1st August 2013
TIMES TRAVESTY OF TRUTH
“For
175 years, Through Happy Times, Sad Times and Changing Times, TIMES OF INDIA
Has Been Unwavering in its Commitment to its Readers, Today, we renew our
pledge of Allegiance to your Readers” so reads the headline of the...
Times
full page AD brought out to mark its 175 years of
TIMES is at the variance of TRUE
facts, It failed me as Reader ,as Ad. Professional and also
mislead Thousands of Readers of the Economic Times by
Publishing a wrong Advertisement, conveniently forgetting its Corporate Dharma!
I would
like to question TIMES,how about loyalty, professional accountability and corporate responsibility
towards Advertiser, your Customer, Ad. Professional who supported
you for 30 years and more and last but not
the least who is also TIMES devoted
Reader for sixty years ?
TIME’s
& ET’s Un-ETHICAL ACTION:
I would like to
bring to the attention and notice of
Millions of TIMES Readers that I was professionally betrayed
and let down by TIMES and its financial publication THE
ECONOMIC TIMES , and became hapless victim
of corruption ,intrigue and manipulation
within this powerful TIMES GROUPS in 1980. It was
unethical and unprofessional action indulged in by the Times Ad.dept combined
with the ECONOMIC TIMES of publishing a
wrong advertisement ,that too a “Statutory Advertisement” prepared
as per Bombay Stock Exchange
Rules, and scheduled in the both TIMES AND the ECONOMIC TIMES, so also
in the numerous Mainline English Newspapers
: Times of India, Indian Express, Mumbai, The Hindustan Times Delhi, The
Statesman Calcutta and The Hindu ,Chennai and also well known Gujrati Newspaper
Gujrath Samachar of Mumbai. All these Newspapers correctly published the statutory Ad.captioned ” SUBSCRIPTION
LIST OPENS TODAY “ so as
to coincide with the opening of the Public Issue for the Subscription on 12th May 1980 as per my instructions, However, Lo and behold the financial
mouthpiece of TIMES -The ECONOMIC TIMES ,known for their credibility(?)
reliability published the wrong ad captioned ’SUBSCRIPTION LIST CLOSES TODAY‘
on the very day the Company’s Public Issue was opened as per pre-arrangement with Bombay Stock Exchange for Public Subscription , causing
confusion ,chaos and consternation.
The ECONOMIC TIMES printed a wrong ad, despite my correct instructions , how come, who
done it and why? These were the nagging questions I was confronted with . TIMES
published the correct statutory ad “ SUBSDCRIPTION LIST
OPENS TODAY”. Times Ad.Dept
which accepted release instructions and ad material for their chain of
publications was responsible for placing the ad as per client’s instructions, on
the right day and date, this was not an
ordinary ad it was a STATUTORY AD to be
published as per BSE rules but it let me
down and placed a wrong ad in the
Economic Times and breached my trust not only as Reader but also as an
Advertising Professional who trusted TIMES to fulfil its commercial obligations by publishing the correct ad as
per my specific instructions. Now here is the same Newspaper TIMES now celebrating 175 years of its
achievement is announcing and screaming from the top of their” COMMITMENT AND ALLEGIENCE TO the
READER” Did TIMES conveniently forget their commitment and allegiance then
which was due to me, I would emphatically say YES. This Statutory Ad and its publication date(12th May
1980) was worked out after great deal of
planning and consultations with the Secretarial Dept of the Company I was
working for , so also leading Bank,
Financial Institutions and Bombay Stock
Exchange authorities. But it was not to be. It was the worst day of my advertising
career, never in past was I subjected to such a huge professional embarrassment
and humiliation by any Newspaper or any Publication during my Ad. Career of
more than 30 years. The publication of the wrong advertisement by TIMES /THE
ECO.TIMES was the result of intrigue ,manoeuvring and manipulation. And I would
like to go further and add empathetically the corruption within Times of which I became hapless victim . I lost my hard earned job because my Employers held me responsible for
this unprofessional error (which was factually making of Times & The ET) and my ad career came to shameful end thanks to TIMES and The ECONOMIC
TIMES. Now The same TIMES which has completed
175 years is celebrating its
unique achievement (which of
course deserves congratulations) and
claiming and assuring through their AD which reads “ For 175 years ,through Happy Times. Sad Times
Changing Times, The Times of India has been unwavering in its commitment to its
Readers. Today, We Renew Our Pledge of Allegiance to You and Future Generations.”
