Headlines Today gets journalism lessons from Kapil Sibal
Well done Shri Kapil Sibal!
Kapil Sibal taught Headlines Today a lesson that they never forget!
Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal taught a few journalism lessons to Headlines Today journalists - Anchor Rahul Kanwal and his Senior Editor Sandeep Bamzai.
The live 'classroom' session took place on July 25 when Headlines Today invited the minister on Centre Stage - the day the counsel of former telecom minister A Raja, who is an accused in the 2G scam, revealed that Prime Minister and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram were aware of the 2G spectrum auction and its procedures that draw flak from various corners.
All journalism students should watch this interview as it holds four important 'journalism' lessons i.e.
1. Should have a clear picture about what you ask.
2. Never intimidate the guest with your hi-fi vocabulary and biased documents.
Lesson 1: Ask the question to the person concerned.
The anchor wanted the minister to explain a file noting made by the Principal Secretary, Telecom on January 15, 2008 five days after the then Telecom Minister A Raja had issued the telecom licences.He read out the noting which went thus: "PM wants this informally shared with the DoT. PM desires that the development regarding the issue of telecom licences to be taken into account. He does not want formal communication. He wants the PMO to be at an arm's length."The minister instead of commenting on the noting, correctly told the anchor that the question should be posed to the PMO. How could he explain why the PM wanted the PMO to be kept "at an arm's length"?
He was equally blunt with the channel's senior editor when the latter read out excerpts from a letter written by Raja to the PM in December 2007 and the response from the prime minister.
Commented Mr Sibal: "It is very unfortunate that you are quoting these letters on a television interview. You should give those letters to me or give reference of these letters to me. I could get in touch with the Prime Minister's office. I would get copies of those letters and I would respond to you. I don't have those letters."The minister was right. How can ministers comment on matters that are so important without examining them first? Good journalism requires that the subject be given an opportunity to study the documents before responding.
Lesson 2: Do not jump to conclusions or draw implications.
The minister turned the questioner when the anchor asked him if it was correct that the Prime Minister knew that there was something wrong in the manner in which licences were being issued. He demanded from the anchor: "Do you have any evidence that the PM knew of any alleged irregularity prior to January 10 (2008)?"When the anchor responded that this is an allegation that Raja is making, the minister hit back with the following statement: "It is not the job of television anchor to put two and two together."He wanted the anchor to ask "questions of fact".When the anchor persisted in trying to build a theory that the prime minister's action seemed "suspicious", the minister retorted: "Journalists should ask questions, not give answers." He further advised the anchor: "Don't attribute motives, and don't accuse the highest office of this country and don't try and suggest any suspicion where none exist. You have hard evidence. Please provide it to us, and we will deal with it." The minister cannot be faulted for insisting that the channels stick to facts.
The interview can be watched in full at the following url:
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