By Ranjona Banerji
The New York Times’s investigation into the fake job “offer” that Nidhi Razdan, once one of India’s favourite news anchors, got from Harvard University unearthed a sleazy campaign to target journalists, and in particular women journalists.
Razdan made the announcement, quit her job with NDTV and then waited to start her new assignment. Which never came. Eventually she discovered that there was no job and an elaborate hoax had been played on her. She revealed, and it must have been very painful, exactly how she was taken for a ride and why she was taken in.
https://www.ndtv.com/blog/how-i-fell-for-a-phishing-attack-my-story-by-nidhi-razdan-2353395
At the time, Razdan called it a “phishing” attack. However, as the New York Times investigation reveals, this was a very well-planned and executed cyberattack. The assault was relentless, and took place across multiple digital platforms. That Harvard University’s systems are so easily mimicked is something that one of the world’s most prestigious institutions needs to take more seriously than it has so far.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/indian-female-journalists-were-scammed-with-promises-of-harvard-jobs-report-2655058
Between this and the revelations that Pegasus military spyware was used to infiltrate the phones and computers of several Indian journalists like Swati Chaturvedi, Rohini Singh, who was also on the Harvard scam list, Wire founders Siddharth Vardarajan and MK Venu, Muzammil Jaleel and Vijaita Singh. These are only a few names from the list of 40. Activists and politicians were targeted as well. The evidence suggests how a section of society is hellbent on making life difficult for anyone who is mildly critical of the government in power or is a perceived threat.
https://thewire.in/media/pegasus-project-spyware-indian-journalists
Fingers have been pointed at the BJP and its massive rightwing presence in cyberspace, from the BJP’s IT Cell to the paid trolls revealed in Swati Chaturvedi’s investigative book, I am a Troll. There is no direct evidence of BJP involvement. But the manner in which certain people have been targeted indicates the intent. Even if some targets are within the Hindutva/rightwing stratosphere, they could be perceived as possibly fence-sitters.
Even more suspicious is the fact that while several other countries where Pegasus was used on journalists have launched investigations into its use, India has steadfastly refused. Indeed, it has denied everything in the face of direct evidence.
And yet, the Indian media shows no solidarity let alone any direct acknowledgement that democracy itself is under threat under the current dispensation. In spite of everything. The way we have fallen in the Press Freedom Index. The way we are one of the worst countries for attacks on journalists and the death of journalists. The recent physical assault on journalists by BJP minister Ajay Mishra Teni demonstrates just how fragile the relationship between power and the media is. No matter how much sections of the media may bow low and suck up, a slight show of journalism and the reaction is fierce. That a Special Investigation Team found that Teni’s son was part of a plan to run over protesting farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri is apparently not open for discussion for the BJP.
The tragedy for the Indian media is that we have no breaking point. With extreme stretchability we manage to sink lower and lower and further away from basic journalism. The cult of Narendra Modi and the electoral power of the BJP have both managed not just to deprive Indian citizens of their voice but the Indian media of its basic characteristic: to question and investigate.
It is no wonder that India’s farmers threw sections of the media out of their protest sites.
They knew that those who pay obeisance to power cannot be trusted.
Time that the media woke up to the fact that either way, they’re coming for you?
Don’t hold your breath!
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal