An afternoon with India’s most-watched news anchor, Arnab Goswami
Arnab Goswami
When a crowd of 333 turns up for the Club’s weekly meeting, you can gauge the popularity that Times Now’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami enjoys. There was palpable excitement in Taj Mahal Hotel’s Crystal Room, where Rotarians, Rotaryannes, Rotaractors and guests had eagerly gathered to discover what the newsman is like beyond the confines of his television studio. And, going by the number of times they interrupted his speech with applause, the members were certainly not disappointed.Arnab’s zeal and sharp wit while posing poignant questions to the who’s who of the nation has earned him his share of accolades and brickbats. With him, what you see is what you get. He loves playing devil’s advocate and takes pride in “bowling bouncers” to those accountable for the state of our country. Love him or hate him, but you just can’t ignore him as, night after night at 9 p.m., he takes up burning issues on his show The Newshour with Arnab to grill those who stand in the way of national interest.
But at last week’s meeting, Rotarians encountered a different side of the animated news anchor and he may just have turned many of those haters into fans with his splendid insight into the television industry and a brief account of his personal journey in the field of journalism.
R/Anne Vita Dani, who introduced him, said that while the nation might have seen only his aggressive side on screen, Arnab, in reality, is someone who is very thoughtful and humble. Vita’s daughter and Arnab’s son are classmates at the Dhirubhai Ambani International School and she vouched for his presence, along with his wife Samya, at every school function. A smiling Arnab, who had come dressed in a simple white shirt and blue jeans, then took over to talk on “Television news as an agent of change”.
Arnab opened his speech by talking about how wonderful the city of Mumbai had been to him and helped him grow in his career. He had spent nine and a half years of his professional life in Delhi and always felt that it was not a city that supported pure merit. “In 2000-2001, I was about to leave this profession. I was frustrated as a reporter and journalist in Delhi since I felt I was a cog in the wheel.” However, shifting base to Mumbai was the best decision he ever made. “Mumbai is a city of opportunities. Everything about my kind of journalism and what we do is possible because we are physically separated from the centre of power of this country. This city has taught me the values of merit, independence and professionalism. I owe everything that I am today and everything that I can be, with your support, to this city,”
said Arnab.
The news anchor then spoke about the impact of television media and how it has made politicians of this country accountable for their doings. He opined, “We play a conscious role towards being a force multiplier for social movements. Such was the case during the India Against Corruption movement, in which Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan came together. Today, when Times Now questions Kejriwal as a politician, people ask me, ‘Have you forgotten that you are the same people, who put Kejriwal on a pedestal?’ But I never supported Arvind Kejriwal. I supported the fight against corruption. Our support was for the Lokpal movement and not for a group that wanted to become a political party.”
It’s always a tough decision to take the path less travelled. Rival channels have always accused Arnab of being over the top and presenting a dumbed-down version of the news. However, Arnab, a firm believer in his form of journalism, laughed off these criticisms and said, “We have created a form of journalism in our country, which does not believe in the ‘underhand delivery’. I look upon us as new-age journalists. It is my responsibility to throw those in power a googly or bouncer once in a while.”
But does it give him satisfaction? Does he enjoy his job? “The answer is no. But then there are moments when I realise how journalism can change the lives of ordinary people,” he said and illustrated his statement with the story of Jharkhand’s tribal girl footballers. Times Now did a report on the humiliation of these young players before they left for a tournament in Spain. When they visited the Panchayat office for passport-related work, they were disgraced and were made to sweep floors. The young girls, who were excited about playing in Europe, thought they had to do this in order to get their passports done. These were the very girls, who became runners-up at the Under-14 tournament in Spain. Arnab continued, “I did a show with these girls and the ministers from Jharkhand. All these girls wanted was a place and some time to play their favourite game. I made them come out with what they had gone through. For me that was a moment of tremendous professional satisfaction.”
There are people who allege that Times Now only focuses on sensational journalism. To which Arnab gave a brief account of his stint with NDTV as a young journalist. “Appan Menon was my news editor and he wanted me to cover a story. The story was about a child who had fallen into an open manhole. I told him I didn’t want to do it since it is a small story. I wanted to cover foreign affairs and politics. Appan told me, ‘One day, Arnab, you will realise what a big mistake you made. The biggest story is that our country is the only country in the world, where a child comes out of school and falls into a manhole that should have been covered by the government’. Appan died six months later but that guilt stayed with me.”
