https://telegram.me/TheHindu_Zone http://www.pdf4exams.

com

16 THE ECONOMIC TIMES The Edit Page THE ECONOMIC TIMES | BENGALURU | MONDAY | 6 FEBRUARY 2017

Why Being Neutral Beware, American media. Neutralise your bias. Trump-hatred is just self-serving self-righteousness

is Smart Journalism
To understand Trump, media must lose its bias
Neutrality may well be the most important word in a jo-
Love to Hate Him, Baby that the Western mainstream media
cannot be trusted with delivering fair
urnalists vocabulary now. Democracies are in ferment and accurate reportage of the Trump
in major countries. And globalisation of information
means biases can quickly travel across geographies. So,
administrations actions and policies.
A media obsessed with a presidents After Making
alleged unsuitability when he was a
some pre-held, pre-fixed notions in sections of the Indian
media on, say, Narendra Modi influence many Western
private citizen is shooting self-goals
and bringing down its own credibility.
a Mistake
Consider: a leading newspaper re-
media commentary on the Indian prime minister. Simi- Sriram Ramakrishnan ports, despite contrary evidence, that
MAULANA WAHIDUDDIN KHAN
larly, some of the US mainstream medias pre-held, pre-

fixed notions of Donald Trump are finding strong echoes
in Indian media writings on him. But getting infected by
such informational bias is not smart journalism. The
best antidote is a strongly held position of neutrality.
How does this work? Simple. Look at every issue as it is,
the why, the how, the when and the what, and dont
I
Trumps nominee for US Energy Se- Often, people make a mistake
n September 2004, the US ma- cretary and former Texas governor, and then add to it by making
instream medias attempted Rick Perry, was clueless about the de- yet another mistake: by trying
hit job of President George W partments responsibility for taking to justify their mistake. But
Bush backfired spectacularly care of nuclear weapons. what they should actually do
when CBS, one of the Big Th- A White House journalist for a lea- on making a mistake is reflect
ree broadcast networks, had to pull ding international magazine tweets on and seek to discover why
down a story alleging that Bush shir- wrongly that Trump has replaced a they made that mistake in the
ked duty in the Vietnam War. bust of Martin Luther King in the Ov- first place. If you dont do that

