MxMIndia

Tag: CNNNews18

  • And sadly so. Since 2014, many media houses and journalists have worked as publicity agents for the government and the BJP, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Space for Criticism and Scrutiny has Shrunk

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The new 100-day agenda for the Modi government’s second term include, according to CNNNews18, e-vehicles, farmers’ income and Make in India. The first actions by Modi supporters have been to terrorise and attack religious minorities. The first action by Modi has been to give a grand speech against such attacks but the second action has not been to stop such attacks.

    Since journalists have very short memory span these days, do not expect much insight into what happened over the last five years. The past is a foreign country to quote LP Hartley, (he wrote books, but never mind) and most of today’s journalists have no passport into the past. If they had, more than a few relics like me lurking about, would have remembered how Raj Narain defeated Indira Gandhi in Rae Bareli in 1977. No, no, how can I say that? No one has ever defeated a Nehru-Gandhi since Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, right?

    So, Make in India and farmers, eh? Here’s some advice from Indian economists to the new government on how to revive the Indian economy, because make no mistake, after the last five years of Modi Sarkar, it needs CPR. But we can’t really say that or the government will feel bad. I quote from this Economic Times article:

    “The four major engines of the economy — private investment, exports, private consumption and now even public investment — have stalled or are sputtering. Irrespective of the data — not withstanding growing concerns about their credibility — the economy’s health warrants concern.

    “GDP growth has been slowing. The crucial automobile sector is hurting. Agricultural distress, lack of fiscal manoeuvrability, serious concerns around unemployment and a stubborn investment drought in the private sector are among a slew of challenges that the new government must tackle head on.”

    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/top-five-economic-issues-that-the-new-government-must-prioritise/articleshow/69498185.cms

    Any chance that government action on the flailing economy is going to be scrutinised every night full scale on our proud nationalistic TV channels? Okay, that was a joke, don’t answer it.

    Let’s look at  the other aspect of the re-election of Narendra Modi and his second term as Prime Minister of India.

    It did not take long for supporters of Modi, the BJP and the Sangh Parivar to continue their attacks on Muslims and Dalits. All the usual violent behaviour and intimidatory tactics by the majoritarian rightwing we have seen over the last five years were on display once again. Modi’s grandiloquent grandstanding about building trust amongst minorities and those who disagree with him and the BJP, was lauded and applauded by our “neutral” commentators, as if it was the Gettysburg address. Ground realities have never really bothered these “journalists” but some in the media luckily have their eyes and ears open.

    https://scroll.in/article/924841/dalits-adivasis-muslims-targeted-in-at-least-five-incidents-since-bjp-won-the-election

    The more things change…

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    We discussed in 2014 the honeymoon period and how the media will eventually get to work. The last five years exposed those naive beliefs since as shibboleths. Since 2014, more and more media houses and journalists have worked as publicity agents for the government and for the BJP. The space for criticism and scrutiny has shrunk. Or let me rephrase that. There is plenty of scrutiny for every opposition party and so it should be.

    But when it comes to holding the government to account… let’s finish that quote by Alphonse Karr: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. Her views here are personal

     

     

  • For India’s future to be robust, the media has to be even more robust, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Sound, fury & graphics on Results TV

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    One thing one has to say for our beloved news channels is that they do not let us down. You are guaranteed a proper Indian jatra-tamasha when it comes to election results coverage. Your TV screen is covered with colours, faces, numbers, words all competing for attention. Graphics run around everywhere, and they change faster than a pulsar can rotate on its own axis – 17 times in one second, I believe in the case of one.

    I have not understood until today where these channels get their figures from because every channel gets different numbers on leads and trends! As you switch from one to the other, the same party can win between 283 and 291 in the space of eight channels and 10 seconds. And the best for me is that none of them tally with the Election Commission’s results website.

    Aah, well. Having been forced to run through these channels thanks to this column, I found that surprise surprise, the least scary and most readable graphics were on India Today, although once people started speaking you had to run for cover. The easiest to watch was Mirror Now with Faye D’Souza providing a friendly face and personable presence to viewers. The most “sound and fury”, as expected, was on Times Now, with strong competition between Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar as to who could outshout the other (the guests had to try really hard here).

    CNNNews18 was less obnoxious than I thought it would be. NewsX was more watchable than I had assumed, although there were too many faces on the screen. Wion was boring by comparison but less frenetic. Tiranga TV was all right. The most amusing was Republic TV because from what I could understand, Arnab Goswami speaks mainly in Hindi now. NDTV remains the most reliable and generally un-screechy. I missed Dorab Sopariwala, usually a regular with Dr Prannoy Roy, but perhaps I watched at the wrong times?

    Most news channels of course, true to type, were overjoyed at the projected massive mandate for Narendra Modi and the BJP. (How close the exit polls, otherwise known as pre-voting surveys, were to the actual results, we shall discuss in another column.) So therefore, no chance of expecting much journalism from the usual suspects into the next five years.

    The twin concepts of showing truth to power, of holding a government accountable for its policies and actions, will once again fall to a smattering of newspapers and news sites and a couple of news channels. I sincerely hope that I am wrong. But, judging from the last five years and the looks of utter triumphant joy on the faces of anchors like Rahul Shivshankar, Navika Kumar, Rahul Kanwal at a BJP win, to name just three of the usual suspects, we have to be prepared for more of the same.

    For the rest, the battle is on. We must be prepared for a rise in bigotry and notwithstanding the Sensex and Nifty rises of May 23, India’s economic situation remains precarious. For India’s future to be robust, India’ democratic institutions which includes the media has to be even more robust. Here’s our test. I can guarantee now, unless a huge reckoning happens, we are going to fail again.

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. Her views here are personal