Sleaze, not journalism

HAVING SHAKEN THE nation with its expose on the scandalous manner in which defence deals are struck, Tehelka now stands exposed of having employed the most ugly and detestable ways to obtain it. It has now transpired that, as a part of its investigative project, the news portal used prostitutes to have sex with three Army officers and then secretly video-taped these acts. This is journalism at its worst - deceitful, unscrupulous and manipulative - and a shame on the profession. It is difficult to conceive of another example when Indian journalism has sunk so low.

The dotcom company made no secret of the fact that it offered money to army officers and others in high places to establish that corruption was a routine part of defence deals. Was it necessary for Tehelka, which conducted a sting operation, to have also bribed its victims with sex? The dotcom company has claimed that it resorted to arranging for the sleazy encounters in order to avoid being caught out and to prevent the investigation from being derailed. Such a defence is predictable but it is hardly convincing. To begin with, there is nothing in the transcripts to suggest that the investigation would have failed if Tehelka had not supplied prostitutes to the three army officers. Oddly enough, rather than establishing that the army officers made forceful demands for women, the transcripts suggest that Tehelka's representatives were eager to supply them. Moreover, even if Tehelka's no women/no story claim is accepted for the sake of argument, why did the portal secretly film the sexual encounters? What journalistic or larger purpose could this unpardonable violation of privacy have served?

If Tehelka pointedly avoided mentioning the existence of these tapes when it went public with its expose earlier this year, it could only have been because of two reasons. First, that this part of the secret videotapes bear little relation to the larger story. And second, that it was much too embarrassing, even by the portal's seemingly elastic standards, to go public with. Revelations that such tapes exist have lent a new and unfortunate twist to its expose - which essentially revealed how shockingly easy it was to gain access to key purchase decision makers, armed with just a little cash and promises of much more. It has given an unnecessary handle to those who stood exposed by the investigation to discredit the whole exercise. It has provided the NDA Government the undeserved opportunity of shifting the focus away from its own complicity and towards the sleazy methods employed by the investigators. The former Defence Minister Mr. George Fernandes's angry remarks about the immorality of the portal's investigative techniques and the Union Home Ministry's announcement that it will examine whether any laws have been breached in conducting the investigation are two cases in point.

However, Tehelka's original revelations about defence deals, which showed up the NDA Government in an extremely poor light, should not be lost or forgotten in the din over Tehelka's shocking investigative techniques. The main body of videotapes has revealed how easy it was for a couple of journalists posing as arms-sellers to penetrate the Defence Ministry and even pass on bundles of notes at the residence of Mr. George Fernandes, who had to resign as Defence Minister as a result of this. These and other related questions, which are being probed by the Venkataswami Commission, should not be deflected by the recent controversy. Venality, greed, corruption - combined in a form that undermines national security - is what the main body of the Tehelka tapes was all about. The NDA Government would do well to remember this even as it tries to turn the tables on Tehelka.

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