The power of an editorial

One of my beliefs, very strongly, is that any democracy depends on a free, healthy press.  Some of these newspapers, the news-gathering and editorial organizations are really important, I don’t want to see us descend into a nation of bloggers, myself.  I think we need editorial more than ever right now.

- Steve Jobs

I’ve been trying to pen down this article for a long time now but always felt there was something missing that I could not grasp. Now, with the whole Wikileaks controversy, I finally got a hold around that missing aspect.

The whole thought was triggered by the recent (or now quite a distant memory) CWG coverage that was being carried by the newspapers. The coverage was predominantly negative, desultory and basically insinuating that the whole image of India being a rising super-power was being flushed down the toilet. One newspaper actually displayed a photo of a dirty WC on their cover page to show just how bad things were. News “broke” about collapsing bridges, ceilings, paw prints of dogs on bedsheets and one oft-repeated quote by a bureaucrat saying “Their levels of hygiene and our levels of hygiene are different”. All they could report was doom and gloom. Until, some anonymous soul in Delhi, frustrated by what the media reported, sneaked in, took photos of all the completed buildings and posted them on Facebook. A beautiful montage of tall, completed stadia for swimming, athletics and other sports. Beautiful, resplendent and glorious. But that was not enough to fill in the seats. The tipping point was the opening ceremony which blew everyone away with the glamor, colors and the execution. This was truly the image of India that we were trying to portray and filled in the seats. So what happened  between the news reports and the opening ceremony? Was there some divine intervention that led to such the execution of such a brilliant event? I would love to believe that but somehow, I don’t think so. I feel we have just witnessed the power of an editor as its absolute worst.

Ever since we moved on from the half-hour news programme of Doordarshan to the 24-hour format of a news channel, there has always been a constant tension to fill the entire day with relevant, important and more importantly, eye-grabbing news. After all, eye-grabbers increase TRPs, TRPs increase advertising rates, advertising rates increase revenues, and revenues increases bonuses, payouts and prestige. However, this has led to a happy migration of reporters across the gray line separating relevant, significant news from pure sensationalism. News reports on how Prince fell into the well, roads being dug up but not replaced, honor killings, etc. apparently grab eyeballs (they bleed mine actually). The question is however, this: Given that most of the information is the same, given that the country has not necessarily gone down the drain as badly as the reporting on dismal news has shot up, how can the country all of a sudden be so broken on all aspects of its workings when the economy is still booming. The answer does not lie in the data or the information but its representation – the editorial.

The power of the media basically is vested in absolute measures with the editor. He/ She alone determines what is put out for the world to see, what facts or information need not be reported in the interest of succinctness, and what news is deemed relevant to their readers/ watchers. The media, typically, should not biased in its reporting. However, usually, the flavor of the magazine is colored by the editor’s preferences as well. These biases are apparent at first glance itself. So it’s easy to determine whether a publication is a conservative one, whether a media channel is pro-Hindutva secular or just-doesn’t-give-a-fuck in its nature. The problem arises when news channels eschew these biases for an even more dangerous one: that of sensationalism, titillating the viewers’ senses with the dramatic; an incorrect representation of reality just to attract their attention. Where security of our armed forces or the general populace may have been compromised to deliver the truth (?)  or where media reports are further fueling the fire to an already hostile situation

While this may be true in all other industries as well, why point a finger only at the news stations? Simple. No other industry/ services has the power to shape our views and biases on events that are not happening in our immediate vicinity. Our views on Kashmir or Kargil are based on news reports filed by reporters there and polished by the editors in New Delhi. Our understanding of the political games is based on what news channels and newspapers present to us as an unbiased, factual report. However, if we really look at the last year of media reporting, I would find it to believe that 1) Our world is so depressing and 2) Our world is actually breaking news every day and at times thrice a day. This is not to say that the news media lies to us. It’s more about traversing the gray area that pertains to selective reporting. It is when Barkha is put on the hot-seat for failing to break a very significant story that this editorial power hits us. It makes us wonder what else the media is not reporting either in the “interest of the viewers”.