Our Dharma is to our Readers”! - A tall and false claim indeed if viewed
against my grievance and the injustice I was subjected to because of the failure
of TIMES corporate accountability and responsibility. How come TIMES
did not fulfil my professional
expectations and let me down and conveniently remain silence to my grievance
and appeals as my legal options were throttled by their then General Manager and Times Top Management , while acknowledging the
unethical error, apologizing for it , regretting it and yet urging me to condone this unprofessional error . despite the fact that Times & Eco Times had not only betrayed me and also thousands and thousands
of Readers who relied on the Eco.Times. ,To escape from the consequences , accountability and
responsibility. TIMES said sorry, regretted the printing error by merely saying ‘sorry’ to me and my Company
Management ,TIMES cleverly absolved
themselves of their corporate responsibility. During the follow up of this ad mess created by Times and
negotiation it brought considerable influence on my Company Management to
discourage me from pursuing legal action. I firmly believed that publication of the
wrong advert was the outcome of the manipulation and corruption, which Times
did not want to me to expose. TIMES did not stand by me when I
was sacked by Greaves( what happened to its unwavering commitment to Reader in
sad Times?)
DISTORTION
OF THE TRUTH:
During my confrontation with Times I sought
written explanation for the error and had threatened TIMES for the compensation
for the wrong Ad. to the total value of Public Issue which was Rs/ 3 crore.. The then General Manager of Times Ad.Dept
Mr.Thirumalai and his aide Mr.Nagraj
rushed to my Greaves office acknowledged the error, I repeat accepted the
error, in printing the wrong ad in the
Economic Times and apologized for same.
They gave an excuse of labour dispute and blamed the publication of the wrong ad
to the labour rivalry between two unions of Times of India. (?) Both these executives were trying to hood
wink me with this flippant excuse, it was blatant LIE! ,if it was so ,certainly
the labour dispute should have
affected TIMES ,too, but it was not so, TIMES published
the correct ad ‘SUBSCRIPTION LIST OPENS TODAY” ON 12TH
May 1980, despite labour problem but not the Eco.Times ,How come ?.TIMES
Advedrtising Manager and Sr.Executive,mr.Thirumalai
and Mr.Nagraj respectively, without any
hesitation blamed Times Union and urged me, literally begged me not to resort
to the demand of compensation. They requested me to condone this huge error in view of my long association with Times
since 1961 . So Times did their best ,used all their Managerial and
PR tricks to silence my voice for raising the truth in the entire sordid matter. I sought appointment with Times the then Mg.Dir, Dr.Tarneja ,so also
with Mr.Ezekiel, the Editor of the Economic Times then but both these Gentlemen advised me to deal
directly with Times Ad.Dept .So I again insisted on Mr.Thirumalai for a meeting with the Higher Authorities of Times
Management so that I could draw their
attention to this serious error of printing wrong ad by the Eco.Times on a
wrong day. I was discouraged and was informed that TIMES
Sr.General Manager
Dr.Tarneja, had assured my
Company’s MD , that Times will
certainly make good for this error by
support ( Editorial) to the
Company in its promotional efforts in
future . It was a deal between two Corporate Groups: Times and Greaves and
I was seeking justice since I was held responsible for the
ET’s Faux Pas and it had damaged my
professional dignity and I was subjected
to professional humiliation but for the TIMES and ET the individual and his professional rights were secondary
,its own image ,reputation(?) was at the stake because of their unethical
handling of this Ad. Matter. Despite my argument and insistence that their unprofessional
action has caused strain relations between myself Greaves
Management, even after so many years of services. Greaves Management had blamed me , being responsible for the Ad. Campaign
for the error, and subsequently sacked
me from the services, after more than 12 years of
my services with GREAVES but TIMES was
more concerned with its reputation(?) I
was made a scapegoat...TIMES & THE ET
did not show courtesy of
printing corrigendum next day i.e. on 13th
