Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Views On News, July 22, Edition
Views On News, July 22, Edition
LaMogate
YOGA
GA
VIEWS ON NEWS
STILL WIDE OPEN
44
50
www.viewsonnewsonline.com
`50
MURDOCH
EMPIRE:
Sons Rise Over
Horizon
26
OUTLOOK:
Sexist
gossip
boomerangs
42
CHOCOLATES:
How to make
fake research
into news
16
EDITORS NOTE
THE SCOURGE OF
DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING
THE NESTLE-MANUFACTURED Maggi noodles
story has social and economic ramifications that
go way beyond the controversy of their suitability
for mass consumption and whether lead and other
poisonous substances were added to the product
for taste enhancement and shelf-life longevity.
What is at stake is the very concept of advertising. Nothing sells or spreads without advertising
projecting the value of a message, a sermon, a
product, a technology, a method. Advertising is as
old a method of reaching out to others as the
Sermon on the Mount or Buddhas discourses at
Sarnath. Nothing wrong with the use of a pulpit. But
its misuse for spreading disinformation deserves
punishment either by the gods themselves or, in the
modern era, by specific laws designed to protect
the susceptible from the
devilish ways of snake oil
salesmen.
One such defensive
tool fashioned to safeguard children and susceptible audiences from
the deluge of disinformation in the so-called Information Age is loosely
known as the Consumer
Movement which began
gathering momentum in
the 1960s in the US under
the banner of the intrepid
crusader, Ralph Nader. He
saw the rapacity of unbridled corporations, working hand-in-glove with
between freedom of speech and opinion, as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution
and the right of the individual not to be bamboozled
by false and deceptive advertising.
The major regulatory blow against false advertising was struck by the Federal Trade Commission,
which started a special cell to monitor deceptive
advertising, a term used for describing claims
made by products on the basis of falsehoods or
without scientific evidence.
The federal government, through the Federal
Communications Commission which ensures fairness in spectrum allocation as well as broadcast
content, armed itself with the powers to cancel
broadcast licenses of TV channels if challenged by
citizen petitions on the grounds of misleading ads
or the failure of channels to uphold the highest standards of fairness and probity.
All this may sound draconian, but in practice, it
is not. Industry associations, consumer groups and
regulatory agencies work in close concert to ensure
that the media remains free from political interference and control as well as free from deceptive
advertising.
But this issues ProPublica story on chocolates
shows that it is not difficult to manufacture scientific evidence and make some outrageous
claim about the safety and efficacy of a product.
The Indian regulatory framework for consumer protectionexcept for the mostly dysfunctional MRTP
has not reached any real level of sophistication.
Actors wearing white gowns and posing as doctors make any claim they want to for medicinal
products. Scientists cite statistics to sell curealls. Milk additive makers claim Horlicks will fortify
Anil Shakya
VIEWS ON NEWS
VOLUME. VIII
ISSUE. 20
Editor
Rajshri Rai
Managing Editor
Ramesh Menon
Deputy Managing Editor
Shobha John
Executive Editor
Ajith Pillai
Business Editor
Shantanu Guha Ray
Political Editor
Bhavdeep Kang
Associate Editor
Meha Mathur
Deputy Editors
Prabir Biswas
Niti Singh
Art Director
Anthony Lawrence
Deputy Art Editor
Amitava Sen
Graphic Designer
Lalit Khitoliya
Photographer
Anil Shakya
News Coordinator/Photo Researcher
Kh Manglembi Devi
Production
Pawan Kumar
C O N T E N T S
Sons Rise Over
Ruperts Kingdom
26
Vice-President (Ad-Sales)
Vivek Mittal-09810265619
For advertising & subscription queries
sales@viewsonnewsonline.com
Whats The
Whole Truth?
Media circles are
abuzz over Prabhu
Chawlas removal
as editorial director
of The New Indian
Express
Governance
35
YOGA INITIATIVE
Universal Panacea?
44
MODI CONTROVERSY
BOOK REVIEW
SPECIAL REPORT
LEDE
Unstately Burial?
