An Open letter to Times Now

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Trust you are doing well. This is a viewer from Chennai.

Let me cut straight to the point. The News Hour show last night anchored by Arnab Goswami was one of the most disgusting sights ever on any news channel. This is a view shared by millions of people across the country. (If you do not wish to believe me, you may infer from the top trends on twitter, a body which your channel often relies on to create certain trends yourself.) Not that you are unaware of this.

Your channel often claims to "represent the people" and seeks accountability from every person/ body who must be accountable or responsible to the public.  As a leading news channel, are you not responsible to portray things in an objective manner? Decency is the least we expect from you.

Mr Arnab Goswami thinks he is the pillar of discipline and the epitome of all that is right. His methods of conducting the show have often been criticized. In many situations, he has put straightforward questions to the right people - all credits to him for that (despite my despise for the levels of noise on the show and his refusal to let people answer such relevant questions).

Surely you and your group would agree that, when it comes to cricket, he is not more knowledgeable than the legends of the game like Sourav, Rahul, Sachin, etc., ALL of whom have praised the Indian campaign in this world cup and that they have clearly punched above their weight.

We lost to a better team. HOW HARD IS IT to accept that fact? Disgrace is not expected from the highly learned people I'm sure your group employs.

Okay, criticize the team. Point out the errors committed on the field. Kohli played it a little late, Raina played a loose shot... you get the picture. But please explain to me HOW DOES MR ARNAB FEEL THAT HE HAS THE RIGHT TO QUESTION THE INTEGRITY AND COMMITMENT OF THE TEAM AND THE CAPTAIN? A guy who has deemed it fit to stay and represent his country on the foreign soil for months rather than go see his first newborn baby girl back home even for a day.  How would you feel if you sacrificed so much for the country and an egotistic person, who has negligible knowledge about a field you are a master in, sits in his air conditioned studio and starts blithering all over his show on national television to millions of people? Atrocious!

Arnab asked why was Ashwin not introduced earlier in innings - isn't that his OPINION? There is a reason Arnab isn't the captain of the Indian Cricket team, if at all that needed reminding. How can he expect HIS OPINION to be the same as that of others, more so, of the captain of the national team? Simply outrageous, Sir.

Oh, and I don't know if you heard - he said AB De Villiers cried , Dhoni did not, so he is not passionate. I don't know if I should laugh at that or get even more wild... please help me out here!

Your channel is using words like "disgrace" and "humiliation" to describe the campaign. How many times have India won 11 matches in a row in World Cups? Never before. Does not that tell you something? How many times have India bowled each opponent out for seven matches in a row? Never before. Does not THAT tell you something? Maybe... probably? 

What angers me the most is the players and the team will watch/ hear such negative views and assume that the people feel this way - you represent the "Nation", right? I want to know which that Nation is. The same Nation that is SO PROUD of their cricket team, and made the hashtag "Shameontimesnow" trend last night?

There is a reason that top cricketers and legends of the game do not appear on your channel. Arnab likes to invite panelists on whom he can steamroll his very sacred opinions. He is a great talent, do not mistake. If there was an Olympic sport for shutting other people's mouth without letting them talk, and accusing them of not answering one's brilliant questions, India would have a Gold medal every single time through him. The medals can be found in your corporate office, pinned proudly onto the wall.

Here is a challenge to Mr. Arnab: make Sourav Ganguly, Ravi Shastri, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar come on your show and SAY THE EXACT SAME THINGS HE SAID LAST NIGHT. See where things go then.

Sadly, I am only a common man. A part of the "Nation" your TV show supposedly represents. I would love to talk to Mr. Arnab about this and enlighten him. Probably even educate. If he would let me speak, of course.

I have taken a lot of time off my routine to write this mail to you,  with the pure intention that your journalism can get a little more responsible. Not much more, because, trust me, the negative image you have generated last night is not going to be forgotten easily. And that being said, Shame on Times Now.

People tell me that these sorts of things are said to increase TRP. I do not wish to believe that. If I did, I wouldn't be writing to you seeking an explanation.

I humbly request you to respond to this. You love asking for accountability. So let us now see if you practice what you preach.

Regards,
Arvind Ramamurti
Chennai