Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, what have we here?
A jumbled week of news as TV channels fumbled over the Karnataka assembly election results and were humbled when fortress BJP crumbled against the Congress onslaught. Then, TV news anchors mumbled, “The game is over for the BJP” (Republic TV), “… (this is) a flash in the pan (for Congress)” (Times Now). And the viewers? Why, we grumbled, of course.
Grumbled and recalled two lines of Walter Scott’s poetry: ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.’
In the last week, news coverage appears to have been about covering up rather than uncovering. Think of it: at least five exit polls predicted a hung assembly in Karnataka, while two said no, the BJP will win (News Nation, Asianet Suvarna News). Now, either the latter were poorly conducted or they were deliberately kind to the BJP. Either way, the viewer was bemused.
On counting day, from 8 am to 11 am, news anchors and experts craned their necks to read the numbers upside down. In the words of a Republic TV anchor, “It’s a close call… there is no sweep in Karnataka … it’s a keenly fought election.” This was when the numbers, clearly, indicated that the Congress was ahead.
At least one news channel’s team had a touch of the sun. In a dazed condition, they had the happy idea of, prematurely, celebrating a BJP victory in Karnataka with Bajrangbali (Lord Hanuman) images superimposed on the screen as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s voiceover boomed, “Bajrangbali ki….” (ABP News).
Also read: Karnataka shows no magic needed to defeat BJP in 2024. Answer is ‘ridiculously simple’
BJP wasn’t losing on TV, but only on ground
Anchors and reporters strove to see the BJP’s performance in a positive light. This confused viewers. During early counting, one India Today anchor gave a Congress spokesperson such a dressing down for ‘losing’ the election that she had to run for cover. When Congress won 135 seats, as predicted by the channel’s Axis My India exit poll—‘exit poll exact poll,’ boasted India Today–he apologised. Ironically, the BJP spokesperson was obnoxious to him, later. Very ugly.
Once it became evident that the Congress would win handsomely in Karnataka, channels such as Times Now and Republic TV—besides Hindi news channels—decided that the municipal election results in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP swept aside all comers, deserved a larger display and bigger headlines. Channels switched to debating the BJP’s victory instead of its defeat.
By mid-Saturday, you began to wonder whether you or TV news channels were going mad. The poll numbers said the Congress is winning but anchors and reporters claimed the BJP is not losing—huh? One psephologist joyfully announced that the BJP had retained its vote share—presumably that proved it hadn’t lost the election (Times Now).
At this point, you can do a sirsasana (yoga headstand) and see the world upside down.
More heady stuff followed on Monday. English news channels reported the ‘Karnataka CM suspense’ (India Today)—that’s when they could tear themselves away from Congress leader Sachin Pilot’s Jan Sangharsh Padayatra in Rajasthan.
Again and again, news channels returned to Pilot striding along, purposefully. They interviewed him, and they telecast his last yatra speech, live. ‘Congress desert storm’ (India Today) swept across the news channels and they lapped up Pilot’s attacks on his own CM Ashok Gehlot (Times Now). Of course, the parallel with Karnataka—where the party’s Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar vied for the top job—was very much on their minds. ‘Rajasthan template haunts Karnataka,’ said India Today.
But why did Pilot receive so much coverage when the developments in Karnataka were far more important, riveting, and convoluted — rather like a ‘jalebi’, according to an NDTV anchor? Difficult to answer.
All we know is that Sachin Pilot ought to thank both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar: their tussle in Karnataka gave him the TV spotlight.
Also read: Dhirendra Shastri, miracle-maker of MP, is only getting bigger after rationalist challenge
Hindutva’s poster boy
Bageshwar Dham Sarkar or Dhirendra Krishna Shastri doesn’t need to be grateful to anyone—he has been adopted by Hindi news channels and is treated with the kind of reverence they usually reserve for the prime minister. His visit to Bihar, this week, has become a live show that runs every afternoon, sometimes even in the mornings. We hear him sing, speak, talk to ‘bhakts’, counsel them, scold them and extol the virtues of the ‘Hindu Rashtra’ he wants to usher in.
He is the latest ‘Hindutva ka new poster boy’ (ABP News), ‘Navbharat ka Baba’ (Times Now Navbharat), ‘Bhakton ka Superman’ (Republic Bharat TV), ‘BJP ka formula’ for 2024 (India TV). Ah, that’s it.
TV reporters and the headlines rave about his popularity: 10 lakh people visited him in Patna (Times Now Navbharat). “It feels like all of Bihar has come to see him,” said a TV9 Bharatvarsh anchor. “Who is scared of a Hindu wave?” asked India TV, adding that Shastri could attract votes for his idea of India and by default for the BJP.
Is that why he has replaced Ramdev as the ‘guru’ of politics?
Shastri makes news only because the Hindi news channels make him news. They choose to devote hours to him without a thought for other news developments – of course, it helps that he provides the broadcast feed.
But as viewers, it feels like we are being hoodwinked by news channels. Their promotion of Shastri as a Hindu sage who wants a Hindu Rashtra is intentional and we are going to see a lot more of him as the 2024 Lok Sabha election draws nearer and nearer. Will he sway votes?
Also read: Aryan Khan case: Sameer Wankhede’s foreign visits, expensive watches under CBI scanner
Aryan Khan case reveal
Nowhere is TV channel’s practice to deceive more apparent than in the coverage of the Aryan Khan case in September 2021. The focus on Shah Rukh Khan’s son was unrelenting and cruel. English and Hindi news channels characterised him as a criminal, a drug dealer-consumer, and a point man in a drug cartel. They hounded him inside and outside the jail, a la Sushant Singh Rajput’s death by suicide case where actor Rhea Chakraborty was portrayed as the evil genius of his life—and death.
Now, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that the Aryan Khan case was framed to extort money from SRK’s family. And the man TV news painted as a hero behind his detention, Sameer Wankhede of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), is facing accusations of corruption. Wah, TV news, wah.
As with the Karnataka election results, news channels first arrive at a conclusion and then work backwards to prove it. Often they fail.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)