The Lies In The FirstPost Article Accusing KCR Of Launching Proxy War On Media

The Firstpost article insinuating KCR and TRS Government of launching a proxy war on media is wrong with facts and economical with truth on several counts. Among many blunders it commits, it says -

• Telangana CM KCR moved a resolution in the assembly and council to take action against TV9 and ABN. The fact is that the resolution is only about TV9′s derogatory program Bullet News and not about ABN, about which it made no reference.
• Secondly, the article says the assembly resolution is an ‘extreme step’ and that the TDP tried stopping it but accepted majority opinion. This is outrageous accusation and far from truth. If after such filthy language used against legislators, the writer expects the house to be mum, he is clearly apologist to the content of Bullet News.

The 1st point above showed the article’s intention is to link the CM to the MSOs’ action of boycotting TV9 and ABN, by hook or by crook. The fact that the government didn’t not issue any notice or take any action against the channels in never mentioned in the whole article is to slander the CM and his Government.

The 2nd point paints the CM masterminded an extreme provocative step of passing a resolution despite reservations from TDP, which is again a lie and smacks of propaganda.

The article starts by saying “Telangana Rashtra Samithi government has launched a proxy war of sorts against television channels not favourable to it “. The Government didn’t even start functioning, so where is the question of media organizations not being favorable to it? Did the media organizations in question accuse the government of anything corrupt or any mishandling? This opening sentence betrayed the motive of the article. To support this, the article goes on to say “There is a running feud between KCR and these two media organisations. Though the media organisations have never acknowledged it, KCR has never spared an occasion to launch a tirade against them. In fact, more often than not, KCR targeted Andhra Jyothy and its managing director in many press conferences.” As the writer himself says, the media organizations didn’t say about any feud and the  feud is his observation and what does he say. He says that KCR, who was never a minister ‘targeted’ Andhra Jyothy. Everyone who was in the Telangana agitation knows it’s the other way round! Andhra Jyothy unfailingly targeted KCR as part of it’s usual anti-Telangana stance. And KCR on couple of instances point it out. In this age of high-decibel media propoganda, we wonder how can it be said that a media house can be targeted in a press conference by an MP and completely ignore the attacks of the media house on the MP and his family day-in and day-out? The writer is either ignorant of ground realities or biased.

The article says ‘the gag order has not come from any constitutional authority or the government. The MSOs chose to block the relay of the two channels and Telangana MSOs association president Subhash Reddy asserted that they would not resume the channels until the representatives of the channels came forth for a dialogue.’ . So how does it become a ‘gag order’ if it didn’t come from Government? If we assume it is indeed a gag order for argument sake, why is the article not writing about gag orders in Andhra and Rayalaseema that blocked out News channels TNews and V6? Why the selective love for ‘freedom of press’?

And the article says “TV9, in one of its comedy-cum-commentary shows Bullet News, aired a programme in which the script had comments that purportedly hurt the sentiments of people Telangana” Purportedly!? The writer is a Telugu, knows Telugu and he doesn’t think it hurt the sentiments of Telangana people!

Again it says”After tendering an apology, TV9 is maintaining a strategic silence,..” Strategic silence? Why? Are they launching another war on Telangana? Is it not the duty of the Channel to reach out to the people after one of it’s program caused such a upheaval? After all, what is the meaning of fighting for ‘freedom of speech’, when you don’t try reaching out to the very public, on whose behalf you profess to fight? Are people of Telangana untouchables or don’t deserve to be talked to but only talked down, as Bullet News did? What is TV9 waiting for if it’s intentions are really that transparent?

“IJU President Devulapalli Amar said that the MSOs were not the regulators of the content of TV channels. The IJU felt that the MSOs overstepped their brief and acted like a regulator.” The MSOs didn’t try regulating content. They removed channels which there viewers don’t want anymore just like Andhra MSOs removed TNews and V6.

“Is it an act of unbridled superciliousness on the part of KCR and his Telangana Rashtra Samithi to gag the media? His critics do affirm that. In fact, the Telugu Desam Party tried to prevent the extreme step by voicing its concern on the floor of the House. However, majority opinion prevailed.” Really!? What were you smoking Mr Sekhar? Leaders across all parties including TDP expressed outrage over TV9 abusing the Telangana legislature and the House unanimously decided to empower the speakers of both houses to take actions on TV9. The speakers didn’t even take any steps but the writer thinks the resolution itself is an extreme step and that TDP was opposed to it. Now this is what can be called the writer’s ‘unbridled superciliousness’.