Let me begin with an admission. I had no idea it would become so big. When we sent our crew to London to follow up on a scam that ran into a few hundred thousand pounds, we weren't even sure if a company called AM Car and Films existed. We had papers to show the British government was suspicious about transactions between politician-sports czar Suresh Kalmadi's CWG organising committee and this vague company with a Peel Road suburban London address.
The story finally broke on June 30, '10, at around 7 pm, just as we were getting into prime-time. We had placed our reporters in a way that they would hunt for reactions from the persona dramatis the moment it broke. The initial reaction was amazing. "You guys have lost it," said one of Kalmadi's henchmen. "A few hundred thousand pounds. Itne me toh ek hafta bhi nahi chalta. Do you think we play for loose change?" he asked.
Two days later, Kalmadi finally surfaced. He put on an air of hurt and defiance, and declared his intention to file a defamation case against our channel. He smiled at the other media, insulted our reporters publicly while referring to the channel seventeen times. He also offered himself open to 'explosive' interviews on other channels that often began with the penetrating question: "Mr Kalmadi, all these charges that have been levelled against you, do they have any truth?", and included the googly: "Let me ask you, Mr Kalmadi, will you resign?"
In retrospect, it's all very amusing. In the choice between an exclusive with a scam kingpin and a good story, we knew which one we were prepared to lose.
Kalmadi finally met me and my colleague Navika Kumar on Hiroshima Day, August 6, 2010. He was exceedingly nervous. His PR team begged us to "go soft on the poor man" now. We asked him 29 questions. He had one basic reply. That he had no financial powers. That he was doing it for the nation. That if there were underlings who "made mistakes, they would be punished".
"Mind you, Goswami," he said as he took off his mike, "all this that you are reporting about the scam will be forgotten the day the Games start. When people see the fireworks and the displays, they will forget all this negativity that you people are spreading."
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"It's journalists who are bringing the country down" is their new argument. "The country will not forgive you for focusing on one scam after another," they say. "Think of the country, think of our image internationally, think of the long-term consequences of what you're doing," they say, in a tone that wavers between fear and anger. "History will remember you only for being negative," they accuse bitterly. In the last one year, their accusations have become more and more intense. And predictable.
I remember standing outside the courtroom on the second floor of the Tiz Hazari courts in 1996. One year into television, I was thrilled at thrusting my mike into the faces of the who's who of Indian politics, as they trundled out one by one. It was a small scam by today's standards, less than 20 million in dollar terms. But there was something deeply egalitarian and liberating about being able to ask a question.
On one occasion, I stepped too close and fell, mike in mind, before a group of camerapersons, right onto the path of a VVIP, a former minister in starched white. "Kya karloge poochh ke, ladke, jo itni koshish kar rahe ho. Poochne se aaj tak kuchh hua hai? (What will you ask that's so special, for which you try so hard. What has ever come of asking?)."
The Jain hawala case came to nought, the handwritten notes on diaries of alleged payoffs weren't solid evidence in the eyes of the court, and I moved on from the Tis Hazari beat. But I remember that moment in slow motion, on nights when they mock me for asking too many questions. In a country where scam money is 27 per cent higher than our GDP, there are far too many questions to ask.
I hope these questions continue to be asked. I hope the relentless pursuit of the facts, however uncomfortable for some, continues. But sometimes, I have my doubts. Like last week, when I was waiting to be 'called in' for a handshake and lunch with the visiting Pakistan foreign minister. It took me away from the daily edit meeting, and with the action on Yediyurappa hotting up, sitting around in a room with other editors doing nothing was very frustrating.
A fellow editor of an English news channel decided to provide some entertainment. "Why should we target poor Yediyurappa. What has he done? He is a mass leader. We must learn to respect mass leaders. This trial by media has to stop. It's ridiculous to keep asking whether he should resign. Others have made far more money. You can't remove chief ministers just because some channel gets its hands on some Lokayukta report," he said, punching his fist in the air and then looking around for reactions.
I was stunned. Not by the quality of the argument but by the utter hypocrisy on display. The same person took a completely different line on air every night. But it also explained a lot. The person arguing for Yeddy was really someone else, a visible cog of a small power elite who want the status quo undisturbed.
It was scary. I hope there aren't others who change form so regularly between morning and night.