FILE PHOTO
let who be the predominant factor in analysis. As they Two leading journalists resigned al Office and then apologises when it and, instead, you seek to justi-
say in football, good players play the ball, not the man. On after an enquiry found fault with the was found to be untrue. fy your mistake after commit-
reportage. It was the first big blow to A few news portals claimed that ting it, you remain just where
a leader like Trump, its tempting and easy to play the mainstream media from the rapidly US Treasury Secretary nominee Ste- Warning: this image has been Photoshopped you were before. On the other
man, because the US media cant get enough of what it growing blogger and online journa- ve Mnuchins firm had foreclosed a hand, if you seek to find out
thinks are his dark personal traits. But it is precisely be- list community. 90-year-old-widows loan putting her irrespective of the ideology of the go- handouts. You learn more about peo- why you made that mistake,
Fast forward to 2016 and replace on the street. A careful check of court vernment, is to provide comprehen- ple and the country you want to cover you will save yourself from
cause Trump appears to be a break from the usual mould George W Bush with Donald J Tru- records showed there was no such th- sive coverage of policies and actions by travelling and meeting ordinary repeating it.
of leaders, it is important to play the ball. We wont un- mp. The Western mainstream med- ing. Trumps controversial executi- in a fair and balanced manner. Criti- people, not by sucking up to the po- This is a natural fact. It is
derstand what Trump is doing if we start every analysis ias obsession with targeting a demo- ve order is variously a Muslim ban, cise Trump if you want to. But also wers that be. If journalists had done reflected in a hadith, narrated
cratically elected leader with sland- an immigration ban and a refugee praise him and his policies if the that in the Obama administration, from Anasibn Malik, accord-
with a deep bias. An important part of this is avoiding er, innuendo, outright lies and gross ban. A check of the executive order facts warrant it. they would have realised the anger ing to which the Prophet said,
sweeping adjectives. Many liberal Western analysts of misreporting only because he is cul- shows the word Muslim has not be- against his policies. Every person commits sin,
turally dissimilar or has different id- en used. And, of course, there is no Dont Go Down Under If journalists had done that proper- and the best of those who com-
Modi throw in the term Hindu natio-
eas than their own seems to have co- comprehensive immigration or refu- The problem with this antagonistic lyduring the 2016 election, they would mit sin are those who repent.
nalist, without bothering to explain it me back with a vengeance. gee ban. A Muslim from India or In- approach is that it prevents any nor- have realised the anger against Hilla- (IbnMajah, hadith no. 4251)
or to understand whether as prime donesia is free to emigrate. So are peo- mal discussion about policy and its ry Clinton and the support for Tru- The fact is that no human be-
Bleating About That Bush ple from all other countries except objectives and goals. Take the recent mp. Anyway, better late than never. ing possesses total knowledge.
minister, Modi has sought to nuance
Bush was variously labelled an idiot, the seven named on the list. kerfuffle with refugees from Austra- There is a lesson in this for the Indi- Because of this, people often
or change his image. The casual use of aman who couldnt spell straight and In the Washington Post piece Chill lia. Very little discussion has taken anmedia. Dont get consumed by your adopt wrong views and opini-
the term cheapens the quality of ana- who came to power only on the back America, not every Trump outrage place about the soundness of the po- hatred or love for the Narendra Modi ons. There are often errors in
of Bible-thumpers. Oh, of course, he is outrageous (goo.gl/KaQ3x8), Tom licy. Why should the US take refugees government. Plan comprehensive their plans. The virtue of hum-
lysis. Calling Trump a narcissist or a
was nominated by the US Supreme Nichols of the Naval War College tak- that Australia doesnt want? Trumps coverage of all his policies in a fair an beings is not that they are
liar or a groper similarly cheapens Court and not elected by the people. esthe media to task for crying wolf all usage of the word dumb may not ha- and balanced manner. Let people de- immune from making mista-
any analysis of the US presidents policies. Trump similarly is a philanderer, a the time. Trumps opponents in the ve pleased purists. But should that cide. Your job is not to bring down the kes. Rather, their virtue lies in
womaniser, a man with a foul mouth media seem determined to overreact cloud a fair debate on the deal that government or make it unpopular. their being willing to acknow-
Once neutrality is strictly observed, the quality of ana-
and temperament unfit to be leader on ordinary matters, he writes. Barack Obama had struck? The Irish magazine, Village, recen- ledge their mistakes and to
lysis will also improve in other ways. For example, on Tru- of the free world. It is not the medias job to declare Reuters and some other news out- tly put an image of Trump in cross- bring their actions into confor-
mps order temporarily banning US travel by citizens The first two weeks of the Trump war on the elected leader of a country. lets have issued guidelines on how to hairs with a very suggestive Why mity with reality.
presidency showed us what he can do It is not their job to lead a mass civil cover the Trump administration. Not headline. It was actually calling A person who does not ack-
from seven countries, a neutral perspective for an Indian
as president. But it also showed us disobedience movement. Their job, What stands out are three points: co- on people to assassinate the US presi- nowledge his mistakes has to
commentator would lead to questions such as these: (a) Is ver what matters in peoples lives; dent. If this is the way the media is pay the price of continuing to
Trump the very first American president to restrict tra- dont worry about handouts and offi- going to react to every Trump action, remain stuck in his wrong app-
cial access; get out in the country and it will be the medias reputation that roach. Accordingly, he depriv-
vel to US in any form? No. (b) Is India all milk and honey A check of the executive order shows the word learn more about what people think. will go down in flames, not the Tru- es himself of confidence, bec-
about everyone coming into this country? No. (c) Would These are universal truths in jour- mp presidency. ause he chooses to remain in
Muslim has not been used. And, of course, there nalism. You get better stories throu- that groove even though he
it have served Indias purpose had Trump temporarily
banned US visits by Pakistani passport holders? Yes. Pa-
is no comprehensive immigration or refugee ban gh field work, not waiting for official sriram.ramakrishnan@timesgroup.com recognises that it is wrong.
Moreover, his actions cannot
kistan would have received a much-needed jolt from US. produce meaningful results,
The point is not whether Trump is entirely correct. and his plans will fail to pro-
CAMERADERIE duce the results that he seeks.
Thats a matter of debate. The point is not to get caught
up in media frenzy. Even on possible Trump-induced res-
trictions on H1B visas, instead of hand-wringing, the me- Chock-a-Block
dia here should ask whether this is the opportunity for Unless governments take proactive action to promote mass mobility
modes, private cars will end up becoming the dominant form of
Chat Room
India to start building its own Silicon Valley, with easy urban transport in Asia, which, in turn, will exacerbate already severe
congestion besides adding to pollution, especially in India and China
access to American jobs gone. Borrowing Donald Tru-
The safe way Share of private car by region
Why Not Ban
mps seemingly favourite words, if the media stays neut-
ral, it can be tremendous. If the media stays hopelessly to double your (As a percentage of all trips) Cash Donations?
Regions 2015 2050* Percentage point change Apropos the Edit, Dont Legi-
biased, it can be a disaster. money is to timise Opaque Poll Funds
fold it over Africa 20.2 27.4 7.2
(Feb 4), I fail to understand
Highest growth why the Modi government is
once and put it Asia 28.3 40.3 12.0
in car share
hesitant in introducing a Bill
Source: International Transport Forum-OECD

