Anchor, Old Man And The Sea

After Arnab Goswami’s resignation from Times Now, a storm of what-next rumours.

- Lola Nayar

Journalists are not the story,” Arnab Goswami had told Outlook in an interview last year, but his decision to step down as editor-in-chief of Times Now and ET Now has been hogging considerable news space of late. speculation is rife as to what his future plans might be.

Goswami himself has set the media buzz going by hinting that he may soon be coming back stronger. “The game has just begun,” was a phrase repeatedly used by him during a meeting with his core team to announce that he had resigned from the channel, according to media reports.

Much of what he said during the hourlong meeting about his desire to lead a change in television has triggered speculation in an industry that he dominates. From plans of joining Fox News in the UK to starting a news channel with global media baron Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar as partners or starting something with the backing of a leading Indian industrialist close to the central establishment, there is no dearth of rumours. This extends also to the reason why Goswami quit Times Now, which became a brand name under his stewardship. In fact, going by the commercial yardstick—the ratings—Goswami’s programme, The Newshour, has helped Times Now hold the top slot among English news channels for five years in a row, with the next channel coming way below. This is because The Newshour had dedicated viewers, many who were critical of his style of sabre-rattling debate, where, more often than not, only one-sided views were allowed and opposing views shouted down abrasively.