RAJENDRA BAJPAI
reviews Coomi Kapoors
book on the Emergency,
where she recounts how
dictatorship in 1975
steam-rolled all
democratic institutions
10
MEDIA MONITORING
16
CONTROVERSY
Outlook In A Soup
OBITUARY
A Passionate Crusader
32
FOCUS
SPOTLIGHT
23
VON team visits Bibipur village in Haryana where a unique selfie contest with
daughters has grabbed the nations attention
38
34
42
LaMo Juggernaut
Rolls On
48
50
Despite clumsy
damage-control, the
Modi government has
survived the first
round of the LaMo
crisis, reports
ABHAY VAIDYA
R E G U L A R S
Edit..................................................04
Grapevine........................................08
Quotes.............................................09
Design Review.................................36
Anchor Review.................................40
Breaking News.................................41
Cover design: Anthony Lawrence
VIEWS ON NEWS
Grapevine
U O T E S
Party Politics
Shekhar Gupta,
Editorial Advisor,
India Today
23rd witness dies in #VyapamScam,
1 accused dead too. Is it keeping
pace with Asaram Bapu case dying
witnesses? & we call #lalitleaks
scam!
Nitish Kumar,
CM, Bihar
Bihar is too wise to be lured by BJP
attempt to mask its failures with
cocktail of brazen caste politics &
rhetoric of Modijis global image.
Subramanian Swamy,
BJP leader
Secret Visitor
A RECENT reply from the PMO said that business
tycoon Gautam Adanis visits to the PMs Race
Course Road residence in Delhi are exempt from
disclosure under the RTI Act. The PMO said that
the PM met people from all walks of life, not necessarily upon formal request, and
often, guests want their meetings to be kept secret. Before
this, we knew there were
some politicians and ministers whose visits to the PMO
were kept under the radar.
But anybody can guess as to
why Adanis visits are secret.
Rana Ayub,
Journalist
What right has Congi to ask for Smriti to resign ? In NH case Sonia and
Rahul did not resign even after
Summons was issued. Hypocrites.
Nikhil Wagle,
Journalist
Congress has no credibility to accuse
Pankaja. The blacklisted NGO is supported by their leaders from Konkan
region n favored by their govt.
P Chidambaram,
Congress leader
PIO who criticized #AFSPA deported.
Will citizens who criticized be
deported as well?
Yashwant Sinha,
ex-finance minister
VIEWS ON NEWS
Lede
The Statesman
UNSTATELY
BURIAL?
It was once the pride of Kolkata. But a July 24
possession notice by SBI has put the final nail in
the coffin of a venerable paper and showed how
even a great institution can sink if left to drift
BY SUJIT BHAR
Lede
The Statesman
RICH LEGACY
(Clockwise from
above) Robert
Knight, the founder
editor; CR Irani, at
the helm during
Emergency; Pran
Chopra, the first
Indian editor of the
publication;
Ravindra Kumar,
the current editor;
Sunanda K Dutta
Ray, noted
commentator
Raghu Rais photograph of refugees from East Pakistan, published in The Statesman in 1971
VIEWS ON NEWS
Lede
The Statesman
Statesman Snippets
Knight, who was later the principal founder and editor of The Times of India. It was on January 15, 1875,
that The Englishman and The Friend of India were
merged into one brand called The Statesman.
The Times of India may have started in 1838
much before The Statesman, but the formers domain
was restricted to the Bombay Presidency for a long
period. The Statesman, however, started its Delhi edition as early as 1932 (The Times got to the national
capital only in 1950) and therefore enjoyed tremendous clout at the seat of the Raj.
Though it wielded influence, it was to the credit
of its top management and editors that they never let
An editor with Oxbridge antecedents (it would be unfair to name him here)
wrote his edits on paper napkins at the bar and sent it back to the office
through a peon. The spirited edits were known for their quality.
Hamdi Bey, a senior and reputed journalist with the daily was an enigma.
Not because of his drinkingthat never seemed to affect him anyway but
because of the sheer length and breadth of knowledge and his ability to
write articles off the cuff at very short notice. In those pre-internet days, he
was a wonder.
Dharani Ghosh headed a special obituary section called the Morgue in
The Statesman. Ghosh used to painfully update himself with the lives of all
important people around the country. Not only that, he had files on people of
rector. Though he is credited with the strong antigovernment stand he took during the Emergency,
there is a view that he also presided over the decline
of the paper (See Raghu Rai interview).
In 1982, under the editorship of MJ Akbar (the
then editor of the weekly magazine, Sunday), the
Anandabazar Patrika Group (ABP) started a new
English daily, The Telegraph. Akbar was given 11
months to prove that the new publication would
find its place in the market. He took up the challenge and delivered. Many years later, when The
Telegraph had overtaken The Statesman in circulation, a huge hoarding facing the Statesman House
declared: Salaam Statesman. It was a quirky salute
to the once-leader for allowing an upstart to pass.
