Mahatma Gandhi 150th birth anniversary: What would Gandhi say about the Indian media?
5 years, 3 months ago

Mahatma Gandhi 150th birth anniversary: What would Gandhi say about the Indian media?

The Hindu  

As we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, a thought experiment that could yield provocative insights would be to explore what Gandhi would say about different aspects of modern India. Since Gandhi was a journalist before he became a political revolutionary, I will conjecture how he would have responded to the state of the Indian media today. He wrote: “I believe that a struggle which chiefly relies upon internal strength can be carried on without a newspaper, but it is also my experience that we could not perhaps have educated the local Indian community, nor kept Indians all over the world in touch with the course of events in South Africa in any other way, with the same ease and success as through Indian Opinion, which therefore was certainly a most useful and potent weapon in our struggle.” Believing strongly that journalism should be accessible and empowering, Gandhi was an ardent supporter of the regional media. A strong critic of communal politics, who refused to sell ad space in her newspaper to protect its integrity, and wrote mostly in Kannada, Gauri was a journalist Gandhi would have been proud of.

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History of this topic

The Great Indian Media Surrender: From Watchdog to Lapdog
2 weeks, 1 day ago

The Great Indian Media Surrender: From Watchdog to Lapdog

The Hindu  

Published : Dec 25, 2024 12:00 IST - 10 MINS READ There was a time, not long ago, when the Indian press exposed a commission scandal allegedly implicating a Prime Minister. Silent media Yet, nearly four decades later, the story of Gautam Adani’s companies being indicted by a US court for paying bribes to procure green energy contracts creates barely …

I was doing my job as a journalist in India. Modi's government didn’t like it
6 months, 3 weeks ago

I was doing my job as a journalist in India. Modi's government didn’t like it

ABC  

It was supposed to be an innocuous catch-up with representatives from Narendra Modi's party, the BJP, to touch base about the ABC's coverage plans for the Indian election. French journalist Vanessa Dougnac — believed to be India's longest-serving foreign correspondent — had to leave this year because her permanent residency was revoked Al Jazeera said its correspondent was not given …

JNU Centre for Media Studies Explores into Impact of Western Media on India's Global Image
8 months ago

JNU Centre for Media Studies Explores into Impact of Western Media on India's Global Image

News 18  

In a gripping discussion about the influence of Western media on global perceptions of India, the Centre for Media Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University gave an interesting talk titled “Western Media Ecosystem and Framing of India: Exploring the Dynamics of Propaganda.” A lecture on this pressing subject was given by notable guests Umesh Upadhyay, a senior journalist and writer, and …

What’s Ailing Foreign Media in India?
8 months, 2 weeks ago

What’s Ailing Foreign Media in India?

News 18  

Why is it that global media operating in Bharat is acerbic? Most foreign media companies’ editorial policies may have been driven or influenced by their Indian partners. In this backdrop, a couple of foreign media professionals leaving Bharat due to circumstances ‘beyond normal’ have kicked up a debate in the community. Beginning with the BBC tax surveys, foreign journalists’ exit …

Western media – colonial mindset of thwarting India’s rise
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Western media – colonial mindset of thwarting India’s rise

Deccan Chronicle  

The Western media’s approach towards India shows how the English press continues to disseminate the West’s long-held prejudices against India. Drawing heavily from history, the book ‘Western media narratives on India: From Gandhi to Modi’ authored by Umesh Upadhyay critically unravels the origins and causes of this bias. The Western media crafted a narrative, projecting India’s response to the disaster …

Indira Gandhi Died: Man Finds Father's Archive of 90s Newspapers From Historical Days, Shares Pics
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Indira Gandhi Died: Man Finds Father's Archive of 90s Newspapers From Historical Days, Shares Pics

News 18  

Preserving cherished items like stamps, coins, and other memorabilia remains a fascination for many, a practice that seems to be dwindling in the age of smartphones and the internet. Yet, amidst this digital revolution, there were still individuals like this man’s father who possessed a remarkable habit of safeguarding historical newspaper archives. Well, a Reddit user stepped forward to show …

Book Excerpt: Media’s Role in the India-China War and the 'Real’ Threat to Ties
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Book Excerpt: Media’s Role in the India-China War and the 'Real’ Threat to Ties

The Quint  

In October 2012, at a function to release a series of five titles on China edited by the distinguished diplomat K Raghunath, who had retired as Foreign Secretary and served as ambassador to China, NSA Shivshankar Menon had a dig at the Indian media. He referred to how the media in China had treated the 50th anniversary of the 1962 …

Media Boycott by INDIA Bloc Exposes Unsettled Priorities and Insecurity - News18
1 year, 3 months ago

Media Boycott by INDIA Bloc Exposes Unsettled Priorities and Insecurity - News18

News 18  

In a surprising move, the Opposition alliance, aptly named INDIA, has declared one of its initial decisions: a boycott of approximately 14 prominent TV anchors. There are tactful ways to address concerns, and it’s essential to acknowledge that various political parties, both past and present, have, at times, chosen to boycott media organisations, anchors, or newspapers. The Opposition alliance’s unequivocal …

