The Ambanis can manage the media. On anything, anytime.
NOT very long ago the press conference that Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) would hold before its AGM in Bombay used to be an annual event every journalist wanted to be invited to. And Reliance didn't disappoint. It used to be a joke in town, this push to get the invites. From top editors to beat reporters covering Reliance, everyone lined up to be there.
No one has ever doubted the media clout of the Ambanis. The access Reliance enjoys in the media from the lowliest reporter to the top editor is a well-known fact.
If there was any evidence needed of this clout, it was there for all to see when the raids began at the Reliance offices and the residence of the Ambanis in Bombay. It was the biggest story of the day. But the manner in which it was covered by the print media is a story in itself—it's called 'media management'.
Barring a few exceptions, including The Statesman, The Pioneer and the multi-edition Navbharat, published from Madhya Pradesh, mainline newspapers published from Delhi and Bombay played down the story. Very deliberately to boot. The national news agencies were also rather stingy, putting out small takes on the biggest news story of Thursday.
It is not every day that the government raids the Ambanis or, for that matter, enters the Ambani residence. The way it was done, anyone would have thought it was a coup.
But The Times of India group takes the cake for the way it used the story. The TOI, Delhi and Bombay editions, had a dozen lines on the front page, headlined 'Reliance blames rivals for CBI raids'. The item went on to explain that the CBI raided several premises of Reliance in New Delhi and Bombay. It then quoted the Reliance spokesman saying nothing incriminating was found. The main report of the raid was buried on the business page as a single column, with much of the report taken up by the denial by the Reliance spokesman. Similarly, the group's Hindi and Marathi publications,
Navbharat Times and Maharashtra Times, played down the raids. The Economic Times used an extremely sanitised report on the front page and that too highlighted the Reliance statement.
The TOI's rival in New Delhi, The Hindustan Times, had a better story from Bombay, spread across three columns on front page. The Indian Express, which used to be virulently anti-Reliance some years ago, was also rather tame. But, apparently—sweet victory—the Ambanis today keep that newspaper alive.
Most media observers are not surprised by this toned-down display. They say this simply goes to reveal the reach the Amb-anis have in the media. For years now, the Ambanis have run a savvy team of professionals to constantly interact with the media and keep it happy, which has done a fairly effective job of managing anything that might seem adverse to the Ambanis. In fact, the Ambanis have temporarily succeeded in blocking the publication of an unauthorised biography of Dhirubhai by Australian journalist Hamish McDonald. The book, to be published soon in Australia, promises to look at various dealings of the Ambanis that are less than kosher. Will the lambs stay silent?