According to Mookherjee, the difference
between the old paper and its young competitor
was stark. The Statesman was more of a desk-driven paper, unlike The Telegraph, which was
reporter-driven and aided by a strong desk as well.
Young readers soon switched allegiance to the
modern, snappier and better-designed Telegraph.
The times were obviously changing but The Statesman refused to move from its stodgy ways. With
circulation dipping, so did advertising and conse-
advanced age, or those critically ill. In the case of a late night death, even if
Ghosh was not around, a sub-editor would be able to easily find the files and
compose a fine obituary out of the information gathered by Ghosh. He was also
a famous drama critic.
The Statesman canteen was no ordinary one. Neither was its lunch or dinner.
Liveried waiters were in attendance to serve what could be described as a meal
fit for the sahibs. Old timers, such as Nikhil Mookherjee, would compare it with
the best available menu served in any star restaurant or club in the city.
During one Durga Puja immersion ceremony, a photographer was instructed
to click a fresh photograph. He, in his laziness, passed on an old picture and it
was prominently printed on the front page. The following morning, a few
people turned up at The Statesman office. Reason: Amid the crowd in the
photograph, they had spotted a relative, who had been missing for a few years.
They wanted to know where and when the picture was taken. The photographer was caught out.
The Statesman Vintage Car Rally was possibly the best such rally in the country. It became a tradition every February. And being seen in that event, in your
old reconditioned car, was a matter of immense pride for many.
NEW ORDER
The swanky structure
which has
replaced the red old
Statesman Building in
New Delhi
quently, revenues.
Very clearly, the complacency that set in was
never arrested. The Statesman went on a downward
spiral and those in command simply watched the
decline mutely. Many insiders say the alarm bells
had begun to ring some two decades ago as the
debts began to pile up. But it took time for the realization to sink in that even a great institution can
sink if it is left to drift.
Today, there is gloom within Statesman House.
Many fear that the end is near. Only a miracle can
save what once was the pride of Kolkata.
VIEWS ON NEWS
Media Monitoring
Health Research
A Pro-Publica exclusive
report on how sensational
headlines and smart
presentation can dupe
lazy journalists
BY JOHN BOHANNON
S
Anil Shakya
LIM by Chocolate! the headlines blared. A team of German researchers had found
that people on a low-carb diet
lost weight 10 percent faster if
they ate a chocolate bar every
day. It made the front page of Bild, Europes largest
daily newspaper, just beneath their update about the
Germanwings crash. From there, it ricocheted
around the Internet and beyond, making news in
more than 20 countries and half-a-dozen languages.
It was discussed on television news shows. It appeared in glossy print, most recently in the June
issue of Shape magazine (Why You Must Eat
Chocolate Daily, page 128). Not only does chocolate accelerate weight loss, the study found, but it
leads to healthier cholesterol levels and overall increased well-being. The Bild story quotes the studys
lead author, Johannes Bohannon, Ph.D., research director of the Institute of Diet and Health: The best
part is you can buy chocolate everywhere.
I am Johannes Bohannon, Ph.D. Well, actually my
name is John, and Im a journalist. I do have a Ph.D.,
but its in the molecular biology of bacteria, not humans. The Institute of Diet and Health? Thats nothing more than a website.
Other than those fibs, the study was 100 percent
authentic. My colleagues and I recruited actual
human subjects in Germany. We ran an actual clinical trial, with subjects randomly assigned to different diet regimes. And the statistically significant
benefits of chocolate that we reported are based on
the actual data. It was, in fact, a fairly typical study
for the field of diet research. Which is to say: It was
terrible science. The results are meaningless, and the
Media Monitoring
Health Research
Onneken and
Lbl were
working on a
documentary
film about the
junk-science
diet industry.
They wanted
me to help
demonstrate
just how easy
it is to turn
bad science
into the big
headlines
behind
diet fads.
THE CON
Onneken and Lbl wasted no time. They used Facebook to recruit subjects around Frankfurt, offering
150 Euros to anyone willing to go on a diet for three
weeks. They made it clear that this was part of a documentary film about dieting, but they didnt give
more detail. On a cold January morning, five men
and 11 women showed up, aged 19 to 67.
Gunter Frank, a general practitioner in on the
prank, ran the clinical trial. Onneken had pulled him
in after reading a popular book Frank wrote railing
against dietary pseudoscience. Testing bitter chocolate as a dietary supplement was his idea. When I
asked him why, Frank said it was a favorite of the
whole food fanatics. Bitter chocolate tastes bad,
therefore it must be good for you, he said. Its like
a religion.
After a round of questionnaires and blood tests to
ensure that no one had eating disorders, diabetes, or
other illnesses that might endanger them, Frank randomly assigned the subjects to one of three diet
groups. One group followed a low-carbohydrate diet.
Another followed the same low-carb diet plus a daily
1.5 oz. bar of dark chocolate. And the rest, a control
group, were instructed to make no changes to their
current diet. They weighed themselves each morning
for 21 days, and the study finished with a final round
of questionnaires and blood tests.
Onneken then turned to his friend Alex DrosteHaars, a financial analyst, to crunch the numbers.
One beer-fueled weekend later and... jackpot! Both
Media Monitoring
Health Research
Media Monitoring
Focus
Health Research
Reporters
asked
perfunctory
questions.
Why do you
think
chocolate
accelerates
weight loss?
Do you have
any advice for
our readers?
Almost no
one asked
how many
subjects we
tested. Not a
single
reporter
seems to have
contacted
an outside
researcher.
Its a
WOMANS
WORLD
daughters and send it to the sarpanch through
WhatsApp. The results surprised everyone, as not
only did it get an overwhelming response794 entriesbut people participated from all over the
country. On June 19, three selfies were adjudged the
best and awarded `2,100 along with a trophy.
Jaglan, naturally, is pleased as punch over how
his small initiative left such a large social impact.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought it
VIEWS ON NEWS
Focus
LEADING FROM
THE FRONT
(Below from left) Sunil
Jaglans wife with her
two daughters
One of the
winning selfies
up in his recent Mann Ki Baat, where he said: Because of this (contest), every father wanted to get a
selfie clicked with his daughter. I really liked this
concept. Since it comes from Haryana, where the
gender ratio is the worst, it raises hope.
And this initiative did have a poignant effect.
Jaglan says: After the contest was announced,
many parents who didnt have a girl child, called to
say how sorry they felt. Mindsets too have started
changing. Kavita Khan, a mother of two, says: Previously, I used to think educating daughters was a
waste of money, but now I want my daughter to become a doctor. I am not scared of sending her to
Jind. This shift in attitude came about after 2010
when Jaglan took over as the sarpanch. Before that,
parents were reluctant to let their daughters take up
higher studies, forget about sending them to Jind.
Focus
Murdoch Empire
HIS REACH
Total Revenue In Financial Year 2014 : $31.87 billion
$12.27 billion Fox networks -News, Sports, Business, International, FX, National
Geographic, YES networks
$9.68 billion 20th Century Fox, Fox 2000, Fox 21, Blue Sky Studios, Shine group
Film
Satellite television
$6.03 billion British-Sky-Broadcasting
Television
$5.30 billion Fox Broadcasting networks, Fox Sports, Fox Television group. MY Network
The New York Post, Dow Jones The Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Market
Watch, Factiva.The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times
News and Information
News Corp AustraliaThe Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday
Services
Telegraph, Herald Sun
Cable
Book Publishing
HarperCollins
14.8%
85.2%
39.4%
60.6%
(Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times)
Getty Images
VIEWS ON NEWS
Focus Profile
Focus
Murdoch Empire
Robert
Thomson,
one of the
editors of
Murdochs
business and
financial
newspaper,
The Wall
Street
Journal, had
once said:
Rupert is
not going to
die.
TRACKING NEWS
The Fox TV
newsroom
Murdoch Empire
from July 1.
According to a 21st Century Fox announcement, Rupert, Lachlan and
James will be the overall bosses of the
sprawling Murdoch media empire, and
assume new leadership roles. This
means that the control of the company
shall rest with the family only.
Murdoch will stay as executive
chairman and the largest shareholder of
Fox. Interestingly, the legendary Hollywood Studios and the broadcast television network, Fox News Channel, are
virtually the source of American political power, with the Republicans
providing permanent backbone.
Robert Thomson, one of the editors
of Murdochs business and financial
newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, had
once said: Rupert is not going to die.
He doesnt enjoy sharing ownership of media units,
and eventually kicks out his partners, as happened
in the case of London-based weekly, News Of The
World, in 1969, and later with the telecom company,
BSkyB.
As one of his many biographers recorded,
Murdoch owns some 150 newspapers across the
globe, but earns more from Fox television channels
and by film companies.
