Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Trysts with MSM - Part 16: "Spewing Venom"

MSM stands for Main Stream Media. If you are new to this series, I recommend that you read the other 15 parts (scroll down that link) too :)

Part 16 began with this tweet of mine:

I can't believe this!! "Is stone throwing a valid form of protest?" asks NDTV!! :O :O :O @BDUTT http://bit.ly/g2CfiC

And the subsequent tweet:

Really? Twitter "abuse" is abominal etc etc, but actual stone throwing that causes damage, pain and at time death is "debatable"? @BDUTT

Alert friends on tweeple quickly pointed out to me that the discussion was on "shoe" throwing and not "stone" throwing.

I corrected myself but the question was still valid though. When media stars consider "abuse" on twitter so disgusting, why on earth do they want to debate on something like "shoe throwing"?

And then she replies:

@ssudhirkumar please explain what you want to achieve with your relentless snideness? wont it be easier for you to unfollow me?

Baffled at the response, I ask back:

@BDUTT wait. You sayin, you don't wish to answer questions? I don't abuse, I present facts and ask - so why the reluctance to answer?

@BDUTT Why should I not follow you, and hold you to the "exact same standards" you think public personlaties should be held to?

To which she responds back:

@ssudhirkumar because all you do is spew venom. and beyond a point thats a waste of everyones time. but as you like.

This time, I ask back:

@BDUTT see. that's rhetoric again. Can you give me 1, just one example, of me "spewing venom"? Let's take the latest example if you wish

@BDUTT infact, I have documented many instances of how I was labeled and abused just for relentless qns. I guess u wouldn't be interested.

As usual - no reply.

So the same script plays out again. Don't answer questions. Wait for some time. Label the questioners. Scare them away. Base arguments on rhetoric. Same strategy followed by all NDTV journos. They are journalists - yet we should not question them on their coverage. Why should they NOT be questioned "relentlessly. Barkha mentions "beyond a point". Beyond what point? When did you ever answer any of my queries that you feel "beyong a point" it is a waste of time? Why should I not question relentlessly? Is there some kind of protocol that needs to be followed? Ask 2 hard questions, praise 5 times, then ask 2 more questions - something like this? "Unfollow me" is not an option. The day you open up for scrutiny is when you meet the "exact same standards" with which you scrutinize politicians on your shows.

12 comments:

Thyagarajan said...

Evidently you are the fodder on which she derives sympathy from her own friends, fake handles or real. Just as she asks you a question why you don't unfollow her, it is equally possible for her to block you from her tweets. But then the cost she will have to pay not to be a drama queen would be enormous.

Anonymous said...

this is called HPD, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histrionic_personality_disorder

Best is to deny the attention they seek, rest would be alright.

When no issues are there to draw attention, they resort creating one, and where they do not have guts to say infront of the camera, they hide behind twitter

dibyabttb said...

That was so expected of her. It would have been surprising if she hadnt acted like that

Anonymous said...

Mr. Get your some work and do something productive in life. If you really want to counter them try getting in to that line. Not, just sitting behind your desk and abusing them.

Dirt Digger said...

Sudhir,
as discussed briefly Indian media behaves like a school yard bully. they have the attitude that people should swallow whatever trash they serve up as news.
They want to morph into "people friendly" programs they view on the international channels and try to ape it in their own style.
Any style of attempting to get an honest answer like yours will not fly as they will be not be put on a stand to answer anything.
Treating Twitter like a soapbox to promote their programs and viewpoints, people like Barkha are similar to politicians (only worse).
Not sure where I'm heading to, probably need some food.

Anonymous said...

You are missing the point. Just like Congress party which plays up "secular" card against BJP to divert attention away from larger issue of corruption, the main stream media also plays up the same card to divert attention from issue of corruption in media. Over the years Congress has made sure that the media toe their line by deliberately making sure that media is compromised in some fashion or other. They will use these against media personalities to destroy them if they ever turn their backs on Congress. If you don't understand, just see what is happening with Bhushans. They are granted certain favors and then the same will be leaked if they ever turn their backs to Congress using tools like Amar Singh, Digvijay singh et. all so that the powerful in Congress don't get their hands dirty. In India, Congress made laws in such a way that every body at some time or other is bound to break some law or other and then the Congress conveniently goes after its enemies for breaking it while ignoring its friends. The solution would be economic freedom where the need is to liberalize those laws and take away government controls on everything from licenses to foreign exchange movement and let the markets control it. Congress would never be for it because it means losing control over people and in turn over ability to fill their pockets or go after their nemesis. People need to understand that each of these media personalities are compromised in one form or another (breaking some or other laws) and going against Congress means inviting trouble for themselves.

Vikas Saraswat said...

It was ditto with me. I had asked Barkha whether it was proper to call a differing opinion as "rubbish". She got agitated. Set off with name calling and labeling. I very politely asked her how the twitterati in general weren't rude or pressing against other journalists of "secular" persuasion. Very patronisingly she reminded me that she hadn't blocked me so far for being bad (in fact worse than her own). Undeterred, I asked her to show me an instance where I was ill mannered or had used foul language. There was complete silence from her part and after a few minutes I came to know that I was blocked. Its almost a standard procedure with her now. Accuse others of being ill behaved and abusive despite the clear absence of same and also at the same time being abusive of dissenters or encouraging of abusers like Joydas. When it comes to their own the likes of Barkha wouldn't like people to generalise them as one category while this is what they themselves do all the while.

Anonymous said...

MS Dutt is getting notorious and she has no intention to change
I loved when Agnivesh said in debate if journalist can pursue in spie of scam, why not Bhushans (gist of conv)?
She is caught red handed in the Tape,she preaches morals,why not give a way the Padma award back ?
incidently,what she did to congress got her the title?Her boss was charged by CBI for loss of 3 cr plus and how he managed out?

Anonymous said...

What's the effin point of this drama? spare me this tosh.who forced you to follow that pig?if you are as disillusioned as me then
1.stop following her immediately.
2.boycott her channel and urge others to do so.
she is one of the most popular person on Indian twitter.most of the people on twitter are major buffons and thus curry upto her.i tried in vain to ask people to boycott her.clearly there still exists people who boost her trp's and keep her going strong.so stop fretting over her.it appears as if your blog is fueled by your rants against her.get real and stop showering her with free publicity.and spare me the drama and these fake shows of righteous indignation.really got tired of all this lazy nonsense built on a couple of twitter exchanges.clearly you are rattled that you are just a small fry compared to her status as a huge personality albeit a monstrous one.enough of watching her shows on mute and then analyzing the tweets ,bylines and opinion polls which appear.either boycott or move on accepting your limitations.she ain't duty bound to even acknowledge your existence.have the guts? unfollow
@Nisargstar on twitter

Sudhir said...

@Thyagarajan - Actually I was half expecting her to block me after yesterday's exchange. But I guess, since I haven't actually never abused her, she didn't. Either way, her propensity to skip answering questions and labelling people is still going strong!

@Anonymous2 - What makes you think I have no life? Wait - I see no point in this discussion if you can't even reveal who you are!

@Vikas - Do you by any chance happen to have screen shots? It would be great to have another documented blog on her bias.

@Nisargstar on twitter - When I clearly mentioned why I will not be unfollowing her, I am not sure why you took the pain of doing a mind-analysis of whether I am a coward or not? A journalist has to be open to questioning. Has to open to scrutiny. She is not. And I will continue to srutinise them.

Anonymous said...

Well written.

R.A.Krishna said...

Block the lady! No point in even following such people. she's a crook and certainly does not deserve to be followed. If Dawood had a Twitter handle, would you follow him?

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