National Award-winning filmmaker Umesh Aggarwal’s film, Brokering News – Media, Money and Middlemen is still making headlines even after two years since its release. The film had garnered a lot of attention for its hard-hitting take on paid news after its release in December 2011. Earlier this month, the film won the Indian Gold Award, which is the Indian Documentary Producers’ Association Awards for Excellence. The film was also the official selection for the international section at Mumbai International Film Festival in 2012.

This isn’t the only film which Aggarwal has made. He’s also made Incurable India, Divided Colours of India and Underground Inferno. Currently, he’s working on a documentary on AR Rahman’s life which tracks his journey “from Roja to Raanjhana, and seeks to find out what is it that has made him a global phenomenon”. In an email interview, we asked Aggarwal what continues to keep Brokering News relevant, whether journalists were unwilling to speak on the issue of paid news when he approached them and how he reads the pattern of news coverage in the run up to 2014 elections.

 Q. What motivated you to make the film brokering news?               

A. My association with news media industry goes back to 1985 when I started working with NEWSLINE – India’s first news & current affairs programme. I have been a witness to the changing TV news media. With the boom one expected it to evolve. Yes it did evolve, but into what? Newspapers are published without editors. Editorial content is decided by marketing executives. Politicians/ political parties & industrialists have become owners or major shareholders, and owners have become editors. The amount of dedication and truthfulness – basically an urge to bring about positive changes through investigative journalism has somehow disappeared.  Even the reasons of getting into journalism have changed. And all of this has happened with active support from the top media houses – who now concentrate more on the business of news rather than news. This situation was becoming quite painful.

News media is very quick in picking up corruption stories. But when The Hindu was publishing stories by P Sainath about corruption in news media, none of the TV channels or newspapers picked up the story. Media houses are very quick in seeking resignation of politicians, bureaucrats, police officials but when Radia tapes became public, channels gave journalists a platform to defend themselves instead of questioning them or asking them to resign.

As a film-maker it was an outlet of personal frustration. Someone had to take the first step. I proposed the idea of Brokering News to Public Service Broadcasting Trust.  Since they believe in supporting independent voices, they agreed to fund the film.

Q. Was it difficult it to get editors/journalists to talk about the media business? 

A. It was, and it wasn’t. Those who had experienced it personally and could present a ring side view agreed readily. Those who knew that their personal integrity will be questioned refused to reply and became unapproachable.

Q. Was there any editor/journalist whom you approached but who refused to speak to you? 

A. Too many to list, and it included not only editors but also those who own news media, who take care of business interests and even those who were assigned the job of looking into paid news by the Parliament. I can’t name them as it would be unfair to name some while leaving others.

Q. What impact do you think the film made on the media fraternity and the public? 

A. Mainline media decided to neglect the film. Doordarshan was the only channel willing to telecast it. We had complete support for our content from the election commission of India. The film had many private screenings. The Goa Union of Journalists went to the extent of organising a special screening along with IFFI. When the film became available on YouTube within 12 hours more than 18,000 people saw it. People started tweeting & rewetting about the film. I presume many of them were young journalists. Some of them have told me personally that such a film was long awaited. I hope they can do something to reverse the situation. And as far as the public is concerned, I don’t think many of them are gullible enough to believe everything that comes on print and news television. Through this film, we were not representing a new and unique idea. We were just putting into perspective what the people already knew. But yes, one positive thing that I have to mention here, lots of grassroots level workers from the media fraternity have appreciated and validated the claims made in the film – but their opinions don’t matter, do they?

5. What do you think is wrong with news in India? 

If you really want to know what is wrong with news media talk to those who covered Uttarakhand Floods. How figures for everything were maneuvered. There is a big story there. I am surprised none of the journalists have taken it up.

A.  For me – where is the news? Switch on any news channel at any given time you will have five guests and an anchor trying to outshout each other. Between 8.30 to 11 pm if I want to know the headlines, I will have to read the ticker. Sometimes what news channels shout about for the entire day, the next day newspapers have no mention of it. And whenever they get it wrong they will never accept that they were wrong. They never offer an apology to the person or organisation who was wronged.

I am just an observer.  I, or anyone for that matter, expects a truthful representation of facts and analysis of events without vested interests. I wonder whether business news articles should read like press releases. I don’t want Amitabh Bachchan to read news to promote his film (we were not told that he was promoting his film). Let him do what he is best at.

6. In the pre-election year, how do you think the media is positioning itself, as far as political ideology and leadership is concerned?  

Media in its current physical state of matter is liquid in nature. It gets ‘modi’fied according to shifting public sentiments. It’s aligning itself to the strong anti-incumbency factor, hoping that when the time comes, they will eventually have their share in the pie. This has nothing to do with political ideology and leadership. It has everything to do with a well-drafted and forward-looking business strategy without any concern for social sentiments that could perhaps be best explained by that Bollywood song – Dhandha hai par Gandha hai ye…