May 1980 in the Eco Times expressing
regrets and misinforming ET readers but
it cleverly evaded ,perhaps
knowing well ,that will it confirm and expose its unethical error. I was very keen to prove
the truth and my side of story which TIMES Ad. General Manager supported by
Times Management did their best to push under the carpet. The then situation demanded TIMES to stand by me
,fulfil its corporate , commercial commitment and responsibility towards me
as their
Ad Customer but it did not. It let me down. For them the reputation of
TIMES/ET was sacrosanct even at the cost of the TRUTH (TIMES conveniently
forgot their Corporate Dharma in my case as it claims in their ad “Our Dharma
is to serve our readers”. So for or me
the Economic Times turned out to be not the’ BRAND EQUITY’ in financial journalism
but unprincipled and unreliable “BAD EQUITY’ in corporate responsibility despite its
popularity. Times may enjoy the vast readership and circulation which runs
into Millions but from my point of view despite this achievement
it cannot cover their
unethical business practice it indulged in my case, which ruined my hard earned ad career , deprived me of my
livelihood and made a huge negative
impact on me and my family.
CORRUPTION
IN TIMES AD DEPT:
As
I have said above the publication of the wrong advertisement on 12th
May 1980 was not only the result of intrigue and manipulation by the TIMES AD
dept which was responsible placing ads, but also I allege FAVOURITISM and
CORRUPTION .Let me explain: Advertising Dept. of the
Times indulged in unethical and
un- professional advertising business practice and
sometimes compromised themselves to favour another Advertising Agency or Powerful individual
who was close to Times Management. As an
advertiser you were sometimes at the mercy of this Ad.Dept. and its senior
members, General Manager and Managers , who controlled and manipulated TIMES
valuable advertising space. The special favours sought were : Publish the desired advertisement
before the other Ad.Agency’s or
Compitetor’s scheduled ad. , booked
in advance, change the advert schedule, publish the same without formally seeking the approval of the
client, disrupt the continuity of the running
Ad. Campaign, extend priority and special favour to the Ad. Agency or personnel who bring more advertising revenue to fill
its coffer. Times Senior
Ad. Executives , I allege were prepared to compromise and could go to the extent of publishing even the wrong advertisement , despite specific instructions ,to disrupt
running Ad. Campaign and in the
process throwing advertising
norms and regulations to the wind. All this
was possible if you were very
close to inner circle ,enjoyed the clout with TIMES top
Management .And that’s exactly what
TIMES AD dept did to the campaign I was associated
with in
1980 and placed a wrong advertisement in the ECONOMIC TIMES on 12th May 1980 and
disrupted not only that important Public
Issue Ad.Campaign but also my Advertising career and life!
There was another twist to this incredible story, a Director of
another Ad. Agency, a Carpetbagger from Calcutta, who belonged to very
enterprising prominent ‘community’, had brought maximum pressure on me to give
this Ad. Contract to his Agency but because of the confirmation to the other Ad.
Agency, who were servicing Greaves
Account for many years, we had finalized with this agency . This Director was also
very close to Times top
Management and higher Ups and
played a very shrewd game in this sordid
matter. He enjoyed un -limited clout and influence
being member of this community
within Times Ad.Dept. , I
allege that Sr.Ad.Executives of TIMES compromised responded to his persusasion
, his powerful influence in
changing the ad in the Economic Times.! Times Ad dept instead of being
fair and professional to me as
Advertiser, brazenly indulged in nepotism and corruption , allowed this greedy outsider to
settle a score against me through their Ad.Columns. I could draw this inferences
since he brought a great deal of pressure on me for giving this Ad.business
to his Agency and flaunted his close
contacts with every Newspapers and its
Management .He assured me that he has used his close proximity with Times
Management to persuade correspondents and reporters of the Economic
Times to write in support of many corporate houses and their Public Issues in past .
