By Ranjona Banerji
The defeat of the incumbent BJP government in the Karnataka assembly elections had the predictable effect on our captive TV channels. Some pretended to be happy that their expensive exit polls had got it more or less correct. Others switched to the UP local body elections, because mayors in UP are more important that chief ministers in some southern state, especially when the BJP wins. Others could not contain their sorrow that not only had the BJP lost but the dreaded Congress had won.
I can hear the murmurs: oh, but many TV wallahs were equally upset when the Congress won in the past, all a “durbar-dynasty” clan, now smarting because the great King Emperor is triumphant and so on.
Let’s accept that all political formulations have some support within the media.
The question we now face is of degrees.
Never before has the mass media been as captivated by one political regime.
Never before has the mass media covered up transgressions and failures by a government as it does now.
Never before has the mass media spread sectarian hatred to suit the political dispensation has it does now.
The dangers are real. Citations from the past may make some commentators feel they’re being “objective” but in fact they are doing the opposite; they’re enabling fascism.
And the extent of the entitlement that fascist forces feel was evident when India Today invited BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya to discuss the election results. The BJP was understandably upset at the way Karnataka voted. After all, the entire might of the BJP had descended on the state. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah had held several rallies and road shows. The media had promoted every marigold petal showered on Modi with as much enthusiasm had it had ignored Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Malviya’s meltdown on TV which included a massive personal attack on TV anchor Rajdeep Sardesai underlined why promoting sectarian, divisive political ideologies on the pretext of being “objective” can be counter-productive. But because TV has imposed on itself this A versus B format of entertainment and propaganda, it has not just lost journalism but lost itself.
Many Indians continue to watch TV and take this sort of stuff seriously. They get indoctrinated and radicalised.
TV knows this and continues with it.
Recently two people were apprehended on suspicion of playing Hitler’s speeches on an Austrian train’s intercom system. The “freedom of speech” argument used by bigots and fascists is specious. There are limits on hate speech. Adolf Hitler is one limit, and with good reason.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/15/europe/austria-hitler-loudspeakers-train-intl/index.html#:~:text=Passengers%20on%20an%20Austrian%20train,several%20passengers% 20on%20the%20train.
But India’s TV channels are unable to make such distinctions. I cannot imagine that Malviya will be avoided, let alone banned. He is likely to continue to be a treasured guest on most of these Leni Riefenstahl channels.
Meanwhile, I will remind you that there are important reasons why the BJP lost Karnataka, from its Hindu majoritarianism to its Islamophobic policies and its lack of a proper economic growth model. Much like in the rest of India.
I can guarantee you however that the majority of our mainstream media will now focus on lobbying within the Congress Party to become chief minister of Karnataka.
The reasons are obvious.
It will be interesting to see though how many channels get outraged with the United States and call for diplomatic action against them for this report about increasing attacks on religious minorities against India. Narendra Modi is due on a state visit to the US in June, the first in nine years.
https://preview.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/india/
O my.
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.
By Ranjona Banerji