KCR’s Comments on Press - Times Now TV live debate

This has reference to The News hour Debate: Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao threatens media, of Times Now TV with TRS MP Vinod, on 10th September 2014. Whatever be the propriety of KCR’s comments on journalists, the behavior of Arnab Goswami the Times Now anchor in the live debate towards Vinod Kumar, TRS MP was more deplorable than what he wanted to censure in it.It has exceeded all the limits of journalistic etiquette. He was accusing the MP and sentencing him in one breath. He has berated him without allowing him to speak. He was ordering him to file a case against his state’s CM as if he is delivering the judgment in the case. The behavior of Goswami is more dictatorial than his purported allegation of dictatorial attitude of KCR. Arnab Goswami cannot pass a judgment and insult his own invitee for the discussion, without giving him a chance to reply coherently. It looked like he has called Vinod Kumar for the discussion just to do the insulting act, with a predetermined intent.

Thus he has joined those two implicated TV channels (not all the journalists of India) on whom KCR was venting his ire, for insulting Telangana people, their State, Assembly, Legislators and the very ethos of Telangana, in most vulgar lingo in Telugu, which perhaps Goswami and other national media men can never know or cannot understand its true nuance even if translated in to English.

It cannot be called a freedom of expression or championing for it if Goswami is bullying the MP without allowing him to speak and berating him with his vituperations. Telanganites including the daughter of KCR feel that KCR should not have used those words feeling that they can be misinterpreted. But for using those words on those two channels no Telanganite feel any regret.

He was advocating the MP to register a case against KCR in a police station in Delhi. He could have done the same thing without raving on Vinod Kumar. Or he could have complained to Press Council of India, if he is so fastidious to set the things right, instead of calling the MP and insulting him without hearing him. If journalists can say anything, but, the people cannot say anything against them, is not the connotation of freedom of speech.

The MSOs of Telangana as part of Telangana society were insulted by the two channels and have protested against it.The two TV channels were trying to sabotage Telangana state formation for several years and were like thorns in the flesh of Telangana. The particular video on Telangana maiden Assembly by TV9 was the last straw on the camel's back.

TV9’s Anti-Telangana rant on maiden Telangana Assembly:

(Translation from Telugu)

“What would happen if you screen a Hollywood movie in a multiplex to someone who is habituated to watching old movies on touring theatre? Sample this!

As our leaders saw the State Assembly for the first time from so close a distance, they got perplexed as to what expression befits the occasion – ecstasy, bafflement or horror!

Not just their body language, they became laughing stock even at the oath-taking ceremony!

Our Telangana MLAs story is similar to those sour toddy consumers who are offered best foreign brand liquor!

People voted them to power and gave a ‘short-cut entry’ into the Assembly, but the leaders scared them with their very first performance at the oath-taking ceremony!

Not straight out of their beds – thank God for that – but fumbled even to read from a paper when asked to take oath.

And on top of it, Laptops were given to such incompetents!

What will a loincloth-clad person do when offered with a Laptop? Where will he tuck it? Wonder if they shove it inside their loin or sell it somewhere! But the T-MLAs took them with both hands just as a drunkard would crave for spicy pickle!

MLAs were put to severe hardships and confusion gripped them big time once they entered the Assembly wondering where to sit and how, which way to take for wash-rooms, whether to use papers given as tissues, how to switch-off the ACs etc.!”

The MSOs of seemandhra never broadcast Telangana TV channels.Telangana Newspapers are not allowed in seemandhra.In the last A.P.Assembly session in Hyderabad Telangana TV channels and Telangana Newspapers were not given accreditation passes to cover the proceedings in the Assembly. When approached, the A.P. speaker, alleged to have opined that there is no need for Telangana press to cover Andhra Pradesh Assembly.

If MSOs are not within their rights they could not havecontinuedthe ban for 3 months.Even the central minister for I&B could not make them lift the ban.The Press Council of India also could not interfere. In such circumstances, there is no point in blaming KCR, for the abominable acts of ‘apartheid’ of Andhra press and the TV channels.He or Times Now TVshould have tried to drill some sense in to their minds instead of trying to bully the leaders of Telangana, to uphold the freedom of people. Even if KCR was wrong, there was no point in insulting his representative. It is like an attempt to ‘kill the messenger’ as the old saying goes. The poor man, an MP was left high and dry even without getting a chance to complete even a sentence in the debate.

A pun is in circulation in Hyderabad Public schools if some boy bullies other boys and will not allow them to speak in the school, the teachers would say that ‘Don’t behave like Arnab Goswami’.That is his reputation. Any way his treatment of Sri Vinod Kumar, MP has exceeded all the limits of journalistic decorum. There is need to examine if there is any violation of privileges of an MP in this case. The behavior of Goswami at least in this case does not enhance the reputation of Times Now TV.

There is need to make the live debates more democratic and meaningful without bullying the participants. Whether you like it or not the participants should be allowed to say what they want to say. Delivering your sentence like denunciations and ordering them to do something peremptorily as if you are sitting in judgmentwithout hearing the guest invitees does not behoove well for a national TV channel like Times Now.