Media as the fall guy is not a new story
1 year, 3 months ago

Media as the fall guy is not a new story

Hindustan Times  

Should politicians be boycotting individual journalists or even entire media houses? And in the real world, if we were to make an appraisal of India’s new channels and the relationship between media and politics, we would need a longer answer than a pithy yes or no. India’s broadcast media, through a series of self-inflicted wounds, has ensured that no matter …

CPJ urges US to press India’s Modi on media freedom during visit
1 year, 6 months ago

CPJ urges US to press India’s Modi on media freedom during visit

Al Jazeera  

The Committee to Protect Journalists says it expects the US to make India’s media crackdown ‘a core element of discussions’. A prominent press watchdog says the United States government should urge Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to end what it called a crackdown on media as it demanded the release of six journalists “arbitrarily detained in retaliation for their work”. …

From romanticising to humanising: Here’s how the mainstream Indian media has tried to generate sympathy for jihadis
1 year, 6 months ago

From romanticising to humanising: Here’s how the mainstream Indian media has tried to generate sympathy for jihadis

Op India  

Remember those Bollywood movies wherein a Hindu is corrupt, a Pandit is a rapist, an Indian soldier turns terrorist, a Baniya is an exploitative cheat, but Abdul is a peace-loving person driven by responsibilities? With such articles, the media hopes that Umar’s girlfriend’s cause would become the cause of the average citizen, with the facts being suppressed and summarily ignored …

Indian media strong enough to set narrative across world: Anurag Thakur
1 year, 9 months ago

Indian media strong enough to set narrative across world: Anurag Thakur

The Hindu  

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has said the Indian media is strong enough and has the capability to set a narrative across the world. Some foreign media houses carried "false" reports about India during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this agenda of spoiling the country's image was not only being run from outside the country, but many Indian leaders …

Bullying a Journalist: Rahul Gandhi’s Inglorious Hour was a True Reflection of the Man Beyond the Simulated Image of a Democrat - News18
1 year, 9 months ago

Bullying a Journalist: Rahul Gandhi’s Inglorious Hour was a True Reflection of the Man Beyond the Simulated Image of a Democrat - News18

News 18  

Rahul Gandhi’s media conference on Saturday where he attacked a journalist for merely asking a routine question, is a new low even for his bottom-scraping standards. The BJP and the Narendra Modi government may have nothing to do with the judicial process, but in popular perception — one that Congress certainly hopes to fuel and capitalise on — Rahul’s debarment …

Mumbai Press Club deplores the public humiliation of a journalist by Rahul Gandhi
1 year, 9 months ago

Mumbai Press Club deplores the public humiliation of a journalist by Rahul Gandhi

The Hindu  

The Mumbai Press Club deplored Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for humiliating a journalist, while addressing a press conference at his party office in New Delhi on Saturday. The job of a journalist is to ask questions, and it is the duty of political leaders who call press conferences and engage with journalists to answer these questions with dignity and decorum,” …

Why Rahul Gandhi’s Refusal to Engage with ‘Mainstream’ Media during Bharat Jodo Yatra is a case of Missed Opportunity
1 year, 11 months ago

Why Rahul Gandhi’s Refusal to Engage with ‘Mainstream’ Media during Bharat Jodo Yatra is a case of Missed Opportunity

News 18  

For many, the curious case of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘disengagement’ with the ‘mainstream media’ during his mammoth Bharat Jodo Yatra is a case of missed opportunity. It came to haunt Rahul and the Congress as the Gandhi scion failed to keep tainted politicians Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi out of the list of party nominees for the 2014 Lok Sabha. The …

HT Picks; New Reads
1 year, 11 months ago

HT Picks; New Reads

Hindustan Times  

From Raj to Swaraj and Beyond Interesting reads this week include a history of Hindi-language journalism in India, a chronicle of a literary family that brings alive its members over the generations, and a cook book of dals from across the country. She discusses its early days as nationalist newspapers in the colonial period;its subservience to the English print media …

‘We support importance of free press around the world’: U.S. on India banning BBC documentary on PM Modi
1 year, 11 months ago

‘We support importance of free press around the world’: U.S. on India banning BBC documentary on PM Modi

The Hindu  

Describing India banning the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a matter of press freedom, the U.S. State Department said that it is high time to highlight the importance of democratic principles like freedom of expression and make it a point around the world as well as in India. Ned Price, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, in a …

‘Not much change in communication barring speed of circulation’
2 years ago

‘Not much change in communication barring speed of circulation’

The Hindu  

Teacher of journalism, B.K. Ravi has said that according to researchers of communication, not much change had been witnessed in the medium of mass communication barring the speed with which information was being circulated. Presiding over the session on ‘Innovations in Media’ on the second day of 86th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelana on Saturday, Prof. Ravi said that there …

Big money is choking India’s free press — and its democracy
2 years ago

Big money is choking India’s free press — and its democracy

Al Jazeera  

When popular Indian television journalist Ravish Kumar announced his resignation from New Delhi Television Ltd — the country’s oldest private broadcaster — at the end of November, it was a grim reminder of the vanishing independent news media landscape in the world’s largest democracy. Canary in the Indian media mine India’s economic boom since the 1990s has spawned a fast-growing …

