Opposition must tell its story better, or tell a new one

This winter session of Parliament offered an opportunity to the Opposition to put the government on the mat in relation to bread-and-butter issues or national security questions. Instead, the Congress is trading charges with the BJP on individuals

- Barkha Dutt

Perhaps Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party could borrow a critical lesson from the world of news media. The Congress party—faced with a slew of defeats and embarrassments in the recent assembly elections after what seemed to be a moment of repair in the Lok Sabha elections—is increasingly trapped in esoteric battles. These may do well in the party's social media echo chambers, but don't pull in any new voters.

This is a mistake many of us in the media have made, too. In journalism, we have had to learn the hard way that not all issues that obsess the navel-gazing circle of politicians and the reporters who cover them matter to the larger audience.

This does not mean that we should not report from conviction on things we still consider to be of public importance. But it is a warning to us to either make our storytelling more effective—so that more people care—or reflect on our editorial choices. Either way, we should be mindful of the impact (or lack thereof) of our content.