Media On Media
Reprinted with
permission from the Indian Express, January 07, 2002
AFTER
THE EXPOSE
By Tarun Tejpal
In my 18 years in journalism, had I spent more time hanging around with
politicians, and less with other kinds of achievers, I would have known better.
In 18 years, had I dabbled more in the business of journalism than in
journalism, I would have known better. When Aniruddha Bahal and Mathew Samuel finished
their eight-month-long investigation - unparalleled in India for its ingenuity
and courage, and driven by nothing but the excitement of a major expose - I
would have perhaps, had I the savvy in business and political venality, known
better than to have dived off the deep end.
It is not as if we did not take pause. We did, but not for long enough to break
our resolve. With due respects to Kamala, Antulay and Bhagalpur, we were aware
we were taking on much more than any other story, because we were going up
against an entire ruling party and government whose various echelons had been
captured in corrupt compromise. All good editors know that guerrilla stories,
investigative skirmishes, are easy to commission and handle: you nip at one
flank while warmly stroking the other, the behemoth tolerates the pinpricks and
laps up the caresses in some cosy understanding of occupational necessities.
The watchdog and the monster go dancing into the twilight, making just enough
yipping sounds to confuse the onlooker.
The nip and yowl, the dancing semblance to a duel, allows even the most
honorable editors to break bread with their conscience. The others, the savvy
ones, have of course figured that journalism is just another business, and
dancing with the devil inevitable in public affairs. We, on the contrary, knew
we were sailing into a pitched battle, and were allowing the monster no room to
dance.
But we did not think too hard about how it would pan out; we just went with the
momentum of the story. We knew we would reap a whirlwind, but were confident of
weathering it because we imagined our fulcrum of pure intentions and honorable
motives would keep us from being