Degradation of Journalism in India

“By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, journalism keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.”  – Oscar Wilde

JOURNALISM is the activity or profession of writing for newspapers, magazines, or news websites or preparing NEWS to be broadcast.

From where I’m standing 90% of the times when I switch to a news channel, I feel disappointed and I would not even like to justify the statement because it’s a fact (unless you are associated with them or you like daily soap)

Talking about recent days, we open our television boxes, switch to news channels in the morning and we see just one face showcased everywhere, we all know who that is, right? Most of us have started to take these news channels as gossip hubs, why? Because it serves us false facts. Unfortunately, most peoples’ judgements and opinions in India are tampered by these News Channels and all other “righteous” media.

For some of us who aren’t really moved by what they show and know and sense the reality. For us, Indian Journalism is nothing but entertainment.

So what if it’s used up with all the useless news if the Journalists are not presenting us the true facts? What if they’re not journalists, they are puppets? What if they’re marketing and not doing what they’re supposed to do? What if they’re biased? What if they’re restricted to confine themselves to a script? Where is the Freedom of speech Babasaheb wrote in the constitution of India to give it to every citizen of the country? The issue demands a discussion.

Journalism is what keeps a democracy going in the right direction becoming its pillar of strength. Journalism is supposed to give us a window to look at the world. Telling us facts and news so that we’re aware and can have a better judgement.

History reveals that the more democratic a society, the more news, and information it tends to have. So, The purpose of journalism is thus to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments. It is that mode of communication which provides just the right information to make us aware. One of the reasons nationalist revolutions started in many countries is the impact of journalism on the common people and letting them know about the cruel practices of their governments. In the struggle of India against the British, the newspapers played a notable role. Newspapers like Hindi Patriot, Doorbeen, Bangadoot, and Rastiguftar played a significant role. So far as the revolutionary movement is concerned, it did not begin with guns and bombs, it started with the pen of a journalist and later on the publication of newspapers.

“In the very first month of Indian Opinion, I realized that the sole aim of journalism should be service. The newspaper press is a great power, but just as an unchained torrent of water submerges whole countrysides and devastates crops, even so an uncontrolled pen serves but to destroy. If the control is from without, it proves more poisonous than want of control. It can be profitable only when exercised from within. If this line of reasoning is correct, how many of the journals in the world would stand the test? But who would stop those that are useless? And who should be the judge? The useful and the useless must, like good and evil generally, go on together, and man must make his choice.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Impact of Politics on Indian Journalism

Although the ideal journalism is Journalists digging up on what the politicians are really up to and publishing it. The political parties should not have control over press and media. But according to a 2012 report by Business Standard, more than a third of news channels in India are owned by politicians or political affiliates who use their channels as “political vehicles” to influence the course of local elections. 

“Owning a news entity has become a practical necessity for political parties in India,” Parthasarathy told CPJ

So, most of the news we see these days are biased towards a specific political party. The cable distribution systems that telecast the channels are also coming under political control. Nearly 60 per cent of the cable distribution systems in India are owned by local politicians, according to the Business Standard report. Cable distribution systems block telecasts of channels carrying information deemed politically unfavourable. While Sun and Kalaignar were omitting coverage of events in Sri Lanka, Makkal TV, which is owned by a rival politician, was providing robust coverage of the events. But politicians who controlled Sumangali Cable Vision, the dominant cable distribution system in the state, blocked telecasts of Makkal at the time, according to Parthasarathy. The news channels and the cable distributor did not respond to requests for comment. 

And it is not restricted to Tamil Nadu. It is evident across much of South India in states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and in places like Punjab in the north, where Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s family owns three news channels, Parthasarathy said.  There too, cable distribution systems have blocked telecasts of anti-Badal stories, according to news reports. “This is very unique to a modern-day democracy. This wouldn’t happen in the [United] States or the U.K.,” Parthasarathy said.

Attacks on Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a press freedom watchdog, released its annual 2018 Global Impunity Index ranking “states with the worst records of prosecuting the killers of journalists.” Adding that it fears that journalists are increasingly the targets of online smear campaigns by the most radical nationalists, who vilify them and even threaten physical reprisals. India ranked 14th on the list with 18 murders of journalists with impunity from 2008 to 2018. Since 1992, 48 journalists in India have been killed and 34 were targeted for murder. Of the 34 murders, 32 were murdered with “complete impunity,” according to the CPJ database. Among the murders was the shooting of Gauri Lankesh, veteran journalist and editor, who was shot and killed in Bangalore on September 5, 2017, by three unidentified assailants, reported the Hindustan Times. Her murder led to a national outcry over the safety of journalists. Lankesh was renowned for her criticism of right-wing extremism and communal violence in Gauri Lankesh Patrike, her Kannada-language weekly tabloid. 

So, tell me, Is this the kind of nation our ancestors dreamt of? Did they hope that the main source of information to common people, the press and media will be burdened by the politicians and the journalists will be brutally murdered? I hope No, they dreamt of a nation where there is a complete Freedom of speech and where people can give a voice to their opinions whether it’s in favour or against the government. Governments shouldn’t tamper with the people’s basic rights and their freedom to live like a liberal citizen.

Social Media uplifting rightful Journalism 

Initiatives like TheQuint, The Wire, Brut India, The Logical Indian which show us the real facts about every matter and hopefully is not biased towards a specific political party. They have their roots in social media and work as independent news providers to the public. Initiatives like these are keeping the journalism in India alive and because of them the people still have trust in Journalism. They have helped a great deal in the #MeToo Movement, LGBTQ+ Movement, and many more revolutions which just started with a petition on a small scale. Global Warming, Increasing Pollution, Extinction and what not, You will find facts about each of the threat faced by our mother earth and the remedies that are needed to be taken. Some of them still are working as Non-Profit-Organisations and helping in providing true information. So my point is we need to help these Initiatives to do their work in whichever manner we can, In fact, It’s our country too.

I will end this with an appeal to our Government

Dear Indian Govt. and The esteemed political parties,

You have the Right to campaign anywhere, anytime you want. So, stop using and tampering the news just for electoral purposes. I hope you work in a rightful way so that you don’t have to hide something and then buying our media. Trust me when I say this most of us know what’s happening but right now we are just helpless. I hope you just stop talking about building a Mosque or a temple and Start talking about the economic development of this country. Employment is at an all-time low. I hope when we look at news channels or read our newspapers in the morning, We see the news which is actually the truth and not the truth “you” want us to see and believe. I will be more than thankful to you or maybe vote for you in the next elections, Just kidding.

An educated, aware Citizen of India.