Arnab-Barkha spat has made a mockery of Indian TV journalism

The other day someone asked me on Twitter, "Who are you with - Arnab or Barkha?" I replied, tongue-in-cheek, "I am with Uma Sudhir."

Mercifully, the person who posed the query was not a troll and actually appreciated my attempt to sidestep the question with humour.

But the underlying message in the question was that you are expected to take sides. More so if you are a fellow journalist. Bhai, tum side loge ya nahi?

Also read: Why I will not speak on the Arnab-Barkha 'war'

I find this strange because back in the days that I was in journalism school in the early 1990s, I was taught the media person does not take sides. We report both sides, factually, truthfully and leave it to the reader/viewer to decide.

Till Arnab Goswami in his post-NDTV avatar came along. He told us that the nation expects journalists also to take a decisive stand. On the side of the right. His right. Gen GD Bakshi's right. Maroof Raza's right.

The argument perhaps was: Don't we make choices in life?

Coke or Pepsi?

Congress or BJP?

Dhoni or Virat?

Maggi or Patanjali?

Salman or Shahrukh?

Rajinikanth or ... umm ... err ... Rajinikanth?

But what if I don't wish to tick either of the two boxes? Arnab or Barkha in this case.

Also read: Why journalists can't stand Arnab Goswami

Will I fall into that realm of uncertainty - a no man's journalistic space - where I will be deemed neither a nationalist nor a pseudo liberal?

What if I want to tick on a P Sainath box. Will I be jeered at by channel bosses for reporting stories on non-TRP India as some of them indeed do? A journalist without an identity. Without a tag. What will be I called? Confused presstitute?

In the last one week, TV journalism has been reduced to choosing between A and B, forgetting the profession is far bigger than these two doyens of the industry.

I read that Barkha has even Americanised the fracas by calling Arnab the "Donald Trump of Indian television".

By squabbling in public - one indirectly, the other directly - the duo has only helped the cause of those who want to hit at the credibility of the media itself and unfortunately, made the world of Indian television journalism the subject of ridicule. A spectacle.

I do watch Times Now. Every year when the season of Bigg Boss ends, it helps me get over withdrawal symptoms. But unlike Salman Khan who ended with telling me, the viewer, "Do whatever you want to do, man," Arnab gives no elbow room. He spells out the dos and don'ts very clearly.

Like he did last week in his address to the nation. He made it clear that in his book, interviewing a terrorist or a rapist or getting praised by them, not taking a strong pro-India line, not making stories around Kashmir a case of "Us versus Pakistan", is nothing short of treason. Life in black and white, without a shade of grey.

Court martial all those traitor journalists.

Yes, sir.

In fact, such is the ferocity with which he attacks Pakistan on his show, calling it a failed State, rubbishing Pakistani arguments wearing the cloak of pop patriotism, that he could well be India's "Super Raksha Mantri", who will ensure there are never any achche din across the Wagah.

The other night, he demanded of his guests - retired Pakistan generals - that Azad Kashmir be returned to India. The innocence of the demand was "ab rulayaga kya pagle" like touching. But such was his anger, conviction and act that I thought by 10pm, PoK will be back with India.

Frankly, English TV media with its less than one per cent of television viewership, is a bit like Delhi and Arvind Kejriwal. Occupying mind space far more than it deserves.

Even though NDTV is a poor third to a Times Now on the TRP meter, Arnab does not desist from taking potshots at "channels with no TRPs", "channels who ask soft questions" to emphasise that he heads the channel which rules the charts and asks the tough questions. A 56-inch Now, so to speak.

I do not even know if Arnab's rant deserved that kind of strong reaction from Barkha.

Did she really think his call to shut down other media houses will spur Venkaiah Naidu into action to issue ban orders? After all, if Arnab ran India, Vasundhara Raje and Sushma Swaraj's political careers would have been history by now and Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya would have been under trials in Indian jails.

But Arnab is the "King of Good Times Now" only on the Barc-meter.

Indian television and many of its celebrated journalists for some years now has been the butt of ridicule. As a result, the entire fraternity has been tarred with the same brush of an unsavoury reputation. This week showed exactly why. They are lacking in credibility, bestowing on themselves an overdose of self-importance.

Some have commented that it is nothing but an ego clash between the two. Then why does the nation want to obsess itself with it, like nosey neighbours? Surely there are better entertainment options on telly.

Journalism still survives in this country because there are hundreds of foot soldiers, committed and professional, who do the job of reporting honestly, covering what they think the world needs to know.

They come into the profession with idealism in their heart and mind. In regional languages, in print, digital media and TV.

They may not be on glamourous prime time TV but they are the backbone and soul of the media institution today. For them, integrity and credibility matters most.