However, on the other hand you have Wikileaks. You have a website that leaks several significantly confidential documents including those that might create havoc in international relations and diplomatic embassies. This, in the interest of transparency. Let’s be clear: Wikileaks does, in fact, have its own editorial policy. As per its Wikipedia entry: WikiLeaks was originally launched as a user-editable wiki site, but has progressively moved towards a more traditional publication model, and no longer accepts either user comments or edits. As per this model, there is nothing sacred enough to be withheld. I don’t want to get into this too much except that I disagree with the notion that “if you don’t want people to know what you are doing, then don’t do it”. Sometimes, you have to choose the lesser evil. And sometimes, you have to do what is right to protect your own interests even if it does mean that it may be wrong in the short-term. Not considering this perspective is another fallacy of a media house. It is when we swing too much to the other side to prevent any kind of coloring of the views pertaining to the documentation. Again, let’s be sure that that this is not complete transparency either. The fact that Julian is, in fact, threatening to release “poison pill” documents in case he is arrested or killed clearly shows that he too is exercising restraint in his editorial policy and does have a few more cards up his sleeve than he indicates. These files which have been leaked may be based on other contexts which are not part of the documents leaked. How do we base our opinions on the rights and the wrongs  of what’s happening without these contexts. What if these contexts are based on others and if we keep going further and further down that rabbit hole, continuously leaking out this information, it may lead to severe compromises in the defense of nations as a whole?

The question is that we are being faced with two real operating models here: One where there is a significant bias towards covering up the main but mundane aspects of an event while highlighting very specific areas to promote its sensationalistic aspects while the other purports to deliver extreme transparency irrespective of its consequences on international relations. How do we traverse the middle line of responsible, transparent journalism which was the forte of the past? Where the interest was generated not through sensationalism and “breaking news” but through insightful reporting? Where the Ambanis were not constantly shadowed by the news media but were subject to Arun Shourie’s brilliant reporting with S. Gurumurthy breaking down the financial details. Is this the future of how our worldview is to be built? My dad used to always tell me: “You should always read the news. You should know what is happening around the world!”. Would there be a time when I need to tell my kids: “Stop watching the news! You will only get depressed! Get on Twitter instead!”?

Update: For a foreign flavor of this post, check out this rant from my online inspiration Fake Steve Jobs

Hugh MacLeod – Moronic !

I loved this point from Hugh‘s Ignore Everybody:

The words in this picture are taken from IGNORE EVERYBODY.

Every creative person is looking for “The Big Idea”. You know, the one that is going to catapult them out from the murky depths of obscurity and on to the highest planes of incandescent ludicity.

The one that’s all love-at-first-sight with the Zeitgeist.

The one that’s going to get them invited to all the right parties, metaphorical or otherwise.

So naturally you ask yourself, if and when you finally come up with The Big Idea, after years of toil, struggle and doubt, how do you know whether or not it is “The One”?

Answer: You don’t.

There’s no glorious swelling of existential triumph.

That’s not what happens.

All you get is this rather kvetchy voice inside you that seems to say, “This is totally stupid.This is utterly moronic. This is a complete waste of time. I’m going to do it anyway.”

And you go do it anyway.

Second-rate ideas like glorious swellings far more. Keeps them alive longer.

A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink

OMIGOD ! I know I do tend to squeal like a little teen sometimes but man! this book totally blows my mind. Dan Pink talks about:

1. Why design thinking is so important: Dan breaks this down into the following argument: The fact that there are an abundant number of choices, it’s not enough to make the product in the most cost-effecient way  but also to bring out an aura or an artistic sense to the product. Kinda like Maslow’s hierarchy for marketing students. First, people want the cheapest model, then the most-value-to-features ration model (Number of buttons per Re.) but above that, they want artistic values in anything they buy. Seems like the reason why people buy Macs and iPhones. The second reason is any activity which requires pure logical and rational thinking (what Pink calls L-directed thinking) has predominantly been taken over through outsourcing to cheaper destinations like India, China and the Phillipines. Or being automated out of manual intervention.