Curious Case Against

in your pocket. EEA + Turkey 56.4 44.4 12.0 occurs in Asia,
in the Parliament for making
at 40%, or 1.5
Latin America 40.5 42.4 1.9 times the 2015 it compulsory for all political
Kin Hubbard
Cartoonist level. China parties not to receive any dona-

Ex-Telecom Minister
West Asia 54.6 56.3 1.7 tion in cash. Not just the big
and India are
N America 81.2 76.1 5.1 forecast to corporate houses, even the
PTI

witness highest contributors of small amoun-

OECD Pacific 59.6 48.9 10.7 car shares ts can be encouraged to donate
The judgement of Special Judge O P Saini hearing the 2G tele- Transition 54.4 57.9 3.5
in the region Yes, Ill get it cleaned digitally as they are being enc-
com cases that dismissed the charges against former telecom EEA: European Economic Area
by 2050
up later. ouraged by the government to
do business and personal tran-
*In a baseline scenario of absence of additional measures to influence travel demand & reducing CO2 emissions
minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother is noteworthy for sactions in a cashless manner.
reasons other than its refusal even to frame charges against
MAHESH NATANI
the accused. With plodding thoroughness, the judgement exa-
Indore
mines the evidence presented by the prosecution to charge the
former minister with arm-twisting Aircel promoter Sivasan- BUDGET 2017 Dont Trap Oil
karan into selling his company to Malaysia-based Maxis and
receiving investment from Maxis associates into his brothers PSUs in Subsidy
companies as quid pro quo, and finds it wholly deficient. The
prosecution is unlikely to gain anything by going on appeal,
given the evidence cited.
Three things stand out in the discussion
But Do These Numbers Add Up? This refers to the Edit, For a
Competitive, Efficient Oil Sec-
tor (Feb 4). The governments
Budget 2017 announcement
fiscal 2017-18. These have been pro- So what is the sanctity of 2016-17 mates. Yet, it is based on such num- for creating a mega oil PSU ap-
of the evidence. One, the shoddiness of jected at `. 168.47 lakh crore, assum- GDP estimates, which form the bers that we are commending the pears justified. However, clari-
the prosecution. If a simple timeline of ing 11.75% growth over revised esti- basis for 2017-18 GDP projections finance minister for sticking to his ty does not come from an ann-
events had been constructed, it could have mates for 2016-17. But wait a minute. and, flowing from that, for tax fiscal deficit target of 3.5%. And ouncement, and petroleum
The Central Statistical Organisati- collections, expenditure and so on? provide the basis for projections in and natural gas MoS has told
averted the embarrassment of attribut- on (CSO), responsible for providing We do not know. The Economic Budget 2017. TV channels
ing to D Maran decisions that were taken GDP estimates, has not put out revi- Survey made a brave attempt to fac- There is similar unease with indir- that the PSUs
after he had demitted office. The judge Mythili Bhusnurmath sed estimates for 2016-17. All we have tor in the demonetisation impact. ect tax collection numbers, given will decide the
manages to find several instances of the from the CSO are first advance esti- But can we accept its GDP estimates uncertainties over the goods and structure of
mates for 2016-17 GDP, published on without question? services tax (GST). So, here again, merging. Ind-
oral evidence relied on by the prosecution contradicting the Now that the brouhaha over Budget January 6, 2016. What we do know is that if we take estimates must be taken with a pin- ia would be
evidence recorded on the file, including on matters such as 2017 is all but over, all eyes shift to So, from where has the finance mi- the Surveys nominal GDP estimat- ch of salt, especially when we juxta- the third-larg-
whether files were stuck at the level of the minister or before Urjit Patel and the Reserve Bank of nister got revised estimates for 2016- es for 2016-17 and the CSOs first revi- pose a slowing economy with the est oil and gas
they had reached him. Two, the apparent eagerness of babus Indias (RBI) monetary policy an- 17? The Economic Survey, said se- sed estimates for 2015-16, we get a no- short-term economic disruption consumer in
nouncement this Wednesday. The nior government officials, in a post- minal GDP growth of just 10.2% for likely on account of GST. Likewise, the next decade, and such a
in the telecom hierarchy to say and do things they believe wou- statement following the Budget is Budget television interaction on ET 2016-17, not 11%, as assumed in the going by the track record of succes- move provides more clout to
ld please the powers that be. That a former senior official is no always of special interest as it is Now. But heres the thing. Measure- Budget. Taking the CSOs implicit sive governments, the disinvestme- the nation. The government
longer alive comes in handy for them to blame him for all kin- read as a signal of whether the gov- ment of GDP is a complex statistical GDP deflator of 1.25 for the year, the nt target of `. 72,500 crore for 2017-18 ought to clarify that the PSUs
ernment and RBI see eye to eye on exercise. That is why it is entrusted real GDP growth in 2016-17 falls to seems wishful thinking. would not be a part of under-
ds of real or deemed transgressions, claiming they acted on
broad macroeconomic assumptions to a specialised, technical body in 6.2%, well below most estimates. On the expenditure side too, some recovery or subsidy-sharing
his oral instructions. They should be charged with perjury. underlying Budget numbers. every country, including India. That is not all. Revised estimates, numbers do not carry conviction. mechanism and create true
Three, there is an urgent need for government decision-mak- Much, therefore, depends on the This year, since the presentation of for corporation tax and personal in- Thus, despite the FMs talk of in- value for the PSUs shares.
ing to become all-electronic, so that all communications have credibility of the Budget numbers. the Budget was advanced by a mon- come tax for 2016-17, are exactly the creased capital expenditure, it is up
Finance minister Arun Jaitley has th, the CSO also published its GDP same as Budget estimates. Why? Be- only about 11%, not 25% (this is pos- SURESH CHANDRA SHARMA
an audit trail and stapled sheets of paper and pencilled remar- apparently been fairly restrained: estimates earlier, on January 6, 2017. cause, hold your breath, governme- sibly on account of reclassification). Greater Noida
ks go out of the picture. deviation from the fiscal deficit However, it had a caveat: demoneti- nt officials say they dont have reli- So, how is the MPC to read the
target is relatively small at 0.2 per-
centage points. So should the RBI
sation had not been factored in as it
did not have enough data to make a
able numbers for direct tax collecti-
ons as yet. So, Budget estimates have
signals from Budget 2017? Agreed,
it is a Herculean task to draw up a Demonetisation,
supplement his efforts with a mone- proper estimate. simply been repeated as revised esti- credible Budget for an economy of Budget Hold Key
Move From Macho
tary stimulus? In layman terms, the size and complexity of India.
should the Monetary Policy Com- Also, doubts about fiscal arithmetic The BJP and the Congress are
mittee (MPC) cut interest rates? Or are not new. all set to lock horns in Punjab
should it take the view that moneta- But when there is the additional and Goa as the two states go

