Rabid right-wing channel Sudarshan TV's English avatar: Arnab Gowasmi's Republic launched

Arnab Goswami's TV channel Republic has been launched.

From the very first day, it is clear that the channel aims to to be the English version of rabid right-wing Hindi channel Sudarshan TV.

In fact, Goswami's ideological slant is known for a longtime.

Known for his right-wing agenda, he had created his own signature style--not allowing guests to speak and shouting, humiliating others in the studio.

The high-decible debates and shouts brought him TRP.

Initially, he tookup coal scam and corruption in commonwealth games,

But later when BJP government came to power, he stopped attacking government and instead began targeting opposition. University and college students were targeted, defamed and made enemy in the eyes of nation.

Finally, he was made to leave the channel. With the backing of BJP leader, he has now started Republic. Clearly, the fight is between TimesNow and Republic as to which will pursues the extreme right-wing agenda with more ferocity.

Journalist Asad Ashraf takes on 'biased' Times Now anchor Arnab Goswami for terming him terror sympathiser

Journalist Asad Ashraf is all set to sue 'biased' Times Now anchor Arnab Gowasmi.

Ashraf was invited to the channel for a debate, however, Goswami cast aspersions on him when the former began putting across his point.

The journalist who works with Tehelka had questioned authenticity of the a video purportedly released by ISIS.

The video showed a suspect in it, who is liked to Batla House encounter.

However, the moment he expressed his suspicion, Goswami began lashing out at him.

He went on to term Ashraf as an Indian Mujahideen sympathiser. Other panelists too launched an attack on him. Ashraf's microphone was allegedly switched off and Goswami accused him of being a terror sympathiser.

But leading writers, journalists and activists have supported Ashraf. Goswami has lately been accused of pro-Hindutva leanings and of not allowing people with a different point of view to speak in the debates.

He has also been accused of misbehaviour with panelists. Congress leaders have boycotted the Prime Time on Times Now.

Also, many leading intellectuals, writers and academicians have expressed concern over the manner in which the show is conducted.

Panelists are not allowed to speak, if they are opposing Goswami's point of view and the narrative he wishes to propagate. Now, Ashraf intends to send a legal notice to Times Now.

Indian media's moment of shame: Times Now, News X bat to save Hindutva terrorists, give twist to Malegaon case

It started soon after the BJP came to power. Times Now, the leading English news channels, was quite harsh on establishment.

The channel's face, Arnab Goswami, took on Lalit Modi, but soon it became clear that strings had been pulled and Goswami was no longer shouting.

Lalit Modi case got a decent burial. India TV audience saw Arnab Goswami in a new avatar.

He was shouting but was no longer attacking the ruling party. This was a clear shift from the past when he attacked UPA regime. 

But that was just the beginning. Just like Congress, BJP also has its share of 'bad guys'. But Times Now was no longer raising issues that would show BJP leaders in poor light. The constant target was Congress, once again.

So, either it was Sohrabuddin case or Ishrat Jahan fake encounter, Arnab Goswami was now giving twist to each and every story, in such a way that he ended being on the side of the BJP, saving and 'exonerating' the BJP leaders, while defaming and denouncing others. 

While Hindi TV channels like Zee News, India TV and Aaj Tak were toeing the official line, Times Now and News X also joined the race.

It got so ugly that TV anchors were falling on the feet of the ruling party leaders to show how much subservient they are to the party. 

They never asked tough questions as to how Maya Kodnani who was sentenced to double life imprisonment for inciting mob to murder innocent women and children, was out of jail on parole in Gujarat.

They didn't question how Babu Bajrangi was suddenly out of jail too. But the worst was yet to come. Goswami's channel now goes all out batting for Hindutva extremists.

The right-wing Hindutva terror network had been busted by ATS under Hemant Karkare, the brave-heart officer who was killed in Mumbai terror attack.

The role of the then ATS officer KP Raghuvanshi was not up to the mark. In fact, he faced allegations of being slow in pursuing these cases.

But Times Now goes to the extent of giving legitimacy to Raghuvanshi, who was accused of botching up investigation in Malegaon and similar other cases. 

While blaming BJP or Congress is okay, it is sad to see how Goswami has become a mouthpiece for the RSS, and seems to be driven with a single agenda that is to help the Saffron terrorists' case in all these trials. 

