AruN jaitley shows CNN-IBN and its chief editor Sardesai the proverbial mirror

[Guest dada_rocks]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?sectionName=&id=4566644c-05bd-4913-a1de-950c939d50efSinghisKing_Special&&Headline=Channel+tunnel+vision The political class is subject to permanent critical scrutiny. We are accountable to the electorate. So we must be constantly under the spotlight. As another pillar of democracy, the media, however, are accountable to no one. Sagarika Ghose’s assertion that the BJP’s urban space “will melt faster than the holy lingam at Amarnath†(Psst... We’ve finally lost it, Aug. 13) is a case of reckless assertion of hope over reality. As Senior Editor of CNN-IBN, Ghose is understandably angry with the BJP. Her channel has recently suffered a self-inflicted loss of credibility. If, like political parties, the media were exposed to the same level of scrutiny, how would CNN-IBN’s role in the ‘Cash for Votes’ issue be judged? The channel’s participation in the ‘sting’ was entirely voluntary. Its editor has publicly asserted that its interest in a sting was prompted by AB Bardhan’s claim that MPs were being lured with Rs 20 crore to side with the UPA in the June 22 trust vote. The three BJP MPs were merely whistle-blowers. The channel was told that the MPs had been approached by those managing the UPA’s survival strategy and if it wished to expose corruption, it could undertake a sting. CNN-IBN chose its own team and used its own equipment. It recorded the three sequences: the interaction with Samajwadi Party MP Revati Raman Singh; the arrival and departure of the MPs to Amar Singh’s residence; and Amar Singh’s associate Sanjeev Saxena’s visit to Ashok Argal’s house to deliver the money. After the sting was completed, strange things began happening. First, CNN-IBN claimed that the tapes were not of ‘telecastable’ quality — a spurious claim in the light of their subsequent showing. Then the channel claimed it didn’t have enough time to complete the investigation. The reality was far grimmer. The channel abandoned all pretence of any investigation and focused on finding fault with the existing evidence. Pious assertions couldn’t conceal the fact that the channel was embarrassed by its own story. Yet, faced with immense public criticism and loss of credibility, the channel decided to telecast the tapes on July 26. I was approached the previous day and agreed to participate in a programme at 8pm. Shortly before the proposed telecast, CNN-IBN informed me that the ‘Speaker’s office’ had requested the channel not to telecast the tapes. The Speaker later asserted that it was for the channel to decide whether to telecast or not. The most pertinent question in the ‘Cash for Votes’ controversy was: on whose behalf did Sanjeev Saxena deliver the money to the MPs? It is an established fact that he did deliver cash. The channel was in possession of the sms that Saxena had sent to its own reporters on July 20 inviting them for Amar Singh’s press conference at 7 pm that day. It concealed this message. The car in which Saxena travelled was registered in the name of a company controlled by Amar Singh’s family member. The number of the car was noted by the CNN-IBN team and given to me both by a member of the team and the MPs. Subsequently, the CNN-IBN reporter publicly denied knowledge of the car. These two evidences in possession of CNN-IBN were further proof of Saxena having come on behalf of Amar Singh. In view of the CNN-IBN having abandoned the investigation, the BJP investigated the Saxena-Amar Singh link and produced it as corroborative evidence. More corroborations have followed. Meanwhile, CNN-IBN sought to create a perceptible equality and moral equivalence between the bribe-giver and the whistle-blower. Was it interested putting the collusive sting on par with its own genuine recordings? Amar Singh’s utterances in the programme telecast by the channel gives me the uneasy feeling that the tapes which were withheld from the public were privately screened for him. Why else would he confidently reveal in a pre-recorded comment what is on the tapes and what is not? I am clear that it is for CNN-IBN to decide its own programming. But there is a fundamental difference in the relationship of a whistle-blower and an investigator. When a whistle blower alerts an investigator, the investigated material is held in trust for public interest by the investigation. It does not become the private property of the investigator. This is the misconception the channel suffered from. The channel's freedom of expression may include the right to conceal. It may include the right to abuse the BJP. Yet, it seems to end where Amar Singh’s nose begins. Arun Jaitley is Rajya Sabha MP and General Secretary, BJP

[kumble_rocks]

On a different note , if you guys have so much problem with CBN , rather then whining about it all the time ,you will be better served if their is a alternative channel from the Hindutva side. We have the Foxnews here , which became instant hit.. the seeds for it's nascency was sown due the fact that media was overwhelming liberal and conservatives needed a voice . Their is an audience for BJP driven agenda in India . BJP should have their own tv network , End of story !

