By Ranjona Banerji
Sitting here in the UK, Indian news is far away. So I watched a little NDTV. I hope you feel a little shock and awe. I confess. I was curious. Had NDTV changed? Had India changed in the two weeks that I had been away?
I know, I know. It’s not about me!
But still. TV news and me. A true sacrifice.
What I discovered was intriguing to say the least. The top story was about BJP MLAs in Tripura jumping ship. With assembly elections around the corner, in three states in the area, curious indeed.
The second story was even curiouser than the first. Covid cases rising in India and not enough vaccines. In spite of government promises, no free vaccines in Delhi and hardly any vaccines at all paid or free. Government ads urging people to take booster shots but no booster shots to be had.
The third story was about how the Bharat Jodo Yatra was not being given enough security cover by the Home Ministry, according to the Congress Party.
Then a terribly gruesome murder and a case of abuse by a rich person against her domestic help.
Here I stopped.
But this much seemed clear. NDTV had not yet become worse than News18 and India Today – if such a thing was possible. And Indian news was the same as ever.
This column however is my annual round-up. What did I find in 2022 that was different from the media’s consistently abysmal performance from 2014 onwards?
I have wracked every bit of my memory to try and find happier moments, that did not come from some of the digital media or from a few print journals. Should it be obvious that I failed?
The learning I got in fact was one of the saddest. That journalists within India acknowledge and accept that the most prominent and well-known media houses and TV anchors are unable to practise even a semblance of basic journalism. No one contests this any more. Some still make excuses – the basic one being that X cannot question the government because he’s worried about his job. I can understand if the said X was a junior subeditor earning a few thousand rupees. But no one cares about an unknown X. So when X is a multi-lakh if not crore earning minor celebrity, the fears for a job being lost are laughable. Almost as laughable as those poor members of the public who state with authority and insider knowledge that X is being “paid” and is thus useless at questioning the government.
I hate to burst this bubble but all journalists are paid and should be paid. Journalists are not volunteer social workers. However, they are paid to do a certain job – journalism which includes questioning the government – and this is where they fail.
The upshot however is that because journalists accept that most of the mainstream media rolls over and plays dead when it comes to the ruling government at the Centre, they hold other media outlets to a higher scrutiny. These now pay a high price for occasionally failing or making mistakes. It is as if they must bear the entire burden for the shortcomings of their peers.
This game however will get us nowhere. If we do not stand against bad journalism together and attack its source, we all fail together. A few media houses struggling to keep their heads above the murk and gloom must be commended and encouraged, but they cannot be expected to bear this burden alone.
Eventually, we will all fail together. The worst, the best and the middling. And we will know that we sat there and played tiddlywinks while it happened. What a legacy that will be.
On which note, Happy New Year.
What are the odds that 2023 will be more of the same?
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and columnist. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.