[Link to Winning Delhi: Part 1 - The Narrative]
[Link to Winning Delhi: Part 2 - The Volunteer Force]
Said Mr. Kejriwal, not once, not twice but on every nearly opportunity he got to talk about the media. He wanted to imprison media persons (youtube video) and most recently, he made it clear that if not for his own promotion or attacking his opponents, Media is a pariah (link)! And yet we all know his is a party without a precedent, created and nurtured by the media, it managed to form a govt in Delhi not once but twice in a space of one year. We wonder why, and more importantly how he manages to find favors with the media, why does media publicity help him more than others and why is AAP relatively less affected than others by media criticism, at least as far as Delhi is concerned?
Mass-Media is just one element in the scheme of messaging for mass outreach and we shall explore its role and standing in the larger context.
The Channels:
In electoral campaigning, Media (print and Television) has always been of importance. It's potential has been widely acknowledged by all parties so much so that they resorted to paying for favorable news. Social Media, though with a reach much less than convention print and TV, is emerging as potent means of opinion formation and is growing very fast. The mainstay of AAP campaign in Delhi this time around has been its Foot Soldiers (recruitment discussed in Winning Delhi: Part 2) who worked tirelessly for over 3-4 months, wearing the AAP campaign on their heads.
Mass media has always been potent in setting the course of street-corner discussions and general public opinion. Media has the ability to influence opinions of even those who do not subscribe to newspapers or watch news on TV, specially in Urban centers. The emergence of Social Media has challenged mass media to some extent but MSM's (mainstream media) influence has not been decisively undermined yet.
The entrenched Indian media is predominantly left oriented for reasons which warrant independent analysis. It does not take much to notice that BJP, being the strongest party with Right Wing traits in India, is anathema to most of MSM. Most media commentators also seem to have personal revulsion for anything that looks saffron, sounds Hindu and feels indigenous. With the citadels of the grand old dynastic socialist party desecrated by the BJP over and over, they went all out to back the only potential challenger to BJP in Delhi, AAP.
AAP also managed to include in its coterie media celebs. Some like Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan joined their ranks, others continue to help them overtly. SM exposes biases of these media celebs almost on a daily basis. Breakaway AAPians also testify to these media biggies being in cahoots with Mr. Kejriwal.
The resultant of these factors was that the media went out and out to give a piggyback ride to AAP during Delhi elections. AAP's stunts were glorified, their fallacies kid-gloved, their opponents choke-slammed. Media turned Mr Kejriwal into everything desirable, from a crusader for honesty to a yoga model. Hell, they even gave his humble barber a prime time show!
Social Media:
AAP has always focused on media and messaging and Social Media has been an integral part of their campaign from the IAC days. They have a dedicated team including everything from social media analysts, observers, photoshoppers and trolls to bots. Social Media is effective in challenging and running counter narratives to the main-stream media if need be.
I had observed in an earlier post how they are attempting to coordinate the Social Media behavior and narrative of their supporters (link). Some AAP insiders on SM like the handle @AAPleaks on twitter also testify to AAP's attempts of organizing and regulating Social Media conduct of AAP leaning handles. These attempts include monitoring and troll attacks on prominent pro-BJP handles.
Foot Soldiers:
Arguably the most effective medium of communication as far as the Delhi elections were concerned. We had seen in the previous write-up how AAP raised an army of numerous dedicated volunteers for Delhi. Many of these volunteers worked full-time, reaching out to everyone from slums-dwellers, students to households. They were well coordinated and carried to the electorate, the AAP narrative. They proved to be effective bulwarks against any criticism of AAP in MSM or on Social Media and reached out where the media didn't. Over a period of 3-4 months through effective Geobbelessian propaganda, they managed to sell to the electorate the baked truths and colored perceptions that were part of the AAP narrative (described in Part 1).
Methods:
As narrated earlier, AAP started well in time with their foot-soldiers and SM enthusiasts swinging into action. As early as Jan 2014 AAP had managed to establish an organization in Delhi with high granularity. Responsibilities were allocated up to the booth level.
From my contacts among AAP volunteers, I know that they had fairly regular meetings with lot of downward communication, sloganeering, "Sab mile hue hain" (they are all are in cahoots), "Sab bike hue hain" (they're all sold out) etc. What these meetings achieved were solidarity among volunteers, connect between leaders and volunteers, effective allocation of responsibilities and dissemination of desired narrative. Anyone who's known to have used their brains beyond the AAP narrative is also known to have left AAP. My own experience narrated here.
The enthusiastic students volunteers, many from well-off families and reputed universities in Delhi, absorbed by the romanticism of revolutionary changes, proved to be wonderful brand ambassadors for AAP. They were ready to be innovative, to chase dreams, to rally hard. They organized street plays, flash-mobs, campaigned with their guitars and drums in slums, held "swachhta abhiyaans" (cleanliness drives) in slums and colonies alike and created a perception that "AAP is doing something". Their approach to campaign would resemble scenes picked straight out of revolution-romanticizing Bollywood movies like "Yuva", "Main Azad hu" etc and had a high visual appeal. Young boys and girls from well-off families cleaning slum streets would foster the notion that boundaries between rich and poor are finally shattering and that AAP is the one to do it.