Based on this personal tall
claims , I could draw conclusion that he played a sinister role and manipulated
publication of the wrong ad in the Eco.Times.
However, it was very difficult for me then to prove this Ad.Executive’s role and his Agency’s connection in this ad mess created by TIMES and THE ECO.TIMES. But it exposed
both TIMES & ET’s bad and unprofessional management. I wondered,
how could a well known TIMES Media
Group of such a big size and stature could allow an outsider to interfere in its
Ad Management ? . As an Advertiser, Customer
, I expected TIMES & ET.to respond
to advertising rules and regulations of publishing the right ad but to my shock TIMES breached my trust of so many years . This brings me back again to TIMES grandiose
claim of ‘DHARMA of service to Reader
and Customer” which is nothing but a SHAM!
MY
POINT OF VIEW
Perhaps
these observations ,my critical comments about Times & Economic Times would now be dismissed as a case of Kumbhakarna or Rip Van Wikie, my belated
efforts to highlight and bring into focus Times and Economic Times old ugly chapter of their unethical business practice ,their
failure of corporate accountability and transparency on the happy occasion of their celebrations of 175
years .May be it would be treated as
outpouring of frustration of an old man. But as that handsome Ranbir Kapoor tells us in Times telly ad ,
telecast to mark this event” it happened
not so long time only 145 years ago” so my professional conflict also did happened
not so long time ago but only thirty years back, to be specific in 1980.
So thirty years is not that long time,
if TIMES revisit my side
of story ,against the time span of
175 years of TIMES. I was
denied natural justice and TIMES
executives brought a considerable pressure to discourage me from taking any
legal action .So Times assurance (?) “Today ,We Renew our Pledge of Allegiance to you and Future Generations sounds so hollow and
untrue..If they are so concerned and sincere about its faithful Readers,
which I presume includes me too ,should
do justice to my grievance and
complaint. Is TIMES PREPARED TO WALK THE TALK THIS ASSURANCE? Are they prepared to make amends for their
failure to respond to my not so old grievance?
Since Greaves did not back my demand for legal options and Times General Manager too literally
begging me for not going to court on
this issue, add to that my limited resources so also being not so political and smart to pursue this battle , So like typical middle
class Mumbaikar I was forced to
compromise with circumstances and that
terrible game called life. . I had to
seek a job to take care of my family and to provide security . ,My
priorities changed . I had to focus on these important aspects of
my life leaving aside my professional bruises , wounds and professional fall.!
I was tricked and tripped because of
India’s powerful Media Group’s manipulation and machination . So literally I was back on Bombay’s
street seeking new avenues of job
opportunities. But unlike year of 1952
when I had entered a brave new world of Bombay as a young boy ,full of dreams
and aspirations, but without any
specific qualification worth mentioning and no experience whatsoever in any
field .However, this time I was carrying a huge gunny bag of experience of Communication field .Inspired by Greaves
symbol of Phoenix with which I was associated for so many years and had
conceptualized my entire Advertising work of more than decade around this
unique symbol. The legend has it that
Phoenix re -merges even after the extinction-from its ashes ,so inspired by
this symbol, I decided to give another
try. Punnascha Hari Om , Start it all
over again ,– my intuition told me and I continued accepting all sorts of
Advertising and PR assignments that came in my way and pursued the game of
survival .
