In his address at the 5th Edition of CII Big Picture Summit 2016 in New Delhi, Times Now's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami highlighted how his channel has been at the forefront of the disruption in television news.
Commenting on his style of journalism and how Times Now has rewritten the rules of journalism Goswami said, "Times Now has been hugely disruptive in the news business. Ask yourself how the news was done 10 years from now and how it is being practised today? We disrupted the news industry in many ways because I believe in breaking the status quo. We went through 40-50 years of covering inaugurations and politicians and whining what is going wrong with this country. The change happened when we happened. From the day we launched -January 31 2006, news has never been the same again."
Terming the conventional "objectivity" in journalism as "rubbish", Goswami made a scathing attack on those who think journalism has to be devoid of emotions. Explaining how Times Now has disrupted the news space, Goswami cited many examples where he has taken on the powerful to redefine how news is practised.
Urging young journalists to "feel the news to strike the right chord with the audience and express their personal opinions", Goswami added, "When you believe in something, do not be afraid to make it a campaign. I have seen that when you don't shout in this country nobody listens and I believe the era of polite anchors is over. If television news is meant to become a change agent it is imperative that it arrives at an opinion based on facts. Television debates are not meant to be Wikipedia like facts. TV news is fast becoming a change agent and a true reflection of democracy."
Highlighting the rapid evolution of the Indian news media, Goswami reiterated key changes that would occur in the coming 3-4 years in the TV news space. The disruption which Times Now has spearheaded during the last decade will witness key shifts according to Goswami.
The first disruption according to Goswami will be that news will move away from New Delhi and it will no longer be the sole centre of national news. Moreover, Goswami believes that being away from the national capital has allowed him the freedom to disrupt at will.
According to Goswami, the future of TV news will also mark an end of the greater interdependence between news and politicians. "For far too long, the news in this country has been using political class as crutch to lean on, thereby humiliating itself and this is going to change, and in fact is already changing. I dream of an independent media which has the maturity to regulate itself and is fearless enough to be answerable to nobody but itself." added Goswami.
Goswami also highlighted that big finances alone cannot sustain popularity of any news media. He said, "Few years down the line, money will be an enabler and not the difference between winning and losing. Money cannot buy you ticket to be the agency of change. It has to be your own brand of journalism. The popularity of smartphones and the digital age by large has given rise to an equal platform for all and there is no doubt that the future of journalism will go through a quantum change. In fact, today is a glorious age when content is king and I can't buy my way to your heart or win by building distribution monopolies."
