The Perils of Indian Journalism

The current debate surrounding the central government's merits can be best described as polarized. With issues such as employment, national security and women safety gaining prominence among the youth and public discourse more broadly, a core element of Indian Democracy is consequently strengthened- Government accountability to its people. It's a positive sign for a young and rising country of 1.3 billion people that young and older citizens alike are posing difficult questions to the ruling BJP party, and the recent internet boom certainly takes a huge chunk of credit for that. Then how did this polarization in India (and many western nations as well) come about?

The answer lies within the smartphone and mobile data boom itself. With a community of 200 million, India is by far Whatsapp's largest market in the world. Free to install and easy to use, it has facilitated communication for the ordinary citizen, not only between distant parts of the country, but also across international borders. But before understanding how Whatsapp in recent times has become the face of misinformation and populist propaganda, it is important to highlight the gradual corruption of mainstream journalism in the country. 

NDTV and its reputed leading Hindi Journalist Ravish Kumar has been anything but mum about the constant harassment and death threats he faces from right-wing organizations (many of them having active ties with BJP), with NDTV dedicating an entire prime-hour segment on its channel to highlight this culture with the viewers. Naturally, any sensible personality who respects the freedom of press in the country was appalled at this behavior, coming from party-affiliated units that brazenly violate these principles, in the name of Hinduism and patriotism. But the disheartening fact here, which the current youth often echoes, is that the viewers tend to move on from this very quickly. Maybe because at a certain point, we have simply come to accept bullying as a part of the system. We can sympathize, share our opinions and videos on social media, but our power is generally limited to such means.

 Another example of such brazen behavior is the rise and influence of Arnab Goswami, who again the concerned yet powerless public have come to accept as a caricature of biased journalism. Mr. Goswami or Republic TV's background does not require any scrutiny, because his endless flattery of the ruling party and pro-war narrative on national TV couldn't possibly escape the eyes of even the most indifferent viewer. NDTV and The Wire have also been repeatedly guilty of  anti-BJP sentiment in their reporting, in their own subtle way. This is extremely concerning because when the public overlooks the spread of toxic culture in Journalism, such suppression only grows further. This is especially dangerous in the era of a central government that openly declared the revival of Hindu Nationalism in the country as their primary agenda, even if it comes at the cost of violating minority rights and instigating communal violence. 

But as the youth has kept up with the latest social media platforms for their latest news, so has the politics. With BJP and Congress IT cells proliferating throughout different parts of the country, Whatsapp is now being effectively exploited to spread misinformation and spread populist ideology among the masses. Amidst all the chaos India has gone through over the past one year, the news of Indian Tech Ministry explicitly requesting Whatsapp to curb the rise of fake news probably missed a good number of people in December 2018. Why then has Whatsapp continued to serve as a source for daily news for so many people? A quick inspection would reveal an obvious fact: Many of the whatsapp users still lack access to mainstream journalism and TV news, or its too inconvenient to take time from their stressful schedule to browse for credible news sources (which are already scarce). Even though smartphones and cheap mobile data have reached the remotest parts of India, the basic education and political awareness still lags in many of these regions, making Whatsapp an extremely effective tool to instill fear and insecurity among such commoners.

What can we, then, do to promote healthy journalism in the country in face of these challenges? Firstly, having access to global news content and the exposure to discern sincere journalism from propaganda, its important for the educated youth to report fake content rather than ignoring or deleting it. Secondly, we also need to take the onus to aggressively share this honest journalistic content with the wider community. Though not the most effective, such a counter-action could help ignite deeper discussions about the ongoing issues, and compel the readers and viewers to verify their primary sources. Honest journalism is not dead, but it faces existential crisis in an era where facts are being constantly suppressed by 'opinions'. 

-Akhil Mathur