Press Freedom In India - Why Are Journalism And Media Crumbling In India?

Reporting on incidents and affairs is basically what we call journalism, which is done through different channels of the media.

Source Credit- Indian Media Studies

It is very safe to say that now the country’s press and media freedom is not what it is supposed to be or even what it was in the past, which at that time itself was bad enough.

Only a proletarian state shuts down all the pathways of information to the general public, which isn’t in the best of the state's power’s interests, and India is not of those sorts.

Politics and Media

Apparently, this seems to be the case only on paper because a plethora of journalists, working in India or abroad, have become victims of harassment from the ministries and higher authorities of the country.

Mr. Narendra Modi preached how India has democracy in its veins in the US last year (2023) when asked about the shunning down of a journalist for her counter-questioning the BJP.

Assault Against Journalists

In one of the newest of incidents, a journalist named Raghav Trivedi was assaulted during Amit Shah’s rally in Raebareli due to being mistaken for a person from supposedly an opposite religion.

If this is the scope of radicalism that is supported by the citizens and media, always in tie with the government in power, it is a very saddening fact that the mainstream media will only further itself into the clutches of a one-sided view of everything or a bigoted, poisoned, and biased narrative of the same.

Media Influencing

One of the prominent faces of the Indian media and news industry, Mr. Arnab Goswami, is a very beloved yet the most loathed journalist in the country, according to some.

While he is known for his interrogating prowess when acting as a host of news channel debates, throughout the course of recent years, he’s been thoroughly siding with the BJP, spreading and supporting whatever the same has been throwing at the country.

The Indian Government’s Hunger for Power

The hunger of the ruling government to stay in power will take it to any extent to influence and control the narrative by whatever means necessary. Journalists, with a greed to assume recognition for their work, start meat-riding the government.

Trolling and Threatening of Journalists

On the other hand, India is a hub for trolling, and they’ve mastered the art of it. This was said by a rapidly growing YouTuber and former TV journalist, now an independent one, Akash Banerjee, in an interview with Al Jazeera English.

When the ruling party has instilled a sense of fear or successfully brainwashed the citizens, trolling tends to go out of hand towards anyone who voices against the same.

And those who don’t want to publicly troll go personal, with intimidation in their minds. They send out messages and emails conveying death threats and subtle warnings about how things could go south for those against the regime.

Misinformation, Disinformation, and Bias

Rationally speaking, people don’t want rationality or rational news. A news company will lose viewership when they present untampered data and facts. So coming through the ranks in these difficult situations is a mountain to climb.

Whenever journalists question anything in any matter, the critics indulge in whataboutism. All these people care about is getting even. They can’t handle criticism about who they think is right or on their side. A YouTuber and mentor, Naman Srivastava, talks about this in plenty of detail on his YouTube channel.

Foreign Press’ Situation in India

Australian journalist Avani Dias was recently revoked of her visa extensions to stay in India after reporting on a certain killing of a Sikh separatist.

She works for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which had been receiving threats from the Indian ministry to take down the content pertaining to anything the Indian authorities deem confidential.

According to this issue, Avani was also in a very messy situation, facing a lot of pressure to keep her reporting in check.

She expressed her concerns about working in India and said that it has been very difficult for her to do her job with the constant intervention from the external ministry. They specified that her recent reporting of the killing had crossed the line.

This problem of journalism in India is not only faced by Indian journalists but also by foreign journalists. Foreign correspondents based in India also called for hostility.

The reality of Indian media and its bias are reaching questionable heights as the media in India heads toward suppressing everything inside the country and more so from its own people. No wonder India still ranks 159 on the Press Freedom Index, which is below even Afghanistan.

Final Thoughts

The reprimanding of journalists is on the rise, and to stop that, brave journalists must keep raising their voices against what’s wrong and bring the truth into the limelight. Disinformation and misinformation must be debunked at any cost, and genuinity must be restored.

Written By- L.A.Adithya


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