***
For most TV news consumers, Arnab Goswami is both a name and a phenomenon. But there are still large parts of the world to be conquered by Times Now‘s bulldog of an inquisitor.
B.V. Rao, editor of Governance Now, explains the name and the phenomenon to a childhood friend who lives in Canada.
***
Dear Sharada
Sometime ago during a Googlegroup discussion you innocently asked: “But who is Arnab?”.
In India not knowing Arnab is against national interest. You are lucky you live in Canada. But if you don’t want to be deported on arrival on your next visit, you better pay attention to this complimentary crash course on the subject.
Arnab, as in Arnab Goswami, is India’s most-watched prime time news anchor and editor-in-chief of Times Now*. But designations don’t even begin to describe him or what he is famous for.
You must have heard about hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Arnab is also a storm, a news-storm that hits India every night via his show, the “Newshour”. Nobody is quite sure how, but somehow Arnab gets to know the questions that the “whole nation” wants answers for, or the sinners the nation wants hanged before midnight that night.
In effect then, Arnab speaks for a “billion-plus people” each time he takes centre-stage.
I can’t say for sure if he took this burden upon himself voluntarily or if his employers made it a contractual obligation. Whatever it is, the fact is that Arnab has come to relish asking the most “simple and direct” questions to the most dubious people demanding instant answers to complex problems because the “nation wants to know” and it wants to know “tonight” as in right now.
That’s how impatient India has become while you’ve been away, Sharada.
***
The Newshour airs on weekdays from 9 pm and continues till Arnab’s pleasure lasts. Often the show stretches up to 10.50 pm. That’s actually “News hour-and-three-quarters-and-then-some” but I guess Arnab has not asked himself a “simple, direct” question: how many minutes make an hour?
That, or his primary school maths teacher is not his viewer. In which case it is safe to say Arnab speaks for a billion-plus minus one Indians.
You will see that at the altar of national interest it is not just the hour that is stretched.
About two decades ago, Dileep Padgaonkar was the editor of the Times of India owned by the Jains of Bennett & Coleman who also own Times Now. Padgaonkar had pompously proclaimed that he held the second most important job in the country after the prime minister’s.
Arnab hasn’t said it, but I think he disagrees with Padgaonkar on the pecking order: it’s now the prime minister who holds the second most important job in the country.
Hence Arnab runs the show like he would run the country or like the prime minister should but doesn’t.
You see, Sharada, there’s an awful lot of stuff the nation wants to know by nightfall but our prime minister isn’t much of a talker. Arnab fills the need gap. He opens his show with a passionate agenda-setting preamble that spells out all the problems of the day and how he wishes to solve them. We gratefully receive this wisdom and call it Arnab’s Address to the Nation, a prime ministerial duty that has fallen on his broad shoulders because the real guy has abdicated it.
***
Let me tell you this, however. Arnab is a very reluctant power-grabber. It is not his intent to upstage the prime minister or make him look silly.
He gives the prime minister an entire day to prove his worth and gets to work only at 9 pm when it is clear that the latter can’t handle stuff.
He then solves all outstanding national issues of the day in just one 110 minute-hour of feverish debates where he grills the skin off the back of everybody who dares to stand in the way of India’s national interest.
He is unrelenting in his pursuit of the truth and doesn’t give up unless everybody has agreed with him.
“I am worried”, “I am concerned”, “I won’t let you politicise”, “I don’t agree”, “you can’t get away….” are some of the phrases he uses to suggest he is in complete control and that endears him to a nation starved of decision-makers.
Arnab hates home work. He wants to settle everything here and now, tonight. As a result, in Arnab country, there is no trace of the policy paralysis that has grounded the prime minister in the real country. Here you get resolutions, decisions, orders, diktats, judgements, justice and denouements all in one place, one show, by one man.
***
The only people paralysed are the subjects of his grilling and the bevy of experts he gathers around himself, not because he needs them, he doesn’t, but because it must feel awfully good to invite experts and out-talk them on national prime time.
