Opinion The storm in the studio

To deflect the criticism,NDTV telecast on Tuesday night a recorded but unedited discussion,‘Editors on Radia Tapes Controversy’. This was a welcome move; had it come earlier it would have been applauded as a voluntary disclosure. Still,it was an effort to be transparent and it was brave of Dutt to do what she does best: face the nation. But now,the tables were turned as possibly for the first time,a TV news channel had its seniormost journalist in the line of fire. Dutt was in the hot seat,questioned by journalists Dilip Padgaonkar,Sanjay Baru,Manu Joseph and Swapan Dasgupta while NDTV’s Sonia Singh moderated the discussion.

For once,the anchor took a backseat; she did not dominate the proceedings,hector the participants or liberally air her own views. She had to strike a delicate balance between keeping the discussion on track and orderly,and remaining impartial. Difficult assignment. The 45-odd minute discussion was hard-hitting — nobody pulled many punches. The panelists quizzed Dutt on the blurring of the line between legitimate journalistic probing for news and a journalist acting as a go-between; why did Radia choose Dutt to pass on messages to the government; did she have a “cosy relationship” with the Congress; and,why did she not report on a corporate PR trying to mediate between the Congress and DMK on ministerial portfolios?

Dutt placed herself “out there” as she put it,by playing one of her conversations with Radia and following it up with her TV reports immediately following the conversation. She said that in hindsight,she realised she was not careful in handling the conversation with Radia but that she did not pass on her messages; two,she had made an “inadvertent and innocent” error of editorial judgment regarding Radia’s role as a mediator.

That’s the bare bones of it and it was pretty spirited stuff. Unfortunately,we didn’t get much more meat because like all TV discussions,this one too was hijacked: Dutt repeatedly questioned the ethics of publishing “raw” transcripts,selectively,and Joseph (editor,Open) repeated the same question: why didn’t she report on Radia’s mediating role? She asked him why he didn’t answer her questions on his editorial standards,he said he would answer but first she must answer… And so it went on: everyone began to interrupt the other,speak at the same time — it sounded like all other TV discussions. This then,is the nature of the beast. No matter what you discuss or who discusses it,the result is roughly the same: answer a question with one of your own,and say what you came to say no matter what you are asked.

But there is a takeaway from the issue,if anyone wants to take it. The same evening,CNN-IBN had a discussion on new media and social sites,WikiLeaks and the Radia tapes. Karan Thapar on his show,The Last Word (CNN-IBN) has also dealt with the issue. These discussions have been few and far between,and muted. But perhaps now that questions are being asked of the media,TV news,which screams headlines on every subject,could exercise sounder judgment about when to raise its voice?

shailaja.bajjpai@expressindia.com