The clouds of uncertainty hanging over the Lok Sabha have only been becoming murkier by the day. There is no one to furnish you with a clear picture because everyone who is either a stakeholder himself/herself or is physically keeping track of the goings-on, is not able to make much of the fast-changing equations – what we have, therefore, is a scenario that is perhaps as nebulous as it was when the game of alignments began.
If you are neither a direct stakeholder or one monitoring the situation personally, you would probably be someone like me – one who has to stay abreast through what the news media gives us all. If you are a brand loyalist (i.e. read only one newspaper, or watch only one television channel, or visit just one news website), you would probably be certain of what the final race to the finish is going to look like. But then these are days of promiscuity as far as media consumption is concerned – so you are likely to stand more confused than the tenuous situation itself. You see – right or wrong, a person who uses just one wristwatch is always sure of the time; one who uses two or more, never is.
So when I began browsing through the newspapers that I subscribe to this morning, each gave a different state of the numbers – who is going to vote for the trust motion, who against.
The analogy may not be perfect, but it is something like the different toll figures that different news establishments carry whenever there is say, a blast, or a quake, or even just an accident. For those of us who have been in the news media, we know it is almost impossible to come up with the exact numbers. There are too many sources for casualties, you may willy-nilly leave one out, some might even exaggerate or underplay the figures. You go by your hunch, or make approximate calculations. Whatever.
But this is different. All the 543 players are known. Their CVs are public knowledge, you may even have their phone numbers and email addresses. The equations may definitely change over time, but at any given moment the reality can only be one. In other words, there cannot be two versions of the tally at that precise instant. This exercise is also not like that of an exit poll, the results of which are the most likely to vary widely. An exit poll is a question of prediction, this is one about accurate reporting. The first is psephology, the latter is journalism. And when facts are what it is all about, only one tally can be accurate. The adverb “absolutely” is meaningless here. Either a number is accurate, or it is not.
So what were the numbers that we were given with our bed tea?
The Times of India: For UPA – 268; Against UPA – 270; Undecided – 4
Hindustan Times: For UPA – 270; Against UPA – 266; Undecided – 5
Asian Age: For UPA – 268; Against UPA – 264; Undecided – 9
Surely, not all of them are correct in reporting the numbers.
Yet there were others like the Telegraph, the Indian Express, Daily News & Analysis, and the Hindu, who played it safe steering clear of giving such “accurate” numbers and just went with what claims each of the sides were making. Prudent.
The tally (at the time of publishing this post @ 1515 hrs):
CNN-IBN: For UPA – 269; Against UPA – 268; Undecided– 4
NDTV: For UPA – 271; Against UPA – 268; Undecided – 2
These numbers were what I saw on the websites of these news channels. I really don’t want to switch on the television set, since I am sure each of the news channels would be giving us a different set of numbers and break-ups. As it is, I am confused enough.
Right now the numbers being given to us seem more of predictions and speculation, than real factual reporting. I dreading the tomorrow when we will be given the analyses as well. Till such time, take a break.
