Are you Serious Times Now? - Alt News
Sam Jawed
22nd December 2017 / 5:09 pm / Last updated: 22nd December 2017
“6 hours after Gujarat loss, Rahul Gandhi was watching ‘Star Wars’ at a cinema hall in Delhi. #AreYouSeriousRahul” Times Now is known for its outrageous hashtags and blatant one-sided reporting but this time it had clearly outdone itself. In a bit to paint the Congress President as nonchalant and indifferent in the face of defeat, the channel held a prime time ‘debate’ on Gandhi watching Star Wars on the evening of December 18 after the assembly election results had been announced.
6 hours after Gujarat loss, Rahul Gandhi was watching ‘Star Wars’ at a cinema hall in Delhi. #AreYouSeriousRahul Watch @thenewshour with @navikakumar pic.twitter.com/LriW6Fefe4
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 19, 2017
Unfortunately for Times Now, the absurdity of it did not go unnoticed. The channel’s hashtag #AreYouSeriousRahul backfired and the channel and its anchors became the target for unending jokes and ridicule on social media. The hashtags #AreYouSeriousTimesNow and #AreYouSeriousaNavika were used by twitterati to mock Times Now for its ludicrousness.
.@TimesNow’s decision to dedicate a show to @OfficeOfRG watching #StarWars has raked up the question of what qualifies as journalism. https://t.co/e9MqWkiEo4 via @thewire_in#AreYouSeriousNavika #AreYourSeriousRahul
— Siddharth (@svaradarajan) December 21, 2017
Thank you @TimesNow for letting us know you think watching a movie at a cinema hall is condemnable. Would you have preferred it if #RahulGandhi watched porn on his cellphone like your party’s Karnataka MLAs? #AreYouSeriousTimesNow #BJP https://t.co/hq326uXGn7
— Anna MM Vetticad (@annavetticad) December 19, 2017
Clearly on the backfoot following the ridicule, Navika Kumar, the Managing Editor of Times Now who hosted the prime time show came up with a weak explanation that did not cut ice.
#AreYourSeriousRahul the big debate on @thenewshour @9. We are not against politicians watching movies but on election result day? When counting is on? Watch @Shehzad_Ind vs @tehseenp.
— navika kumar (@navikakumar) December 19, 2017
On the face of it, Times Now was criticizing Congress President for not spending time with party workers after the election results but the agenda ran deeper. It was part of an organised campaign that the channel has been running since the announcement of Gujarat elections, echoing the words of BJP leaders and spokespersons. So what was this about Rahul Gandhi being serious? What were the origins of this line of thinking?
'Rahul Gandhi, economics is a serious business please don't make it shallow and hollow' : Ravi Shankar Prasad #RahulVsIndiaRising
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 1, 2017
It was on Nov 1 after Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of India’s ranking on World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking, BJP minister RS Prasad stated “Rahul Gandhi, economics is a serious business please don’t make it shallow and hollow” From there started the campaign of projecting Rahul Gandhi as non-serious.
A few weeks later when Rahul Gandhi tweeted on failure of PM Modi’s “hugplomacy”
Narendrabhai, बात नहीं बनी. Terror mastermind is free. President Trump just delinked Pak military funding from LeT. Hugplomacy fail. More hugs urgently needed.https://t.co/U8Bg2vlZqw
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) November 25, 2017
GVL Narasimha Rao, National Spokesperson, BJP wanted to know “When will Rahul Gandhi get serious?”
When will Rahul Gandhi get serious? asks GVL Narasimha Rao, National Spokesperson, BJP #HugplomacyRaGa
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 25, 2017
A few days later another BJP spokesperson on a different channel spoke about Rahul Gandhi not being serious. This was on a program on Republic about chits being passed to Rahul Gandhi at a press conference.
#RahulDucks | Why do we get surprised about it anymore? I’m surprised that people still think of Rahul Gandhi as a serious politician: Tuhin Sinha pic.twitter.com/yORhI9a7Bi
— Republic (@republic) December 12, 2017
It was unsurprising to see Times Now singing the tune of Government ministers and BJP spokespersons, questioning Rahul Gandhi on similar lines, drawing parallels with PM Modi.
On night of Gujarat verdict, PM Modi with BJP cadre & Rahul Gandhi at a cinema hall #AreYouSeriousRahul
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 19, 2017
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has no time for karyakartas, but time for Star Wars | Congress’ ‘part-time’ president? #AreYouSeriousRahul
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 19, 2017
Gujarat elections saw some of the most ridiculous hashtags from Times Now. Announcing #ModiSweepsGujarat on the day the elections were announced, Times Now’s hashtags for the opposition left no doubt about its agenda. It was an endless tirade about #RahulNeechPolitics, #PappuBanaYuvraj, #RaGaSomnathSelfGoal, #CongTalibanTango, #CongPakSupport and so on as the channel continued its unabashed campaign for the ruling party. In the run-up to the result day, night after night in its primetime shows, the channel carried on its business of building public opinion against the opposition. Keeping an eye out for the smallest opportunity, Times Now dutifully attacked the opposition leaders with real and imaginary accusations.
#RahulNeechPolitics
#ModiSweepsGujarat
#ModiMalignedin2017
#TheCasteCowboys
#RahulvsIndiaRising
#PappuCensored
#YuvrajReplacesPappu
#PappuBanaYuvraj
#MuslimQuotaPlot
#RaGaSomnathSelfGoal
#CongChaiSelfGoal
#CongTalibanTango
#CongTerrorPhoto
#CongPakPollLink
#CongBetrayedRam
Times Now has thrown neutrality to the wind in its political coverage. A systematic campaign of vilification and character assassination has been the primary pursuit of the channel over the last few months, the objective clearly being to build and sustain a negative perception of opposition leaders and parties. The political scenario is heating up with a string of assembly elections in 2018, and Times Now can be expected to sing the tune of the establishment through loud, relentless and blatantly biased coverage.
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