No matter what happens to him, he has shown
that there will always be a market in the US for tendentious, right-leaning cable talk shows, state-ofthe-art coverage of cowboys vs Redskins and
genre-crushing big budget movies. he said.
Finally, as one senior WSJ journalist has written:
One of the jobs of the editor of The Wall Street
Journal is to keep Rupert Murdoch happy with what
hes doing, because were reliant on News Crop for
resources at a time when newspapers may not be
the worlds greatest investments.
The statement appropriately and amply reflects
the current state of the newspaper industry in
the US.
Plots and
Gameplans
Scandalous news
coverage and unethical
practices have rocked
the moguls boat more
than once
BY MR DUA
David Shankbone/wikimedia
POWER COUPLE
Rupert Murdoch with
his former wife
Wendi Murdoch in
happier days
VIEWS ON NEWS
Focus Profile
Murdoch Empire
to serve the people. At the launch of his daily newspaper, The Australian, in July 1964, in Sydney, he had
outlined his mission: impartial information, independent thinkingspeak fearlessly, outspoken,
vigor, truth, and information without dullness, new
approach to national journalism.(sic)
However, Murdochs journalism, as practiced in
the UK or the US, did not exactly pursue the path of
high journalistic ethics that he had vouched for. In
over 65 years that his media establishments worldwide have operated, almost all of these edicts have
been compromised.
When Murdochs mass-circulation Londonbased weekly, News of the World (NOW), was caught
resorting to fraud, untruths, sexual sensationalism
and other scandalous reportage through voicemail
hacking, the fraudulent practices came to light.
Murdochs mass-circulation
London-based weekly News of the World
was caught resorting to fraud,
untruths, sexual sensationalism and
scandalous reportage.
to this trend worldwide: The New York Post and The
Village Voice in the US; News of the World and The
Sun in the UK, for instance.
In the process, Murdochs publications have
multiplied in circulation and his cash registers
have been constantly rising.
THE SCREECHING HEIGHTS
When he started, Murdoch was brimming with ideas
30 VIEWS ON NEWS July 22, 2015
STORM TOSSED
The matter catapulted to a big scandal when 14-yearold Miley Dowlers voicemail was breached; she felt
humiliated, and committed suicide. The unfortunate
incident resulted in a high-level probe by a British
parliamentary panel.
The panels report leveled unprecedented and unparalleled reprimand and censure against
NOWs staff.
Murdoch, along with his eldest son Lachlan, and
all of NOWs reporters and editors, were in hot water.
They not only abundantly apologized, the paper paid
millions in damages to all others whose voicemails
were hacked; some of NOWs journalists were put behind bars to serve long jail terms, and some were
fined. NOW was shut down for good.
The investigators discovered that Lachlan,
in-charge of NOW, didnt exercise strict vigil on what
was appearing in its columns. The parliamentary
committee censured Lachlan for willful ignorance
and astonishing lack of curiosity regarding
the criminal behavior of his subordinates. He later
quit and went to New York.
Murdochs Fox Television News channel is notorious for its patently biased, prejudiced, one-sided
MURDOCHS RISE
1952: Joins father Keith Murdochs newspaper, The
News, at 21 years.
1969: Enters Britain, purchases the Sunday tabloid,
Obituary
Praful Bidwai
LEFTIST TILT
A passionate
crusader and
a true friend P
ASSAM AGITATION
I first met Praful when he came to Assam to report on
the anti-foreigners agitation led by student leaders. This
was in the early 1980s. I think he was then an assistant
editor with The Times of India in Mumbai and had not
yet shifted to Delhi. He came with two other journalist
friends: Ivan Fera (Ivan later worked for The Illustrated
Weekly and died of cancer a few years later) and Yogi
Agarwal. I was in my first job with The Telegraph, and
had no idea that an assistant editor in TOI was a big
deal. Giri came up in his conversation quite often. I
had no idea who Giri was. It was much later that I realized that Giri was none other than Girilal Jain, the
editor of TOI.
Unlike many journalists who flew in to Assam to do
32 VIEWS ON NEWS July 22, 2015
the story that was grabbing eyeballs and got overwhelmed seeing mass protests where women,
including traditional housewives, took to the
streets, Praful realized very quickly the anti-Muslim overtones of the movement. Left leaders of
Assam were also targets of public anger. The fact
that top BJP leaders frequently came to Assam to
lend their support convinced him that it was not
an issue which deserved his support.
