I’ve finally managed to get through the Arnab Goswami Chatgate pdf. Everyone has already highlighted those portions that needed highlighting. I have a slightly different tack.

1. The messages tell me that news is a carefully constructed consumer product.

This is something we all already know but it’s nice to see confirmation. Events are presented in the high-decibel manner that has become the standard because the product is crying for attention.

2. These folks don’t care about what has actually happened and to whom. They’re

callous about it. Their eye is firmly on the ratings. There is no empathy in their conversation. The empathy on screen is constructed.

3. Overall the chats reveal varying degrees of competition between channels to get real close to those in office. One thing that stood out

is reference to the PMO asking who leaked a particular story. Even the state doesn’t have control over its disinformation. Power centers within the state seem to be disseminating different info to their preferred reporters or channels.

This was fully flagged in an old piece I had co-authored on Pulwama in 2019. How there was so much contradictory information about one singular incident.

4. The real issue then is what about journalism. Is this even journalism or should we be calling it something else?