How the Modi government brought 'breaking news' to a halt
Earlier, during the UPA government, Breaking News used to be the daily staple of news television that used to thrive in 'breaking' news from and about the government all through the day, some accurate, some not so accurate - and mostly sensational.
But that is history. With ministers and top officials being evidently instructed by the all-powerful Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to clamp up and not engage or entertain the media unnecessarily, it has resulted in a virtual news drought for 24x7 media, particularly television and social media that in a sense used to thrive on it and derive their revenue-generating eyeballs.
There have been innumberable instances during the previous UPA government - especially in its dying years - when information had "leaked" from official meetings like those of the cabinet - chaired by none other than the prime minister - and made it straight to the "Breaking News" on TV channels.
Even differences among ministers during cabinet meetings chaired by then prime minister Manmohan Singh had many a times become "breaking news" within hours.
But
this
is
not
happening
anymore,
at
least
for
now.
With
Modi
focusing
on
building
an
"accountable"
system
that
will
curb
the
culture
of
sensational
journalism,
orders
have
been
given
to
give
the
media
only
one
version
-
the
official
one,
sources
in
the
know
told
IANS.
Even though it is too early to comment on a little over a one-month old BJP government's working style, the reluctance amongst its ministers to talk to the media is seen by many members of the fourth estate as a "media gag".
But officials dismiss this notion, although no one is willing to come on record.
"What has changed in this new government is that everyone, including the secretaries, are accountable to their seniors. So unlike previous government where many secretaries would leak out information to the news channels, this government believes more in officially communicating with the media," one source told IANS.
"A
clear
message
has
also
been
given
that
one
can
be
pulled
up
if
something
appears
on
television
or
in
the
print
media
which
has
not
been
officially
communicated.
"Also,
officials
have
been
told
that
they
are
now
answerable
to
the
prime
minister
because
the
barriers
between
him
and
other
officials
have
been
reduced," one
official,
who
strictly
did
not
want
to
be
identified,
said.
The reference was to the meeting between Modi and the 77 secretary-level bureaucrats on June 5. The official line about the meeting was that Modi had asked the secretaries to make the government "people friendly".
"It is felt that this breaking news culture syndrome is extremely harmful and can lead to misleading information. This government wants to make sure that nothing of this sort happens," another source told IANS, while seeking assurance that he was not identified.
"In the absence of any accountability, media channels had many internal sources and there was a kind of a fight to break the news first," said the source, who is familiar with official communications.
"There
is
no
doubt
this
government
is
totally
different
from
the
previous
one
in
this
regard
and
this
fact
is
not
going
down
well
with
the
media,"
the
source
said.
Adding
to
the
media
woes
is
the
fact
that
the
ministers
are
reluctant
to
talk
to
reporters.
Many
ministers
have
privately
told
journalists
they
knew
as
opposition
leaders
that
they
have
been
"instructed"
to
keep
quiet
and
not
give
unnecessary
bytes
or
interviews,
without
"clearance
from
the
top".
One senior journalist, who tried to get a written answers from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was, after three weeks, told by her aide "to forget the interview for the time being as it is not going to happen." He did not elaborate.
The sources said one reason could be that these ministers - most of them are handling a ministry for the first time - are taking their time to settle in and understand issues before they talk about them.
"This time around 70-80 percent ministers are new. They are taking time to understand the issues and what their 100-day's plan will be. They don't want to get into any unnecessary controversy," another official added.
"So, till then, whatever they have to communicate is being officially done either through the PIB (Press Information Bureau) or Twitter. This is also another reason for less breaking news as everyone is getting the news at the same time," he concluded.
IANS