{"id":867,"date":"2015-04-09T16:56:41","date_gmt":"2015-04-09T16:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swordarm.in\/?p=867"},"modified":"2015-04-09T16:56:41","modified_gmt":"2015-04-09T16:56:41","slug":"dont-angry-the-common-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rohitagarwal.in\/swordarm\/2015\/04\/09\/dont-angry-the-common-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t ‘Angry’ the Common Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wonder if Arnab Goswami has seen Chennai Express. If he has, he didn\u2019t seem to have taken Shah Rukh Khan\u2019s dialogue, \u201cDon\u2019t underestimate the power of an ordinary man\u201d, seriously. Or maybe its the other way around, and he overestimated his own and his channels ability to control and direct viewers minds. That\u2019s possibly why Times Now moved from reporting the narrative to trying to script it. With provocative hashtags scrolling tantalizingly across the screens during prime time news hour urging viewers to tweet and join the feeding frenzy in whatever he considered \u2018outrage of the day\u2019. Very often during the live news show itself he would proudly proclaim how their hashtag was \u2018trending at the top\u2019 on twitter. While all channels also employ similar methods, none could match this aggression.<\/p>\n

But twice in the recent past the events should have, one hopes, caused a rethink amongst these apparent influencers of public opinion. First occasion was when the Indian cricket team lost in the World Cup semi-finals. If the anguish of a cricket crazed nation packing away its firecrackers wasn\u2019t enough, Times Now decided that our team had not merely lost a match, it had done so in a shameful manner. So the hashtag promoted was #ShameInSydney. But the common twitterati begged to differ, and the result was #ShameOnTimesnow became the top trend with over 2 Lakh tweets within a short time<\/a> instead. The same thing happened when Times Now took on Gen VK Singh over his obviously sarcastic observation on the differential excitement amongst the media between his attendance of the Pakistan National Day vis a vis his personal presence during evacuation of Indian citizens from the war zone in Yemen. Instead of the channel sponsored #VKDisaster, #HatsOffGeneral and #Presstitutes started trending. The graph below and accompanying figures are unambiguous about the resulting direction of the winds of public opinion.<\/p>\n

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Availability of information from a plethora of sources and ability to express opinions without barriers has empowered the common man like never before. Unfortunately, conventional mindsets across organizations, including political parties and media, continue to \u2018underestimate\u2019. In the elections this blunder led the Congress to its biggest ever electoral debacle, and the media to the embarrassment of making predictions that were nowhere near the results. Yet it is amusing to watch them continue living up to Einstein\u2019s definition of insanity<\/a>. So painting incidents of vandalism and petty crimes against minority institutions as increasing intolerance against minorities<\/a> is just one of the many lies that media has been telling<\/a> us since the Modi government took over. The aim, it seems, is to influence public opinion and dent the popularity that the prime minister enjoys.<\/p>\n

The modus operandi of spreading such canards has become predictable by now. It consists of making outrageous allegations aimed at painting the present government as dangerous fundamentalist hardliners. It doesn\u2019t matter if the stories are based on vague attributions to unnamed sources, or if liberties are taken with complete disclosure of facts to suit the narrative.<\/p>\n

Take the case of the alleged proposal by the Modi government to rename Delhi. Yes, you heard it right. So if you read the article below (HT City 8 Apr 2015), it says, \u201cour capital may get not one but two new names, as per a recent proposal by the Narendra Modi led government\u201d. Lutyen\u2019s Delhi is going to be renamed as \u2018Imperial City of Delhi\u2019 and Old Delhi will be known as \u2018Imperial City of Shahjahanabad\u2019. Of course, the source of this information, or any details about the origin and status of the alleged proposal is nowhere to be found. Rest of the story is filled with outraged reactions and tweets against this appalling move.<\/p>\n

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A cursory google search reveals the facts are slightly different. The story is obviously based on a slightly more detailed report along similar lines in the Hindu<\/a> dated 30th<\/sup> March, but has been suitably modified to generate the desired outrage. A few more links on the same search page bring out the complete facts, which are as follows:-<\/p>\n