COMMON
MAN’s MISERIES:
So
as common man of India, as projected by that great cartoonist R.K.Laxman whose
cartoons ‘Life is like that “ continuously graced the front page of Times. This common man which is an embodiment of millions
of common men of India like myself, whose voices have been gagged and muffled by powerful Cos like Times
have now dared to speak out against the injustice meted out to them ,thanks
to the changing times, though their
aspirations and dreams have never
been fulfilled !. So I am putting across my TRUE FACTS which exposes
corporate misdeeds of leading Media
Conglomerate like TIMES and it s financial publication ’The ECONOMIC
TIMES’ who have made tall and false
claim of commitment to Reader, Common Man. Based on my true and bitter
experience vis-a- vis TIMES
and the ECONOMIC TIMES, I would like to
assert and accuse that both these leading Newspapers have a scant respect for
individual and his professional dignity. TIMES did not have courage , decency to respond and
respect the individual be it a serving Ad. Executive, Customer or a Common Man- a Reader like myself who too has his honest views about TIMES ,its unethical business action, commercial and professional
obligations from this Media Group which is celebrating 175 years .But in my case TIMES and ECONOMIC TIMES let me down and did not fulfil their Dharma of
service .
TIMES DOUBLE STANDARDS:
In conclusion I would like to draw attention
to the case of Rupert Murdoch’s 100 year
old NEWS WORLD of
UK which faced charges of the
journalistic violations of individual privacy and
their rights. Mr. Murdoch had to face UK’s Parliamentary Committee to
answer the allegations of hacking phones of innocent individuals for their
scoops and crossing journalistic norms which violated individual privacy and
their constitutional rights. Now its
Senior editor Ms. Rebekah Brooks is facing the
charges being investigated
by Senior Judge Brian Leveson Commission
for crossing journalistic norms and indulging in corrupt journalistic practice of bribing for their scoops and other serious offences.
And this controversy compelled Media Mughal Robert Murdoch to close its 100
year old famous UK paper NEWS OF THE WORLD! .
In the case of TIMES AND THE ECO Times they deliberately switched advert
and placed a wrong advert to appease competing Agency whom they favoured at my
cost. I was continuously discouraged
from meeting Mg.Dir of TIMES so too the Editor of the Economic Times. was avoided . I paid a huge price of losing my job, professional honour, hard
earned career and livelihood. Was it not violation of my individual rights? From the Newspaper Report published in
the Indian Express (27th Oct.
2012) TIMES Group is alleged to have sued ZEE TV for some “remarks “made during
the interview with leading industrialist. In my case The ECONOMIC TIMES
published the wrong statutory advertisement on 12th May 1980 and
misled thousands of its Readers and breached my trust. However, TIMES
discouraged me, brought pressure on me from
seeking legal action against both TIMES and THE ET. Is this not TIMES/ET’s double
standards? They cleverly avoided corporate accountability and moral
responsibility towards me and blocked my legal rights. Unfortunately for me there was no Body or Council,
on the lines of UK’s Ethics Council, during my times (1980s) which could have
taken up my complaint and grievance against this powerful Media Group-TIMES.
The Press Council of India, if I am correct, was set up much later in the year
1985. Even TIMES appointed Retd. Supreme Court Justice Shri Bhagwati years
later as Ombudsman and I wonder if TIMES would have courage to address to my complaint
which exposed their illegal and unethical business action . It
was case of violation of advertising norms and regulations of fulfilling
Newspaper’s basic duties of publishing ad, as per Advertiser’s instructions. My
protests went in vain, my voice for the justice was lost in the corporate
jungle and wilderness of the TIMES
managed by BCCL. As I have said above ,when the situation demanded ,when I had
lost my hard earned job and my Ad.Career came to abrupt end thanks to the
unethical and un-professional
publication of wrong ad on 12th May 1980 by THE ECONOMIC TIMES while all the leading Newspapers printed
correct ad ,instead of showing commitment
and allegiance to me as claimed in their grand ad, The TIMES&THE
ECONOMIC TIMES let me down and betrayed my professional trust.
SURESH
NADKAR,
Mob:970
230 7984
Email:sureshnadkar33@gmail.com
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