The India story: Polarised media, a belligerent state, and some silenced voices

The past year-and-a-half has been difficult. Every time a news breaks, I still yearn to be on top of it — marshalling reporters and opinion writers to dissect it from every angle and reach the very bottom of its truth. My own fingers twitch too, desperately anxious to write down my own take on the kaleidoscope of events that is present-day India.

But I rarely write.

Ever since I lost my job as the group editor-in-chief of one of the country’s leading weekly magazines — for having dared to call out the powerful government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its gross mismanagement in handling the Covid pandemic during its second wave — I have had no particular news platform to voice my viewpoint.

I do occasionally write for various news portals — both in India and abroad — but then that is not the same as writing for one’s own organisation. From being a top editor who called all the shots, I am at others’ mercy.

Also read: Ex-Outlook Editor narrates tale of sacking in book ominous for India’s media

India’s media landscape is badly divided and polarised. Most media outlets are with the government while some are viscerally against it. To write for one would be to align with one side or the other.

I consequently have largely fallen silent.

But then that’s what the sackings and strongarm tactics against journalists in India are meant to achieve.

Most media houses have fallen in line and muted their criticism of the powers that be. Those who persist with raising inconvenient questions invite displeasure — at times direct and sometime subtle.

Writing’s on the wall

Officials of the much-feared Income Tax department descending on the offices of the BBC for a “survey” weeks after the broadcaster telecast a controversial documentary series on Modi is only the latest in an unending string of what could be viewed as alarming instances of a belligerent government wielding the stick.

Of course, the government has described the raid as routine and in accordance with law. But then, the writings on the wall have been way too obvious. Prior to the Income Tax visit, the Indian government had ordered YouTube and Twitter to block the first part of the documentary within the country’s borders, under the Information Technology Rules, 2021.

Also read: BBC under lens for violating I-T transfer pricing rules; what are these?

India’s ranking by Reporters Without Borders in terms of media freedom has steadfastly declined. Currently, it is 150 — down from 142 last year. The deterioration has all the while been marked by dismissals, jailings and false cases foisted on journalists.

Siddique Kappan, arrested while on an assignment to cover the rape and murder of a Dalit girl in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, was freed on bail only last week after spending some 800 days behind bars. Charged with the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, his legal travails though are far from over.

Even media houses — those charting an inconvenient path — have faced the heat. Websites such as The Wire and NewsClick that are fiercely critical of Modi and his party have been under the scanner, with government officials paying a visit or two at their offices. Some of their editors have had a slew of police complaints lodged against them.

But what stoked the biggest outrage was when NDTV — considered to be the last remaining independent television station — was recently taken over by the conglomerate owned by Gautam Adani, a businessman known for his proximity to Modi.

The takeover has had its expected consequences. Hordes of NDTV veterans not known to toe the government line have quit. Meanwhile, NDTV’s programming is lacking its customary punch.

Also read: BJP slams BBC’s ‘venomous reporting on India’, says I-T dept should do its work

Pitiable state of media

But not every Indian is alarmed.

Those in favour of Modi are cheering the circumcision of the media while those against are crying themselves hoarse.

Lost in the partisan din is the pitiable state of the media. In taking political sides, it has lost all semblance of fairness, neutrality, objectivity and moderation. Those supporting Modi have become propaganda tools. Those against look more and more like opposition pamphlets.

Defending the truth without swinging either way in such polarised times is difficult.

I found it out the hard way, soon after the magazine I edited ran the controversial cover against the Modi government. “Missing” — that’s how we had described the current dispensation at the height of the COVID second wave singed by deadly shortages of oxygen and hospital beds — and I was made to go missing from action soon after.

Also read: SC dismisses plea seeking complete ban on BBC from operating in India

Most media houses are dependent on government advertisements for survival and few are willing to risk that. My erstwhile employers complained of being under tremendous pressure — pressure they said they cannot handle — following the publication of our cover. I was advised to lie low.

Then they laid me off.

(The writer is the former Group editor-in-chief of Outlook and author of ‘Editor Missing: The Media in Today’s India’)

(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal)