Less than 48 hours after the “nightmare meeting” between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on live television, the most weighty issue on Indian news channels and social media was Rohit Sharma’s body size.
While the stock market in India hit a new low, losing up to Rs 94 lakh crore in investor wealth after the “longest losing streak in 29 years”, we admired “sher aur sherni” (ABP News) in the Gir National Park.
And then, as President Trump’s trade war against China, Canada, and Mexico unfolded with global consequences, we watched Prime Minister Narendra Modi calmly feed cubs at Vantara, the animal rehabilitation facility in Gujarat’s Jamnagar and the brainchild of Mukesh Ambani’s younger son, Anant Ambani. Hindi and English news channels lavished coverage on the PM’s ‘relax’ time.
Wednesday morning, newspapers like The Times of India and Hindustan Times were equally fascinated by Modi’s Gir and Vantara visits, carrying stories and photographs on Page 1 along with photo features inside.
Well, perhaps sections of the Indian media are wise to have minimised the “spectacle to horrify the world,” as the Daily Mail (UK) described Trump-Zelenskyy “blaze of acrimony” (Financial Times Weekend).
Maybe we did need to be diverted by happy images of the PM enjoying the company of beautiful animals or by the impolite comments on cricket captain Sharma’s fitness.
As British poet TS Eliot once wrote, “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” Trump’s shaming of Zelenskyy is enough to intimidate anyone. Senior journalist Ravish Kumar declared that even if Trump invited him, he would not visit the White House.
Also read: Live Maha Kumb coverage, govt’s PR blitz—after stampede, misinformation trivialised failure
News channels use Shama to target Congress
For reasons best known to themselves, many news media outlets treated Congress leader Shama Mohamed’s now-deleted X post on Sharma as the most important news of Monday. The Indian Express Tuesday headline read: “Cong leader sparks row with Rohit post: BCCI and minister hit back.”
The ‘row’ was debated at prime time by news anchors who blasted the Congress spokesperson out of their studios. Her comments were “disgraceful and disgusting,” according to Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami, while Rahul Shivshankar of CNN News 18 called them “misplaced insults”.
Now, many of us love cricket and are bowled over by the Indian cricket team, but does our attachment to the game or admiration for the players extend to being outraged by a cricket fan’s opinion of the captain’s body? Ummm…
News channels, however, were having none of it: from Monday morning till late at night, they attacked Shama Mohamed for `body-shaming’ Sharma (CNN News 18).
And although Mohamed took down the post mid-morning, news channels created a ‘row’ out of the tweet and blew it completely out of proportion – why, the ‘story’ kept at bay the lions of Gir as news channels went after the Congress party.
Congress party? Hey, this is about Shama Mohamed, right? So what has it got to do with the Congress?
What indeed. News channels saw something sinister here: suddenly, the X post took on a life of its own and before we knew it, Shama was forgotten and Congress became the target.
‘Congress mocks skipper,’ wrote CNN News 18 and other news channels followed suit. “Will Congress seek shama (forgiveness),” asked NDTV 24×7.
Republic’s Goswami called the remarks “incredibly stupid… a desperate cry from a party which has mastered only one sport—losing elections.” Inevitably, attacks on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi followed.
The unnecessary media attention on an innocuous tweet meant that Shama Mohamed became (in)famous and everyone knew what she had written about Sharma. Which isn’t what anybody wanted, right?
Meanwhile, we enjoyed the game of cricket between India and Australia, where Virat Kohli shamed all his detractors by leading his team to a victory in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy (Star Sports, Jio-Hotstar).
Donald Trump’s knack for making headlines
Since he entered the Oval Office at the White House for a second term, Donald Trump has made headlines every day—exactly as he wants. Even in the middle of the brawl with Zelenskyy, Trump was acutely aware of the media. “This is going to be great television,” he said, glancing at the TV cameras to his left before turning to Zelenskyy.
Much of the ‘liberal’ American media loves to hate him, but they, like Zelenskyy, may like to express their gratitude to him, too. Singlehandedly, in the last 44 days, he has fired them up and infused them with more energy than the slow and (un)steady Joe Biden did in four years.
And it’s not just the news media. Late-night comedians mock him every night, but where would they be without him? Many of us have watched snippets from Saturday Night Live’s incredibly funny reconstruction of the “Fight House” last week and doubled up with laughter. We wanted more….
With his address to Congress on Tuesday/Wednesday, Trump once again mastered the moment in front of an audience and the TV cameras. “Trump wins,” conceded CNN International. He not only played to the gallery—he used the gallery to tell stories about people who benefited from his actions, or the cabinet members who implemented them.
This made the speech personal and, therefore, more engaging—not least because you saw his family, friends, and Republicans develop strong glutes by constantly standing up and sitting down to applaud him.
The address lasted more than 100 minutes, but as Trump warned us, he was “just getting started…”
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)