News Broadcasting
Rajdeep Sardesai and Arnab Goswami poles apart on future of journalism
MUMBAI: The venue: the National Centre of Performing Arts auditorium in south Mumbai. The occasion: a panel discussion that preceded the Press Club of India’s Red Ink Awards. On stage were IBN18 editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, and Dainik Divya Marathi chief editor Kumar Ketkar, O&M national creative director and chairman Piyush Pandey. And for a change it was they who were grilled by Star India CEO Uday Shankar, a former journalist himself. The topic: Elections 2014: were we fair or did we stoke the NaMo wave?’
Shankar set the pace for the panel when he spoke first, stating that it is he who would be asking the questions and no one would be allowed to answer – in all probability taking a jab at Arnab. As the audience burst into laughter, he then told Rajdeep to open the debate by speaking his mind.
Dressed as casually as one can get, in a red kurta, simple trousers and chappals, Sardesai delivered a hard hitting monologue on Modi and the kind of journalism that exists in India now.
“Modi had the most innovative and sustained campaign that we have ever seen in an Indian election,” he said, while pointing out that Congress president Rahul Gandhi was like a kid in kindergarten in front of Modi. But he also said that it was unfair to blame the media for creating the NaMo wave.
“Some channels have abandoned the basic role of media. They are now doing cheerleading or supari journalism to get more viewers and ratings. Modi was not subject to the intense scrutiny in the last two years that the others were subject to. While he was brilliant with his social media strategy and communication he was spared the ignominy that others were subject to. Some channels elevated Narendra Modi to God. He is a good politician and communicator but not a messiah. Some journalists need to ask themselves if they want to do journalism or hagiography,” he added.
On the other hand, Arnab instantly put himself and his channel in the spotlight by stating that one of the positives of being located in Mumbai, far away from the hub of channels (Noida) was that it keeps him disassociated with politicians.
“I am not romantically involved with any political party so I don’t end up having a bitter break up with them. My distance with politicians is both physical and psychological. We in India are overawed by them. Modi was the focus because there was no competition. We are not dependent on politicians for ratings. There is no scientific evidence that Modi gets ratings,” he said while also stating that he wasn’t aware of this supari journalism that Rajdeep referred to.
“The next 10 years of journalism to me are very bright,” said Arnab. A view that Shankar totally endorsed. Said he: “The future of journalism is bright because we do something that is essential to the society. We should not be cynical about the media, without them the country would not have been what it is.”
However, Arnab’s view seemed to have irked Rajdeep who in the latter part of the discussion said, “We can state that in 10 years things will be great and things are going to change, but arrogance is the downfall of every journalist! At our time, it was never that what the anchor said would matter more than what the guests said.”
Ketkar who comes from the print side of the media and was the senior most scribe on the panel let loose his spleen as he lambasted the electronic media for sidetracking and sideswiping print publications.
“It is the electronic media that sets the tone for the next day’s morning headlines in the paper by these discussions. The people don’t set the agenda, the media does. The media has covered how miserable Bihar is but no mention of the Gujarat floods when Modi was campaigning at the height of his campaign trail. So, it is not just that you have to speak more about something, but by also not showing something you can stoke the fire,” he said.
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While the three editors did not refrain from taking digs and potshots at each other for the kind of journalism that is being resorted to, it was Piyush Pandey – the man behind the Narendra Modi election campaign – who gave his insights on what led to NaMo wave. He pointed out that no matter what Modi did, he never gave the media a chance to ignore him; he made sure he was in the public eye, consistently giving out the right message that the public wanted to hear. “The media rode the Modi wave. It did not create it,” he said.
While the very topic was sidelined, the editors were deeply engaged in pontificating on the state of journalism in the country with Goswami being the most optimistic about it.
Having recently taken a month long break from his editorial duties, Rajdeep was the most vocal about the fact that news television needs to find its bearings quickly.
“The idea that the television makes or breaks will not hold anymore. I really think that we have lost the capacity to go beyond the dramatic headline. We have lost our nerve. We need to introspect and ask ourselves : are we willing to do a serious interrogation of the Gujarat model, positive and negative?” he questioned. The fact that the BJP did well in places where cable TV did not reach efficiently was also brought out by Shankar and Sardesai.
While the discussion didn’t see any real conclusion, it did end with a valuable point to ponder: whether journalists were getting too emotionally involved with politicians?
Shankar had the last word on this. Said he: “I think there is too much reverence even now in Indian media and on the other hand, there is too much emotional attachment. Either we are just cynical or when we go there we get sucked in. There has to be a balance in between. Overall, I think we shouldn’t be cynical about media. We have lots to capture and improve but without the media, this place, this country would be much worse.”
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