Though Praful remained at heart a supporter
of the Left (he was a Trotskyite in his student
days), he was deeply disappointed with the CPMs
dyed-in-the wool ideology. The fact that the Indian Left did not pay any attention to the crying
issues of environment and global warming frustrated him no end.
NUCLEAR PLANTS
He was passionately anti-nuclear, and one of the
few issues about which we argued was the IndiaUS nuclear deal. I felt it was good for India and
Manmohan Singh had done well to bring India
out of its nuclear isolation. Praful would bombard
me with facts and figures and try and convince me
that nuclear power plants were dangerous.
Like many liberals, he was wary of Narendra
Modi, worried about the rise of right-wing forces
Spotlight
Special Report
Express Group
I
Insiders in
the dailys
Delhi office
said the
management
was keen to
reduce
output that
generated
little traffic.
Media circles are abuzz over Prabhu Chawlas removal as editorial director of
The New Indian Express and the likely takeover of Express by the Ambanis
BY VON TEAM
torial director.
Hoot, a portal which focuses on Indian
newsrooms, mentioned the movement but
did not specify the reason. Chawla is seen as
part of the Rajnath Singh camp. In BJP politics, this means you are in the opposite camp
of finance minister Arun Jaitley.
It is rumored that Chawla could be on his
way out or may even be joining another
news organization.
Hoot even speculated that Chawlas
removal was triggered by a top cricket administrator, whose proximity to Sonthalia
and hatred for disgraced cricket honcho Lalit
Modi is clearly known in the market.
So would it be safe to presume the cricket
administrator spoke to Sonthalia and the
THE FINE LINE
(Below) The July 4 online version of The New
Indian Express Chennai edition (Page 10)
clearly shows editorial changes in the paper
VIEWS ON NEWS
Design
VIEWS ON NEWS
Book Review
and magazines at India Coffee House in Connaught Place, New Delhi, was arrested because he
sold copies of the weekly, March of the Nation, edited by Piloo Mody, an MP and one of the
founders of the Swatantra Party.
Mamchand was illiterate. He could not read
the newspapers and magazines he was selling and
did not know who Piloo Mody was. But officials
and policemen were not bothered about that and
they kept the unlettered Mamchand in jail for
more than a year.
DARK DAYS J
OF EXCESS
Coomi Kapoors timely book on the
Emergency recounts how
dictatorship in 1975 steam-rolled all
democratic institutions
BY RAJENDRA BAJPAI
38 VIEWS ON NEWS July 22, 2015
HATED FIGURE
Villagers in most of northern India, mainly UP,
hated Sanjay for his much-despised family planning and forced sterilization program. People
were being rounded up and forcibly vasectomized.
They often slept in the open on their agricultural
farms to escape arrests for sterilization.
Both Coomi and I worked together at The Indian Express when Emergency was imposed. The
newspapers owner was Ramnath Goenka, a foxy
old man, who kept testing the limits of the governments patience. In the summer of 1976, he
took ill and VC Shuka, then I&B minister, tried to
pressurize him to sell The Indian Express to his
nominees. Goenka, who was recovering from a
heart attack, told us he agreed to sell the paper, but
insisted he wanted `2 crore by cheque. Then he
had a hearty laugh and said he knew nobody had
`2 crore in the bank in those days.
Newspapers were being censored and there
was little to do except rehash official press releases. I took to flying gliders to while away my
time, while Coomi spent her time visiting her husband, Virendra, in jail as often as she could and
bringing up her newborn baby.
IN THE DARK
In the autumn of 1976, I quit The Indian Express
to join Reuters where I found far greater freedom
to write. Within weeks, several opposition leaders
were freed from detention and it became clear that
THE EMERGENCY
A PERSONAL HISTORY
By Coomi Kapoor
Publisher: Penguin Viking
Price: `599; Pages: 389
VIEWS ON NEWS
Anchor Review
Karan Thapar
DATE
22/6/15
EMERGENCY
H
Kudos to
Thapar for
his ability to
keep the
audience
glued to the
program
despite the
topic being
four
decads old.
29/6/15
29/6/15
1/ 7/15
1/ 7/15
1/ 7/15
2/7/15
2/7/15
NEWS
MS Dhoni says he is ready to step down
as captain and play as a team member,
following the one-day series defeat
in Bangladesh.
