Renowned journalist and author Rajdeep Sardesai engaged in a thought provoking conversation at The Write Circle, an event organised by Prabha Khaitan Foundation, in association with Zone Niathu by The Park, and supported by Aahisa \u2013 Women of Dimapur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The session moderated by journalist Ayieno Kech\u00fc delved into wide array of topics, from journalism and politics to media ethics and democracy in the country.
Sardesai, who began his journalism career in 1988 in print media before transitioning to news television, reflected on the current state of Indian journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With over 400 licensed 24\/7 news channels across the country, he remarked in a lighter note that TV news channels had become a \u201clot noisy these days\u201d, but emphasised that India remained one of the most exciting places to be a journalist, as \u201cthere is always news every day\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked on his journey in journalism for over 30 years, he said he had initially wanted to become a cricketer and then a lawyer, but ultimately joined journalism, sharing that he was excited about news since his childhood days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Questioned about minimal or no coverage of the Northeast in news, he affirmed that lack of media coverage of the region had been a question that troubled him for years. He pointed out that the \u201ctyranny of distance\u201d played a role, opining that the further one was from Delhi, the less relevant he or she seemed to be to the mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With only one Lok Sabha seat for Nagaland out of 543 in the country, he acknowledged that political and economic factors also influenced media coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he stressed that this was not just an issue for the Northeast, but a larger Indian media problem, pointing that even southern states felt left out from national narratives. He pointed that not only news, but politicians also felt the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked on media diversity in the country, especially when it came to election coverage, Sardesai replied that elections news was often covered from a Delhi-centric perspective, with journalists following candidates instead of listening to the people. Referring to corruption and money power in elections, he remarked that misuse of state resources had become a norm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Terming democracy as \u201cdemo-crazy\u201d, he shared how some MLAs spent up to Rs 50 to Rs 75 crore per election. Dwelling on his latest book \u201c2024: The Election That Surprised India\u201d, Sardesai said it was a tribute to and a celebration of India\u2019s diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He mentioned how people sitting in news rooms, pollsters, and politicians were surprised by the turn of events in the election. \u201cHow can anyone sitting in a TV channel understand the complexity of what is happening in the country?\u201d he wondered. On the working of political giants that shaped Indian democracy, he shared the story of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his first election in his school days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up against a woman candidate in the class with majority of women, he claimed Shah and his friends got the contact and addresses of all the girls of the class, and wrote to their parents not to send their daughters to class on the election day as there would be violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In doing so, Sardesai said several girl students did not turn up for the election, and he won the election by a slender margin. Asked about his wife, journalist-turned-politician Sagarika Ghose, he mentioned that she left journalism after being requested by Mamata Banerjee to join politics. He acknowledged that this shift had made his own journalistic career more complex but affirmed that she had the right to choose her own path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the growing role of women in politics, he pointed out that while women made up 50% of India\u2019s population, only 13% of members in the Parliament consisted of women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He observed that most women in politics still relied on male politicians to rise through the ranks, reflecting India\u2019s deeply patriarchal system. He however felt that women politicians showed greater empathy compared to their male counterparts, expressing hope on the future of women in politics following the 33% reservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dwelling on the future of the Congress, he commented that the media was more worried about the party than the party itself, taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, saying he \u201cnever misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He acknowledged that the BJP continued to remain the strongest electoral machine in the democratic world, adding that the party was here to stay for the next 20 to 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked on the nature of protests in the country, and whether these protest could be seen as a failure of representative democracy, he replied that protests showed that India was still a democratic country. \u201cProtest is part of being Indian. One cannot criminalise dissent,\u201d he remarked, adding that protests were a good sign, unless it became unlawful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On whether Hindutva has been normalised in the present political scenario, he replied in affirmative, terming it as \u201cvery troubling\u201d. He stressed that the \u201cstate\u201d should not decide what one wore, ate or married, pointing out that this would not make India the joyful place to live in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether his latest book could be seen as a form of literary revenge, he replied that it was not literacy revenge, but an attempt to be conscious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He mentioned that there were certain things that could be better said in a book, than in a TV channel, adding that writing gave one space to be more honest about him or herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The session witnessed question and answer session, and the audience included former MLA and adviser Mhonlumo Kikon, and Industries & Commerce adviser Hekani Jakhalu, among others. The topics of questions related to delimitation, women in politics, and media ethics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Renowned journalist and author Rajdeep Sardesai engaged in a thought provoking conversation at The Write Circle, an event organised by Prabha Khaitan Foundation, in association with Zone Niathu by The Park, and supported by Aahisa \u2013 Women of Dimapur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":477062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[679],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-477057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nagaland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}