One for ‘Amma’, one for ‘Ayya’, one for the ‘Captain’, one for the ‘Doctor’, one for the Gounders and one for the Dalits – there is one for everybody when it comes to news TV channels in Tamil Nadu. And the latest to make an entry into this crowded ‘airspace’ is Velicham TV launched by the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi.
Politics and media are inseparable, notes C Pichandy, an academic from the field, who points out how this has been the case even during the freedom struggle. “In Tamil Nadu, there has always been a relationship between visual media and political parties or movements. Barring (Dravidian movement founder) ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy, everyone including DMK founder and late Chief Minister CN Annadurai, M Karunanidhi, AIADMK founder and matinee idol MG Ramachandran and others used cinema to propagate their ideology,” he says.
Agreeing, C Lakshmanan, associate professor of Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) says political parties have always used cultural instruments like folklore and cinema to mobilise people.
This strategy automatically extended to the television space starting in the 1980s, with the advent of colour TV. “Sun TV, the first cable television channel in Tamil Nadu, was started (by DMK president M Karunanidhi’s grandnephew Kalanidhi Maran) with political backing. To counter its influence over the masses, AIADMK started its own television channel. At one point, all major political parties launched their own channels to project their point of view,” adds Pichandy.
Some parties have more than one channel. After being the unofficial mouthpiece of the DMK, Sun TV fell out of favour when the Marans and the Karunanidhis had a bitter, public falling out. Thus came Kalaignar TV, adopting the sobriquet by which Karunanidhi is referred to by his followers. Now after the patch-up, the DMK has two channels.
True to form, the faction-ridden Congress has two channels, Vasanth TV and Mega TV.
Jaya TV is run by people close to the AIADMK, Captain TV by ‘Captain’ Vijayakant’s DMDK, Makkal TV by PMK, Lotus by BJP, Vendhar by small party IJK, floated by an education business baron — who also incidentally owns Puthiya Thalaimurai, a news channel that transformed and professionalised Tamil news programming. The newest on the block is Velicham launched by VCK, the party that represents Dalits and other oppressed.
Even with the proliferation of channels, Dalit politicians and intellectuals have always felt that the space given to issues about the oppressed and the marginalised was abysmal. The reason, they point out, is the lack of enough Dalits in the newsrooms. “Channels pay little attention to Dalits, although they account for 21 per cent of the total population. Only sensational news and scoops about Dalits get space on TV,” rues Lakshmanan.
Velicham, which signifies ‘light for change’, was thus born. The channel is the result of years-long efforts for funding, which took an unusual route. The broadcasting guidelines of the Union government stipulate that a channel should have a certain amount as corpus, which is in addition to the cost of launching the channel, making it difficult for a small party to start a channel. To raise funds, when VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan turned 50 in 2012, he asked party cadre to contribute gold coins instead of the usual gifts. Thiruma then went around the State and Puducherry collecting coins to start the channel, which was finally launched on April 14, B R Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.
VCK general secretary D Ravikumar said the party does not want to use the channel for propaganda. “Our party cadres are our propaganda tool. In fact, we do not want to give it the tag of a Dalit channel,” he tells Express. Existing channels owned by political parties are biased in news coverage, he adds, saying Velicham would maintain neutrality.
Understanding the significance of having a media outlet, CPM State secretary G Ramakrishnan says channels and newspapers are necessary for parties to promote their ideology. In fact, the propaganda value of cultural and other such instruments was first realised by Communists, which was outperformed by the Dravidian movement in that game. “We do not have opportunity to start a TV channel at the moment, but in the future, we will try to start a TV channel for the CPM,” he says.
There is nothing wrong in each party having its own channel, opines political analyst and former journalist Gnani Sankaran, adding that the public who would get varied views is the ultimate beneficiary of this. “Party-run TV channels may claim to have a neutral tone, but would still have a slant towards the party promoting the channel. However, unless these channels try to reach out to general viewers, they will not be commercially viable,” he says.
One for each party, sometimes two
Over the years, every political party has launched a TV channel. DMK has two channels, Sun TV and Kalaignar TV, while Congress has both Vasanth TV and Mega TV
Spats and factionalism are the reason for more than one channel as in the case of DMK. Owners of Sun TV, the Marans had a public falling out with the Karunanidhis, after which the DMK started Kalaignar TV. Similarly, Congress’ factionalism is reflected in the two channels that share the party ideology
reaching out via media
Political parties have always used cultural instruments like folklore and cinema to mobilise people. This strategy automatically extended to the television space starting in the 1980s, with the advent of colour TV.
‘TV propaganda is fine’
There is nothing wrong in each party having its own channel, opines political analyst and former journalist Gnani Sankaran, adding that the public who would get varied views is the ultimate beneficiary of this.
too little dalit news
Even with the proliferation of channels, Dalit politicians and intellectuals have felt that space given to issues of the marginalised was abysmal. They point out that there are too few Dalits in newsrooms.
gold coins for velicham
Crunched for funds to start a TV channel, VCK ‘s Thol Thirumavalavan asked cadre to gift him gold coins on his birthday instead of the usual gifts. Finally, Velicham TV was launched on April 14, this year.
[[CPI-M left a debt burden of two lakh crore rupees. In spite of it, Bengal has turned around during our rule. CPI-M would have auctioned Bengal if they were in my place — Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal CM
[[Channels pay little attention to Dalits, although they account for 21 per cent of the total population. Only sensational news and scoops about Dalits get space on TV — C Lakshmanan, Associate Professor, MIDS