Like confused baboons trapped in little boxes, the experts, who are neatly arranged around Arnab’s own imposing self in the centre of the screen, keep staring into nothingness most of the time.
Yes, you get the drift, Sharada, Arnab is the main dish here. The rest are just intellectual dips.
For most of their airtime the experts keep putting up their hands or calling out “Arnab….Arnab….” to indicate they want to make a point. Arnab is too engrossed in disagreeing with what he has not allowed them to say to care too much.
Some clever guests try to appeal to his Assamese roots by hailing “Ornob…Ornob”. He ignores them as well.
Nationalism, after all, is above parochialism. The cleverer among them have cracked the code: they just agree with Arnab in exchange for a little extra air time. These are usually the people who have paid close attention to Arnab’s Address to the Nation and picked up the right cues on what to say that will get them his benefaction.
It is tough to figure out why Arnab needs any experts at all because he knows the answers to all his questions. Times Now insiders say that more often than not he finds questions to the answers he already has. On his show, politicians can’t politicise, bureaucrats can’t beat around the bush, sportspersons can’t play games and lawyers can’t use legalese.
In fact anybody who is good at something can’t do what they are known to do, to the extent that even civil society can’t be civil, especially if it wants to get a word in sideways. Everybody has to be direct, honest, blunt and keep things simple because that is what the (one-man) nation wants.
***
Corruption, political expediency, opportunism, forked tongues, doublespeak, dishonesty and hypocrisy, are red rags to Arnab. He takes them head-on with the help of his reporters who keep throwing up “documentary” evidence ever so often to expose scamsters.
Usually this is a thick sheaf of indistinguishable papers that Arnab holds up threateningly. It could be a bunch of used airline e-tickets for all we know, but since we don’t, he waves the sheaf confidently in the face of the enemies of the nation and it is generally assumed he’s got some incendiary stuff in there.
Arnab’s problem-solving repertoire is not restricted to national boundaries. In fact, he is at his best when dealing with nations that have evil designs on India. The patriot in Arnab is best aroused when he is dealing with that evil, failed, rogue nation called Pakistan.
He deals with Pakistan like no prime minister has ever been able to or decimates it like no Army has ever managed to. Each time a blade of grass bends to the breeze on the LoC, Arnab breathes fire at Pakistan for trying to sneak in terrorists into the country. He lines up a battery of serving and retired generals of Pakistan and conducts the verbal equivalent of a summary execution.
Yet, the same generals keep resurfacing on Arnab’s show each time he feels the urge to have a Pakistani or two for dinner. This causes much wonderment among Newshour hounds on the masochist streak that makes the Pakistani generals offer themselves up as bait repeatedly.
So, it is assumed the money must be good. But since Arnab insists that Pakistan is the way it is only because the generals have sold their country cheap, it is unlikely he is blowing his budget for this routine cross-border target practice. Of course, left to Arnab Pakistan would have existed only as the largest crater on earth since the meteors wiped out all life on the planet. Yes, he would have nuked it many times over by now.
The Times of India, the country’s oldest English newspaper and the mother brand from the Times Now stable runs Aman Ki Aasha (Hope for Peace), the widely-acclaimed campaign for ending India-Pakistan hostilities.
Just as Arnab doesn’t seem to know of this campaign, the Times of India seems quite oblivious of the fact that the last time there was absolute peace on the LoC was when Arnab took a two-week holiday in early September. It could be the marketing genius of the Times group to milk the issue from both ends or it could also be that their internal boundaries are not as porous as our LoC.
Apart from conducting war exercises against Pakistan, Arnab land is eyeball-to-eyeball with China, exposes the double standards of America in almost anything it does and highlights the hypocrisy of racist Australia which loves the education dollars from India but not the brown students who come along with.
His blood boils so much when an old Sikh is roughed up by a bunch of racist women in the UK that he almost gets the whole of Punjab to rise in revolt against the Indian government’s inaction–even though there is nothing it can do as the gentleman is a citizen of the said country–or builds a tide of emotional revulsion against “inhuman” Norway for snatching an infant from his Indian mother’s custody for alleged physical abuse.
