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. Read more

I don’t know if you’ve seen the  movie Man Of The Year, staring Robin Williams, Christopher  Walken, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Linney. It came out at least a couple of years ago and was about a Jon Stewart-type talk show host who becomes President of the US thanks to a computer error. Read more

You will have heard all the usual stuff about television and the election. You will have been told that TV focuses on superficialities, that it does not reach the masses, that TV debates are an irrelevance etc etc.

I don’t want to get into all of that. But there’s one way in which TV has changed the rules of electioneering. And I find that it does not get enough credit for that. Read more

How much good do party spokesmen do when they appear on television? A spokesman’s job is not just to present his party’s point of view but to do it in a manner that sounds reasonable and manages to convince neutral or undecided voters. Read more

Here is a paradox for you to ponder.

Most Indian newspapers are reducing the space given to editorial comment. The Times of India has tried to abolish its editorial page several times. And the conventional wisdom among newspaper executives – backed up by market research agencies – is that nobody reads the editorials. Read more