Few things have exposed the state of political reporting in India than the news that Sonia Gandhi is unwell.
Dozens of reporters, most of whom claim more “access” to 10, Janpath than all the rest, cover the Congress party.
Yet, in a throwback to the Cold War days, none knew or none told the world what was wrong, although there had been strong whispers for nearly a year.
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Neelam Deo and Manjeet Kripalani of the Bombay-based Indian council of global relations, Gateway House:
As TV channels fell over each other [on August 4] to cover in minute detail, the unseemly succession drama of the chief minister of Karnataka, and the CAG’s naming of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit in the graft and corruption surrounding CWG, by 2.30 pm foreign TV agencies, the BBC and Agence France-Presse reported that Sonia Gandhi, had undergone surgery in the United States.
The foreign news reports named Gandhi’s spokesperson, Janardhan Dwivedi, as the source of the information….
The news of Sonia Gandhi’s undisclosed illness and secret departure came as a shock to Indians… Democratic institutions like the media and the Parliament, which should have disclosed Gandhi’s condition as a matter of public knowledge, had kept silent.
The Congress Party carried no notice of its leader’s illness on its website, and it is significant that its spokesperson confirmed the news first to the foreign press.
If it felt it could not trust the Indian media with responsible reportage, the Indian media as a collective, has given it good reason. It is, increasingly part of the cozy nexus of politicians and bureaucrats in Delhi, and is often partisan in its coverage, scoffing at the public’s right to know important events.
For the record, Manjeet Kripalani is former India bureau chief of BusinessWeek magazine.
Illustration: courtesy Thomas Antony
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IJR 
The answer for the question that Sans Serif has asked in the title to this post is really simple.
The forign media has chosen to break the news because they didn’t receive thier bribe on time.
The Indian media did, so they refrained from breaking the news.
In modern India, breaking news stories are directly proportional to the quantum of bribe…
>> If it felt it could not trust the Indian media with responsible reportage
Is it not possible for this very reason that Sonia Gandhi (or for that matter Prime-Minister) doesn’t talk much to the media
Man, the ignorant rubbish some people spew!
As The Hindu reported, even the US embassy in India were unaware that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi had gone abroad for surgery. (No one has also yet confirmed if she is indeed in the US).
The only reason the Congress chose to make the fact about the surgery public was because the foreign media contacted them to verify the fact. As such, when the cat is out of the bag, what other option is there but to make a statement and ask everyone to ‘respect her privacy’?
… which should have disclosed Gandhi’s condition as a matter of public knowledge …
This statement highlights the height of the author’s ignorance about politics. No savvy politician (and their coterie) will ever reveal his / her health issues to the public.
Jinnah had tuberculosis while he was negotiating for Pakistan. He kept it a very closely guarded secret because he knew if this became public, it would sabotage his cause.
The BJP kept the illness of Mr. Vajpayee a secret because he was their only respected leader, and they were afraid their coalition would fail without him (and without Mr. Vajpayee, that did happen). L. K. Advani, meanwhile, actually ran the whole show (through the unconstitutional post of the ‘deputy PM’) – and earned the nickname (privately among the MP’s) of being the ‘super prime minister’, which the BJP’s shrewd propaganda division now use publicly against Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.
the anna hazare drama itself is to cover up the so called illness trip to NY by soniagandhi. One can see the gradual increase of the frenzy.