I can go on and on, Sharada, but everything good must come to an end and so must my Arnab eulogy.
***
So, in short and in conclusion, here’s what I have to say: Arnab is not just the editor-in-chief of Times Now. He’s India’s protector-in-chief. He is the guy who is keeping India safe while you are away on selfish pursuits. You are lucky you can get away by not knowing him.
For a billion-plus Indians,minus of course his maths teacher, that is not even a distant option. Because, truth told, Arnab is the best we have got!
B.V. Rao
***
* Disclosures apply
Photographs: courtesy Unreal Times and Governance Now
***
Also read: ‘Arnab Goswami is corrective to babalog media’
IJR 
So, in short and in conclusion, here’s what I have to say: Arnab is not just the editor-in-chief of Times Now. He’s India’s protector-in-chief.
Mr.Rao did you say ‘Arnab is not just the editor-in-chief of Times Now. He’s India’s protestor-in-chief’
You, sir, need to visit Arnab’s English teacher.
Satyaki, comment on my opinion, not on my grammar.
If Arnab is so bad, why the great journalist, Krishnaprasad used to appear on his shows. Is san serif publishing pieces like this because Arnab is no longer in the good books of their founder.
Also Arnab has openly ridiculed Aman ki Aasha more than once in his show. Even times of india columnists make fun of Arnab, without taking his name
He may be loud, but he is definitely better than Barkha or Rajdeep or Sagarika
A moderator should speak little ans allow others to speak. Arnob speaks a lot and does not allow others to speak at all.
Arnab and loud? That’s a joke. Arnab is the most quietest anchor India has.
Dear Churumuri
There is no reason why you should shed your sanity to upstage B.V.Rao. TV personalities in India are loudmouths who can do their drumbeat themselves. They don’t need a B.V.Rao. They have only questions and no answers. One man who did not need the charity of the TV phenomena is Narendra Modi who put TV phenomena in their place. Karan Thapar is a very competent interviewer who does his homework before facing the interviewee. He made the mistake of making Narendra Modi a metaphor for Gujarat riots just to sound populist. It is school-going kids who are carried away by Tv personalities. Let not the good work you are doing be undone by wasting net space.
Krishnamoorty
Awesome piece, Shri. Rao! My only problem with the “Newshour” is the name, given that Arnab discusses not news but opinion and always exceeds an hour (as you correctly point out). Other than that, it is a great loud “show” totally consistent with the cacophony of Indian democracy.
A brilliant piece of writing and a warts-and-all profile of Arnab Goswami. Arnab gets on my nerves sometimes with his kind of cross-examination. The other ‘experts’ who sit with him each night are carefully picked and dare not say anything which will displease Arnab. And so the show goes on!
“Arnab….Arnab….”
Hilarious. Such a long time since reading a good analysis. Liked the Pakistan part so much. Jains who own the ToI group are miles ahead of the famed Jews, for all i know. Great salesmanship. Would like to know how Arnab’s counterparts in other channels feel during that noose hour.
From MiPhone
Excellent piece….this group sells every thing you name…and now the noise also..
A thoughtful, truthful and amusing write-up on Arnab Goswamy . Thank you Mr B.V.Rao
Hats off Mr. Rao !
The only thing more annoying than Arnob’s pontifications are the long ad breaks
I was train traveling and there were instances people assumed me to be as mad as arnab, for looking into the phone and laughing out loud.
THANK YOU MR. RAO THAT YOU CHOSE TO SPEND SO MUCH OF YOUR TIME, ENERGY AND EFFORT AND OFCOURSE EXPERTISE TO DISSECT ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL. I WONDER IF YOU HAVE VOLUNTEERED FOR IT..:D .
Arnab may be smart but he still hasn’t been able to upstage Subramanian Swamy, Lord Meghnad Desai and Professor Pushpesh Pant, his regulars on Newshour.
