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by B. Raman
(November
01, 2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Immediately after I came to know of the
shocking remarks made by Shri Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, on
Mrs.Sunanda Tharoor, wife of Shri Shashi Tharoor, the re-inducted member of the
Council of Ministers of Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh, I had tweeted that I
considered his remarks uncultured for any audience and were unworthy of someone
who sees himself as a possible future Prime Minister. I stand by these views.
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'The time and prominence that were given to the interview of Mrs.Tharoor were definitely uncalled for and uncouth. One had an impression that more time was devoted to her interview than to the sufferings and fortitude of the people of Tamil Nadu because of the cyclone.'
Both
Shri Tharoor and his wife had every right to counter the unworthy remarks of
Shri Modi in strong language. Shri Tharoor did so the same day and the TV channels rightly gave due prominence to what
he said in their coverage.
At
the same time, I would be failing in my sense of propriety and rectitude if I
did not admit my disgust at the manner in which an unseen influence mobilised
some TV anchors of our private channels on October 31 to interview Mrs.Tharoor
and to give her an opportunity to project her views relating to the controversy
in general and Shri Modi in particular.
There
were five newsworthy items on October 31--- the brave manner in which the Tamil
Nadu people and Administration were facing the Nilam cyclone, the allegations
made by Shri Arvind Kejriwal of India Against Corruption (IAC) against Shri
Mukesh Ambani and the Government, the aftermath of the Sandy hurricane in the
US, the likely impact of Sandy on the US Presidential elections and the
anniversary of the assassination of Indira Gandhi. The TV channels correctly
gave prominence to their coverage some of these items.
The
time and prominence that were given to the interview of Mrs.Tharoor were
definitely uncalled for and uncouth. One had an impression that more time was
devoted to her interview than to the sufferings and fortitude of the people of Tamil
Nadu because of the cyclone. The TV channels seemed to consider interviewing
Mrs. Tharoor and projecting her views more important than projecting the
traumatic moments faced by the people of Tamil Nadu as they awaited the
cyclone.
Every
time you switched on the TV to get the latest on the cyclone, you had visuals
of Mrs.Tharoor being interviewed by
obliging and fawning anchors. Some of our TV anchors are known for their
propensity to fawn, but I had an impression that I had rarely seen such fawning
as I saw during the interview of Mrs.Tharoor on October 31.
Where
was their professionalism? Where was their sense of dignity? Where was their
news sense? Was the orchestrated projection of Mrs. Tharoor that we saw more
important than recalling the painful moments after the assassination of
Mrs.Indira Gandhi by two of her security
guards?
It
was a day of infamy for our TV channels. Whose is that unseen and unfelt
influence that organised and orchestrated all this?
 Immediately after I came to know of the shocking remarks made by Sh...){kind=link}