Twitter Tales – Journos And Their Mod(i)est Pretensions
Here are some post election stories from twitter handles of prominent journos.
Chirp chirp. The twitter birdie has news from across the handles of some prominent journalists. Here’s the post election buzz from their handles.
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ContributeTwitter Buzz 1- The inventor of the term #internethindu finds herself trending on Twitter as #YoSagarikaSoSecular
According to the latest buzz in Twitterland #YoSagarikaSoSecular is one of the top trends. Sagarika Ghose, a popular anchor on CNN IBN and the inventor of the term #internethindu finds herself mired in yet another twitter controversy. It is difficult to fathom why she should be the butt of secular jokes given that her last few jokes (we mean tweets) have been brimming with her love for #GangaAarti and offers only good wishes to PM designate Narendra Modi. Take a look.
What seems to have irked thousands of Twitter inhabitants is this tweet-
Her wish to see her Prime Minister visiting a mosque angered not only the trolls but also some journalists. Here’s Rupa Subramanya’s reaction to Ghose’s justification that she wasn’t referring to “ghisapita secularism” but to “sub-continental spirituality of shared shrines”.
Seema Goswami, who usually praises articles written by Sagarika Ghose, sent out the following tweet.
A Pakistani journalist also wondered why Modi should visit a mosque.
Sagarika Ghose has been the subject of Twitter controversies more than once. The following tweet made by her in February had triggered speculations about press freedom being quelled by owners of media houses with certain political/corporate leanings.
But as Sagarika has shown in the past, she is not one to be bogged down by such threats. She continues to make her point, albeit sandwiched between thick layers of conformist tweets.
Twitter Buzz 2 – Who will be Narendra Modi’s media advisor?
Newsrooms may be busy with speculations about Modi’s cabinet, but journalists on twitter are spending their 140 characters speculating about the job profile that interests them most- Modi’s media advisor.
The competition seems to be tough, given the fact that journalists on the same side of the ideological divide are making snide remarks about each other. Here’s one by Madhu Kishwar on columnist and journalist Swapan Dasgupta.
She also adds (and we do not know who she is referring to here).
Swapan Dasgupta does have some pearls of wisdom for Modi on his timeline.
Sucheta Dalal, however, tweeted about who will NOT be Modi’s media advisor.
Sanjay Baru, the former media advisor of the former Prime Minister has certainly set the bar higher for his successors.
Twitter Buzz 3 – Why is NDTV so happy?
All the channels have been quite festive in their coverage of Narendra Modi’s spectacular victory. But NDTV’s Barkha Dutt and Vikram Chandra made sure that the same festivity was reflected on their Twitter handles. They were also fervently retweeting tweets by Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders. Here are a few examples of how overwhelmed the NDTV team is by the rise of Narendra Modi.
Here goes Barkha.
There’s more. Barkha Dutt and Sunetra Choudhury made it a point to share pictures of NDTV being the preferred choice of news at the BJP headquarters in Delhi and Varanasi.
Monitoring ho ya popularity. Sab chalta hain. Ab ek interview to bantahain!
Twitter Buzz 4 – Bure din aane wale hain…
If anything could dampen NDTV’s collective optimism about Narendra Modi becoming PM, it is former Tehelka journalist Rana Ayyub’s cynicism. She had no kind words for the PM designate. A glimpse of her timeline.
IBN Lokmat’s Nikhil Wagle was another voice of caution on twitter. While he didn’t shout polarization and minority sidelining from the rooftops, he raised an alarm about fundamentalist elements within BJP.
Hope the new PM is reading all the advice being offered free of cost to him by journos. For more such twitter tales, watch this space.
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