You forgot Mr. Narendra Modi. Though his paranoid fear to public scrutiny, and his hatred for “sickular” media, prevents him from appearing on such shows, he is another fella that has all the instant solutions on everything that plagues india … Surely, India’s greatest PM-in-waiting.
Wow! Loved every bit of it. Needless to say that it’s very well written, the piece gives a lot of insight in to this very passionate journalist.
Noosehour is one show organised by the great ornob to hear his own voice over everyone else’s . Only time he loses his cool is when facing the likes of Subramanian Swamy……
Joseph Kurien
Good one.he has become a pain with his loudness.Though many did not agree with most of the things that Dr Prannoy Roy said or stood for,he was at least decent and polite.May be you will enlighten your friend about others too.Say Rajdeep Sardesai,Sagarika Ghosh,Burkha Dutt,Asutosh….
All these barbs do not affect Arnab or his style in anyway.. on the other hand, the TRPs will go up substantially after people read this piece of Shri B V Rao, hignlighting and showcasing the Entertainment value of Arnab’s show.. I look forward to BVR to make a similar analysis of another entertaining showman and Patriot viz., Narendra Modiji, whose speeches I have been closely following for their entertainment value and which have a pattern that lends itself to similar analysis..
Well, decent & polite does not work with India. We deserve someone like Arnab to shake us out if our lethargy. A good amount of rhetoric is a small price to pay if we are to wake up.
It is a shame (though true) that a debate program regarding the scams of the country & other serious matters should be looked at as entertainment. In that case the “Newshour” with Arnab should shut down. The Times should find a more dignified way of highlighting such issues.
Brilliant piece…you seem to have taken words out of my mouth…Arnab is increasingly becoming a non-sense that India can do without…
Arnab is the main dish here. The rest are just intellectual dips. Hahahaha
Hilarious. Well written . Loved the way you have written it. Had me in splits.
One word “awesome” – But Mr.Rao, the nation wants to know why you compiled an email to Shradha that is in a way worrying and politicizing the entire issue – which demands an answer tonight – We’ve got proof (waving a bunch of papers with highlights). — Ha ha.
Arnab, please “go” swami!!!
Hats off!! It has made my morning!! It also sums up the 24x 7 razzle-dazzle maestros!!
Awesome!! Hilarious!!! i loved every word of it!!!
What I had in my mind Mr Rao, you said it. Major Sampath
The Americans have an apt aphorism for pompous and bumptious guys like Arnab Goswami – “He behaves like his shit doesn’t stink.”
The few who have put him in his place at various times are Mani Shankar Iyar (who on live television announced that he would never again appear on Times Now because of AG’s arrogant interruptions), Kapil Sibal who is equally self opinionated as him, and Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar who once gave as good as he got, and hasn’t been seen on Times Now ever since.
Great piece of sarcasm!… but not many seem to get it! : )
This article on Arnab is good with some good points in between like he is speaking on behalf of nation, His blood boils so much when an old Sikh is roughed….
But too much sarcasm on a person who is speaking out loud isn’t good. We aren’t speaking out(due to lack of fear or a big center stage to speak, ..), at least let us allow those who are speaking out loud on our behalf to come out LOUD
With due respect to Journalism and Arnab and B.V. RAO
Regards,
Krishna.
Well written! Hilarious
There can never be an acceptable excuse for publicly humiliating anybody. Goswami is ill mannered and a disgrace to his heritage. Apart from poetry (WHAuden) b***s*** , bluster and bark also make nothing happen. “…sound & fury signifying nothing.” What a relief to know there are views akin. And even as we relish Mr Rao’s pithy and concise views, I do think Mani Shankar Aiyar’s put down was the worst Goswami has had to face – in Bengali we would say – muk ta paechar moton hoye gechilo.
All I know about that guy is that his vocal chords cross the decibel threshold humanly possible 🙂 a very hilarious article. Enjoyed the read 🙂
Impeccably Hilarious!! Acute observation on details and terse and pithy writing is applaudable.
Real life Nayak!