These presentable youngsters trained through meetings, email updates, newsletters would also go door-to-door, ready with their planned and targeted narrative, connect with the middle-class and try to convince them. It is generally held that most households were approached more than once in the 3-4 months, apart from the sabhas, nataks and rallies.
It is my observation, and it might well be correct, that the SM attitude of the AAP supporters was coherent. I had very few AAPians trolling me over their criticism as compared to their obscene virulence before the LS-2014 elections. SM users would also agree that AAPians were more successful at making regular trends on twitter in the run-up to Delhi elections. Though speculative, it would be reasonable to assume that AAP is attempting organization and coherence in the virtual space as well. Contrast this with the BJP supporters ranging from exclusively economic right wingers to hard-core Hindutva enthusiasts locking horns every now and then.
The mass media has always been publicly held as conspiratorial by AAP, even as they made strong personal and ideological connections with the same media, behind the scenes. It arguably worked to the advantage of AAP for a considerable segment of the electorate. I believe that is how they intended for it to work. For any criticism the foot-soldiers and SM volunteers would propel the notion, "Did we not tell you that the media is sold out?". For accolades coming their way, it would be, "Even the sold out media cannot hide this goodness of AAP". It must be noted that even as the Media played up AAP, through alternate channels and planned narrative, AAP was prepared to counter and bypass mass media.
All this presents a formidable picture of AAP's preparation for Delhi elections, and results would suggest that the preparation was indeed formidable. But I wish to clarify here that the picture brought out is idealized in favor of AAP. Not everywhere did the campaign manage to work like a well-oiled machine. My attempt has been to bring out the strengths of AAP's campaign. For if a counter has to be prepared, it must be against the strongest possible and most fortuitous elements of their campaign.
Having nearly circumscribed AAP's campaign, it would be useful to identify how BJP managed to ensure its rout. Also, what it could have possibly done to win the day and what it might consider doing in future. I will be taking it up in the fourth and last part of this series.
Continued by [Winning Delhi: The Vain Challlenger [Final Part]]
(Declaration: The author is a BJP supporter, member and volunteer. The views in this article are based on news reports and on-ground experiences while campaigning during Delhi elections)
[Link to Winning Delhi: Part 2 - The Volunteer Force]
Doston... Media bik chuki hai
(Friends... the media is sold out)
Said Mr. Kejriwal, not once, not twice but on every nearly opportunity he got to talk about the media. He wanted to imprison media persons (youtube video) and most recently, he made it clear that if not for his own promotion or attacking his opponents, Media is a pariah (link)! And yet we all know his is a party without a precedent, created and nurtured by the media, it managed to form a govt in Delhi not once but twice in a space of one year. We wonder why, and more importantly how he manages to find favors with the media, why does media publicity help him more than others and why is AAP relatively less affected than others by media criticism, at least as far as Delhi is concerned?
Mass-Media is just one element in the scheme of messaging for mass outreach and we shall explore its role and standing in the larger context.
The Channels:
In electoral campaigning, Media (print and Television) has always been of importance. It's potential has been widely acknowledged by all parties so much so that they resorted to paying for favorable news. Social Media, though with a reach much less than convention print and TV, is emerging as potent means of opinion formation and is growing very fast. The mainstay of AAP campaign in Delhi this time around has been its Foot Soldiers (recruitment discussed in Winning Delhi: Part 2) who worked tirelessly for over 3-4 months, wearing the AAP campaign on their heads.
Print and TV media:
Mass media has always been potent in setting the course of street-corner discussions and general public opinion. Media has the ability to influence opinions of even those who do not subscribe to newspapers or watch news on TV, specially in Urban centers. The emergence of Social Media has challenged mass media to some extent but MSM's (mainstream media) influence has not been decisively undermined yet.
The entrenched Indian media is predominantly left oriented for reasons which warrant independent analysis. It does not take much to notice that BJP, being the strongest party with Right Wing traits in India, is anathema to most of MSM. Most media commentators also seem to have personal revulsion for anything that looks saffron, sounds Hindu and feels indigenous. With the citadels of the grand old dynastic socialist party desecrated by the BJP over and over, they went all out to back the only potential challenger to BJP in Delhi, AAP.
AAP also managed to include in its coterie media celebs. Some like Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan joined their ranks, others continue to help them overtly. SM exposes biases of these media celebs almost on a daily basis. Breakaway AAPians also testify to these media biggies being in cahoots with Mr. Kejriwal.
The resultant of these factors was that the media went out and out to give a piggyback ride to AAP during Delhi elections. AAP's stunts were glorified, their fallacies kid-gloved, their opponents choke-slammed. Media turned Mr Kejriwal into everything desirable, from a crusader for honesty to a yoga model. Hell, they even gave his humble barber a prime time show!
