Hindustan Times
The facinating relationship between politicians and TV
The relationship between television and politicians continues to fascinate me. Many politicians claim that TV is biased against them. Usually, those who complain are conservatives who feel that journalists are liberals and are therefore biased against them.
In the US, Richard Nixon used to rail against the East Coast liberal establishment which, according to him, dominated journalism and set out to destroy his reputation. Most conservative politicians have echoed Nixon’s criticism and complaints in one form or another.
It’s the same story in India. Whenever I check the questions on my website or catch up with what is happening on Twitter, I run into complaints about NDTV and CNN-IBN from BJP supporters. According to this view, Indian news channels are run by secularists who seek to do down the BJP. Were it not for Prannoy Roy and Rajdeep Sardesai, they suggest, the BJP would rule forever.
George W Bush offered a more insightful assessment of why he came across so badly in the media. According to Bush, there are some politicians whom TV simply does not like. It is not, he explained, that there is any conspiracy to damage such politicians; it is just that the media is allergic to them.
Bush was talking about his own experiences. He believes that his personality is not TV friendly and that, therefore, TV captures none of the warmth he exudes in real life and misses his intelligence to the extent that he comes off as a moron or a buffoon.
I thought about Bush’s assessment. Clearly, there is something to his view. Bill Clinton was a made-for-TV politician. He exuded star quality and when he was on screen it was impossible to look away. So it was with the young Tony Blair. In the early days, his smile lit up the TV screen and his charisma was undeniable.
To some extent, that’s true of Barack Obama as well. When he debated John McCain on TV during the election campaign, Obama came off as erudite, energetic and more presidential that McCain who came off as a tired old man.
Of course, Obama is a liberal and McCain is not. But the way they came off on TV had nothing to do with their political views or the biases of journalists. It had to do with the nature of the media. Whenever I think back to Richard Nixon’s complaints, I am always reminded of that famous Presidential debate with John F Kennedy in 1960.
Those who heard the debate on radio and those who were present in the hall thought Nixon had won. But TV viewers believed that Kennedy had bested Nixon. So, obviously it was not about content. It was about the demands of the media. I suspect that the real reason why Nixon got such bad play in the media was because TV did not like him not because journos are liberals.
In India, the situation is more complicated. First of all, TV doesn’t count for very much. Manmohan Singh did not give a single substantial TV interview during his first term. But it made no difference to his electoral prospects or his ratings. All of us know that the PM can be a bore on TV because the medium does not take kindly to people who speak in a monotone even when they talk sense. But how does it matter how he comes off on TV when the majority of the electorate does not watch television?
Take the case of AB Vajpayee who was a brilliant orator but who never mastered TV. Each of his pauses was longer than the average sound-bite. On the other hand, LK Advani is brilliant on television. He is reasonable, articulate, and willing to engage with interviewers. But it was Vajpayee who was the successful Prime Minister while Advani never made it to the top.
So, two lessons to remember. The first is that TV makes a difference to the careers of C-list politicians in India. Repeated exposure on the box can turn them into B-list figures. But they can never reach the A-list on the basis of TV.
And second, remember also that being good on TV can be a curse. Both Clinton and Blair were so charismatic that once the initial sheen had worn off, people were suspicious of their apparent fluency. Viewers began to regard them as insincere charlatans and nearly everything they said was greeted with disbelief.
As you can see, there are no easy answers here. The relationship between politicians and TV is a complex one.
(11 votes, average: 4.36 out of 5)
Loading ...Posted by Vir Sanghvi on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Filed under Media · Tagged BJP supporters, Clinton, CNN-IBN, journalists, McCain, NDTV, nixon, Obama, politicians, Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, Richard Nixon, television, US
Human beings are wise particularly ordinary citizens who are exposed to the day to day crunches of existence, whether it be the US or here. Packaging and surface finish may temporarily hold sway but finally it is the stuff inside that decides. The best sales people are not necessarily the live wires or the glib ones. People are not stupid. They know.
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You are confusing abotu how individual politicians come of on TV and tone of repoprtign 24/7 on those channels..
No sane person who watched Barkha dutt before and after 26/11 could tell she is nto biassed.
before 26/11 despite everyone who mattered requesting channels to stop associating religion with terror Barkha Dutt and her channel kept bombarding us with phrase like hindu terror saffron terror.
While they were in midst of this nonsensical journalism 26/11 happened and same Barkha Dutt not only changed her own tune claiming how islam has no association with terror but also got pained when Simi grewal divulged love for pakistan in certain segment of soceity.
I never heard even once the phrase islamic terror there after.
Still they have not changed whenver the now dead socalles saffor terror case comes in news same ld devilous phraseology of safforn-terror hindu-terror returns..
Anyone who thinks this is in not biassed journalism has to be congressi there is no two way about it.
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Rajdeep Sardesai who goes to tonw over every minor issue got cold feet when socalled honest Manmohan Singh was found saving his govt through kickback.
take for instance Madhu koda episode.. kept hearing reddy brothers juxtaposed with madhu koda in thsi episode.. Now any sane person would see how there is no similarity whatsoever between those two unless being rich is crime and unless we find some scam on door of reddy brothers of karnataka there was no need to juxtapose his name in order to draw parity on count of corruption between congress and BJP..
