thevigil.in: public scrutiny of news media

By BV Rao

The proceedings of the joint drafting committee of Jan Lokpal Bill have ended in the expected anti-climax. At a time when the government was under unprecedented pressure to bring in a tough law, a weak Opposition was two-timing the nation and the national media was more trusting of the government than “civil society”.

The result was that the government was allowed to wriggle out of a tight situation rather easily. Anna Hazare and his team were subjected to all kinds of scrutiny, which is as it should have been, but the government and the Congress got away scot-free. Little was being asked of them and nothing was answered.

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This article first appeared on exchange4media.com on May 8, 2009, even as the polls were on.

By B V Rao

As the first family of Indian politics let the cameras get up close and personal, it was Rahul Gandhi who stunned me with his manner and maturity. For years Rahul has had to live with the tag of the prince who didn’t deserve his heredity. But in three press conferences in three weeks (the last in Delhi on Monday), Rahul showed he has emerged out of the shadows of his family to be his own man. That prompted me to write this open letter to his mother imploring her to end his political internship. It’s a lament of a voter who thinks the Congress has passed up an opportunity to project somebody fresh, energetic, idealistic and engaging in this election of non-choices. continue reading…