Opinion No-PM Prime Time

Times Now’s outrage — there’s a phrase that writes itself — that news TV is the only credible method of interrogation would perhaps be more justified if we hadn’t just watched its riveting interview,one day earlier,of Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa. It was a very different Times Now. Arnab Goswami’s voice was hushed,like a penitent speaking to the Pope; indeed,I don’t think I have ever heard anyone say,“May I contest that?” so quietly. (Wait,actually,on news TV,I’ve rarely heard them ask.)

Not that Jayalalithaa is easy to interview. When she is bored with a question,she will show it; she will stop looking at you and gaze elsewhere. She seems willing to let silence fill up airtime. And she can put an interviewer in his place: “You are expecting some sensational statements from me perhaps…. being bold is one thing,being pragmatic when you’re leading a state is another thing.”

Also,perhaps,moderating discussions and interviewing are two different skills. Moderating,you know where you want everyone to go. In interviews,it seems you’d want to draw the person out. You may not know what the story is to start off with.

For example,Goswami kept on asking Jayalalithaa about the “national mood” — specifically,about “anger” at the UPA. But that wasn’t Jayalalithaa’s story. Hers was more novel and interesting,but Goswami didn’t seem to want it. She kept on saying she needed to be pragmatic,get “the best possible deal for her state” — but he never asked her what that meant. He wanted,instead,“candid observations of the national picture”.

Indeed,she had to shoehorn a mention of Tamil Nadu’s debt in. “So what are you willing to do in order to get that debt fixed?” she could have been asked. But she wasn’t. She practically wrote the interviewer’s script for him: I need the Congress’s favour,because I have no money for any populism I might want to try. So I will be “pragmatic” about what I say. Goswami’s response: “These are two distinct things.” Instead,“the national mood” came up again.

“I find a contradiction in your assessment of the PM and of the national mood,” said Goswami at one point,taken aback by her coolly laid out (pointwise) argument that the PM shouldn’t be subject to the Lokpal. “The national mood is clearly one of anger.”

And then,a moment of sublime beauty: Jayalalithaa interrupts Goswami. “National mood is because of what happens today,” she reminded us,“I am not lending my support to any individual; it is about the institution.”

But news TV likes to think about individuals.

So Goswami’s response was — to bring up A Raja.

mihir.sharma@expressindia.com