If anythign the relevant piece was how Mr D raja got certificate of honesty in ajuffy from Manmohans Singh and how Madhu koda had no such luck..
These are the things which expose these channels.. they are sold out to congresr or may be even scared because congressi have past record of going hammer and tong against those who don’t do their bidding..
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Aiding and abetting the TV Journalists have become run in the mill for a while now. Because most of the time there reporting is half rubbish and half brilliant. Now, if the Jurno has done his homework and addressing then it may be brilliant, but it is a rarity. Like when I started my career I was faced with the eleventh Lok sabha elections and it was the very first time that Zee TV was going live with its news analysis and presentation. The panel research was done by a different research team and the Anchor was so called an eminent face ( Digaj in politics). The goof up happened when the anchor was given a wrong sheet and the present politician was some else. The poor fellow was faced with literal battle of wits.
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A thought provoking article.
A few points: Let us get real and accept that all media people, like all human beings have their biases, prejudices, individual / corporate driven agendas. So no media is ever going to be fair – whether news or TV.
George Bush was here in India for the HT summit, and see the number of times his names was mentioned, he was made a saint, and we are all led to believe that he was a super cool guy, we did not understand well. If HT had happened to hypothetically invite Osama, we would have been preached on how the world maligned a lovely man. That the media can make heroes and villains out of people is a fact of life, and its about time the public acknowledged it, had a chuckle every time they spotted a propaganda, and moved on!
As for the TV media, the point about C class politicians moving to B using their TV charisma is excellent. And its not just politicians – Arundhati Roy, Mohan Bhagwat, Kiran Bedi, and a host of people across society have taken to the media like a fish takes to water.
I hope Vir’s point about them not making it to A class is true. Case in the point is Rahul Gandhi. He is the absolute darling and undisputed prince of our media – without having done anything significant apart from inheriting the right genes. At least now he is part of the ruling party and is an elected leader (which still does not translate to anything concrete done for the country, but it’s a start at least), but even 10 years back Rahul and Priyanka were hyped to be the Nehrus and Indiras of modern India
But there is a strong logic to why the NDTVs, IBNs are pro government now:
1.Media management: The congress has perfected media management and has invested time, effort, the right people, and networking to build this brand. Abhishek Singhvi, Kapil Sibal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, and of course Rahul and Priyanaka are cases in the point. In addition to their inherent strengths (legal background, articulation, media savvy personality, and for some pure family name) they have developed a strong network with the who is who in the print and TV media. The left has only Yechury in that class, and BJP has only Arun Jaitley, the BSP, SP and regional parties have some good names but not quote in the category above.
2.Go with the wind: When the BJP was in power the media was not so pro congress or left, and there were some interesting and well balanced debates. But once the media realized congress is going to stay in power for a while they jumped onto the bandwagon. It also helps to understand that a lot of these companies have external stakeholders (take the name CNN - IBN) and a profit seeking corporate would not want to rub the party in power the wrong way. I am waiting for the fun if Mayawati becomes PM one day, and Barkha Dutt gives us a tearful story of how people contrived to stop this poor lady from building a few statues.
3.Media awards: Barkha Dutt (of all people), Vinod Dua, Rajdeep Sardesai, were all awarded a Padma Shri when the Congress was in power, and I think Vir himself got a Rajiv Gandhi journalism award. You would expect in an ideal world that such awards do not affect their ideologies / political leanings, but we live in a real world, where the media and politicians indulge in classic “You pat my back, I pat yours”
TV or media alone may not make or break a person’s political career in the long run, but being on the right side of the media certainly helps. If the BJP supporters complaint, all I can tell them is that nobody stops the BJP leaders from playing the media management game the congress way.
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Ishmart Alec Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Excellent point!!! well said …..point number 3 and onwards - media awards is just the icing on the cake.
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Pankaj Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 10:10 am
“You pat my back, I pat yours”
It is rather :
You scratch my backside and I scratch yours!
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Vasu Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I was just being diplomatic, but we all know what it is
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Shailesh Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 2:15 am
Absolutely brilliant points. You have truly exposed the media and politics in a true, daring manner which is ignored by our so-called ignorant secularist intellectual viewers who got trapped by the likes of barkha, rajdeep and many….
Thought provoking comment.. Better than this Article !!
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It looks like current Media (privately owned) is savvy version of Rajiv Darshan oops Doordarshan.
The current media is heavily biased against the opposition including BJP, Communists and everybody who is not with congress.
It is because of media propaganda (rather focus e.g. less focus on congress stooge Koda than Karnataka crisis, no focus on D Raja episode but more focus on Jaswant Singh and his anti-BJP jibes, less focus on balant 26/11 terror attack in congress ruled maharashtra (160+ lives lost) but more focus on Kandahar episode (160+ lives saved) that Congress is doing well in election despite poor performance (e.g. maharashtra).
I fail to understand why Media is downplaying subversion of Instituitions by Congress Supremo Sonia Mata.
