Their Master’s Image

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hat many TV channels are owned by politicians or are aligned with political parties is well known. But the trend now is of politicians acting as de facto news editors. While some politicians are known to take part in editorial meetings, there are those who remote-control news selection. Some have employed trusted lieutenants to make sure their orders are executed.

It’s the message on the medium that channel-owning politicians are interested in. So an initial investment of Rs 100-odd crore—the money required to start a channel—and a recurring annual cost of Rs 1.5 crore is considered a good investment. And with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently reducing the net worth of parties who want to start a news channel to Rs 15 crore from the earlier Rs 100 crore, channels will only mushroom. It is interesting to note that, 12 years ago, TRAI had recommended that political parties must be kept out of the news channel business.

But channels controlled by political parties are now dime a dozen. In Andhra Pradesh, there are 14 news channels owned or partially bankrolled by politicians. In Karnataka, there are four, and in Tamil Nadu five. Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have their fair share of channels linked to politicians. In all, there are close to 40 channels that are either funded by parties or are directly owned by politicians.

Jaganmohan Reddy, the late YSR’s son who has been crying himself hoarse trying to occupy the chief minister’s gaddi his father once did, owns a news channel. In Karnataka, the infamous Reddy brothers of Bellary and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy have their own channels. And Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi’s family owns the Kalaignar channel. For all these politicians, TV is not only business, but also a tool for shaping public opinion.

“In Tamil Nadu, the channels are divided into two neat binaries—those that swear by Karunanidhi and those that swear by the AIADMK’s J. Jayalalitha,” says Maalan, a senior journalist who has worked with Sun TV before it temporarily snapped links with the DMK in 2007. He has also been with Jaya TV. On Jaya TV, Karunanidhi is always referred to as the chief minister of a minority government with outside support from the Congress. Predictably, the AIADMK chief’s proclamations are carried without cuts or any editing. The channel also sings paeans to her. Not surprisingly, vice-president (news) K.P. Sunil says the fact that he has put in more than nine years in the channel is testimony to the fact that Jayalalitha does not interfere. But there are many who say that the AIADMK chief’s writ runs on most decisions.

Kalaignar TV, run from the DMK’s HQ building, is Karunanidhi’s baby. He is known to have the headlines conveyed to him regularly.

Studio N is the voice of the TDP. Chandrababu does not directly have stakes in it, but his son is said to be running it through a friend.

Jayalalitha’s channel bears her name. It refers to Karunanidhi as head of a minority government that has Congress support.

Jaganmohan conveys to senior editors of his channel Sakshi what he wants highlighted. His yatras, of course, find maximum coverage.

Launched recently, Janasri is the Bellary brothers’ medium. On Day 1, it even criticised BJP for fielding Hema Malini as RS candidate.

There’s no subtlety to how TRS’s channel Raj TV projects him as the messiah of Telangana. He makes frequent live appearances on it.

On Kalaignar TV, in which Karunanidhi’s family has shares, viewers are reminded repeatedly of the several cases that Jayalalitha has against her. An old-timer recalls how Karunanidhi does not take part in meetings but news headlines are conveyed to him. It helps that the channel and the party supremo’s office are in the same building.

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aganmohan, before launching his Sakshi channel in 2009, not only handpicked senior staff but also took part in regular board meetings to work out the look and feel of the channel, and its news and feature content. But following YSR’s death and Jagan’s subsequent breaking away from the Congress, Sakshi has become Jagan’s mouthpiece, hitting out both at the Congress and the TDP. “Jagan is in touch with senior editorial heads and outlines the key issues to be taken up, including 24/7 coverage of his yatras and stories against rival politicians like Chandrababu Naidu. He also seeks defence when under attack from various quarters,” says a channel official.

Studio N, known to be the mouthpiece of Chandrababu Naidu and the TDP, is also trying to cut through the news clutter. Naidu’s involvement or funding of the channel is not on paper but it is an open secret that his son Nara Lokesh runs the channel through a friend. Lokesh is said to supervise the contents, primarily targeting Jagan, exposing corruption in the Congress and highlighting Telugu Desam policies.

Raj News, run by K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his family, is a different proposition. With the tagline ‘Telangana gunde chappudu (Telangana’s heartbeat)’, Raj News, with its office in the trs party building, Telangana Bhavan, is all about Telangana, KCR and the statehood agitation. KCR is the hero and the attempt to project him as the messiah of the Telangana people is not subtle at all.

KCR makes frequent live appearances in the Raj News studio and participates in question-answer sessions with viewers who phone in. In these interactions, he assures them that Telangana statehood is not very far away. When curbs were imposed on telecast of violent protests and lathicharging of students at Osmania University, heads of various TV channels formed the Telugu News Broadcasters Association. KCR’s son K.T. Rama Rao was present at the meeting protesting the curbs on freedom of expression on behalf of Raj News.

Of the dozen or so Bengali news channels, 24 Ghanta is pro-CPI(M) and Channel 10 and Kolkata TV are pro-Trinamool Congress. It’s not without reason that 24 Ghanta is called the mouthpiece of the CPI(M). While channel insiders deny there is any direct interference, the Left’s influence is very much apparent. It was primarily to counter the channel that Mamata Banerjee’s TMC decided to start a channel of its own. Says Parth Chatterjee of the TMC, “Certain channels have ceased to be looked upon as reliable sources of unbiased news. But television channels have reach and so we need to counter the effect their campaigning will have on us. This is why we decided to start our own channel”

What is common to all these channels is that the news usually lacks objectivity; all that matters is that it pumps up the party and its biggest leader. As one insider put it—the guiding principle is, ‘Praise the leader’. And, some might add, make sure to damn the opposition.

By Anuradha Raman and Madhavi Tata with Dola Mitra in Calcutta

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With news channels of their own, politicians become the medium