NEWS
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Controversy
Outlook in a soup
The magazine courts controversy by calling
a lady IAS officer eye candy and is
slapped with a legal notice. The media
would do well to keep away from scurrilous
and sexist reports
BY VON TEAM
Notice sent
to Newshour
IN this season of legal notices to the media,
Dushyant Singh, son of
Rajasthan Chief Minister
Vasundhara Raje, reportedly sent a legal notice on
July 2 to Times Now, accusing the channel of
making false and defamatory statements. The notice refers specifically to
the Newshour debate on
June 29 anchored by
Arnab Goswami, in which
it alleged that that the
City Palace of Dholpur in
Rajasthan belonged to
the state and not to Singh
as claimed by him.
The notice demanded
a retraction by the channel on Newshour, failing
which Times Now would
be sued for Rs 100 crore.
Criminal charges under
Sections 499, 500 and 505
of IPC would also be filed
against the channel, its
editor-in-chief Arnab
Goswami and director of
Times Group, Vineet Jain.
VIEWS ON NEWS
Governance
Yoga Initiative
RIGHT PRESCRIPTION?
A large chunk of the coverage focused on yogas health benefits, which were touted as the main reason why people
should embrace it. Yoga was projected as the right prescription for lifestyle diseasesdiabetes, hypertension, obesity, hy-
Universal
PANACEA?
Has media hyped the PMs initiative? There are legitimate questions about
the ancient practice and the science behind it. It neither asked questions
about yogas tall claims nor gave warning about its pitfalls
BY DINESH C SHARMA
44 VIEWS ON NEWS July 22, 2015
strating different asanas. It was during these programs that sweeping statements about the health
benefits of each asana were made by yoga teachers.
Ill-informed anchors further generalized sweeping
statements to exhort viewers to take to yoga. No
questions were asked about the claims being made
or about the side-effects of yoga being taught
through television. Yoga was freely confused with
meditation, spirituality, breathing exercises and the
like. Exponents like Baba Ramdev and new age
gurus like Jaggi Vasudev, as well as BJP leaders like
Uma Bharti, participated in such programs. One
media house, India Today, organized a special event
on yoga which was televised. While teaching the
anchor yoga postures, Baba Ramdev claimed that
yoga can cure hypertension, hyper thyroidism
and even hepatitis, and professed that research
studies had published this in international
research journals.
DANGEROUS CLAIMS
TV channels which could not get celebrities like
Baba Ramdev or Shilpa Shetty did the next best
VIEWS ON NEWS
Governance
Yoga Initiative
thingthey got beneficiaries of yoga to give testimonies. For instance, India News channel spoke to
ten people who had been cured of nothing less
than cancers, brain tumors, diabetes, hypertension
and so on through one particular type of yoga taught
at Patanjali Ashram of Baba Ramdev. Minor benefits
such as lower dependence on drugs and pain relief
were not touched upon.
Newspapers were not far behind. Ahmedabad
Mirror published a testimony of Babubhai Parikh,
69, under the heading: Yoga is my pacemaker. He
said that before he started yoga, only 20 percent of
his heart was working, his liver had failed and his
body had turned black due to the absence of blood.
He claimed that he was asked to be put on a pacemaker. But his neighbor, a professional yoga teacher,
introduced him to a laugh club in Joggers Park.
Soon, his health improved. Parikh claimed that for
the last nine months, he hadnt visited a doctor or
undergone any medical tests. My favorite asana is
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS
Words like cure were frequently used, while some
stories quoted research studies but did not bother
to give vital information. For example, if the study
was published in a peer-reviewed journal, few
asked how many people participated in it, what
factors other than yoga were studied and were
these studies case-controlled or randomized clinical trials?
Thus, ill-informed, imbalanced and unscientific messages about yoga spread through mass
media. This could have a deleterious effect on public health, given the fact that India has a huge burden of non-communicable diseases and equitable
access to health services is still a huge problem. The
rising cost of private health services, especially for
chronic diseases, could drive people to cheaper options in alternative medicine and to Indian systems such as Ayurveda and Siddha. While these
systems offer different treatments, they have to be
practiced by trained and qualified practitioners. In
the absence of any robust system of education, accreditation of practitioners and an opaque system
of quality control of indigenous drugs, gullible people are being subjected to quackery.
Dr Anil Bansal, chairman of the anti-quackery
cell of Delhi Medical Council says: Already regional and local television channels are full of advertorials and sponsored content about miracle
cures for cancer and everything else. Now, mainline
channels have also started doing this, as they did
with the yoga coverage. This will definitely encourage quackery. He said it was an offense to claim any
miracle cure for cancer and other such diseases
listed in the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
Yoga is good for health, just like any other physical activity such as brisk walking. Instead of highlighting such messages, media has put yoga on a
pedestal as a cure for everything. We need to motivate people to change sedentary lifestyles, Bansal
added. We have seen yoga teachers posing as doctors. We caught one such teacher in Delhi recently;
he was giving his disciples allopathic drugs in high
doses. High decibel media coverage is acting as an
advertisement for such people.
NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
The situation is particularly dangerous when it
comes to cancer cases. Yoga and such techniques
Tall Claims
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Governance
Modi Controversy
ED Action
LaMo
JUGGERNAUT
ROLLS ON
T
Even as the
government is
diving for cover
over the Lalit Modi
issue, it has
belatedly sent ED
officials to
Singapore to
probe money
laundering by him
BY SHANTANU GUHA RAY
WASHOUT SESSION
Political analysts have even predicted a washout
monsoon session when parliament convenes on
July 21. I do not think there will be any concrete
work, remarked CPI's D Raja.
Probably aware of the impending crisis, the gov48 VIEWS ON NEWS July 22, 2015
MIND GAMES
(Facing page) Lalit
Modis fusillade of
disclosures have
forced the center to
act against him
(Above) The ED probe
against Modi is based
on a complaint filed by
former BCCI chief N
Srinivasan in 2010
VIEWS ON NEWS
Governance
Modi Controversy
National Fallout
HOW C
DEEP
IS THE
ROT?
Conflict of interest is
not taken seriously in
India. This is why the
Modi government
survived the first
round of the LaMo
crisis despite
involvement of some
ministers.
BY ABHAY VAIDYA
in paid news journalism; doctors prescribing unnecessary tests, medicines and surgeries for the
sake of cuts and commissions; sports administrators and players hobnobbing with fixers and even
our scientists indulging in wanton plagiarism. Take
the case of top scientist CNR Rao, decorated with
no less than the Bharat Ratna, who was accused of
five instances of plagiarism by the Society for Scientific Values. Rao later issued an apology, describing one instance of plagiarism as an oversight.
CLEAN CHIT
Thus, it is hardly surprising that the BJP high command swiftly gave a clean chit to Rajasthan chief
minister Vasundhara Raje on the very day when it
was revealed that three former Supreme Court
judges, senior editor Prabhu Chawla and former
Mumbai police commissioner RD Tyagi had also
given testimonies to a British court in favor of Lalit
Modis appeal for immigration.
While the judges opined that Modis passport
had been wrongly revoked by the Congress government, senior Supreme Court advocate Indira
Jaising said in a TV debate that it was wrong on the
part of the judges to give that paid for legal opinion in the Modi case.
It was also wrong as it would weigh heavily with
brother judges of the Supreme Court in the event
of a case being heard in India, Jaising said.
What also helped ease the pressure on the BJP
was Lalit Modis revealing tweet that he had met
Congress icon Priyanka Gandhi and her husband,
Robert Vadra, in a London restaurant.
The BJP then defended Raje by stating
that (unlike Prabhu Chawla and RD
Tyagi), Vasundhara had not appeared in a
British court to stand testimony for
Modi. Secondly, while her signature was
verified on the last page of her statement, the rest of it could not be verified as it was with the British
authorities.
When asked for the govern-
NAMO PREVAILS
The Modi government
has survived the
storm for now, despite
damning allegations
of proximity of BJP
leaders to former IPL
chief Lalit Modi (right)
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Governance
Modi Controversy
National Fallout
Governance
Modi Controversy
National Fallout
GENTLE RAP
(L-R)
Barkha Dutt
and
Vir Sanghvi
didnt face
severe
consequences
of Radiagate
This strange mechanism of dealing with a serious conflict of interest issue was criticized heavily
on social media. Barkha may have retained her job,
but what she and the channel lost was credibility.
The late Vinod Mehta has devoted 12 full pages
to Radiagate in his autobiography, Lucknow Boy,
saying that he turned down Prannoy Roys request
to be a part of the televised debate with Barkha and
was subsequently banned from NDTV.
India is still found wanting when it comes to
high professional standards and this is the reason
why conflict of interest violations are not dealt with
seriously. This culture has pervaded our politics,
bureaucracy, judiciary, journalism, academia and
many other sectors. This is not an issue restricted
to a Sushma Swaraj or a Vasundhara Raje. The rot
will be stemmed only when benchmarks are raised
and high professional standards are set and followed. Exposing instances of conflict of interest in
order to cleanse the system will remain an important part of this journey.