S.Ravi Seshu
June 27, 2016 is a red letter day in the history of Indian media!
Reason: Arnab Goswami, the alleged media goon and journalism don, first smiled. Then maintained decorum. and, showed respect and showered lavish praises in an interview, claimed by his channel Times-Now as “the historic first ever interview of a sitting Indian PM to a private news channel.” It was repeated on July 2 at 8 pm and to be aired on July 3 at 12 noon.
According to a rough count, Arnab uttered “Mr.Prime Minister”or “Prime Minister ji” for 35 times during the 80-minute “Frankly Speaking” interview that shattered the widely accepted myth that Aranab can’t be a civilized journalist ever. The “hard-hitting interview” scored a record number of tweets, retweets and likes setting a new record (as claimed by the channel). It has become the number one hash stag #PMSpeaksToArnab. Rightly coined and aptly phrased!
“About 1.4 billion impressions on twitter, about over a million video views and 10.2 million impressions on Facebook , trending globally for 8 hours on Twitter and making global headlines by being quoted across the world, it was clear this was the biggest interview in terms of reach and impact for at least the last 5 years. It was, simply, massive on a scale we hadn’t imagined,”Arnab claimed later.
The notorious editor brandishing hard-hitting questionnaires and hurling curt cum uncivilized comments at his guests on his shows, Arnab has clearly soft-paddled his interviewee this time . One website rightly described Arnab “as hard as melted butter.” He impressed the powerful PM by using words/phrases: “historic speech”, “fantastic”, “unique”, “very aggressive foreign policy”, “pro active approach”, “terrific pace of engagement with Pakistan”, “I think it was a wonderful moment when you were speaking (to the US Congress)”, “the amount of personal interest you have shown in foreign policy, probably none of the previous prime ministers showed the same kind of interest”.
At a point of time, he went on to tell the PM that “You should not lose your sense of humour Mr Prime Minister” and “Your humor was widely appreciated” drawing a mighty pleased smile on the face of Modi. Arnab ensured no interruptions, no harsh statements and no judgmental comments.
PM, on his part, preferred to speak to Times Now, his first detailed TV interview since taking office much to the chagrin of a senior journo like Sagarika Ghosh, who tweeted: “Dear @PMOIndia Pls hold an open press conference rather than bestow favours on individual journalists. Let there be free and fair exchange.” The acerbic Arnab made her to go into the shell with a harsh rebuttal : “Across the world, the first exclusive interviews are given to anchors and channels who command viewership. Not to those who nobody watches. Period.”
However, the media observers are aghast by making parallels between the latest exclusive and the one Arnab did on May 8, 2014. The dissection is interesting. Being the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Modi had given his first interview to Time Now before the Lok Sabha elections and it was indeed not a bed of roses for him.
“Two years ago, Arnab Goswami was a journalist interviewing a prospective prime minister with a chequered reputation after the 2002 Gujarat riots. He asked tough questions on Gujarat, communal politics during the election campaign, his ‘personal vendetta’ against the Gandhi family, ‘Snoopgate’; he pinned him down to a straight answer on ‘talks and terror’ apropos Pakistan. He challenged Modi’s replies, interrupted him — it was a fine interview, in the best traditions of journalism,” a wise analyst remarked in a piece published on web.
To add on, why Arnab did the interview in Hindi for his English channel though Modi can speak English? “Is it not an attempt to reach out Hindi-speaking voters of Uttar Pradesh the BJP wants to pocket in the coming elections. This interviewer and interviewee have a purpose in mind,” pointed out a Hyderabad-based journalist.
His uncharacteristically soft interview of the Prime Minister attracted wide attention and severe comments from netizens. Some creative videos are going viral to make the Sunday hilarious and fun-filled.
Not that Arnab didn’t take note of the jibes of trolls and sneers of envious rivals in the media. Again, in an uncharacteristically detailed explanation given in Business World, Arnab said: “There were some ridiculous questions on my tone. Was I soft? Why didn’t I raise my voice like on Newshour? Why did I keep referring to the Prime Minister as “Mr Prime Minister”? Three answers should silence this industry that obsesses about me. First, I used the same tone with Rahul Gandhi. If this industry is disappointed with how he let them down, its not my problem. Second, Frankly Speaking is an interview and The Newshour is a debate, both are therefore different styles and formats. And finally, “Mr Prime Minister” is the most appropriate reference point when you are speaking to the Prime Minister.”
He rounded off by saying: “Eventually, all of us will be judged by what we do. Not by how elegantly we troll on social media and its satellites.”
Why on earth the nation wants to know about Arnab’s intentions TONIGHT?
