Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, May 26: In the second and final segment of ‘Operation 136’, a sting operation by Cobrapost, executives of over 20 top media houses are seen accepting lucrative offers and agreeing to promote Hindutva agenda and character assassinate non-BJP leaders to tilt electoral outcome in favour of right-wing parties, as a build-up for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
More than 30 videos released by Cobrapost on May 25, shows country’s top media houses such as Times of India, India Today groups, Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Zee News, Star India, ABP, Dainik Jagran, Radio One, Suvarna News, Red FM, Lokmat, ABN, Andhra Jyothy, TV5, Dinamalar, Big FM, Prabhat Khabar, K News, India Voice, the New Indian Express, MVTV and OPEN magazine, agreeing to terms and conditions set by the undercover investigative reporter in return for crores of rupees and advertising packages.
The media house which is badly stung by the operation is the Times Group with its proprietor Vineet Jain being recorded discussing ways in which proposed transactions running into hundreds of crores of rupees could be conducted using cash, i.e. black money.
Cobrapost’s undercover journalist, Pushp Sharma posed as “Acharya Atal”, a man who identified himself as a representative of Srimad Bhagvad Gita Prachar Samiti. Acharya Atal maintained a standard pitch and said he wants to run a media campaign promoting Hindutva agenda and offered money that ranged between few cores to smaller media houses and Rs 500 crore in case of Times group.
Vineet Jain
In a number of videotaped conversations, Jain and the group’s executive president, Sanjeev Shah, can be seen discussing proposals, when Acharya offers Rs 500 crore in exchange for advertorials and events that that would be presented as programming on Krishna and the Bhagvad Gita but which would serve as a cover for Hindutva and its political agenda.
Jain is seen discussing in ease on how black money can be routed to other business houses and families. “Aur bhi businessmen honge jo humein cheque denge aap unhe cash de do” (There are other businessmen who would give us cheque against the cash you may give them),” Jain is heard saying.
Hindustan Times too found Acharya Atal’s offer hard to resist. HT Media Ltd Associate Vice President Avneesh Bansal asks Acharya to keep funding the media house. “If you are giving me a couple of crore rupees to talk positive about you, automatically my editorial is under pressure not to go deep negative,” he says hinting that the advertorials put pressure on editorials.
The investigative reporter who met Kalli Purie, vice-chairperson of the India Today group said his campaign on the channel aims to promote Hindutva among the wider public as part of its “infield activities”. He said he may translate the campaign for “political gains” and should not be held accountable for polarization.
Kalli Purie
While Kalli seemed agreeable to his proposals, when he spoke on defaming Opposition leaders, she said that whatever the network puts out is within specific guidelines and that there should be no “editorial interference”. She also said that if she sees any in-field activities of the group that she does not agree to editorially, the organisation will criticise them.
Prior to meeting Purie, the reporter met TV Today’s chief revenue officer Rahul Kumar Shaw who agreed to the Sangathan’s agenda. “I must tell you, I am very very pro, very pro to the government,” he is heard saying.
Shaw also sent an email after the meeting proposing Rs 275 crore advertising campaign to Acharya Atal.
In the case ABN Andhra Jyothy, a prominent Telugu TV news channel patronised by TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu, Cobrapost said, its chief marketing manager E V Seshidhar was candid enough to admit: “We have very good connects with TDP … We have do [sic] lot of what do you call we have main official what do you call for AP government Andhra Pradesh government, we have official event telecaster rights for Andhra Pradesh government.”
When the reporter met Purushottam Vaishnav, CEO of regional news channels at Zee Media he seemed agreeable to the terms. “Content mein jo aapki taraf se input aayega wo absorb ho jayega … humare taraf se jo content generate hoga investigative journalism hum log karte hain karwa denge jitna hum logon ne kiya hai utna kisi ne nahi kiya hoga wo hum log karenge (Whatever input you will send in the form of content that will be absorbed … the content we will generate … we have been doing investigative journalism, we will do it for you. [Compared to Zee] none of the channels has done so many … we will do that,” Vaishnav is recorded saying in the sting video.
Two Bengali newspapers stick to ethics
A senior General Manager with Bengali daily newspaper Bartaman, identified as Ashish Mukherjee, bluntly told the undercover reporter that divisive and defamatory content would not be carried. He refused to change his stand when the deal was raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore.
An official with ‘Dainik Sambad’ at Agartala (Tripura) also turned down the deal and refused to even part with his business card. “Our policy is very clear. We do not publish any religious advertisement,” he told the reporter.
'Distorted content'
Rahul Kanwal, Managing Editor of India Today and Aaj Tak, took to social media to clarify and claimed that “truth had been distorted” in the sting. “At the outset, we vehemently deny the portrayal of India Today Group as a media house that will compromise its editorial integrity. It has never happened in the past and there is no question of it ever happening. In fact, in the meeting with our senior management, your reporter was told in no uncertain terms that the Group will not do anything unethical, and that any advertising creative that divides the country on religious or caste lines will not be acceptable, and will not be aired on our channels. However, in your video posted online, this has not been adequately reflected and has distorted the truth,” he wrote.
He has also warned legal action if the video against India Today Group is not pulled down.
Meanwhile Dainik Bhaskar group managed to obtain an ex-parte injunction from the Delhi high court, which forced Cobrapost to withhold the recordings and communications it had with Dainik Bhaskar executives. Cobrapost has said it will challenge the injunction.
Part I of ‘Operation 136’
The part one of ‘Operation 136’ which was titled ‘cash for coverage’ was released in March this year. Here 17 media houses came under fire after excerpts of interactions with Cobrapost’s undercover journalist were revealed. The media houses included prominent names such as India TV, Dainik Jagran, Uttar Pradesh channel Hindi Khabar, the entertainment and news television company SAB Group, the English newspaper DNA (Daily News and Analysis, Amar Ujala, the news agency UNI, the entertainment channel 9X Tashan, the UP news channel Samachar Plus, the Uttarakhand channel HNN 24×7, the Hindi newspapers Punjab Kesari and Swatantra Bharat, web portals ScoopWhoop and Rediff.com, IndiaWatch, Hindi newspaper Aaj and the influential Lucknow-based news channel Sadhna Prime News.
‘Operation 136’ derives its name from the rank India got in the World Press Freedom Index of 2017.