Frankly Speaking

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Frankly Speaking on CNBC18

The month of June triggered a great deal of market volatility. The Sensex was as unpredictable as Subramaniam Swamy. June was also about multiple exits. Rajan said goodbye the Governor’s office, Britain walked away from the European Union, Messi bid adieu to international football, Rahul Gandhi exited the country, and Arnab left behind his interruptive streak, albeit for a day.

While the markets are recovering from  Brexit jitters, Indian media is rattled by the aftershocks of Arnab Goswami’s interview with the Prime Minister. Frankly speaking, a direct interview of any sitting Prime Minister is of great relevance. And I am glad Modi decided to talk to Arnab Goswami and not Rajat Sharma. However, like the markets, there was a huge correction in Arnab Goswami’s notorious adversarial style of interviewing. The sharp decline in frequent interruptions ensured that it was a buying opportunity for rivals. Sagarika Ghose, tweeted, ‘Dear@PMO please hold an open press conference rather than bestow favors on individual journalists.’ But the unbiased champion of free speech deleted her tweet when the interview appeared in the newspaper she works for. 

 

 

While most channels were victims of Monday’s bloodbath, a tweet from Aaj Tak called Arnab a chamcha of the Prime Minister. The channel tried to recover lost ground by deleting the tweet and blaming it on human error. The slump in media commodities was obvious when another editor questioned the absence of embers from the Times Now ticker. Shekhar Gupta took it on the chin saying that it was a case of sour grapes for fellow foxes. Whatever be the case, the interview ensured that Times Now indulged in huge profit booking. 

 

Shattering the aftermath of the interview, the opposition stood afloat by condemning the interview, the interviewer and the interviewee. Arvind Kejriwal felt that Arnab was acting as Modi’s propagandist and not a journalist. One is tempted to ask if Arnab was AAP’s propaganda agent in 2013 when Mr Kejriwal was the guest on the same show. For one, Arnab had adopted a similar non-disruptive pitch and many had called Arnab an AAP stooge. Second, Mr Kejriwal himself prefers a shoot and scoot press conference where no one can ask him any questions.

And finally, Congress stocks tumbled when they said, “Modi ji, let our journalists ask you questions." OUR journalists matlab? If there ever was a medal for axing your own foot, the gold medal goes to the Congress party. 

 

So, was this media bloodbath because Arnab didn’t ask relevant questions about Kanhaiya Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal, Intolerance and Award Wapasi? Perhaps, Arnab should have asked Prime Minister if it was the bounden duty of a dutiful Hindu woman to pop out quintuplets as suggested by a Yogi!

If you saw the interview, the Prime Minister clearly said, “I request you to not create controversies out of this interview but use it for the larger benefit of the country.” Memories of the puppy analogy must be hounding him before facing the camera. But the national dailies went ahead and picked up the juiciest bone - Swamy. Who wants to talk about Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna?

As for me, the government stocks would have risen if the loud mouths were reprimanded strongly and timely. While the Prime Minister’s defense of Rajan was welcome, it came at a time when Shanghai, Kospi, Nikkei and BJPei were grappling with uncertainty over who the Swamy was. Moreover, doesn’t look like the loud mouths are in a mood to listen. If the BJP wants to build on recovery, it is time for action and not words.
So even after the closing bell there is an awful lot of turmoil among the under performers. The trading for rival channels has temporarily halted. However, their stocks can zoom if Rahul Gandhi decides to give a tell-all interview about where he was, and what he was doing. I'm bullish on NDTV, Headlines Today and CNN. Unless, of course, Rahul decides to grace Times Now again.

Arnab answers his critics in this article.
http://businessworld.in/article/Arnab-Answers-The-Trolls-/02-07-2016-99941/#.V3euOf2zWu8.twitter