Beautiful introduction of the news icon, the one and only Arnab Goswami. I am an avid follower of the news hour and I am amazed at how well informed Arnab is and has a great team backing him. Talking about the phrases he uses, I guess you have missed out one important phrase he’s not afraid of using,”you.re dodging the question” or “don’t dodge the question”
Mr, Arnab Goswami is an entertainer, like Rush Limbaugh in the US. He plays to the Galleries, and his main objective is to raise TV Ratings and increase his Channels advertising revenues. Enjoy yourselves, there in India, but if you and Pakistan end up nuking each other, neither of you will survive then and it will not matter a damn as to who started it and who did what to whom when on the Subcontinent. You all better get yourselves someone like Mikhail Gorbachov who can get someone like Reagan to hold out his hand and shake it and bring an end to all that animosity. Nothing is impossible. Even a Pakistani or Indian Gorbachov !
I have not yet had the privilege of watching Mr. Arnab Goswami’s show, but because of all the advertisement you guys are giving him, I intend to do so via my laptop if I can access his Channel like I can access NDTV here. Please let me know how I can do so with my laptop. In the meanwhile I strongly suggest that all of you in the Subcontinent please remember that old story of Ek Bandar and Do Billi. The only time that the Billies got to eat the Roti was when they both turned towards the Bandar together and smiled at him and thanked him together for his advice in the past and he may go home so that they could share the Roti between themselves.
Also would want to add
1) I knew Arnab Ranjan Gowami (He dropped ‘Ranjan’ from his name later) from his first job, The Telegraph, ABP, in 1993-94. He used to call me Didi and I am faintly even instrumental in fixing up his first few dates with his future wife, Sammo. (let’s not tell the girl’s full name and get her into trouble.) He was a soft spoken, tall guy, uncomfortable with his height, who always respected his seniors, even senior journalists who were junior to him. He was extremely helpful to his colleagues, especially female colleagues, and was like a pillar of strength to his department.
With the nation suddenly going wild on an ‘Arnab’ who I’ve never known, I feel it’s time to say he was never like this. Leave alone shouting, he was extremely soft spoken. I even met him in Delhi at NDTV office years after we left Telegraph and he still hugged me as Didi and we had a gupshup over tea. I personally don’t like what’s happening…. Just saying….
well, he is doing great. you should be proud of him. Also, great article. Hilarious.
He is a quiet person now too, he’s just enacting dramas on the behest of India’s ruling class.
Excellent article…without even meeting Arnab, Sharada can experience what we experience everyday…Too good…
He is the best we have for all of us.
Enthusiastic , patriotic, intelligent ,affable and a do good-er.
He is actually fit to become the
“PM of India”
.
Very good, in fact few days back i was discussing with my friends on this media discussions and we were wondering is someone like Arnab is above the supreme court of India…Many a times, his arguments become monotonous..First of all, on any topics, it boils down to between BJP & Congress, like corruption during BJP time, rapes happening during congress regime,Price rise happening during NDA…Some of the so called experts are like on a fixed pay roll who don’t bother changing their stands on different days.. Many a times, the whole conduct of the discussions look so farce, we wonder, what young children watching the discussions will take away from it.
He ensures that the whole dramatics is enacted as per his liking, the recent example being during the discussion on the Snooping episode in Gujarat, where the lady in question or her family has not made any complained or filed an FIR, and allowed the experts to go all barrels blazing, but smartly avoids asking the same experts where were they when an actress who was molested on a public platform and who did filed an FIR , no action was taken and the lady was intimidated by the party concerned by organizing morchas and burning her effigy. But during the discussion, this particular issue was smartly kept aside…But this guy always gets what he wants to throw up at the audience..Yes, he never leaves an opportunity to boost to the unfortunate panel member that this is Times now and unlike some other channel you can get away with out admitting your guilt.
Thanks once again Mr.Rao.
Terrific piece Mr. Rao. Absolutely loved it. Oh! don’t worry about the critics, unfortunately “sarcasm demands equal amount of intelligence from the giver as well as the receiver” . Arnab, decides ” what country wants? who has to give it? how it is given?” he is the absolutist. the alpha & omega. The sheltered creatures, that we are under his legion. Can only pray in gratitude.