[Lurker]

On a different note ' date=' if you guys have so much problem with CBN , rather then whining about it all the time ,you will be better served if their is a alternative channel from the Hindutva side. [b']We have the Foxnews here , which became instant hit.. the seeds for it's nascency was sown due the fact that media was overwhelming liberal and conservatives needed a voice . Their is an audience for BJP driven agenda in India . BJP should have their own tv network , End of story !

Not only is the Foxnews a big hit, all the biggest radio talk show hosts these days are ultra-right radicals. In fact you will not find too many liberal talk show hosts on the list. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O Reilley, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Laura Ingram all have million plus viewers. Rush L. has the most viewers on radio(about 15 million).

[kumble_rocks]

Not only is the Foxnews a big hit, all the biggest radio talk show hosts these days are ultra-right radicals. In fact you will not find too many liberal talk show hosts on the list. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O Reilley, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Laura Ingram all have million plus viewers. Rush L. has the most viewers on radio(about 15 million).

Agree! But , I am also surprised at the the demise of the left progressive talk radio network like Air America. They started out with a bang with some famed personalities like Al Frankken , Janine Garfulo etc but only faltered to deceive ! They are losing affiliates left and right I believe .

[Lurker]

Agree! But ' date=' I am also surprised at the the demise of the left progressive talk radio network like Air America. They started out with a bang with some famed personalities like Al Frankken , Janine Garfulo etc but only faltered to deceive ! They are losing affiliates left and right I believe .[/quote'] Yes they are. Part of the reason is rather simple. Right wing generally sticks together, left wing is too much into open thoughts to agree. So often the latter fails as a unit even though the idea they stand behind is good. From a commercial perspective the right wing have been run brilliantly well by Radio channel. I beleive the leader is Clear Channel who has contract with all the mentioned names. It has market in most states, and specially in South. It has also a steady stream of sponsors. For example often on Sean Hannity radio show you will hear an ad about a local Car mechanic who has been in the area for 20 years and is a devoutly Christian person.That caters brilliantly to the target audience. Lastly it also helps that Right wing's theory are very clear, even if its completely wrong. Atleast there is no ambiguity. For example Illegal Immigration. Right wing calls it illegal and it should be stopped. Immigrants who get caught should be tried as criminals. End of story. Left wing gets it all murky with a humanitarian angle, boosting ties with Mexico to nip the probem in the bud(not gonna happen). human rights and all that jazz.

[THX_1138]

Agree! But ' date=' I am also surprised at the the demise of the left progressive talk radio network like Air America. They started out with a bang with some famed personalities like Al Frankken , Janine Garfulo etc but only faltered to deceive ! They are losing affiliates left and right I believe .[/quote'] visit www.kpft.org thats 90.1 FM which you can receive in all of texas and the lousiana border...

[THX_1138]

Agree! But ' date=' I am also surprised at the the demise of the left progressive talk radio network like Air America. They started out with a bang with some famed personalities like Al Frankken , Janine Garfulo etc but only faltered to deceive ! They are losing affiliates left and right I believe .[/quote'] it has to do with the fact that with corporate sponsorship comes confabulation... for instance, in the opening posts, DR pointed to the inadequate job done by CNN-IBN in covering the scandal revolving around the rigged or rather 'bought' No-Confidence vote... (setting aside his personal bias in bringing this to our attention); CNN-IBN are corporate sponsored network(s) and thus they are required to maintain the interests of those sponsors. on the other hand, most progressive radio stations, understand this dilemma and have found a unique solution: they are not dependent, nor would they accept corporate sponsorship, but instead they are listener sponsored. I.e. every once in a while, in particular every quarter, they invite their listeners to pledge funds to the radio station's upkeep and licence for broadcast. the radio station i recommended in my previous post is famous for maintaining objectivity by adopting this approach, and this is poignantly visible from their stinging criticism of both Obama and McCain. heck, when one of their correspondents interviewed the Cuban foreign minister post Katrina, they roasted that diplomat of a communist nation (which as some believe might believe would have ideals that run parallel to those of progressives, incorrect presumption of course). This makes for an accountable (and i mean directly accountable since the listeners determine if the station is worthy of their donations or not) and unbiased media. of course, it eliminates the commerce aspect, and thus is not as successful. Maybe we need to adopt the BBC approach: a tamper proof budget from the government without any editorial control by the government. We have had state sponsored media, but that was a bust since the quality of reporting was poor and the content was often subject to censorship... Nevertheless, i dont agree with DR on media watch by the government... indeed the Media should be held accountable, but by the end customer: i.e. the viewers, and not some regulatory body. If a particular station or network is demonstrating a bias, write about that bias in an editorial column of some competing or independent newspaper, and motivate people to boycott that network/station... beyond that, the only other alternative without involving the government would be listener sponsored media.

