New Yorker's long piece on Times of India

The Times of India, the leading daily simultaneously published from several centres, that was originally set up by a British company during colonial days, to promote their agenda, underwent a transformation after independence when its ownership came into Indian hands. Over the years, it became a premier newspaper institution under strong, thinking editors and commentators who inspired awe in the government of the day. They were keenly watchful of the govt's acts of commission and omission, voicing public sentiments without fear or favour.Their main focus was on national interest and not their own commercial and advertising objectives.

With the passing away of such powerful, highly respected, influential editor-writers-the last one being Girilal Jain, the Times of India was taken over by younger generation-great-grand children of RK Dalmia-the original Indian owner-businessman, and grand children of Shantilal Jain. They clearly hated intellectually, professionally and morally strong editors who until then had guided and shaped the newspaper. For the new young bosses, advertising revenue had the highest priority. The Editor of the TOI, under their charge, became a non-entity, an ingnificant individual as they held all the levers in their hands.

An extensive, well-researched write-up in the New Yorker journal of October 10,2012, carries stunningly revealing details of how two Jain brothers have turned the Times of India group into a higly money-spinning venture where reporters write laudatory pieces-called "advertorials"-on Bollywood stars and corporate honchos, in their local pictorial supplements. The thinking was that why should a leading newspaper like the Times of India give them free publicity through their valuable space with photographs and write-ups? They were asked to pay for this coverage which was obviously and readily agreed to. This seems to have the beginning of the phenomenon of "paid news". According to the New Yorker article, "the walls between the advertising and editorial sections were broken down" for a close coordination between the two, the emphasis being on "advertorials"-a great money-making source.

Interestingly, Times of India is now more a news-paper, rather than an opinion paper; its news stories are short. Letters to Editor column is thrown into a small corner, has only two short letters, and not more. In other words, views of readers are not really so important.   

Robert Vadra's dubious real estate deals

Mrs Sonia Gandhi's only Son-in-Law, Robert Vadra, married to her daughter Priyanka, seems prone to adverse publicity, off and on. His latest episode concerns his dubious real estate deals. The fact that top guns of the Congress and the government, in a sick and disgusting display of sycophancy, came out hastily to defend their supreme leader's son-in-law, calling him innocent of any wrong-doing. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his Finance Minister P.Chidambaram and other senior colleagues, could not explain how an ordinary businessman with a small capital of his own amounting to some lakhs, became a multi-millionare-accumulating reportedly 300 crores of rupees within 3-4 years. Thus, in the eyes of the people, it was an undisputed manifestation of moral degradation of the ruling Congress party. The party line was that Vadra was a pivate businessman and individual. If so, why was a powerful battery of spokespersons aggressively appearing in TV studios to rescue Vadra from his critics' onslaught regarding his shady transactions? Why Vadra himself chose silence, instead of publicly explaining the whole affair with honesty. Instead, he mocked the aam admi as "mango" man and the Indian State a "banana republic"!

Looking back at the history of the Congress which, although set up by a British colonial bureaucrat, in 1884, was shaped and guided by freedom struggle stalwarts like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and other dedicated leaders, with self-sacrifice, high values of morality, propriety and inner-party democracy. All this changed with the passing away of Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Lal Bahadur Shastri when the next generation led by Mrs Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, took over the reins of the party and the govt. The rot began. Sycophancy and loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty was the key element. The family under Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Mrs Indira Gandhi's daughter-in-law and the elder son Rajiv Gandhi's wife, could do no wrong. Two Ministers in the vanguard of Robert Vadra's defence, publicly swore that they would defend their leader Mrs Sonia Gandhi to their last breath.

But the tragedy is that these small-minded faithfuls cannot see to what terrible state they have sunk the grand old party with their mindless, morally unsound, shenanigans. No wonder, the country is in the grip of  unprecedented corruption, degeneration, despondency and cynicism.