SIGHT & SOUND
Much mud-slinging to grab votes
Amita Malik

It is one of the ironies of weekly columns that they tend to go to press just before the big event is over. So no chance to say "we told you so", or that the psephologists fell flat on their faces or that the funny programmes and filmi geets to go with them were much more fun than the mud-slinging on TV which was worse than ever before. And let’s not forget the scams exposed on channels from their recorded videos. Even the most humble voter can now see the feet of clay of their idols and, hopefully, will vote accordingly. It was also interesting to see reporters from all channels going to the voting booths and elsewhere where the action was or to note that electoral officers could not reach remote areas by helicopter and voting had to be postponed by a day. This, I repeat, is where TV scores: it reaches even the most humble, illiterate or confused voter and can work wonders by changing their attitudes.

I have so far not commented in detail on DD’s new news channel because, first, the CEO’s extravagant claims had put one off and, second, we were all willing to give it a chance to settle down. It has not yet quite done that, but certainly geared itself up while leading to the elections. Wisely but without any sign of acknowledgement by the CEO, DD has meticulously copied the format of the independent channels, recruited some experienced anchors from the ‘garbage’ channels and has narrowly missed being sensational at times. It now has better and less biased pro-government coverage and interviewing. But one Deepak Chaurasia does not make a summer and its older and newer anchoring and interviewing staff has to gain much more experience and, even at this late hour, its professional training has to catch up with that of the independent channels.

The language of the bulletins tends to be old-fashioned and needs livening up. There is also too much of an effect of studio-based reading and no direct eye contact with the viewer. The Hindi bulletins have a strange hybrid language with high-flown Sanskritised Hindi alternating with classy Urdu, although other independent channels avoid this and use what is known as Chalti Bhasha, what Mahatma Gandhi called Hindustani. The English bulletins have some truly awful newscasters who make the most dreadful gaffes. One girl reading the 9 pm bulletin last week said Steve Waugh was a "leaving" legend. Of course he was leaving cricket but still very much a living legend. I can quote many instances like that. This is being written on election morning and I saw that DD News was one of the firsts off the mark and its reporters were doing quite well.

But with all this show of independence, old habits die hard. Although the Minister of I and B is not often in the headline news, he is always sandwitched somewhere in the middle and it was certainly against the election code when he attacked the Congress and their leaders in party terms. He also had long interviews with Rajat Sharma for one, and Sharma was certainly not in a fighting but in a flattering mode. Viewers are not quite as dumb as DD’s bosses seem to think and they can recognise propaganda when they see it.

Another set of TV awards has been shown on Star Plus and I would like to congratulate Arun Purie on his well-deserved award for making a success of both India Today and Aaj Tak. NDTV has also swept away awards for news and Rajdeep Sardesai’s X Factor (where he is his normal professional self) also got an award for current affairs. Star Plus carried off more of the administrative and saas-bahu awards. I regretted the fact that DD did not get any awards, which is pretty good at socially oriented programmes. I wonder if it tried.

If not, it should enter for awards outside of its own house competitions. Because AIR and DD have won international awards down the years from prestigious organisations such as the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU). If it sticks to its own forte (not, alas news as yet), I am sure it will do very well. And that would be the time for the CEO to hold DD’s head high in its own right and not by running down its rivals.