on tv last night: indian bloggers

This is the transcript of a letter I sent Barkha Dutt, a TV journalist of some repute, after watching her programme on Indian bloggers last night:
Dear Barkha,
Two words that sums up my feelings after watching your programme on Indian bloggers: utter dismay.
While I didn’t have a stopwatch at hand, my guess is about 80% of your programme had sex as the central theme. Sex as titillation, not liberation.
This was of course a direct result of your questions to three participants, concerning their personal blogs.
The entire tone of your questions was ‘Wow! You said all this in the public domain, weren’t you worried?’
There were sage asides on the above from some participants, including a lady with an impeccable hairdo who claimed ‘Blogs are like graffiti, no one takes them seriously.’
A mild-mannered gentleman (I think he runs some kind of platform for bloggers in India, much too mild for his own and other bloggers’ good) tried to tell you there were many kinds of blogs, including corporate blogs, but you chose to bring in a commercial break almost on cue.
A few points I would have made, had I been on your programme (even with the commercial breaks):
1. It was clear you have a personal bias against blogs, perhaps from your Kargil experience when some bloggers spread alleged untruths – something you mentioned on the programme.
2. There are many kinds of blogs, personal and non-personal, sometimes they’re both.
3. There are news blogs which have a bigger reader base than established newssites. There are tech blogs which companies like Apple and Microsoft regularly quote. There are very successful corporate blogs where users/stakeholders interact with the company. And so on.
4. If the issue is privacy, then I would worry more about the mainstream media – I suspect the Govt. of India agrees, going by recent events.
5. The content of blogs are subject to the law of the land – and there is such a thing called an IP address.
6. While it’s true that it’s easy to start a canard, they don’t have a shelf life. Truth prevails, more sooner than later. Your experience would be a good example.
7. A blog is ultimately about enabling an unheard voice to be heard. To me, it seems to be a constitutional right.
Finally, Barkha, my respect for your journalistic prowess took a bit of a beating last night. I sincerely hope it recovers soon.
Best wishes,
Shubho Sengupta,
21speed.blogspot.com