In my opinion, yes. The Indian media is losing a golden chance to influence a generation – our generation. Let me explain how.
Let me first tell you about the context in which I will be speaking. I’m 21 years old and it’s only in the past four or five years that I have been following the mainstream Indian media. Until 2014, I didn’t give a damn about the politics of the country or what the media had to say. The only instance where I actually sat down in front of the television to watch news was during the 26/11 attacks.
In 2014, people around me started talking about a man whose name I had never heard of. They were saying the most positive things about this man who was the Prime Ministerial candidate back then – Narendra Modi. Like every other person, I was keen to know about this man, and that’s when I switched on the television to watch a debate on the prime time news. I was fascinated when I first read about him, and within moments, I decided that my first-ever vote will go to this man. He then went on to become the Prime Minister – and like my family and friends, I was elated.
I had huge expectations from the Indian media because of all the interviews every news channel had done with Rahul Gandhi. They were asking tough questions, they were pointing out the mistakes in the leadership of the government – and most importantly, they were informing and embarrassing the government when it came to their mistakes. All this led me to believe that, yes, we can ask tough questions to the people in power – and as I had read in my textbooks, democracy was indeed by, for and of the people.
That’s when everything changed.
From 2014 to the present day, a lot has changed in the mainstream media. The noisy debates have increased, live demonstrations of accidental deaths are being shown, people are allowed to carry swords inside the newsroom, and even the hairstyle of a chief minister has become a point of discussion.
In the last two years, the debates on Pakistan and Dawood have outnumbered the debates on job creation and poverty. However, I have to admit there are exceptions like Ravish and Faye who genuinely raise questions concerning the common man. The major difference has been in regards to those tough questions which were asked to the establishment. The same news channels which went all guns blazing in pointing out the silence of the then PM, Manmohan Singh, are now silent over the important issues like farmer suicides, employment, poverty and education.
Does the Indian media still have a chance to redeem itself and influence the common man? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
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