I have an entire Costa Cafe staring at me wondering why am I on the floor guffawing my heart out! This was a master piece. Bravo.
Brilliantly written piece Sir. I do however think the title of show ought to be changed to ‘The Question Hour’.
Arnab is famous for asking questions but not allowing his panelists to answer.
Hey Shailen – are you the person that used to be with Panam almost 25 years ago?
I used to think I hated him…bcos he screams in our house Mon to Fri 9 to 11…but the day my dear husband is not in town and he doesn’t scream in our house…I feel a kind of vacuum…and the house so empty….and worst…I dont get sleep…I need to have listened to him….err…heard him at least…. for a good night’s sleep…as they say..love him or hate him…but one can’t be indifferent to him….
Well I don’t like Arnab for the same reason what you did in this article. You are mocking and trying to be well and above. I have all my rights to say you sound cheap, pathetic and poor tasted individual.
Arnab is a brand… the best of news casters, much like bill o reily or jon stewart with an Indian tarka..
i think after reading this people will start watching arnab and news hour more and it will lead to increase in TRP of the show
Perfect represantation of Arnabs contrubution to the natioin as a esteemed and honorable TV jouranalist of India.
Say what you like, but Arnab has instilled such a fear of the media that people are more guarded now and cautious when they indulge in corruption. I had first hand experience of success when I had to grapple with Chennai Police to sort out a case of cheating and fraud we had been subjected to and being the head of a media venture I attained success. Considering that I am a woman the the way I was treated by the Additional Commissioner of Police in Chennai, If I hadn’t belonged to the media, I would have been subjected to utmost indignities at the hands of the police whose help I sought for solving this issue. And mind you, even a constable metes out such power-drunk indignities that you dare not stand before him if you are a common man.
If you have politicians like the ones we have and near universal corrupt elements across the country, bureaucrats like CBI Director, police as corrupt and criminal as we have today, we do need a watchdog and may be people like Arnab. Imagine if there weren’t people like Arnab, where would we be? At least there is a fear that the common man can approach the media seeking justice even though he may have to ‘pay’ or be involved in an issue that will bring ‘fame’ to the media for being involved in such a ‘social’ cause. Arnab may revel in self-aggrandizement, but the tragedy is we need such balancing elements. Ask Indian women and they would agree. Everybody loves to hate Arnab and some hate to love him!
What a fabulously engaging piece.
There is nothing I can say about Arnab that you haven’t said (and far better than I ever could)… “protector-in-chief” is a classic!
Mr.Rao – we are going to Protest this letter in ‘NoiseHour’ er..NewsHour. Arnab is our Inspiration, Hypertension and cause for constipation 😛 –
We are all his Yuvasena and are planning to have NewsHour all day every hour, so that we can target as many experts as possible. 😉
He is much better than every other secular reposters.
FYI- REPOSTERS are the one who simply report what congress wants them to report.
Reality brought out into the open. Arnab exposed.
Doorknob…Doorknob… show us the way to a Greater India-a-a-a-a!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am one of the biggest fan of Mr Arnab Goswami. Not because of his TV anchoring skills but because of him being too straight to the point, concerned for the people, society and above all taking up issues which political parties also take up but only for their own benefit. This one is an awesome read…Cheers
I m a journalist of emergency era. pre censorship and fight for the freedom of press, was editor of “sadhna” weekly, gujarati. because of against censorship I was detained under “misa” and enjoyed(?) jail for a year. I wrote a book “misavasyam”.(u know, arnav… isha is almighty forever, but not in emergency period. misa was everywhere. so my book is about emergency, struggle, jail and censorship…all under misa! I m happy about yur journalism. and hope for…”RASHTRE JAGRYAM VAYAM”.. aware in our nation, each and every fronts…congrates. Vishnu pandya now free lance journalist and political anaylist.
