{"id":236938,"date":"2015-04-17T14:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T08:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tehelka.com\/?p=236938"},"modified":"2015-04-17T14:00:43","modified_gmt":"2015-04-17T08:30:43","slug":"media-for-nothing-pr-machinery-pm-modi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/media-for-nothing-pr-machinery-pm-modi\/","title":{"rendered":"Media for Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Toeing
Toeing his line\u00a0<\/b>PM Narendra Modi meets with senior journalists<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nIt has been a remarkable journey for a man, whom the media hated for a decade, and later projected him as a political poster-boy. For 13 years, Narendra Modi enjoyed a hate-love-hate bond with the news media. As the Gujarat chief minister, he was condemned, censured and criticised by journalists for the role that he and his key ministers, and the state\u2019s police officials, played, or didn\u2019t play, during the 2002 Gujarat riots. He developed a dislike for the liberal, secular journalists, especially in the mainstream media. He successfully proceeded to \u2018gag\u2019 the local Gujarati press.
\nDuring his poll campaign in 2014-15, Modi took on the hacks, and called them corrupt, pliable and biased. His public relations machinery went ballistic and painted them as being \u2018negative\u2019 towards the future prime minister. However, as his chances of electoral victory improved, he used it to his advantage. He urged the huge crowds at his rallies to show their excitement so that the TV channels and newspapers could capture the \u2018real\u2019 mood of the country.
\nBut, at the same time, he went over the mainstream media\u2019s head to speak directly to the people through social media, mobile, Internet, and outdoor advertising. The use of social networking sites, Twitter and Facebook, where he now has millions of followers, enabled him to woo the huge numbers of \u2018first-time\u2019 voters. Therefore, the media waited with bated breath to figure out what would PM Modi do after the BJP\u2019s thumping majority in the Lower House in May 2014.
\nHate-love-hate bond<\/strong>
\nThe hate-love-hate relationship with the media continued. As PM, Modi lambasted the journalists several times. Once, he compared them to house flies, which \u2018spread dirt\u2019; he urged them to become like honeybees, which produce honey and also sting. The underlying message: the media needs to talk positively about the government, and pin prick it only \u00a0occasionally. As one knows, the honeybee\u2019s sting doesn\u2019t hurt too much, unless a person is attacked by an entire colony.
\nQuestioning the credibility of the\u00a0media, Modi claimed that it asked questions only to get \u201cpre-decided\u201d answers. \u201cIn interviews, this is our experience…. In most of the interviews, the person asking questions has already decided on \u00a0the answers,\u201d he said in a speech to mark 21 years of Rajat Sharma\u2019s TV show, Aap ki Adalat<\/em>. NDA-II\u00a0politicians consistently complained that the media has deliberately spread the falsehood that the\u00a0regime\u2019s land ordinance was anti-farmer.
\nHowever, when he first met the journalists informally at a Diwali Milan lunch, he praised them to the hilt. He credited the media with publicising the Swachh Bharat campaign. \u201cYou have turned the pen into a broom,\u201d he said, and happily posed for selfies with a few hacks. His loyalists were elated that the press continued to cover NDA-II\u2019s seminal schemes, such as \u2018Make in India\u2019, with enthusiasm and fervour. The caveat: Modi also cut off media\u2019s access to ministers and officials; the journalists bitterly complained that no one, except the designated spokespersons, talked to them.
\nSo, what is Modi\u2019s \u2018real\u2019 attitude towards the press? What is his final objective vis-a-vis the media? How does he plan to deal with scribes? The one-line answer to these questions: Like any leader who has complete belief in himself, the PM hopes to use both State-owned and private media as propaganda tools. He wishes to make it so pliable that 90 percent of the news that they disseminate talk about the good things that the government has done.
\nTo those who have observed Modi\u2019s \u2018Medianama\u2019,<\/em> the blueprint to achieve this aim is in place. While some of the strategies have been implemented, others are a work in progress. The vision covers all kinds of media institutions \u2014 Prasar Bharti (PB), Doordarshan (DD), All India Radio (AIR), private TV news channels, newspapers, social media and, even, Community Radio (CR). Over the past few months, Tehelka spoke to dozens of sources to flesh out Modi\u2019s media strategy.