Social Media:
AAP has always focused on media and messaging and Social Media has been an integral part of their campaign from the IAC days. They have a dedicated team including everything from social media analysts, observers, photoshoppers and trolls to bots. Social Media is effective in challenging and running counter narratives to the main-stream media if need be.
I had observed in an earlier post how they are attempting to coordinate the Social Media behavior and narrative of their supporters (link). Some AAP insiders on SM like the handle @AAPleaks on twitter also testify to AAP's attempts of organizing and regulating Social Media conduct of AAP leaning handles. These attempts include monitoring and troll attacks on prominent pro-BJP handles.
Foot Soldiers:
Arguably the most effective medium of communication as far as the Delhi elections were concerned. We had seen in the previous write-up how AAP raised an army of numerous dedicated volunteers for Delhi. Many of these volunteers worked full-time, reaching out to everyone from slums-dwellers, students to households. They were well coordinated and carried to the electorate, the AAP narrative. They proved to be effective bulwarks against any criticism of AAP in MSM or on Social Media and reached out where the media didn't. Over a period of 3-4 months through effective Geobbelessian propaganda, they managed to sell to the electorate the baked truths and colored perceptions that were part of the AAP narrative (described in Part 1).
Methods:
As narrated earlier, AAP started well in time with their foot-soldiers and SM enthusiasts swinging into action. As early as Jan 2014 AAP had managed to establish an organization in Delhi with high granularity. Responsibilities were allocated up to the booth level.
From my contacts among AAP volunteers, I know that they had fairly regular meetings with lot of downward communication, sloganeering, "Sab mile hue hain" (they are all are in cahoots), "Sab bike hue hain" (they're all sold out) etc. What these meetings achieved were solidarity among volunteers, connect between leaders and volunteers, effective allocation of responsibilities and dissemination of desired narrative. Anyone who's known to have used their brains beyond the AAP narrative is also known to have left AAP. My own experience narrated here.
The enthusiastic students volunteers, many from well-off families and reputed universities in Delhi, absorbed by the romanticism of revolutionary changes, proved to be wonderful brand ambassadors for AAP. They were ready to be innovative, to chase dreams, to rally hard. They organized street plays, flash-mobs, campaigned with their guitars and drums in slums, held "swachhta abhiyaans" (cleanliness drives) in slums and colonies alike and created a perception that "AAP is doing something". Their approach to campaign would resemble scenes picked straight out of revolution-romanticizing Bollywood movies like "Yuva", "Main Azad hu" etc and had a high visual appeal. Young boys and girls from well-off families cleaning slum streets would foster the notion that boundaries between rich and poor are finally shattering and that AAP is the one to do it.
These presentable youngsters trained through meetings, email updates, newsletters would also go door-to-door, ready with their planned and targeted narrative, connect with the middle-class and try to convince them. It is generally held that most households were approached more than once in the 3-4 months, apart from the sabhas, nataks and rallies.
It is my observation, and it might well be correct, that the SM attitude of the AAP supporters was coherent. I had very few AAPians trolling me over their criticism as compared to their obscene virulence before the LS-2014 elections. SM users would also agree that AAPians were more successful at making regular trends on twitter in the run-up to Delhi elections. Though speculative, it would be reasonable to assume that AAP is attempting organization and coherence in the virtual space as well. Contrast this with the BJP supporters ranging from exclusively economic right wingers to hard-core Hindutva enthusiasts locking horns every now and then.
The mass media has always been publicly held as conspiratorial by AAP, even as they made strong personal and ideological connections with the same media, behind the scenes. It arguably worked to the advantage of AAP for a considerable segment of the electorate. I believe that is how they intended for it to work. For any criticism the foot-soldiers and SM volunteers would propel the notion, "Did we not tell you that the media is sold out?". For accolades coming their way, it would be, "Even the sold out media cannot hide this goodness of AAP". It must be noted that even as the Media played up AAP, through alternate channels and planned narrative, AAP was prepared to counter and bypass mass media.
All this presents a formidable picture of AAP's preparation for Delhi elections, and results would suggest that the preparation was indeed formidable. But I wish to clarify here that the picture brought out is idealized in favor of AAP. Not everywhere did the campaign manage to work like a well-oiled machine. My attempt has been to bring out the strengths of AAP's campaign. For if a counter has to be prepared, it must be against the strongest possible and most fortuitous elements of their campaign.
Having nearly circumscribed AAP's campaign, it would be useful to identify how BJP managed to ensure its rout. Also, what it could have possibly done to win the day and what it might consider doing in future. I will be taking it up in the fourth and last part of this series.
Continued by [Winning Delhi: The Vain Challlenger [Final Part]]
(Declaration: The author is a BJP supporter, member and volunteer. The views in this article are based on news reports and on-ground experiences while campaigning during Delhi elections)
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