important thing was to allow,as they say,genuine voices a forum. When I watch budget coverage next Friday,potassium iodine and speculative foreign currency figures will be right on the top of my mind as I assess whether our dear Pranab Babu is managing to hold on to the price. Thank you,dear NDTV.
Times Now seems to be not terribly keen on pre-budget people-centric programming. This is terribly disappointing. But I understand theres the country to defend. As one heard on Newshour (debate topic: Maoists),what will happen if the state is no longer effective; answer: there will be functional anarchy.
Functional anarchy? Whats that? Could it be a situation where you survive by holding up Kishenji (Maoist leader) masks on sticks and by trying to hold on to the price?
saubhik.chakrabarti@expressindia.com
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