\nPublic service media<\/strong>
\nEven before he became the PM, public broadcasters PB, DD and AIR were on Modi\u2019s radar. Within months, he appointed A Surya Prakash, a veteran journalist, who earlier worked as a Fellow with the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) as chairperson, PB. VIF\u2019s background is enough to underline the importance of this appointment. Its website claims that it is an \u201cindependent, non-partisan
\ninstitution\u201d and a \u201cNew Delhi-based think tank set up… under the aegis of the Vivekananda Kendra.\u201d
\nHowever, sources claim that VIF was \u201cestablished by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organiser Eknath Ranade in 1970\u201d and, therefore, has close links with the Sangh Parivar and the BJP. Modi\u2019s proximity to the Foundation can be gauged from the fact that three\u00a0other key members of Modi\u2019s A-Team \u2014 Ajit Doval, national security adviser; Nripendra Mishra, principal secretary in the Prime Minister\u2019s Office (PMO); and PK Mishra, additional principal secretary, PMO\u00a0\u2014 were associated with it.
\nPrakash\u2019s first task is to appropriate more powers. Sources contend that the government has agreed to amend the Prasar Bharati Act to take away some of the responsibilities from the chief executive officer, PB, and give them to the chairperson. The amendment may be introduced in the next session of Parliament. If passed, it will give Prakash an \u2018almost-complete\u2019 freedom to run PB as well as DD and AIR. The PMO\u00a0has also approved the new chairperson\u2019s \u2018vision\u2019 for public\u00a0service media.
\nIn his speeches, Prakash, who wrote a book that questioned Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi\u2019s foreign origins, has said that he wants DD and AIR to become full-fledged and professional media institutions. He agreed that PB\u2019s autonomy was \u201cstill a long way off\u201d but felt confident that he can transform it into an \u201cindependent entity\u201d. He warned that it was a \u201clong process\u201d. But given his links to VIF, and Modi\u2019s fascination for those who worked for it, one has to possibly read between the lines.
\nPB\u2019s head has invariably been a political appointee. The ruling regimes have controlled it because of the huge annual funds \u2014 almost Rs 2,500 crore last year \u2014 PB\u00a0receives from the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB). While global broadcasters spend 70 percent of their annual budgets on \u2018programming and content\u2019, the figure is a mere 15 percent for DD and AIR. Therefore, while Prakash may professionalise\u2019 the two, the emerging content may continue to toe the\u00a0government\u2019s line.
\n
\"Messianic
Messianic voice <\/b>People listen to Modi\u2019s Mann ki Baat aired on All India Radio, Photo: AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nLSTV & RSTV<\/strong>
\nModi has also trained his eyes on two other broadcast channels \u2014 Lok Sabha TV (LSTV) and Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV) \u2014 that are funded with the taxpayers\u2019 money. LSTV, which is under the Speaker of the Lower House, isn\u2019t perceived to be a problem. But RSTV, whose board is headed by Vice President Hamid Ansari, poses a few challenges. With the government in a minority in the Upper House and Ansari\u2019s apparent proximity to the Congress, the channel has remained unbiased and neutral.
\nSources feel that until now the government hasn\u2019t overtly tried to \u2018manage\u2019 RSTV, but a few ministers and the Sangh Parivar have thrown several bricks at it. \u201cA few ministers continue to crib about its coverage, and the Sangh\u2019s fringe and peripheral elements have attacked the programming,\u201d says one of them. The source quickly adds that RSTV was treated \u201cfairly\u201d in a couple of government projects. \u201cThus, Modi\u2019s attitude towards RSTV is still in the grey area.\u201d
\nWhat may work in Modi\u2019s favour are the internal tensions within the RS Secretariat, and its tussles with a few private broadcasters. Recently, documents were leaked highlighting allegations of corruption, inefficiency and cronyism against Gurdeep Singh Sappal, CEO and Executive Editor, RSTV. A newspaper claimed the channel spent a whopping Rs 1,700 crore in the past four years and its Rs 70-crore annual budget (2014-15) was larger than LSTV and DD channels. RSTV denied the charges and said that its expenditure and annual budget were much smaller.
\nIn its last issue, Tehelka disclosed the role of political favours in crucial RSTV\u2019s appointments. Individuals close to politicians or Sappal\u2019s friends were given jobs at attractive salaries. Contracts were doled out to them without following any procedures. A pil filed by Prashant Bhushan questioned the validity of Clause 6(A) of the RS Secretariat (Method of Recruitment and Qualifications for Appointment) Order, 2009. A source in RSTV denied it.
\nOne cannot say that the government leaked these documents to undermine RSTV, Sappal and Ansari. \u201cWithin the channel, the feeling is that this was the work of disgruntled elements in the RS Secretariat, who have legally questioned the appointment of the non-ias and non-iis Sappal as a joint secretary-level
\nofficer. Another source can be the angry private broadcasters, who lost out on contracts that RSTV recently won. Sappal has friends in all the political parties as he has to deal with a number of politicians and ministers,\u201d explains a source in the MIB.
\nThere is no guarantee that the ruling regime will not use the allegations and charges to get rid of Sappal and some of his other friends in RSTV in the near\u00a0future. The fact remains that if Modi gets his \u2018own\u2019 man in RSTV, he will have total control over the public service media.
