Govt redefines rules to deal with media

Multitude of tweets and announcements on Facebook but informal gag order on ministers and officials

On August 13, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) took to Twitter at 4.21 pm to announce, "Price of petrol will be reduced from midnight of 14/15 August 2014 in the range of Rs 1.89-2.38 (Rs 2.18/litre at Delhi)."

That the minister took to social media to announce the steepest decline in petrol prices in 11 months itself marks a first. That he did so 30 hours before the revised price became effective was also unprecedented. A fuel price revision had never before been announced through social media. This is but one illustration of how the new Narendra Modi-led government has rewritten the rules of media engagement and communication in these 100 days of office.

Instead of the one 'lucky' journalist bagging a 'scoop', the minister himself tweeted the information and thereby reached out directly to not only the news-hungry media but the public at large, leaving no scope for controversy or inaccurate information.

A senior government official explained, "If there is one thing the BJP has learnt, it was the failure of the Congress-led UPA government to get its communication policy right. Multiple voices, ministers speaking out of turn on every topic, absence of a single source of official information, leading to news leaks from ministries embarrassing the government."

So, from the outset, the Modi government decided to nip these scenarios in the bud and there was a clear directive right from the top on media management. The BJP's successful experience with social media during the Lok Sabha election campaign fitted well with this scheme of things.

Focusing on the use of social media, be it Facebook or Twitter, by not only the government's Press Information Bureau (PIB) but every ministry and minister using his own personal handle, was one of the first initiatives. At one level, this keeps a timely flow of information, social media postings also make sure there is only one-way information, with little scope of probing or questioning.

If there was any doubt about what this government's approach to media would be, then parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu's press conference on June 12 listed the Do's and Don'ts. Naidu told journalists to "focus on constructive works and desist from coverage of destructive works." "Destructive work is bad news," said Naidu. Reminding journalists of their "sacred duty", the minister said the "media would do great human service" if it performed its duty. He said government spokespersons would be keeping the media informed about the workings of ministries and all that they needed to know. File notings, administrative decisions and Cabinet notes did not fall in that category, he made clear. It helped that Narendra Modi was a trend setter. Even before he became PM, he had a following of over five million on his Twitter handle, @narendramodi. His newly opened PM's Office account, @PMOIndia, has a little over two million followers.

An example of the Modi government's media strategy could be seen in his international visits. There was considerable curiosity about the PM's first foreign trip, to neighbouring Bhutan. And, Modi marked a departure from his predecessors by not taking along a media contingent, on this and other trips abroad. The exceptions were for news agencies PTI and ANI, and public broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio.

The PM, said those in the know, sees no need for selected private channels and newspaper journalists accompanying him on Air India One, when news agencies can do an adequate job of conveying what is needed to be. Again, unlike other PMs, Modi did not appoint any Delhi-based media officer to the PMO; it has usually been a senior journalist from the profession. He, instead, preferred his long-serving public relations officer (PRO) from the chief minister's office in Gujarat, Jagdish Thakkar. Known to be reticent and low-profile, he was appointed PRO at the PMO.

The PMO Twitter handle incessantly posts pictures of the dignitaries that meet the PM and Modi at times takes to his personal Twitter handle to post messages. What critics have pointed to is Modi's silence on important, if controversial issues - lynching of a Muslim youth for posting a Facebook message, on the increase in rapes, on excesses by Sangh Parivar-affiliated wings. From a PM who can be quite voluble.

Speculation is also rife that ministers in the Modi government are being spied upon, the revelations on Nitin Gadkari's house being bugged bolstering this.

Reprisals are also swift under this government. PIB chief Neelam Kapoor was perceived to be close to the UPA regime and was suddenly replaced. It is also rumoured that information ministerr Prakash Javadekar did not take kindly to the fact that the inaugural plaque of the state of the art National Media Centre, done during the Vajpayee regime (it was called National Press Centre), was gathering dust in one of the back rooms. Doordarshan news chief S M Khan also fell foul of the regime, after it was revealed that Narendra Modi's interview to the public broadcaster had been edited. He has been put on 'compulsory wait'.

While it is clear that bureaucrats are empowered under the Modi sarkar' (with the PM meeting them directly and asking them to work without fear), ministers are comparatively less so. The latter are wary of speaking to the media and Shastri Bhavan corridors, for instance, sport a deserted look. Where earlier "quote a minute" ministers such as Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari or a Salman Khurshid would always ensure television cameras were stationed there, the new media-wary ministers ensure that they do not speak about yet to be crystallised programmes and schemes. Several are first timers, including those like human resource development minister Smriti Irani who is yet to hold a single press conference. Experienced hands like Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad are heard more often.

While it was an over communicative BJP and Narendra Modi that trounced the UPA, once in office it is now communication on a 'need to know' basis that rules the roost. While there is a bombardment of tweets from the government, silence and gag orders on key issues are also a mark of thisme.