PR Folks!
I am quite aware about your hatred towards me as a hard hitting journalist. I come across as an obnoxious person in an ecosystem of real estate media where journalists pamper you for advertising influence, free gifts, paid tours and what not. I am also conscious of the fact that I do give many of you some uncomfortable moments when you approach me with a story that lacks any news from professional standpoint.
I do hope that all of you in the Hate Ravi Sinha Club must have read my column “Why I am the most hated journalist.” Your recent outburst against me with a call of #BoycottRaviSinha is hence no surprise to me, as I am always conscious of my reputation and perception on your side of the table.
However, the reason why I took time out to write an open letter to you folks is that I just wanted to tell you “Thank You” for your call to boycott me. Hey don’t get surprised! I genuinely wish to thank you. Had you not been in the business, or been more professional, understood the business of news or even had the open mind to learn out of critical refusal, you would not have brought this much of entertainment in an otherwise boring life of a journalist like me. You give me some entertaining moments every now and then. I genuinely owe you this open acceptance.
Coming back to your recent heart burn with my expose of your pushing for the builders’ larger than life generosity of providing food to the construction workers during Corona crisis and my mocking at it, let me admit that I have yet again enjoyed your inferiority complex that you messed up with the media. With most of the journalists insecure to admit at this hour of unprecedented crisis no one would bluntly tell you this, but privately most of them admit to me. It has been sheer shameless act on part of your clients to push for story that they are feeding the poor. Please read my column, “Corona is not publicity tourism Mr Builder!”
But wait! I suppose the recent Ravi Sinha Uncensored has only added fuel to the fire that you all had in you for a number of years now. I do understand that a journalist like Ravi Sinha bruises your ego and inferiority complex of not being treated with respect. I suppose you are being sandwiched at both the ends – on the one hand a nasty journalist like me showing you the mirror and at the same time you get bulldozed by the unreasonable client demands. Isn’t it?
However, this double whammy is not new to either any of you in personal capacity or to the collective conscious of your industry. How about taking a chill pill and do some sincere introspection? The very “Respect” that you so candidly demand from the journalists is symbiotic with your level of knowledge with the given subject. How many times you do cut a sorry figure in front of the journalists with the excuse of getting back with the desired info after consulting the client? A journalist, and I mean journalists and not quid pro quo breed, would give you respect, if only you match some level of intellect and add value to his story. Do you?
And please don’t jump to the guns that mediocrity is there with the media side as well. It is true that many of the journalists lack knowledge and depth while roaming around with the inflated ego. But they are also criticized by the editors, in the public domain, and even their stories are mocked at various social media forums. And they have no choice but live with it. So do you! You have no choice but to live with the humiliation of pushing for something that could at best be called stupidity and not story.
Furthermore, do you get the desired and demanded “Respect” from your clients? Sorry guys! I directly deal with most of them. More often than not they also tear you apart for non-performance. I do understand that the clients’ expectations are usually unreasonable that pushes you hard for such stupidity. But then who is stretching that unreasonable limit? It is your own respective agency that shows a fairytale media world with claims of all the journalists being in the pocket during the client pitch. Isn’t it so? Why to blame the journalist who shows you the mirror?
Oh ok! You have the grouse that Ravi Sinha should politely refuse the story instead of bluntly making it an expose of your stupidity. Right? You say just like the journalist doing his job, you are also doing your job and should be treated with more dignity. But you know the problem here is that you have absolutely no knowledge about the news and serious journalism. Journalists like Ravi Sinha are also doing their job; and the job is to see what is not right around them. You have mistaken them with those s0-called journalists who are PR peddling in the media. Now this is something for which Ravi Sinha can’t be blamed.
In an ideal ecosystem I would have suggested you some better professionalism, but being conscious that is not going to work I have better given up. But you also need to know that what can’t work with a journalist like Ravi Sinha is to flash fishy stories and get away with a sweet rejection. A critical rebuttal is part of my style of functioning since I neither need your influence for revenue nor believe in mandatory builder quotes in my stories with you acting as facilitator. Furthermore, free gifts and paid junkets are out of my journalistic world.
In conclusion, I rule out you guys getting more professional and taking my critical refusal as a learning curve. But before I rest my case I have a simple suggestion for you all: Keep this #BoycottRaviSinha trending for my entertainment but try to grow up as well.
Yours truly
The Most Hated Journalist
@ravitrack2media
Track2Realty is an independent media group managed by a consortium of journalists. Starting as the first e-newspaper in the Indian real estate sector in 2011, the group has today evolved as a think-tank on the sector with specialized research reports and rating & ranking. We are editorially independent and free from commercial bias and/or influenced by investors or shareholders. Our editorial team has no clash of interest in practicing high quality journalism that is free, frank & fearless.
Subscribe our YouTube Channel @ https://bit.ly/2tDugGl
