POLITICS AND ECONOMICS OF IPL

The third edition of the IPL is just over. This year there was far more drama than what was seen in its previous two editions. And there was more of it off the field than on it as the slanging match between Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi played out, first in the social media site Twitter and then in the mass media making national headlines.
By the time Chennai Super King’s M S Dhoni lifted the trophy, both Tharoor and Modi had lost their respective jobs- Tharoor as a junior External Affairs Minister and Modi as the IPL Commissioner.
The ugly spat brings out hypocrisy all around. Modi alone is not culpable. Take the case of Tharoor first. His claims that he had nothing to do with the Kochi team except to give them ‘blessings’ turned out to be a lie after it came out in the open that his ‘close friend’ Sunanda Pushkar got sweat equity worth Rs 69 crore in the franchisee. How can one claim that he has nothing to do with an activity that fetches crores of rupees to his close friend? Quite rightly, even Tharoor’s own party didn’t buy that argument and he was asked to step down.
Now Lalit Modi is also out, though officially it’s being called suspension for now. Perhaps it’s all part of a strategy of graded response that will lead to his final ouster. Skeletons are coming out every day. Vital papers of franchisees are missing. Now BCCI claims some of the perceived team owners (read Shilpa Shetty) don’t even own shares of their franchisees. Modi is also accused of having conflict of interest among a host of charges including bungling in granting telecast rights.
Even while not holding a flag for Modi, one could ask a plethora of questions. Why were the BCCI mandarins sleeping over all this in the last three years? Doesn’t the clause of conflict of interest apply to BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan whose India Cements owns the Chennai Super Kings, the champions this year? How come they have given a clean chit to Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel without any probe?
One only hopes the investigations will not be a hogwash and a mere ploy to oust Modi.
IPL: THE NEW PRIME TIME SOAP
Whatever the charges against Lalit Modi (Let’s assume his innocence till proven guilty), one cannot take away the credit from him (looking purely from the business point of view) for making IPL Indian television’s prime time soap. It’s not merely to do with the timing of the matches. That credit goes to Kerry Packer after he introduced ‘pyjama’ cricket in day-night ODIs decades back.
Modi changed the content of cricket, bringing in glamour and to some extent sleaze. And this made IPL beat the routine soaps in the TRP game. The post match IPL parties with ticket charges of Rs 40,000 were an instant hit so much so that even cheerleaders paled into insignificance. With all this, Modi expanded the cricketing audience, bringing in even those who hardly know the finer points of the game.
The strong speculation that many of the matches were fixed to keep the number of eyeballs intact is but natural. After all, match fixing no more makes news and is seen as a fallout of commercialisation of cricket over the years.
Cricket had become business as soon as live telecast brought in sponsors whose sole concern was getting the eyeballs. It applies more to a country like India where it’s a national obsession. Modi’s IPL has again changed the complexion of the game. It has made cricket a part of the business of entertainment. No wonder IPL matches competed with Bollywood blockbusters in multiplexes.

NEWS AT WHAT COST?

This piece is being reproduced from the Article section on Invisionindia.com

The phenomenon of ‘paid news’ made quite a few ripples lately after reports that the media took recourse to it during the 2009 General Elections on a large scale. Favourable reports and flattering interviews carried a premium and the political parties and leaders readily obliged the media. It was only much later that the Election Commission, the Press Council of India and the Editors’ Guild took note of the malpractice and decided to work out measures to control it.
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan also came out against the paid news syndrome, just ahead of the release of his movie ‘Rann’ in which the actor essays the role of a media baron. May be what Bachchan said on the issue during a promotional tour for the movie was well timed to promote his latest flick, but the gist of what he said hits the nail on the head. “The media is a nation’s conscience. It’s also a business … That’s the war,” Bachchan said while calling it a malpractice. Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla had expressed the Election Commission’s “increasing concern” about the paid news syndrome.
Indeed, the sacred split between editorial and advertisement is now being sewn together and if not checked in time, the syndrome could take away all credibility associated with the media, considered the fourth pillar in any democratic society. It’s for the owners and editors to strike the right balance between any media organisation’s business interests and its role as the conscience-keeper of the society at large.
The concept of ‘paid news’ is nothing new. More than two decades ago, the term ‘advertorial’ came into currency in media. As paid advertisements, advertorials masquerade as editorial making readers believe they are reading a news story. This raises the big ethical question whether any media organization should fall for it as a source of revenue and an overwhelming opinion is against it.
But it will not be an easy task to check this malpractice. First, it’s very difficult to prove that a particular report was published for a consideration. Second, elaborate guidelines need to be in place and more importantly the bodies that act as watchdogs of the media like the Press Council of India should have enough teeth to bite if anything goes amiss. As it stands today, the PCI cannot take any punitive measures and its powers are limited to passing strictures against erring media houses. Its writ needs to be given a legal sanctity for it to act like a deterrent against any malpractice. Suitable amendments may also be required in the Representation of the People Act.
Sale of editorial space can be a lucrative business, much more paying than even the Sunday classifieds. All stakeholders- the political parties, editors, the Press Council of India and the Election Commission – need to work together for a consensus to prevent media houses from becoming an extension of PR firms. The process of consultation is on and one only hopes something concrete comes out of it.
Triumph of the Trivial
The impact of the process of trivialization or what has come to be known as ‘masala news’ can be gauged from the fact that the likes of Rakhi Sawant feature on prime time news bulletins with an alarming regularity. Even promos of movies and television serials are packaged as news stories. Be it the goings-on in the ‘Big Boss’ house or Abhishek Bachchan’s TV show ‘Bingo’, all such inconsequential stories occupy prime time news space on news channels. About the vernacular channels, the less said the better. Some channels and publications routinely put out absurd stories which have no public consequence what so ever as part of their staple news bulletins.
Also there is a boring similarity in the pattern of coverage of news stories by TV channels as they imitate one another for TRPs. It has led to what is being called McDonaldization of news or McJournalism. The emphasis is on quantity and standardization which have replaced quality and variety. Like the fast food joints, the focus is on delivery time rather than catering to the taste of the palate.
Like the paid news syndrome, driving news content, too, is a dilemma for news organizations as it they find themselves torn between business interests and their role as conscience-keeper of the nation.
Entertainment does play an important role in society-building and can be used a vehicle to send message to the masses. There are a host of entertainment channels and publications to cover it all. But an overemphasis on this by news channels only dilutes their credibility. The challenge is to strike the right balance and that’s what will pay off in the long run.
pradip.bagchi@gmail.com