1. Office of President - Pratibha Patil
2. Vice President - Hamid Ansari
3. Speaker - Meira Kumar
4. Prime Minister - Manmohan Singh
5. Chief Election commission - Navin Chawla
All these five offices are manned by people who are SONIA loyalists. If Congress believes in democracy and instituition, what is the need for Sonia to put her stooges in all the high offices.
Have journalist given any thought to this? This is Indira style politics but in a soft and suave manner. It is time media do its duty deligently.
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When presentation matters more than policies, there is something quite wrong.This is the reason the shine came off Mr Clinton and Mr Blair. It also happened in the days of Socrates and he was sentenced to death on account of ‘corrupting the young’, and the nation headed towards stormy times.
Mr Bush is neither an intellectual nor a saviour of the world.
A journalist ’s job is to report and give unbiased analysis, ideally
The quality of reporting on channels such as NDTV is poor and is biased strongly in favour of Corrupt Congress. Someone who is less than half Indian and more than half Christian is being projected as the leader of a country of 800 million Hindus!! Their voice is being muffled, ignored, even ridiculed. Their voice needs to be heard.
Vasu above, has put the points well
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Dear Vir,
You are either naive or you are shrewd enough to evade the key issue. Given the intelligent journalist you are, I find it hard to believe that the former is the case here. No one complains about the time on TV dedicated to BJP leaders or Cong leaders. Ours is not a presdential system of election, so do not draw parallels with the Democrats and Rebublicans.
People complain about the hidden negative opinions about BJP in every news reporting. It is not as if you are unaware of it. You just played safe and avoided touching the key issue. As an evidence, why so many internet readers spend their time posting anti Congress and anti media reponses on HT times blog? Are these people paid by BJP ? No right? People in US with advanced degrees are more likely to support the Democrats. But the same is not true for Congress in India. More educated people are less likely to vote for the Congress in India. And it is these people who complain about the media bias.
Lou Dobbs had once quit CNN because the CNN chief wanted more favorable coverage for Bill Clinton as he happened to be Clinton’s friend. The HT times chief was nominated for Rajya Sabha by UPA. Is it not? What should I then expect of HT Times? Can you play Lou Dobbs sir?
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An example of how journalists,both print and visual media are biased against BJP and distort their image is provided in this very blog : the words attributed by Sanghvi to BJP leaders “BJP will rule for ever”.I don’t think any BJP man would have said that.No further proof is required.Bush is absolutely right when he says that there are some persons/parties that the entire media does not like.
Sonia/Rahul are getting votes (let Sanghvi not fool himself that Manmohan is getting those votes) as a result of intense infighting in the BJP top rung.They should thank Rajnath Singh for their good fortune.
And Navin Chawla.
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Rajeev Reply:
November 16th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Vir Sanghvi may sound polished but to me he sounds just like Abhishek Manu Singhvi ever ready to defend congress.
I must not single out Vir Sanghvi, infact most of the TV anchors and print media journalist are showing Shamelss bias towards Congress. Why? No one know but looking at padamshris being thrown around it is quite clear that journalists’ services are being acknowledges by Queen Bee Sonia.
Can any journalist get Padam shri from Congress for going after bofors chors?
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this jain ( non hindu ) bigot has sold his soul for some award to congress. dont worry mr. vir bjp will be back in power and you will be alive to see that. You will have hard time then to hide your self .. keep you italy visa ready… down with you communal congressis. long live bjp…
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Good discussion to follow. Vasu’s summarisation and views are execellent.
Have a thought though. In all his write ups in the blog so far Vir has never taken part in the discussions after posting his column. Neither does he defend his views nor does he clarify the quesions raised by the group !!
For me, he is just a journo who plays safe. Knows all his purpose is to write. Those who are eager will fight it out
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I think Vir discusses fairly similar topics on his personal website and HT editorials. So, he may just take a look at the discussions without necessarily responding to them. While it would be nice if he responds, its not a necessity, and in all likelihood he would not.
Like I said earlier, we all have our agendas - even some of the people who typically comment, and claim to be objective. Its important to attack a specific point or opinion based on facts, rather than attack a person. So, while I may like to highlight Vir himself as pandering to a specific party, I would’dnt care if he was Jain / Muslim / Christian. Its a free country and everybody is entitled to their opinion; I see no real need here for attacking one’s character or religious identify.
And the BJP itself is in such huge mess that its got to get its house in order first before it can attack the Congress, Left, or the media.
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yeah its free country to attack , defame, and discriminate against hindu religion only. well other religions … jains/muslims/christians well they are the assets of the country. some body may not find a real need here for attacking ones religion other may find a real need. its a free country and every body is entitled to their opinion.
BJP it self in such huge mess??!! well .. why media created hype should matter to voters as far as bjp provides good governance and administrative skills which they are renowned for among educated voters and they are still doing it inspite of the so callled ” huge mess “.
How do we come to know whether bjp is attcking congress or not.. when media never prints them.
So the point here is that voters should be intelligent and smart enough to understand vested interest of the media by not getting carried away by their irresponsible and anti national , pro congress, anti bjp , anti hindu agendas.
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