\nPrivately-held media<\/strong>
\nOver the past two years, the BJP has subtly forced the private media to fall in line. In the run-up to the national election, media owners either asked their liberal editors to quit or pushed them to seek other pastures. These include Siddarth Varadarajan, formerly of The Hindu<\/em>, who was accused of underplaying Modi\u2019s coverage. N Ravi, the new editor said Varadarajan gave instructions to the news desk not to take Modi stories on Page 1 of the newspaper. In an interview with Tehelka in 2013, he clarified that his rule was that rally stories of either Modi or Rahul Gandhi would be on the front page in local editions but would make to the front page nationally only if they were newsworthy.
\nSuch events sent the \u2018right\u2019 signals to TV channels and newspapers. After May 2014, Modi\u2019s coverage got a massive makeover. For months, no one dared to oppose his policies or question them critically. The Modi wave, which subsumed the electorate, deluged the news media. The latter\u2019s coverage of the government became rosy and culminated in a frenzied Modi-media honeymoon.
\nIt was followed by the crackdown on LeakGate, or the apparent leaks of sensitive official documents that compromised the nation\u2019s security. Thieves, journalists and corporate managers were arrested and questioned to expose the unsavoury nexus between big business, big media, and big bureaucrats. Government documents from key ministries such as power, telecom, oil and gas and defence were routinely leaked to earn money, manipulate stock markets and help foreign spies.
\nMinisters and bureaucrats were told to stem the leaks; they were, in fact, asked not to meet journalists. Only official spokespersons could do so. To be fair to Modi, routine decisions taken by the ministries were highlighted on their websites. Journalists, who thrived on the behind-the-scenes information and exclusives, found themselves in the lurch. The media couldn\u2019t access the information that the government didn\u2019t wish to give, or wanted to hide. Private media journalists were banned from Modi\u2019s foreign trips; they had to pay their way through to cover these events.
\nCommunity radio<\/strong>
\nFor Modi, radio is the darling among the various media platforms. It has the reach \u2014 AIR is heard in remote areas and by people who are poor and cannot afford a TV or a mobile. It is a medium that suits Modi \u2014 only his \u2018messianic\u2019 voice is heard by the citizens. Most importantly, what happens on radio, unlike DD, is not watched, analysed and criticised by the mainstream media. The reason: Urban journalists only listen to private FM channels or AIR FM Gold, and not to air news. This is why he chose AIR to air his regular \u2018Mann ki Baat\u2019 talk with the people.
\nHowever, Modi is interested in a 360-degree media strategy, which uses every available opportunity, including\u00a0social media, to propagate his views, messages and vision. Hence, he was keen to target community radio (CR), which comprises localised radio stations, but whose limited reach goes to the people who are poor, marginalised and have little access to the media content from other sources. A few months ago, the 180 CR stations were \u201cadvised\u201d by the MIB to create local content and programmes around Modi\u2019s hyped schemes such as Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Pradhao and Jan Dhan.
\nAt the recent national CR Sammelan, held in New Delhi, the advisory was questioned by a few stations. The official reply was that CR should not view Modi as a representative of a certain party or a specific political regime. He was the Prime Minister, a national figure, and, therefore, his pet schemes needed to be talked about by media, including CR. When pushed into a corner, the officials gave a veiled threat \u2014 everyone knew the meaning of the word \u201cadvised\u201d used in the memo sent to the CR stations. Just to rub in the point further, the Intelligence Bureau has begun to ring up the various CR stations to ask questions about their programming, their reach and catchment areas and the number of listeners that they have.
\nInsiders say that this exercise is being conducted for the first time. Another official directive asked the bigger stations to submit recordings of their programmes.
\nCR owners claim that both the moves are aimed to convert their stations into official propaganda tools. However, they have little room to manoeuvre. They are financially dependent on the government; they can allot five minutes per hour on advertising but the bulk of their revenue comes from davp advertisements, or those released by the various ministries. In addition, the government has Rs 100 crore corpus to fund CR but this may come with official or hidden riders.
\nClearly, PB, DD and AIR may willingly or unwillingly turn into \u2018his master\u2019s voice\u2019. Private media may become fence sitters, but are likely to favour Modi government or face its wrath. The CR may have no option and future licences may be doled to \u2018friends of BJP\u2019. In a nutshell, in a few years, Modi\u2019s media machine may run like an efficient and well-oiled one.
\neditor@tehelka.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PM Modi aims to manage State-owned and private media as propaganda tools. He has achieved some success in this direction, too, says Alam Srinivas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":236939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[56],"tags":[453,9320,9321,9322,501,9317,9323,9324,9325,9326,9327],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236938"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}