Opinion The war on TV

There’s a sense of déjà vu,observed anchor Barkha Dutt on NDTV 24×7,referring to the sequence of events and the reactions that follow every such incursion or fracas with Pakistan. She might just as well have been commenting on the sameness of the response on TV news to all events: in the last fortnight,we have seen similar belligerent reactions on issues as different as the clean chit to Chennai Super Kings’ Gurunath Meiyappan,the suspension of an IAS officer by the UP government,and the killing of the Indian soldiers.

The studio bouts have been the shrillest and very hard-hitting. From stern headlines on Hindi news channels — “Pakistan ko do karara jawab” (Zee News) or the scornful,“Pakistan rulata rahega — hum rote rahenge?” (India TV) to a cutting one on Times Now (what else?): “Pakistan butchers/ We cower?” From the brutal images of the woman beaten to the ground with uncontrolled grief (ABP) to the sister crying,“Bhaiyya,bhaiyya”,insensate to the TV reporter’s questions (India TV); from the comic strip of “Pakistani troops” firing (Headlines Today) to the images of the Pakistan flag being burned (most channels) — every effort was made to carry the fight to the opposition,or the “enemy” as they were called on Times Now. Arnab Goswami fired 14 questions at the silent prime minister of India and many more at his guests,especially his Pakistani ones,who were giving back as good as they got. Admiral Javed Iqbal,for example,said that if the purpose of the brouhaha was to declare Pakistan a “rogue” state,then India should sever relations with its neighbour — take that Arnab.

The same happened on NDTV 24×7 and CNN-IBN where Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai found themselves drawn into heated arguments with their Pakistani guests,who went on the offensive,citing all manner of Indian acts of violence,commission and omission. ABP News went a step further: it had an Indian speaker in the left-hand-corner of the screen,a Pakistani in the right-hand-corner and a timer ticking away the seconds as they spat verbal volleys at each other,incomprehensible to the naked ear except in tenor. On India News,there were five Indian contestants from different political parties or persuasions and at least two of them were at each other’s throats.

On a sadder,less combative note,news channels showed us the soldiers’ coffins and jawans saluting their dead comrades. Aaj Tak insisted its footage was exclusive,but we saw the same footage on all news channels. Times Now stole a march on the others as its reporter managed to get himself among the soldiers,near the coffins. He got a little carried away,understandably perhaps,telling us to look at the tears in their eyes while all we could see were men staring dully at the camera or flashing their mobile phones.

There were a few moments of sanity when CNN-IBN interviewed Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid (this could have been a real exclusive) and Dutt interviewed the BJP’s Yashwant Sinha. But such moments were few as jingoism replaced journalism. It reached a point when someone on one of the channels (sorry,could not catch which one in time) shouted “50 of theirs for 5 of ours” and although no one else went that far,retribution and revenge rent the airwaves.

In this war of words,professionalism is the first casualty. Did you hear a single reporter or anchor preface their words with “alleged” Pakistani troops,or “alleged” terrorists?

shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com