I got a call from one of my friends in Hyderabad at a very odd time. He works in ETV, a part of the huge Eenadu group. He told me that one of his colleagues has been sacked from the job. Incidentally, I had also an aquaintance with that colleague, even older than the friend who called up. I got to know that he tried to speak against the workers exploitation in the channel. Basically, what he did was created a blog and revealed the secrets of the group, it’s loyal journalist workers and their internal deals and relationships. I called him up and listened carefully to the details straight from the horse’s mouth.

The other day, a team from Delhi was send to Ramoji Film city to investigate the allegations which he had send on e-mail to the Labour Minisry and PMO. This news was completely unheard in the Delhi media and no one is aware of it till date. The Eenadu group tried its best to cover the whole melodrama by calling computer experts from UK and deleting all the matter which was on the blog, hacked his e-mail and left no signs of truth.

He is now in Delhi. Sad, depressed but again rejuvenating himself to join some other group more or less of this character only. There is no way out. You can’t speak about the media if you are specially in the media itself. A few months back one of my friends tried to reveal some old facts against the giant Benett Coleman. It was an old case and it is pending in the courts till date.

If someone could remember the old issues of Onlooker, a publication of the Free Press Journal and Frontline, it can be easily recalled that some of our revered journalists and intellectuals had criticised the editorial policy of Times Of India and Economic Times. These twin sops had tried to influence the Enforcement Directorate in regard to the FERRA cases against Ashok Jain. When the then Editorial Advisor Mr. H.K. Dua refused to do so, he was sacked from the group. Justice P.N. Bhagwati was appointed as the ombudsman of the Times Of India and this was also criticised in the Onlooker. After a long judicial case, Onlooker ceased to be published and the matter got stucked in the volumes of Supreme Court and High Court.

Why this matter had got new life, became relevant was due to a NRI who is fighting a long Judicial case against the group i.e. Sahu Jain & Co. This NRI is charged with 44 fake cases by Delhi Police and not only this, the Parliament Of India has been misleaded in this regard by an Ex-CBI Chief. Inspite of this hue and cry, the matter has not been even taken into notice by any of the Presidents or Prime Ministers as this is directly related to the most rich Watcdog of this country. To say least, the reporter was got sacked from the publication where this story came out recently and the Editor jailed on a fake charge. So, what do you think now, can you speak against the media group being a journalist. No. It’s a bit dangerous.

Have you heard any voice of dissent from the Hindustan Times group when recently key post holders in the editorial were given VRS. No. Rather, the Chairperson has been awarded with a chair in the Rajya Sabha and the Editor Padma Shree. Don’t talk of small publications like The Day After where the Editor is day long engaged in liasoning with the politicians and casting-couching. He is now a member of Press Council Of India and a member of INS. Ooooh...INS reminded me more than 300 newspapers many of which only publish file copies. The Bureau Chiefs of many of them get a meagre salary around 7000/- p.m. but if one offers them with a key post in any national newspaper and high salary, they will just refuse to come. Why? Because they are getting seven thousand bugs simultaneously from many sides. So why to leave a Sarkari Naukari of this sort? If you don’t believe, just have a look at the stringers of the newspapers in Delhi. I know one of them who is covering Greater Noida nowadays, gets paid for the news published, walks with a Hyundai car and has pistols on his sides. How? We know better, but can’t speak out.