This is possible by either creating confusion or spreading misinformation. Times Now is exactly doing this and this is criminal to say the least.

It is shameful to see India's leading English news channel spreading canards and doing disservice to the nation. 

Late Hemant Karkare had painstakingly bust the network and cracked the cases. The result was arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Lt Col Srikant Purohit, Dayanand Pandey, Samir Kulkarni and many other members of the right-wing extremists' gang. 

But, TV channels like Times Now and News X are taking a line that is not just unethical but also shows how journalists have simply become tools to manipulate the opinion and tinker with cases, at the behest of the political masters. 

Journalism's Hall of Shame: Times Now, Zee News, India News channels hit a new low

Indian TV news is in a state of serious crisis.

Creating false stories, manufacturing rage and tarnishing image of particular people or groups at the behest of powerful lobbies has become the norm.

In process, journalism is the biggest casualty. Ethics be damned, morality thrown off the window. The anchors sit on a pulpit and say who is 'deshbhakt' (patriot) and who is 'deshdrohi' (anti-national).

Arnab Goswami conveniently ignores what happens on the streets and selectively shows what suits him and his political line, calls guests of his choice in the show and doesn't let any alternative opinion come up in the show.

When journalists were being beaten up in the court in Delhi for consecutive days, he wasn't bothered and kept whipping up sentiments over 'nationalism' by taking up a clearly one-sided position. Goswami even has the cheek to talk condescendingly about journalists who took out protest rally.

Sudhir Chaudhary is the face of Zee News. He has faced criminal charges in the case of alleged bribe from Jindal group and had to go to Tihar jail over the allegations. Chaudhary was earlier with Live India channel, which was shutdown briefly when a fake sting-op was aired about a Delhi teacher.

Now Chaudhary runs the channel as mouth piece of the BJP government. It takes a pro-Sangh policy and targets any opposing voice as 'traiter' and 'anti-national'. The channel has perfected the art to twist issues and divert viewers' attention from real issues.

Deepak Chaurasia's channel India News went a step ahead during the ongoing JNU row. The 'video' was shown in which students were raising slogans 'Azadi' but words like 'gharibi se' were suppressed to give the impression that they were talking about Kashmir's freedom.

These are not alone. Anchors and journalists who show you biased news and inflame passions are dime a dozen in Indian media, now.

This is 'supari journalism', as people are targeted because of ideological considerations.

Take for instance, Gaurav Sawant, a right-wing zealot who works as journalist with TV Today. He is known for his clear pro-BJP tilt and goes to the extent of creating fake stories and giving twists to bring communal angle to stories.Zee News' Rohit Sardana is another 'jingoist journalist'.

India TV's Rajat Sharma is a seasoned anchor and though his style is somewhat different, his agenda is also well-known.  He has got Padma award recently.

Zero Credibility: Times Now takes 'right' turn, abandons journalism, becomes BJP mouthpiece

English news channel Times Now has taken a complete turn towards 'right', and has in fact gone to the extent of becoming a BJP mouthpiece.

The channel under Arnab Goswami was always known to have a pro-BJP tilt but ever since Modi government came to power, it has stopped its 'aggressive journalism'.

But when you can't attack the government, who will you shout at? In order to keep the tempo and maintain its TRP, it is now creating villains and targeting them.

The hashtag '#StopAntiIndiaCampaign' is just an example. By terming JNU and its students as 'anti-national', the TV channel is inflaming passions under the garb of its 'nationalistic journalism'.

While Kanhaiya Kumar didn't shout any slogan, he was arrested and booked for sedition. But the same channel remains soft on BJP, RSS and ABVP leaders who have been found involved in anti-national activities, rioting and extremist acts.

Arnab Goswami conveniently ignores right-wing group burning national flag or BJP allies like Akali Dal and PDP trying to save, release convicted terrorists. After, the prime task is to save the BJP and protect it, when it is failing on various fronts.

By diverting attention, creating new issues and inflaming passions, Times Now is cleverly acting as BJP-RSS' agent in the media. It is not alone. Zee News, India TV and many other channels are also doing exactly the same.

The casualty is journalism. Morality and ethics have been abandoned. The sole aim is to act for the Saffron groups. That's 'supari journalism' at its best. History won't be kind to Arnab Goswami and Times Now for shaming the noble profession.

