Column

Sahebji, tumhi amache mitra. Thodi madat kara ki. Apan baghu bakicha sara.” (Sir, you are like a dear friend. Help me a bit. We will take care of everything else).

On the surface, the above request may sound like a friend’s desperate call for help.

It is not. At a time when elections are happening, how can it be? One is a candidate and the other is a reporter. When the reporter was told ‘everything will be taken care of’ it meant that if he wanted, his wish would be fulfilled in terms of money.

In the wake of elections for 10 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, journalists have gained importance like never before. Requests to write an article on a candidate from a particular ward or to send a photographer or if not all that, then at least mention the candidate’s name in a story are at an all-time high. Some political leaders go to the extent of even settling for a negative report. What matters to them is to get their name in a newspaper or a television channel.

People should know well that apart from a handful of people, Anna Hazare’s movement has not made any dent in the system. The event is over, reality has taken over.

Two years ago, when the paid news scam was exposed, everyone from the then Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan to a number of newspapers and politicians came under the scanner.

But have things changed after the expose? Due to the election commission’s strict stand, paid news items that used to appear blatantly have now become fewer. But that does not mean the issue has been solved. A few days ago, people were discussing whether live telecasts of political rallies should be stopped, as it is just another form of paid news.

Covering elections for the first time, the statement ‘we will take care of you’ came as a surprise for me. But later, when many candidates, party activists and middlemen made a similar move, I learned how to say no, without getting into their bad books.

Few months ago, a senior reporter told me what has since become my motto. “Apli nishtha batamishi pahije. Changlya batmya dilya, ki change paise apli company deil.” (Our loyalty should be with the news. The more good news stories you give, the more salary you will get). Well, not bad! Now, I tell the same thing to all my candidate friends.