Politicians Need Not Fear The Media

If you were out on a vacation like me and came back to find things a bit different there is nothing to worry. It all remains the same and you are guaranteed a new scam any day. The ‘Cash for votes’ cable leaks by Wikileaks is now on channels everywhere. While all the channels are having a good time with the new story there is one channel that stands out – CNN-IBN. They still claim to be the first to have exposed the cash for votes scam in 2008. The sting-tapes they did not air on July 22, 2008.

As most people know now, CNN-IBN actually buried the video tapes of the sting operation they carried out. A truncated version was aired only much later. In between there was this drama of BJP MPs showing up suitcases with cash in the parliament.

“In this particular story, there were many loose ends that needed to be cross-checked, corroborated and investigated further before the story could be aired. As it transpired, even before we could complete the process of investigation, three BJP MPs made allegations in parliament of having been bribed and displayed cash in the House”.  That’s not a statement from the CBI or the ED. That was the statement in a post by Rajdeep Sardesai defending not airing the tapes. You can be forgiven for a moment for thinking CNN-IBN is an investigating agency and not a news channel. It is anybody’s guess why the tapes were not aired or what pressures came upon CNN-IBN to avoid the telecast.

Typically, politicians and other diplomats and spokespersons are on all the news channels at each others’ throats. One statement from Pranab Mukherjee stands out. He stated ‘cannot confirm or deny” the contents of Wikileaks. At least one thing is clear now. The leaked cables are far more reliable for facts and accuracy than the reports in our media. So it’s no more our media that exposes anyone, while they can’t help falling over each other in claiming credit for the expose or ‘impact’!

Suddenly, it’s not the media that our politicians have to fear anymore. It is the breed of politicians and diplomats making statements through classified channels that might scare them more, especially with Wikileaks doing what the media should have been doing. This could well be a trend and the future might see more sites like Wikileaks that expose the truth. As for our media I am laughing at their comic attempts to scavenge. I am tempted to tell them:  ‘go take a leak’!