A great article… Well-researched and balanced in satire (the 110 min hour & the maths teacher bits had me rolling) and facts (the Indian PM not speaking out enough leaving the job to self-nominated intellectuals like Arnab).
Wonderful sum-up of A(R)B the show-man:))
I love to hear him (though my better- half hates his voice!!); The ‘noise hour’ is hilarious, not for the topics that are thrown up, but to see the participants squirm, blush, blanch, etc., when he has his go at them, brandishing the sheaf of ‘proof’ , or when he asks them to recall their earlier diametrically-opposite views, or whenever they’re tongue-tied & cannot keep up with his fast-paced rip-offs!!
That’s BV Rao style of writing.A perfect ‘Telugu’ Punch!
Well written Mr,Rao a tad long though.Shakespeare said “Brevity is the soul of wit ‘.Arnab or Ornob is a thoroughbred albeit a Mustang.I suggest he spend a couple of days with the one and only Class one thoroughbred the suave,savvy and ever polite Vir Sanghvi.
Col.Hora
Watching the news hour now where he is waving a set of papers at the Pakistani 🙂
An important point missed in the article is how he keeps on repeating few words like one min. .. repeating the name of panelist (who are louder than him) so that they hear his two cents.
Dear Mr. Rao….Who are you and what do you do? Arnab still does something for the nation….how and by what manner / work of your’s are you trying to help the nation….when u say that Arnab’s employers might be influencing on what he says….let me tell you The Times Group never ever influences their journalists…it’s an organization that values the spirit of journalism without being biased to anyone…and Mr. Rao for God’s sake pls get your English right….you wrote “That, or his primary school maths teacher is not his viewer. In which case it is safe to say Arnab speaks for a billion-plus minus one Indians.” C’mon do I need to tell u d mistake here?
E.P.I.C.!!!!!! Funniest thing Ive read in a while. :)..… sharing on my Fb wall as “THE NATION HAS(note: not “wants” ) TO KNOW”!!!!!!!
B V Rao, whatever hopes Sharda may have nurtured of returning to India would have gone up in smoke after hearing about the endurance test she may have to go through every night – night after night- 9 pm onwards.
[…] As BV Rao explained to a friend in a letter recently, “It is tough to figure out why Arnab needs any experts at all because he knows the answers to all his questions.Times Now insiders say that more often than not he finds questions to the answers he already has. On his show, politicians can’t politicise, bureaucrats can’t beat around the bush, sportspersons can’t play games and lawyers can’t use legalese.” […]
Absolutely top drawer. Kudos, Mr BVRao. Exceptional writing. And Manav Jains misplaced apopletic stuttering and misguided attempts to find faults notwithstanding
– Deadlyprash
Brilliant piece, loved the witty part of it….
He gets on to my nerves most of the times…..
well said!
Beautifully written.I am happy Subramaniam Swamy showed him his place on 6 Jan.The way he treated an MLA from Karnataka on the joy ride issue is appalling.He dish out instant ”justice”.People like Vinod Metha playing second fiddle.The News Hour should be shifted to an Entertainment channel
U no what people, we Indians have a very big problem, we cant accept anyone excel in their field and that kills us and haunts us as it did to our very learned Journalist and columnist. It is just the idea of an Individual how to present his show and get the answers what public want. It is an attempt to do something good and not sitting back on sofas and commenting on the present Indian situation. If he speaks for the nation where he clashes with the people such as Kapil sibbal and Kamal Nath or Digvijay Singh not thinking much about his own personal future may get into darkness any moment so that is a show biz as per u people in itself. Let us not allow anyone to speak and question the corrupt politicians and let the inflation rise manifolds as it risen in last 10 years, stats which are alarming in itself. But the fact remains we are Indians , we have problem with everyone who wants to take a stance and bring about change in the stereotypical system of ours.
