Barkhagate: The fourth pillar crumbles

The character I liked the most in Fountainhead was Elsworth Toohey. There is a long speech he gives once, that shows how the dangerous people in society work. The method is so sly and so cunning that you will end up thinking they are your only chance of survival. But they are hand in glove with the wolves whose single aim is to devour you piece by piece.
Welcome Barkha Dutt. Ever wondered, why the wiki doesn't mention her marital status. It doesn't mention she is married, it doesn't mention she is not married. In latest lingo this is called information blackout. Over past few years there has been a rising trend of bloggers, tweeters, facebookers and the like, who read the internet from their dingy rooms, write things which are so well researched that mainstream media is forced to call them internet Hindus. These people are not under a single banner, un-organized, without a leadership, totally unrelated to politics, and almost none of them votes. These people felt that there was something wrong. Numerous theories floated on the net, names were called, they were baying for blood. There was just one thing that was common to them: Indian media, headed by self appointed captains like Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghosh sucks. And it sucks big time.

But these power honchos are not like the thieves who enter your house at night and carry equal chances of being caught. They are more like the Toohey's of the modern times. When Supreme court repriminded the central government that it is shameful that people in this country are dying of hunger and thousands of tonnes of grain is rotting in FCI godowns, the gullible middle class felt (was made to feel) that these were the only people who could save the country as they regularly fight for the poor, the downtrodden. But these bloggers and tweeterers felt that uneasy question in their mind: "When Mumbai attacks happen, the clamour is 'this is not the time for politics' ", when Kandahar happens, the clamour is "the government bent to the terrorists".  Anything against them was construed (by them) as against 'freedom of press'.  On the eve of Ayodhya verdict, perhaps the most repeated term by Rajdeep Sardesai was "what if one community resorts to violence", "what if there is blood spilling", but no one could utter anything more than little indignation to them. I felt like they wanted riots, which could help them scale their TRPs.  They almost brought to life what Arun Shourie wrote probably in 90s, "repeat a lie a thousand times and it becomes the truth". Truth it became for a lot of people, but there were some netizens exposing frequently. Some of them were silenced in the most shameless, arrogant way. Some of them simply couldn't be. While any talk of regulating the media gets them bay for the blood of the person suggesting this, people like Barkha Dutt air programs on the need to 'regulate bloggers'. The fools don't even understand that this is simply not possible. The net is open, it is wild, it cuts across religious and caste lines and only a gradual, certain and mostly truthful thing gets viral. But if the common man is so gullible that he elects again and again the same people who find people like this for president , it is a little too tough for them to believe that the same journalists who (fake) fighting for them could be on the wrong side.

It needed a climax, and climax it got. These self appointed shenanigans are in fact the pimps of the ruling power (the con party). They masquerade as the fourth pillar but are in fact hand in glove with the ruling elite. They got exposed then the Nira Radia tapes were released. The thing which moved them into hall of shame is the way the news was blacked out.  For first 3-4 days no one covered it. It just didn't exist for the Indian mainstream media. The 'pepli live' folks who in the age of 24x7 news are available to catch every sneeze of the family scion, just didnt report the news item, which even after being blacked out was
 "#barkhagate has been trending as number one topic on Twitter in India for more than 6 days, since the breakout of the news". "
Here is the list of the shameless media houses who are hand in glove with the powers that be who tried to blackout the news:
Hindustan Times ( which has one crook Vir Sanghvi on the payrolls)
NDTV ( of Barkha Dutt Fame)
Times of India: (The world's number 1 Eng daily)
Indian Express ( which has fired Arun Shourie probably 3 or 4 times)
And almost the whole of media.

Chor chor mausere bhai.

Among others, three groups stood out as examples of honesty and courage. Even if it be for TRPs(I don't know) but it needs guts to release things like this. Guts mean courage ( or balls!!) which people of the ilk of Rajdeep Sardesai cannot fathom.
Open Magazine
Outlook India
DNA India (It had sounded an early warning, after netizens, but before the chor (thief) Indian media.

The denials issued by Barkha, Rajdeep, Vir Sanghvi, Nira Radia will put even people like Lalu yadav, Mayavati and Mulayam Singh to shame: simplified almost all of them read " ye opposition ki chaal hai, main hamesha junta ki sewa karta hun aur ise kharij karta hun" (this is a ploy of the opposition, I am a servant of people and reject these allegations). The tapes expose even to the hitherto gullible indian that these media folks played a big role in alloting Telecommunication ministry to A.Raja who looted 1.76 Lakh Crore (176000000000000 rupees.. well I am tired, you ) of the taxpayers money within two years of taking office. That if distributed to the people below poverty line would have solved at least hunger deaths and farmer suicides forever in this country, will hardly melt these scoundrels who otherwise, portray themselves Buddha incarnate.
Legislature was created so that Executive could be in control, Judiciary was created to keep above two in control. Media appointed itself the task of making sure that above three work properly. It didn't know that faceboook, twitter and internet have put so much power in the hands of common people that they can force a news down the throat of even the most shameless and corrupt media houses and force them to publish things which they, otherwise, never would. As of today, Sagarika Ghosh, wife of Rajdeep Sardesai, one of the accused, aired a talk show trying her best to defend the tainted journalists, but making sure to follow the golden rule of the mafia, which Singhvi put so succintly in one of the tapped conversations "can't seem too slanted".  Many more newspapers have started printing, showing the news. Twitter users are almost baying for the blood of Barkha Dutt, who is only replying to her bootlickers ( must have learnt the tip from her Majesty while collecting Padmashree).

Kudos to the rising fifth pillar of India democracy, the people, the netizens. The most damning thing that I read about the whole spectrum and media scam was one which said that the so much money was looted, the worst thing is not that the government is not even ready for a JPC probe, the worst thing is not that the PM's office was a mute spectator, the worst thing is not that thousands of tonnes of food rot in our godowns while farmers commit suicide, the worst thing is not that A. Raja is still sitting in some A.C. room, the worst thing is that almost everyone is certain that he will never be brought to justice and that the loot will never be recovered.

Though I fully agree with above, an infinitesimally small, very very small doubt (hope!!) that this might just not exactly be the case, is the greatest relief.