2. So what? Interesting Q. So what does USA sit on its ass and do? Well, just move up to the next level which Dan calls the “Conceptual Age” which is an age of creators and empathizers who specialize in well, “high-concept” and “high-touch”. Hence, the  next leap upwards is based on R-directed thinking (or thinking done by the right hemisphere of the brain which predominantly creative).

3. And how? Pink talks about 5 main tools that are required for this: Design – Making things inherently “blow your mind” easy to use and in a way that engages him/ her; Story – Building up a story/ context around the product/ service; Symphony – Visualizing the larger picture without getting too stuck in the details ; Empathy – to imagine yourself in someone else’s position and to intuit his feelings; Play – The time to break-off from the usual activities and do something well, fun; Meaning – A reason to be and exist.

Overall, I did have issues with using India as an example of an outsourcing destination for predominantly L-directed thinking. While I do get that some of the activities he talks about are L-directed activities, however, coding is not necessarily an L-directed activity. If you want to really understand that statement, you MUST read iWoz. Wozniak was more an artist than just a plain coder. And we do traditionally have one of the richest legacies in art, sculpture and textile. Except for this one thing that kinda irked me, definitely a worth-while read.

Is it just me or have authors started defining countries as departments of one large organization i.e. USA as the brain, Russia and the Middle East as the fuel supplies department, China as the manufacturing department (And increasingly the bank as well), India as the R&D department and the customer service department, Africa as the CSR department, etc.  (though I disagree with the last one)

Just Read Fast Company’s Greatest Hits

Fast Company really took the blogosphere by storm when it launched. With contributors like Seth Godin and Tom Peters, the magazine really killed the sacred cow and shed light on some brilliant insights and practices followed in different parts of the world. Then, they took some of their most popular and their most insightful articles and made into this blockbuster book. I had bought this book around last year and this is the second time I’ve read this. You HAVE to read this book if you are fond of learning about the different ways business is actually being conducted around the USA.

My favorite topics were:

1. The Brand Called You – Tom Peters
2. Free Agent Nation – Daniel Pink
3. The Agenda-Grassroots Leadership – Polly LaBarre (also co-author of incredibly amazing “Mavericks at Work – READ THIS !)
4. What are we after? We are literally trying to stop time! -  Bill Breen
5. Grassroots Leadership: US Military Academy – Keith.H. Hammonds
6. And now, the Hard Part- Chuck Salter
7. The Thrill of Defeat – Bill Breen
8. Gospels of Failure – Jena McGregor
9. Join the Circus – Linda Tischler

Of drug dealers and consultants

I remember one of my other friends from my firm telling me “I don’t know why I do this shit.” This was a time for another analogy – consultants vs. drug dealers.

First, you need to understand how the whole drug-dealer thing works. My primary source of reference are these two brilliant books: The famous Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner and the incredible Gang leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. If you are really interested in black culture or the workings of a ghetto, you HAVE to read this book. Incidently, a large part of the section of Freakonomics pertaining to “Why drug dealers stay with their mom?” come from Sudhir’s research (Sudhir did his thesis with assistance from Levitt).

Let me describe the organizational structure:

At the bottom of the pyramid (original, no?) are the foot soldiers. These are the guys standing on the streets selling crack, fighting rival gangs and ending up in prison or dead.

Above them are the area bosses. These guys collect money from the foot soldiers, provide ammo, protect the prostitutes and generally ensure get the goodies and a slightly higher pay.

So on and on, the hierarchy goes until we reach the board of directors. Yes, all crooks seem to have the same kind of boards of directors (Just kidding – the ones in the drug trade actually know what illegal shit is happening. These guys have reached the land of milk and honey after leaving a trail of blood, crack, beaten whores and what not. These guys get most of the money from the sales of crack, women and protection.