[sandtest]

CNN-IBN is a pro-Congress channel and this is a proven fact. The reason we can't have a Nationalist channel in India is the fact that, we Hindus are too soft and self-apologists because of our background and history books written by Marxist historians. World No.1 strong countries like Amreeka don't have this problem. That is why they run Fox-News etc. and keep their population patriotic and thorough nationalist. By watching English movies and serials etc. I can say with confidence that most of the Americans keep a flag of USA in their house as a mark of patriotism and nationalism. In India, leftists and hyper liberals will abhor nationalim, any attempt from any learned thinker will be termed as Hindutva and all channles which have leftist leaning will launch ad-hominem attack/character assassination of that person. Look what they did to our NAMO, CNN-IBN's Karan Thappad even appealed for "taking out" (which can be seen as call for assassination) of NAMO. And most of the Indians, particularly Indian Muslims are readily buying these arguments that Nationalsist are Hindutva folks , Hindutva is bad etc. beacuse they are brainwashed by Congress and have become habitual to appeasement, they can't see the progressive vision of NAMO or Arun Shourie etc. who wants Indian Muslims to be treated on par with any Indian and NOT some special minority. BJP wanted to reform Madrassas by bringing mainstream NCERT syllabus (which itself is written by Congressis/leftists), still leftist abhor this attempt as "saffronization".... what we can do when a country is held on ransom by a handlful of leftist/marxist mafia and their media stooges.:hatsoff:

[THX_1138]

CNN-IBN is a pro-Congress channel and this is a proven fact. The reason we can't have a Nationalist channel in India is the fact that, we Hindus are too soft and self-apologists because of our background and history books written by Marxist historians. World No.1 strong countries like Amreeka don't have this problem. That is why they run Fox-News etc. and keep their population patriotic and thorough nationalist. By watching English movies and serials etc. I can say with confidence that most of the Americans keep a flag of USA in their house as a mark of patriotism and nationalism. In India, leftists and hyper liberals will abhor nationalim, any attempt from any learned thinker will be termed as Hindutva and all channles which have leftist leaning will launch ad-hominem attack/character assassination of that person. Look what they did to our NAMO, CNN-IBN's Karan Thappad even appealed for "taking out" (which can be seen as call for assassination) of NAMO. And most of the Indians, particularly Indian Muslims are readily buying these arguments that Nationalsist are Hindutva folks , Hindutva is bad etc. beacuse they are brainwashed by Congress and have become habitual to appeasement, they can't see the progressive vision of NAMO or Arun Shourie etc. who wants Indian Muslims to be treated on par with any Indian and NOT some special minority. BJP wanted to reform Madrassas by bringing mainstream NCERT syllabus (which itself is written by Congressis/leftists), still leftist abhor this attempt as "saffronization".... what we can do when a country is held on ransom by a handlful of leftist/marxist mafia and their media stooges.:hatsoff:

for the first... no... Fox news' credibility has almost always been questioned, and while it did achieve top viewership in the period following the iraqi invasion for a good two years... CNN is back as the most popular channel. furthermore, a number of Fox news correspondents are national laughing stocks. Bill O Reily has the **** kicked out of him every other day by either Keith Oberman or other Centerist or Left Centerist news show hosts. Furthermore, Fox news is not run by the government; it just happens to be in cahoots with the current republican administration. Something that is about to change (soon). As for keeping flags in their homes... this summer i lived with my relatives in a gated community just outside Houston which my the most moderate standards can be described ultra conservative. yet, not a single flag is on display either on the car, or on the front yards or on clothing. there are periods of patriotic fervor such as the period after september 11... but that time is gone. currently the pressing need to of the overwhelming majority is economic reform. and for the love of which ever god you worship, stop saying Amreeka... its United States of America... not Amreeka, or America, or whatever else you call it. Its a sovereign nation that has been an ally of India for the past ten years, and it is the world's most successful democracy. I think this country has done enough to earn your respect. I dont refer to India by some other derogatory name...

[Guest dada_rocks]

Who cares about fox news I am talking about our own CNN-IBN..