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AS WE HURTLED past the turnstile on the ground floor of the India Today complex in Noida, Anjana Om Kashyap was worried about the state of television news. “The kind of things they are saying,” the executive editor of Aaj Tak said as she speed-walked to the building’s plentifully stocked and populated canteen. “You can’t say blatant things like that. It’s not journalism.”
When my taxi had stopped at the complex’s gates, in the late afternoon of 22 August, Kashyap had called, at once apologetic and warm, to say she was going to be delayed. “With all this news breaking about Chidambaram, you know how it is.”
In the lobby, a cabinet full of shining trophies stood as a testament to the craft of India Today’s journalists. At least three of them bore Kashyap’s name. As I waited, a public-relations professional seated next to me proposed one insipid story idea after another to a sullen journalist, who cheered up at the mention of a luxury junket. That journalist was soon replaced by another, who was receptive to both a gift of baby-pink Crocs and a pitch on the potential market for pre-owned luxury vehicles despite the drastic recent slowdown in car sales. The professional said her client, who happened to be involved in selling luxury cars, could contribute to any story on the topic, “with some mention of his brand, of course.” The journalist agreed to run it by her team.