So why are the foot soldiers so keen to get shot, imprisoned and expose themselves to countless dangers while the board of directors who take very little exposure are licking the cream from the top. Simple. Because they ee the money, the bling, the cars, the women  that come with being boss. They want to be a board member. The chances are very low. But each of them thinks they have the kills and the sales to go up the ladder. Most of them are going to fall off the wayside. But it’s the dream that drives them on.

Uh, sounds familiar?

Angry Blonde

Eminem - Angry blonde

My God ! Actually, my rap idol! I was at Landmark last week looking for some books to buy……it’s like an addict roaming the streets looking for crack….when I spotted this book. It’s un-fuckin’-believable. The original price was Rs. 1118/- and the discounted price was Rs. 199. That’s a 919-buck discount. I wonder how Landmarks would feel if they knew I would have paid the entire 1K. Angry Blonde is a dissection of Eminem‘s strongest songs. For each (actually most) of his songs, there is a brief description by Em of how each song came about, where did they pick the beat from and how he got the hook and so on. For an Eminem fan, it is a collection item! And once again, my respect for his abilities to just go out and rhyme has just risen tenfold !

Like I said un-fuckin-believable. Now I really want to get my hands on The way I am

Customer Loyalty by Jeanne Bliss

As a customer loyalty-focused marketer, Jeanne Bliss has been in the marketing game with some notable brands: Lands’ End, Coldwell Banker, Allstate, Microsoft, and Mazda. Her book I LOVE YOU MORE THAN MY DOG is the distillation of all her experience in the industry.

Johnnie Moore gives her Brand Autopsy treatment

Interesting advice:

1. Decide to Trust Customers and Employees
2. Decide to be Guided by a Clarity of Purpose
3. Decide to be Real, Genuine, and Personal
4. Decide to Deliver Thoughtful Customer Experiences
5. Decide to Apologize

What really attracted me to the book was the intro Johnnie gave:

When you make a decision, it results in action. And the accumulation of those decisions and actions become how people describe you and think of you. It becomes your ‘story.

Book Review – Cold Steel

Ok…I read this book in two days flat. It describes in real deep detail about the battle between Arcelor’s Dolle and Mittal Steel’s Lakshmi Nivas Mittal which finally culminated in the merger of the two behemoths to create Arcelor Mittal. I really loved this book for these reasons:

1. The descriptions of how both sides (especially Mittal) played the fourth estate (newspapers, reporters, media, etc.) to put forth their case to the shareholders and governments.

2. The number of hindrances that Mittal faced. Even governments who did not have a stakeholding in the company supported Dolle’s view of opposing the takeover and that clearly worked against Mittal.

3. Sheer fucking perseverance: That’s one of the things that really came out from the book. How Mittal fought against each hurdle that was placed against him (including an attempt to legislate new takeover laws for Luxembourg) was described in incredible detail. How the man refused to give up even when the chips were down.

4. The media can decimate your image: Even though Guy Dolle did his best to get away from the whole monkey money incident, it was twisted out to look racist (even though that was probably the only action that wasn’t so)

5. Get people on your side: How Mittal used the Indian pride and ego to get Indian lawmakers and politicians such as Kamal Nath and Manmohan Singh openly support him is a chapter to devour and digest.

6. The real Aditya Mittal: Till now, I always felt that Aditya got to where he was courtesy his dad. While that might be true, his role in this merger is incredibly more significant than I thought it was. Eventually, it was his responsibility to talk to the board members and convince them of the deal.

7. An in-depth view of how takeover mergers really work: While Barbarians at the Gate described leveraged buyouts in excruciating detail, this gets into the details of both the financial as well as the political motivations involved in hostile takeovers as well as the roles of white knights, white squires and poison pills. While I did learn the theoretical underpinnings of these fundaes during MBA, it really came alive in the book

 

So overall, a pretty decent book, though I have to admit, it wasn’t what I would call an unbiased, balanced account of the takeover. It was pretty heavily stilted towards the Mittal side. With Guy Dolle looking like the villain in the movie. And, they have taken quite a bit of poetic license in their narrative style. But, overall, a definite thumbs-up