to Manscara ry policy is already easy and opt,

instead, to wait for greater clarity?
There are no easy answers. Not
only because most banks have alrea-
handicap of lack of credible data
due to early presentation of the Bud-
get, however desirable that might be
combined with economic disrup-
for the first round of polling.
While the BJP will be keen to
improve on its previous per-
formance and return to power,
There is a lot of interest, apparently, in the secret of US Presi- dy reduced interest rates by more tion, the fiscal arithmetic becomes the Congress will be looking at
dent Donald Trumps luxuriant blonde hair. It could be a re- than the reduction in the RBIs repo more suspect. upsetting the applecart of the
flection of the new focus on male cosmetic products. After rate since January 2015. But, more If the MPC was hoping the Budget saffron party. The new kid on
importantly, because the fiscal ari- would help it see through the smoke the block, the Aam Aadmi Par-
all, certain iconic international make-up brands have signed thmetic underlying Budget 2017 is and mirrors of demonetisation, it is ty (AAP), has also thrown its
on male celebrities for their ad campaigns in the US, includ- not entirely credible. in for a disappointment. hat into the ring. It would be
ing for products from concealers and pomades to manscara. Consider the numbers on which Never make a forecast, especially interesting to see whether the
the finance minister has pulled off about the future, quipped Yogi Ber- effects of demonetisation and
Not surprising considering the male grooming industry is
the impossible. He exceeded his ra, the baseball coach. Policymakers Budget 2017 rub off on the
estimated to be around $50 billion, and men are now spend- revenue targets and overshot projec- dont have that luxury. They have to electorate and voting pattern.
ing more on cosmetic products than shaving-related ones. ted expenditure, and yet managed to make that leap of faith. But when
This emerging trend where India is expected to see 20% adhere to the fiscal deficit target of macro numbers lack a sound under- N J RAVI CHANDER
FILE PHOTO

3.5% of GDP. All in a year when eco- pinning, as in Budget 2017, the outco- Bengaluru
growth could probably increase the endorsement prospe-
nomic activity was majorly disrupt- me could be costly. In such a scenario,
cts for Shah Rukh Khan after the success of Raees to diversi- ed, post-November 8, 2016! the MPC is best advised to play safe Letters to the editor may be addressed to

fy beyond potentially politically incorrect fairness creams. Lets start with GDP estimates for In search of some clarity for now and wait for greater clarity. editet@timesgroup.com