Even after losing power to Telugu Desam Party-led National Democratic Alliance with huge margin in the recent assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress party president and former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy continues to believe the same old coterie of leaders who have been misleading him for several years.
When Jagan was in power, he used to treat a section of media with utter contempt on the pretext that they were taking pro-Telugu Desam Party stand.
Right from the day one, he has been targeting media houses like Eenadu, Andhra Jyothy, ETV, ABN and TV5 etc.
But all said and done, they have considerable readership and viewership and can influence the public opinion at least to some extent. Same is the case with other newspapers and channels, though they adopted anti-Jagan stand.
Now that Jagan is in the opposition, he is expected to give up his animosity towards these media houses and learn how to manage the reporters of these media houses. The leaders around him in the coterie should advise him about media management.
And Jagan is not going to lose anything if he adopts a friendly approach toward the enemy media as well. But if he continues to treat them like enemies, he would continue to get negative coverage.
However, Jagan hasn’t learnt any such lesson.
On Friday, when he addressed a press conference, reporters from select media houses were allowed to enter the Tadepalli camp office, though invitation was sent for all the media houses.
According to the talk going on in the WhatsApp groups of the media, Jagan’s public relations officers sent messages to all the reporters asking them to attend his press meet, which would be followed by lunch.
When they went there, only reporters of a few media houses were allowed to enter the camp office and others were asked to leave.
“This is ridiculous. The party should have invited only a few reporters; why did they ask all of us to come there and insult us?” a journalist asked.
The result was seen on Saturday. Jagan’s press conference was carried prominently only by a few media and others have more or less ignored it.
What would Jagan gain, if his version is carried only in pro-YSRCP media?