(Goswami is editor-in-chief, Times Now)
AUTHORS: ARNAB GOSWAMI
PEOPLE: SURESH KALMADI | B.S. YEDDYURAPPA
TAGS: SCAMS/FRAUDS/RACKETS | COMMONWEALTH GAMES | JOURNALISTS | GOOD NEWS | MEDIA| LOKAYUKTA & LOKPAL
SECTION: SOCIETY
SUBSECTION: OPINION
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AUG 14, 2011 06:42 PM 26 | Most TV talk shows on burning political or social issues of the day are excercises in mutual back scratching between high profile anchors & politicians with power. A few familiar personalities who claim expertise on mating habits of antilopes , anti-democratic protest fasting to safe nuclear reactor design, repeat themselves & keep appearing across channels. Hard questions & crititisism are avoided when going gets tough for their political patrons. In this mix, a few journos from the print media who have obvious axes to grind are thrown in who will mouth known views of whichever political party takes care of them. Left to themselves, these channels would rather host one hour talk shows on gay marriage or slut-walk rather than uncomfortable 2-G or CWG. In this given formula , Arnab Goswami, is trying to make a difference. But is it really different? Times Now in news hour is certainly cashing on the current wave of disgust with politicians & their corrupt ways. I would grant that in a way it is making unintended impact in middle class drawing rooms where sacnadals in high palces along withsans-bahu soaps, reality singing contests are staples . But this show has carefully avoided adequately highlighting corporate role in recent scams. Issues like inflation, poverty, healtyh etc. are no go. It is also degenerating in to noisy high pitched phillibustering match to outshout the other fellow , Goswami himself making it worse in his sanctimonious judgmental body language. Unless the format is radically re-engineered for the protagonists to have their say in more sobre ways in limited time available & real unbiased opinion makers & experts on the issue at hand are more frequently brought in , this show in its subject & content is becoming increasingly predictable & hence no longer must see. |
AUG 14, 2011 03:08 PM 25 | Arnab Goswami is so full of himself! There is an apt American expression for pompous people like him: "He behaves as though his shit doesn't stink." |
AUG 14, 2011 02:38 PM 24 | He may be an opinionated buffoon who is prone to hyperbole and sensationalism, but at least he has more integrity than the likes of Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi who have been exposed and discredited as lackeys of the ruling class. |
AUG 14, 2011 02:23 PM 23 | << Let me begin with an admission. I had no idea it would become so big. When we sent our crew to London to follow up on a scam that ran into a few hundred thousand pounds, we weren't even sure if a company called AM Car and Films existed >> Mr. Goswami, would you send a team all the way to London to follow up a seemingly minor scam ? Are you telling us the truth? Nobody will sanction expenditure of that magnitude unless compelling reasons were given to the management. With the same strident aggression you exhibit to your panellists, I ask you, Mr. Goswami. I put it to you that you have started this article with a lie. Answer me, sir, were you not fully aware of not only the magnitude of the scam, but also everything about AM Car films. Answer my question with a yes or no. |
AUG 14, 2011 12:54 PM 22 | It is extremely likely that you went after Kalmadi and gang with a vandetta because TimesNow was not awarded lucrative contracts arbitrarily as in the case of other channels. Games contracts to media houses arbitrary and biased: CAG The CAG has questioned the deals between the CWG and certain media houses as the organising committee (OC) apparently resorted to pick-and-choose policy in the award of contracts worth over Rs 6.73 crore. The CAG, in its report, tabled in Parliament last week, has dubbed the process arbitrary and biased. The CAG is more severe in its observations on the contract for creating a Games Time website, meant to put out real time information on sporting events, given to HT-Hungama - a consortium comprising Hindustan Times and Hungama. It has lambasted the process of awarding the contract to the consortium and said their work was deficient. The website lacked speed and was not really updated with the latest information, the auditors said. The website named Korea, Japan, Philippines and the US among the nations participating in the Games - but none of them did - and Commonwealth Games Federation head Mike Fennell went on record, saying "there is certainly a big problem with the official Games Time website". A benevolent OC overlooked the non-performance and did not encash the performance guarantee of Rs 0.29 crore. A contract tweaked in favour of HT-Hungama had no other provisions for penalties case of non-performance, the CAG said. It said the bidding process was squeezed and completed within two months, leading to several irregularities. Among the three bidders, HT-Hungama's documentation was deficient but ignored by the technical committee. It led the CAG to conclude that the process was tailored in HT-Hungama's favour. The contract for production and broadcasting of commercials was given to two news channels, CNN-IBN and NDTV. The CAG said the OC followed an arbitrary approach with no planning for specific channels, time slots and cost benefit analysis. The OC considered proposals in an adhoc manner and as and when they were received. |
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