Biztro

The media avalanche around  top-level changes in the Reserve Bank doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. Watch out for the blinding photo-op on September 4, when Raghuram Rajan yields way to Urjit Patel. It wasn’t always like this, of course. Till liberalisation, very few outside the RBI would have known who the governor was, even though he signed rupee notes. But now, media management is a crucial part of the game. Recently, a US-based economist met with Rajan after his decision to leave the governorship. Rajan pointed at two piles of newspaper clippings on his desk­—the larger pile was overflowing with positive reports, the smaller one with critical pieces. That’s what they call image management.