Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN and his wife and partner in crime Sagarika Ghose have apparently gone on a 'long leave' from CNN-IBN, after Reliance have raised their stake in the parent media house and claimed complete ownership now.

Going, going, gone?

However, I wonder if this new take-over by an Indian corporate house should ever be an issue for the 'much-honoured' Rajdeep and his wife, who took TV journalism to uncharted, abysmal depths. They openly supported the corporate-political nexus and went on to defend tainted journalists like Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi. Will this couple continue to enjoy this 'long leave' or will they start an (anti)-national channel soon, with funding from their overseas paymasters?

Remember the criminal and fraudulent reporting that Sagarika did a couple of years ago? She ran a live debate on her channel, with Art of Living head Sri Sri Ravishankar, who was invited to face some 'tough questions' from other panelists and viewers live on the topic of anti-corruption. She said, 'Joining us live is Sri Sri Ravishankar' and even turned to his side to pose questions every now and then. He continued to give totally irrelevant answers, which dented his reputation among viewers and Sagarika went on 'grilling' him. Well, the viewers at that time did not know the truth: the man was never there live! It turned out that she deceptively used video clippings from an older interview recorded by a local correspondent and made it look like the spiritual guru was participating in her live debate. Later, when people confronted her with facts, she tried to escape with a statement, "It was a technical bug".

In India, it appears that people have to live with one fact: You will continue to have electronic and print media partly or fully owned by a heady mix of national and regional political parties, Indian corporate biggies, multinational corporations, supporters of separatist groups and some influential churches. It begs the question, is real-time social media the only available hope as a credible news source? Well, I have news for you. Our dear Rajdeep was recently caught using fake tweets from the 'common man' (created by his own studio staff) to support his arguments on yet another 'live debate'. Satyameva Jayate! May Truth Alone Prevail!