Misdemeanour of a 'holier-than-thou' TV honcho

Normally TV anchors don't make news. But Republic TV's Arnab Goswami is one of a kind; he represents post-truth journalism in its most decadent form; he has made news for the wrong reason; he has allegedly manipulated TRP ratings. The otherwise sanctimonious anchor has certainly come under a cloud in the wake of Mumbai police's explosive revelations. Now that the allegation that he rigged TRP ratings in the dog-eat-dog TV news industry has been made, he has the burden of proof put on him to save himself from being perceived as a fraudster and a profiteer.

It is alleged that the Republic TV channel, driven by the lure of filthy lucre, paid peanuts for the households to inflate TRP ratings and received humongous proceeds. Bribing households to swell viewership and amass illegal advertisement revenues involves breach of trust and cheating and constitutes a punishable economic offence; it cannot go in the name of media freedom. There is nothing immoral about wanting to earn more money, but illegal earnings are a different matter.

The Mumbai police must be commended for busting the TRP manipulation racket; it cannot be faulted for doing its job just because of the spurious claim of the channel in question that it is 'nationalistic'. The question is not what stand the news channel took on Shaheen Bagh protests, the Palghar killings, Sushant Singh death case, the Hathras atrocity or any other matter or what it rammed down the viewers' throat, but whether it rigged the TRP ratings or not. There is no way the Republic channel can claim immunity from prosecution if it is really involved in the 'false TRP' racket.

In this context, Arnab Goswami's evocation of his adherence to Sanatan Dharam in a vain bid to defend his integrity is irrelevant to the issue at hand and makes no sense. True, it is no laughing matter; still India's self-styled number one channel in terms of viewership has given those with a sense of humour a reason to laugh – the Republic channel that made it big allegedly by unethical means would be switched on and kept on running unwatched by a single soul! Meanwhile, the political forces that have benefitted from the TV anchor's brand of virulent journalism should admit to the element of taint in the gain accrued from it.

- G David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu