Jests and literalism on Twitter
General V. K. Singh's Twitter joke against the media over the Yemen rescue mission triggered a literal reaction from Times Now.
A plague on both their houses, says VIKRAM JOHRI.
When it comes to outrage on Twitter, one is never sure what to believe. With lines in the sand demarcating the left from the right, the real from the troll, the rancorous from the decent, it can boggle the mind to make sense of it all. Even so, a line of sorts was crossed this week. The story: Operation Rahat, India’s rescue operation currently underway in Yemen.
This is what happened. General V.K. Singh, who is spearheading Operation Rahat, made a tongue-in-cheek remark about the media coverage of the rescue efforts. While there has been adequate coverage of the operation in both print and television media, the General was perhaps looking to get back at the media for what he perceived was biased reporting.
In March the General had attended the Pakistan Day dinner and then sent a series of tweets which were interpreted in media circles to mean that the General had been forced to make himself present at the ceremony.
Rather cryptically, the General had tweeted dictionary meanings of the words “Disgust” and “Duty”. Was he perhaps expressing his disenchantment with a government that had made an ex-Army man attend a function that he had no wish to be a part of?
When that controversy threatened to explode in the General’s face, he called a press conference and made clear that his tweets were targeted not at the government, but in fact, at the media. “I am fully committed to my party and government, especially my Prime Minister,” he intoned, in a nifty damage-control exercise.
Without naming any media house, the General took potshots at sections of the media, particularly Times Now, the usual suspect that had turned Singh’s tweets into another campaign.
Fast forward to yesterday, when the General, during a briefing to the media in Djibouti, said: “Visiting the Pakistani embassy was more exciting than rescuing Indians from Yemen.”
It was a rather hilarious comment, come to think of it, since indeed, in the charged media climate of today, news is manufactured from the tiniest of tidbits. And voila, the General’s remark turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy as Times Now (who else?) tweeted: “General V.K. Singh says Yemen rescue operation is not as exciting as his visit to Pakistan embassy.” For good measure, Times Now added a hashtag: #VKDisaster, in the hope that another quick online campaign might be launched.
There were several problems with Times Now’s tweet. For starters, by portraying the General’s jestful remark as a serious statement of intent, the Times Now social media team came across as tone-deaf. Besides, the channel could have still defended its tweet if it had not tried to ladle it with #VKDisaster, since that made it abundantly clear that Times Now had not got the joke.
This being Twitter, within seconds, a storm was raging over Times Now’s tweet. In place of what Times Now had intended, #TimesNowDisaster began trending. The backlash was so swift that the channel deleted the tweet in no time, but as they learnt to their peril, nothing ever truly disappears online. Print shots of the tweet were soon being retweeted with urgency.
So far, so usual. This is not the first time that Times Now is in the eye of a Twitter storm. Only last month, they were the butt of outrage when they tried trending #ShameInSydney after India’s loss to Australia in the World Cup semifinal.
Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief, should seriously look to revamp the channel’s social media system, especially when a lot of their hashtag campaigns either fall flat or, worse, invite ridicule.
Returning to the Yemen story, in perhaps the first such incident in Indian media history, a government minister chose to take on a journalist by name on Twitter. In response to Times Now’s Yemen tweet, General V.K. Singh tweeted: “Friends what do you expect from presstitutes. Last time Arnab thought there was 'O' in place of 'E' #TimesNowDisaster”.
OK General, we understand that you were upset. We understand that the media scene today is a victim of the race for TRPs and that good men like you can sometimes face the brunt of this changed landscape. We also understand that your fine work in Yemen deserves greater media attention. But, Sir, did you have to stoop this low? I don’t mean addressing a media personality by name, which to be sure, is uncalled for as well. You would have come across as the Army gentleman that you surely are if you had chosen to brush off Times Now’s indiscretion. But never mind, maybe the constant sniping got to you.
But did you have to pull sex workers into the din? As a member of the government, is it not incumbent upon you to show greater care in your use of language? Prostitutes do what they do to earn a living, Sir. Why bring them in and twist the spelling of the term to make your point?
And what was your point exactly? That journalists are prostitutes? What does it mean to say this? That they will sell themselves for money? You and I and many others will agree, Sir, that Times Now may have a number of journalistic issues to deal with but one thing it has so far not been charged with is a loss of integrity.
Why, you will find a willing ear in Arnab Goswami for some natty Pakistan bashing. So yes, criticise them all you want, but do not jump the gun, and certainly not in a way that mocks a section of society that already faces its fair share of discrimination.
As for Times Now, you know what you have to do. When ministers start addressing your editor-in-chief by name, you know that the hunt for publicity has tipped over into something darker. Perhaps some house cleaning is in order.
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