Guess you win some, lose some

Firstly there is no freedom of press in India As in not on paper or in law Indias founding fathers and mothers did mull over special provisions for the rightfreedom of journalists to operate securely as an independent fourth estateBut they chose to seamlessly merge this potentially fundamental right with the already existing freedom of speech and expression mdash guaranteed equally to all citizens under the Constitution This is unlike the US Constitution for instance which earned and protected the explicitly stated freedom of the press through the First Amendment 1791 mdash to be able to invoke it forever as it happily doesIndias First Amendment 1951 on the other hand was partly in response to the Supreme Court overturning a ban on a leftist journal deeply critical of government policies The SC cited the Constitution The amendment that followed put restrictions on the said freedom of speech and expression itself insteadBetween the First Amendment of the Indian and American Constitution therefore lies the full story of the unequal state of news media in both countries Although there are surely many people in the press who mean just as well in India they simply dont feel protected enoughThis also makes redundant the question of whether Arnab Goswami Republic TV owneranchor mdash running a hatefactory for a news network night after night picking on private citizens who are hardly a match to him in financialpolitical clout mdash strictly speaking is a journalist at all Should he seek sympathy on that account from the public In an abetment to suicide case over a financialbusiness matterFact is it doesnt matter Its not like journalists have any special rightsprivileges in any case Either way this question is only invoked to place journalism mdash like that term humanism mdash as a higher moral idealcalling Except on the ground there are such rarestray exceptions as examples to support the supposed statureIm not getting into journalistic biases that are no different from personal biases and everybody has one Only saints and there are none commit to objectivity But even for these biases to dangerously bleed out as deepred prejudices Goswami is not the only morally corrupt one out there mdash mirroring mass hysteria for personal gains rightIs he the first Indian TV anchor never mind a journalist to proverbially wear the ruling partys flag and election symbol across his suit before a television camera Hes just the most famous one And with a personal fanbase among regular Rameshes as he goes after his rival politicians say Which politicians do all the time too while simultaneously honouring an unspoken code that binds them together as a classAs any pedestrian sage might suggest its not about what someone says mdash but whos saying it Likewise it isnt so much about what youre saying as it is about how you do Stepping into a state of trance Goswami hits below the belt making choicest personal remarks directing disrespectful barbs challenging his political opponents including the police commissioner to a public duel Do politicians usually take up such challenges of their rivals from time to time Hell yeahOnly that strictly speaking Gowami is neither a journalist nor a fulltime politician mdash least of all a street fighter Hes an All India BakchodTV braineyestongue aimed at gaining audiences making crores from it and building a political access with the ruling elite that benefits his workSure that ensures everyone from the ministers of home finance IampB will tweet in his favour upon his decidedly unfair arrest bail ought to be the norm The governor will also intervene on his behalf with the state government that Goswami is evidently determined to have on its kneesBut it doesnt take a Sherlock to tell who Goswami really is mdash foremost a fullon businessman And in no time the top one in the TV news business at that Heres the noticeable thing about top businesses in India though Polite to a fault they never seem so emotionally deep into the political circusmess that it could personally hurt them in return Unless one assumes permanence of a dictatorshipIndias richest man Mukesh Ambani for instance surely in a great working relationship with the government can still openly show support to the opposition candidate when it comes to the allimportant Lok Sabha election in his own constituency As he does Anil Ambani was similarly once criticised for breaking his father Dhirubhais principle about politics by taking up a Rajya Sabha seat with support of a particular partySo instead of debating Goswamis journalism ethics guess the question to ask is if hes any good as a businessman Let alone that he knows his name has only recently figured in a suicide note while hes shouting for a girls arrest in a similar case mdash when no such evidence exists for herAlso he apparently didnt fully pay a freelance professional for an architects job which allegedly led to the man in debt taking his own life This is the part that journalists will probably dislike Goswami more for God knows the act of chasing freelance cheques have hurt Indian media professionals more than the First Amendment ever couldMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture He tweets mayankw14Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news