Ten years later, the Times Group launched Times Now. Arnab said, “I am a great believer of the Almighty, who opens your eyes and makes you realise your mistakes. In 2006, a child in Kurukshetra fell into an open borewell. My news editor felt it was a Hindi news channel story. I asked myself, what is an English news channel story? Is it the Democratic and Republican vote share in Arkansas? Or a story about the Ministry of External Affairs? My heart went back to the mistake that I had made ten years ago. I went to the office and told my people to forget everything else and do this story.”
Arnab shared another anecdote with the Rotarians, which he termed “as another mistake” in his career. This incident happened when actor Sanjay Dutt was being transported from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail to Pune’s Yerwada prison. “I sent my reporters and camerapersons to cover Sanjay Dutt’s story. While I was having my lunch, I got a phone call from someone in Bengaluru, who had been following my career and Times Now since a long time. He vowed never to watch my channel again. I was surprised and asked him why. He said that his best friend, Colonel Vasanth Venugopal had died in a combat with terrorists on the border. But not a single news channel had bothered to cover the martyrdom of this man. I was shocked and apologised to him. Suddenly, the whole Sanjay Dutt drama looked puerile to me. I invited the man to come on my programme and he agreed.”
But Arnab was in for a surprise. Before he went live, he asked his producer if the guest was ready. His producer replied, “Yes, she is ready”. Arnab told him it was a man, who had called but his producer interrupted and said, “Col. Venugopal’s wife, Subhashini, has decided to come on your programme.” Arnab recalled, “Here was a lady, who had cremated her husband four hours ago. What do I ask her? I started off by asking some opening questions. She spoke for ten minutes from her heart – about her husband, about how proud she was of him and about her children. I immediately got a call from Col. J. J. Singh, who was the Chief of Army Staff at that time. He asked me for the brave lady’s number. The incident changed my perspective of journalism forever.”
Towards the end of his speech, Arnab posed a thought-provoking question to the Rotarians. He asked, “What kind of media do you want in this country? Do you want this media, irrespective of how noisy, argumentative and difficult it is? Or would you like to have the tame, quiet and sophisticated media that bowls underhand deliveries?”
He concluded by adding, “This country before 2020 is going to have a channel so big, so global, so technologically advanced and editorially sophisticated that it will make us the media capital of the world. And for that dream to happen in my professional lifetime I need you to support the kind of journalism that we practice. Correct us when we go overboard but support us for the broadness of what we do. Because, even if we make mistakes, what we do is from the bottom of our hearts.” More power to your elbow then, Arnab!
Some excerpts from the Q&A session:
Q: Does being a journalist give the right to browbeat any interviewee? Also, are editorial views shaped by foreign shareholding?
Arnab: I don’t think any Indian news channel can serve the Indian audience if it is influenced by foreign views. As far as browbeating is concerned, it is relative. What do you do if somebody is undignified with you? You have to sometimes tackle the person. Because if you often don’t respond on the spot people think that you’re on the defensive. So yes, there is aggression sometimes. We are not trying to browbeat. Instead, we are trying to push the envelope and I think journalism is all about pushing the envelope.
Q: Do you think somewhere the focus has shifted from news to views? On a lighter vein, how do you control your blood pressure after Newshour?
Arnab: Trust me, I feel relaxed during The Newshour. What I don’t like are the other parts of the job. To answer your first question, yes the focus has shifted towards views. But that is because people of this country have views. You can get news anywhere, but if you want to be informed better and sharper, you will realise that views matter. I would also like to add here that there is quality to the views we present.
Q: As college students, we take up serious issues and are sometimes blessed to come on a news channel for five to ten seconds. Are you doing anything to reach out to the younger generation?
Arnab: I’ll certainly try and involve more students because your viewership is important to me. When I was your age the Mandal commission happened. For the first time, I realised what being a Goswami was as people looked at each other in terms of caste. In my third year, with the demolition of the Babri Masjid, I realised what religion was. My generation felt so disillusioned with the country’s politics that most of them left the country. I hope what we do today makes you feel the need to fight back and gives you faith to stay in your own country.