Media and Narendra Modi's cabinet: How he did a Steve Jobs

In a piece titled, “ Steve Jobs’s 7 Rules for Working the Media ” , the author, Erik Sherman listed the following rules:

1. Be secretive 2) Pick your favourites 3) Punish those who don’t cooperate 4) Learn how to leak 5) Plant disinformation 6) Perfect your presentations 7) Have something worth writing about

Yesterday, the media had been speculating ad nauseam on a) how many ministers will be sworn in today b) who these ministers will be c) the portfolios that each minister will get

The confusion and the conflicting reports about the cabinet that ruled the airwaves yesterday make it clear that Modi is a strong believer in Rule 1, being secretive.

Now that the official announcement is made, we know the favourites that Modi has picked, following Rule 2. It is also a demonstration of Rule 4. We now know the extent of leaks and to whom these leaks were made to, with Times Now leading the pack.

Over the past few days, we have seen the media confidently asserting that various people, including Arun Shourie and E Sreedharan would find places in the cabinet. Now it seems that it was just disinformation, as highlighted in Rule 5.

As far as Rule 6 is concerned, all those who have attended or seen (on TV) presentations at various Gujarat government events such as Vibrant Gujarat or Gujarat International finance Tec-city (GIFT) would agree that great attention is paid to detail. The running of the election meetings, including the use of holographic images of Narendra Modi, underline the importance Modi pays to presentations.

Modi, thanks to his secrecy, selective leaks and disinformation, ensures that media always finds him worth writing about, ticking off Rule 7.

Finally, we come back to Rule 3. Modi has made it clear that he has his favourites – and his unfavourites in the media. Will we see Modi being interviewed by Karan Thapar again? Unlikely, unless it suits Modi.

The media needs to do significant homework before they tackle Modi. The easiest way, of course, is what a lot of media professionals are trying to do now: working to get picked by Modi as a favourite.