Tuesday, October 14, 2008
OTOI : Orphaned Times of India
It's a long drive indeed.
From 'Rajdroh' (sedition) charges to 'Rajbhakti' (singing praise of the ruler) , Times of India (Ahmedabad) has coverd much distance- almost equivalent to that from Singur to Sanand- by boarding Nano. Not the 'people's car' Nano. It's Nano bandwagon, stupid!
Euphoric coverage of Nano apart, the most amusing thing TOI did was to declare Nano as orphaned. On the very first day, its headline screamed : 'Orphaned' Nano finds home in Gujarat. (7-10-08) The story quoted Ratan Tata's expression for Nano ('an orphan without home') to justify the headline. In vain.
Same day, 'The Economic Times' carried an interview of Tata with the headline : We are not orphans out to get a home: Ratan Tata (7-10-08)
Bachi Karkaria, one of TOI's esteemed Sunday columnists, noted in her column : "Mr Tata has pointedly corrected the media misconception that Nano was headed for the automobile orphanage before the benevolent Mr Modi so kindly drove off with it. " (12-10-08)
Still, TOI repeated same adjective in today's front page story : 'Cradle of music gets orphan Nano' (14-10-08) - this time without inverted signs for 'orphan'.
Just Google the terms 'orphan nano' and you get only 2 relevant entries! Both from TOI.
Even after Tata's specific statement, Why TOI is so much intersted in declaring Nano 'orphaned' repeatedly?
Point taken that Mr.Modi is a saviour!
What Next? Chharodi Sarpanch as guest editor of TOI?
PS : Nano & orphan? no way. It was a rich 'tyakataa' (the lady with a fat purse, deserted by husband) at the most.
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For last two weeks, Nano has been on the front page of TOI. They started it on 5th Oct with the 'breaking news' and till today (17th Oct), Nano refuses to go away from the front page (and the 2nd page). Most of the news in TOI about Nano were speculative and completely one-sided. Most of them 'became news' because TOI printed it. It can be an interesting case study for Journalism students that how to create a hype over a news item.
ReplyDeleteProbably, it is too much to expect that we get to read neutral, objective, un-biased news in today's world. In India, we are used to live between fact and fiction...and the Media is just cashing on it.