How Kannada news channels once again proved that misogyny rules

If you are a woman living in Karnataka and mostly consuming news through local TV, the past few weeks may have been difficult for your mental health. That’s mostly true for women across India, especially every time a case of sexual abuse and rape manages to make it to prime time news.

While the victims’ stories can be deeply disturbing, often reminding a woman of her own experiences in some other place and time, it’s the rage-inducing, 24x7 sexist tone of media coverage that makes it all the more difficult.

This is not something The Federal is saying, but a number of women it spoke to—some within the media—in the wake of the alleged sexual abuse by a Karnataka minister, Ramesh Jarkiholi.

Twenty-seven-year-old Meenakshi (name changed) admits to not reporting her harasser fearing the ‘TRP-hungry media’. This, despite the fact that Meenakshi herself works for a national media channel.