In a tectonic shift, leading lights of journalism and power couple, Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose, currently on an indefinite sabbatical from CNN-IBN, have indicated that that they will be joining The Unreal Times. “We were very skeptical initially about their claims of placing sense over sensationalism, credibility over chaos and the usual spiel,” Rajdeep said, ”but when they told me they had absolutely nothing to do with Mukesh Ambani and subsist entirely on Google Ads, I was like ‘when can I join, dude?”. Sagarika too expressed happiness on being part of The Unreal Times family. “They have assured me that I can tweet and say absolutely whatever I want and there are no restrictions. They will be paying me peanuts, literally, but freedom of thought is far more valuable, yaa,” Sagarika said. Both will retain their titles as editors-at-large and have unfettered freedom with respect to shaping content.
As a precautionary measure, Sagarika and The Unreal Times star and in house ‘Sagarika’ expert, Ajayendar Reddy, will not be placed in the same floor, however. “We’ve convinced Sagarika ji that Reddy is a sweet kid, who in fact considers Sagarika to be his muse, but we don’t want to take chances as yet,” The Unreal Times Vice President for HR, Rinky Kapoor, said.
The Unreal Times management said they are planning to launch a whole series of properties in partnership with the couple. Sagarika’s Face The Nation format will be shrunk to 60 second clips, including the famous SMS poll, which should be readily lapped up by The Unreal Times readers. Also on the anvil are mashups of interviews of living and dead leaders from the past going all the way back to pre-history. “We’ll kick off the first episode with a panel discussion anchored by Sagarika on the idea of Pakistan comprising distinguished luminaries such as Mani Shankar Aiyar, Hina Rabbani Khar, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and Pandit Jawaharal Nehru. We plan to also bring in Akbar, Timur and Mahmud of Ghazni, subject to their availability and broadcast linking facilities permitting,” an excited Ashwin said. The management is also hoping that Sagarika gets more active on Twitter and in turn inspires Ajayendar to come up with more stuff.
Rajdeep’s ‘Gnight’ tweets will also find pride of place on The Unreal Times. Ashwin and Rajdeep will be collaborating on that property with Ashwin compiling a list of songs everyday for the former CNN-IBN chief editor to choose from. Rajdeep has also agreed to pen ultra preachy editorials everyday, which should complement the daily dose of news and analysis.