Rajat Sharma, Naqvi and Uday Shankar responsible for turning Hindi news channels into a circus, journalists into jokers

Many are wondering how Rajat Sharma could be awarded Padma Bhushan?

This post is about the fall in standard of TV news and journalism in India.

While Arnab Goswami is accused of killing English TV news [as Outlook claims], who is responsible for the death of Hindi TV news?

This question has been raised by Senior journalist Dilip C Mandal who has written a series of Facebook posts on it.

Mandal, who was managing editor, India Today (Hindi) till recently, names three journalists for their role in bringing down credibility of Hindi news channels.

The names are Uday Shankar, Qamar Waheed Naqvi and Rajat Sharma.

Read the English translation here:

Dilip C Mandal

Under whose leadership did the Hindi TV channels enter the 'circus mode'? In prime time, instead of news, TV channels began showing stories about naag-nagin (snake) superstitions, call girl who charged the most and about cars moving without driver.

This journey continued to such an extent that everybody kept slipping, even falling into gutter, and no one bothered.The three leaders who are responsible for turning Hindi media into Peepli Live and its journalists into jokers are Uday Shankar, Qamar Waheed Naqvi and Rajat Sharma.

I will write a detailed paper on it, sometime later. I have no personal issues with any of them. But they are responsible for the situation that today there are jokes on media. Talk about reporters and kids start laughing.

These channels got audiences addicted to such humour that ultimately TV News channels began showing half-hour laughter challenge shows. If this trio won't be there, may be other leaders would be around, doing the same. But they were leading the three major channels in the era.

There was a time when Ganesha idols were sipping milk but SP Singh countered superstition on TV and used the cobbler's tool and showed that it could also sip milk in the same way, and also demonstrated how TRP can be generated by going against superstition.

There is tamasha in Indian English news too but that is mostly around news. In Hindi news channels, tamasha is foremost and there is no need for news at all. Uday Shankar, Qamar Waheed Naqvi and Rajat Sharma drove Hindi TV news to the superstitious age, even though all of these three persons are modren people. However, news was brought the lowest common denominator.

Read the posts on Dilip C Mandal's Facebook Timeline

Arnab Goswami faces flak for war-mongering on Times Now

The Editor-in-Chief of Times Now channel, Arnab Goswami, was always considered a balanced anchor in comparison to several other journalists who wage wars on the screen.

But in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist strike, he has also received criticism for his role. Though most of the viewers' anger was directed at Barkha Dutt, the strange statements of Goswami have also been condemned.

Writers, media-watchers, bloggers and journalists were shocked to see the 'level-headed' Goswami lose his sanity and lash out at Arundhati Roy and Prashant Bhushan who were neither on the show, nor the channel was talking to them, absolutely without context.

Not allowing guests to speak in TV studio

Mala Bhargava writes that 'Arnab Goswami was acting like God on Judgment Day'. "There should be an etiquette school for the media. Well, someone’s got to stop them interrupting their own guest speakers!" The standards of journalism plummeted sharply in the period.

Blogger Smoken Frog writes, "While the Sangh Parivar does not seem to have come to a final decision over whether or not it is anti-national and suicidal to question the police, Arnab Goswami, anchorperson of Times Now television, has stepped up to the plate. He has taken to naming, demonising and openly heckling people who have dared to question the integrity of the police and armed forces."

Calling Arundhati Roy, Prashant Bhushan 'Digusting'

Poet and Novelist Prakash Kona says that "Arnab Goswami had no right to take the names of Arundhati Roy and Prashant Bhushan and to term them “disgusting.” How dare he do that just because he has the power to do so!"

"Firstly, directly or indirectly he’s associating Roy and Bhushan with the Mumbai attackers in the minds of the viewers. Just because she’s offering a perspective on the attack it doesn’t mean she sympathizes with the attackers. Secondly, apart from being entitled to personal conviction, she’s offering a point of view that needs to be carefully thought about. Most importantly she is making her audience think in alternate ways.

As another blogger middlemiddlemuddle gave a advice:

'You can redeem yourself, everybody makes mistakes'. It will not be easy for the once adorable and balanced person, Arnab Goswamy, to redeem himself after he sounded the battle cries and in process lost a part of his journalistic identity--credibility.