Excellent piece. I enjoy his show actually..good pastime. I however wish it were not so loud and also sometimes he really needs to allow them to answer!! I wait with bated breath for answers but he never lets them get to it..that being said, I still like his newshour!
awesomely written .. the show is like a fish market… the yapping doesnt stop.. i wish there were better interviewers… good job Mr. Rao
He lacks maturity and knowledge of Indian History. what hurts was most calling tamils emotional and questioning their patriotism..And mostly biased. How many north Indians carry the name of souths freedom fighters name ?
‘ HINDIA’ IS NOT INDIA…
A great job sir, these days he is after Aam Aadmi party, and it’s look like that he is a hunter on hunting mission every night,
Honestly, who is Mr. B V Rao? With all due respect to him, never heard of him before. How many know Mr B V Rao? I came to know him because of this article and read the article because it is about Arnab.
Journalism is not about doing some serious work at the initial stage of the career, befriend many powerful politicians, and then select/pick issues to work on so that no influential person is hurt.
Is it wrong to expose tainted ministers/ politicians? Don’t we relish when the erring guests squirm and get red faced when they do not have convincing answers to the anchor’s questions?
Arnab is the Virat Kohli of Indian journalism. He is bold, hard working, and sincere. He bats for TRUTH and JUSTICE. He reminds the powerful ones that they are all ACCOUNTABLE to people. He takes no sides. Cong, BJP, AAP – all are in his line of fire.
Here are some points about Arnab’s NewsHour and journalism style.
1- Agreed that NewsHour is a bit of a Noise Hour. But this is India and most of the guests on the panel have their Phds and diplomas in shouting from the parliament. They will only listen when shouted at or keep quiet when shouted down. The noise may be bit jarring, but if TRUTH emerges with a bit of jarring note, so be it.
TRPs do not soar if you just keep shouting. Your show must have genuine content.
2- Arnab reminds of a young Rajdeep Sardesai who was also bold, asked probing questions and was a bit loud too. May be with age Rajdeep has slowed down a bit or maybe he has been forced to slow down by the powerful politicians he took on.
3- Karan Thapar is very aggressive and enjoys poking his guests with pointed questions and with his facial expressions. Arnab retains Karan’s aggressiveness but fails to maintain a low volume that Karan does so easily. But that is OK.
4- Homework is crucial in journalism and Arnab does that well before coming to the show. He has to wave the sheaf of papers as proof, though even that may not intimidate the erring politicians.
What Arnab is doing is GOOD WORK. We need more journalists like him who are honest and impartial. This type of work will create a lot of enemies. Fellow journalists must support him. But pulling his legs and trying to belittle his work by finding silly faults like ‘noise’ or ‘exceeding the time limit’ etc. reek of professional jealousy.
In all likelihood Arnab will be subdued soon by the collective efforts of sinister politicians who have been exposed by him. Let us encourage him to keep going. May all the journos who are doing such good work be protected by the Almighty to continue with their good work.
Arnab is superb….We all love watching him- but he needs to give that little respect that is due to the panelists that he invites on his show. He just can’t thrive on demolishing one’s reputation and out shout the person who has just begun answering his tough questions. Maybe he will sober down with age as Rajdeep Sardesai has, after his stint with NDTV’s “Big Fight”.
That is amazing. My dad loves Arnab, I hate him. And just as you said, my dad has the TV tuned from 9 to 10:30 Times Now everyday and I can’t watch it. However, that piece in awesome. Reblogeed on akankshavarma.wordpress.com
You people keep criticizing and he will keep doing his work. I personally like the news channel and I like the news hour debate. Yes, sometimes his voice irritates me but he is fearless and I believe he does his homework. I have heard him deliver speech, Answer questions and he was polite. The content of the show demands him to act the way he does. But yes his voice and he should let others speak. My only problem with the show.
Sir, I disagree in only one point. Arnab is pronounced as Arnab in Assamese. Those who say “Ornob, Ornob” do so thinking him to be a Bengali. As you know there are articles available in the internet that have given wrong information that he is a Bengali.
Arnab and Jains must be laughing all the way to banks and TRP ratings because this discussion helps them.
Just blacklist the channel, if you don’t like him. Many have simply done that.
Period.