Why the woes of Indian journalism affect all Indians
2 years, 1 month ago

Why the woes of Indian journalism affect all Indians

The Hindu  

The first week of November includes a day selected by the United Nations as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. Though the Indian Constitution is liberal, its interpretation through legislation has been anything but; harsh omnibus laws infringe and limit liberties, violate human rights and lead to degeneracy among administration and law enforcement agents. Now, from …

‘Vigilant media can improve governance’: Former PM Manmohan Singh
2 years, 2 months ago

‘Vigilant media can improve governance’: Former PM Manmohan Singh

Hindustan Times  

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said media needs to remain vigilant and flag shortcomings of the government with a view to improve the effectiveness of governance. As the finance minister, Singh said he had to worry not only about reducing the fiscal deficit and reviving economic growth but also about stabilising the rupee and ensuring access to adequate …

Media in Kerala not highlighting national issues, says Rajesh
2 years, 3 months ago

Media in Kerala not highlighting national issues, says Rajesh

The Hindu  

The media in Kerala, including major newspapers and news channels, is not highlighting important national issues but is going overboard on regional developments, Minister for Local Self-Governments and Excise M.B. When fact-checking website Alt News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair was arrested and taken from one place to another in connection with various cases, the media in Kerala was gung-ho about a …

INTERVIEW | “I am shaken, but not crushed”: Rajmohan Gandhi
2 years, 4 months ago

INTERVIEW | “I am shaken, but not crushed”: Rajmohan Gandhi

The Hindu  

Published : Aug 14, 2022 06:00 IST - 10 MINS READ Rajmohan Gandhi’s India After 1947 appears just as the government launches its celebrations around 75 years of Independence. What will raise India’s standing and restrain India’s enemies, wherever they might exist, is not a muscular, aggressive or divisive Ram, but a united nation where Indians trust one another and …

Book Review | Why the ‘hardest’ journalism is exactly what matters most
2 years, 7 months ago

Book Review | Why the ‘hardest’ journalism is exactly what matters most

Deccan Chronicle  

If there’s ever a way to puncture a know-it-all journalist’s massive ego, it’s with this book. For instance, as the first chapter reveals, the annual National Crime Records Bureau report does not include every FIR recorded but only the “most heinous” crimes. Rukmini is scathing of fellow journalists as well as psephologists, pollsters and TV “experts” who use old cliched …

Arvind Rajagopal: ‘Media are active agents of a counter-revolution’
2 years, 9 months ago

Arvind Rajagopal: ‘Media are active agents of a counter-revolution’

The Hindu  

Arvind Rajagopal is Professor of Media Studies at New York University and is an affiliated faculty in the Department of Sociology and Social and Cultural Analysis, NYU. Although liberalisation flooded India with foreign goods and media, and foreign expertise has become more important, an “India first” or a “region first” stance is still common. Indian media took shape as one …

Why India urgently needs a Ministry of Counter-Propaganda
2 years, 11 months ago

Why India urgently needs a Ministry of Counter-Propaganda

Firstpost  

If the West has long expertise in propaganda, we do have a longer memory that has not yet been fully extinguished. America’s first ‘Ministry of Propaganda’ One important example in the history of modern propaganda is the creation, in April 1917, of the Committee for Public Information by US president Woodrow Wilson to meet the demands of World War I. …

Media has key role to play in vibrant democracy of India: I&B Minister on National Press Day
3 years, 1 month ago

Media has key role to play in vibrant democracy of India: I&B Minister on National Press Day

The Hindu  

Media is a watchdog and has a key role to play in the vibrant democracy of India, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on November 16. In his audio-visual message on the occasion of National Press Day, Mr. Thakur called on the media to curb the menace of fake news. “National Press Day is a day to reflect …

Is India at war with journalism?
3 years, 5 months ago

Is India at war with journalism?

Al Jazeera  

On Tuesday, July 27 at 19:30 GMT: Amid accusations of India’s government using spyware on journalists, Indian tax authorities raided several offices of prominent media organisations known for critical coverage of the government’s COVID-19 response. In this year’s Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, India ranks 142 out of 180 countries. Due to the deaths of four journalists who …

Book Review | Free speech, fake news & the Indian press
3 years, 6 months ago

Book Review | Free speech, fake news & the Indian press

Deccan Chronicle  

Incarcerations, FIRs, dismissals, spiking of stories, sensationalism, fake “breaking news” and the compulsion to not miss a trick in the rat race against the Joneses. More importantly, while the US first amendment makes these freedoms an absolute condition for all lawmaking, the first amendment of the Indian Constitution restricts the scope of this freedom. The Bihar government found it objectionable …

Muzzling the media: How the Modi regime continues to undermine the news landscape
3 years, 11 months ago

Muzzling the media: How the Modi regime continues to undermine the news landscape

The Hindu  

The recent arrest in New Delhi of a young freelance journalist and the registration of multiple first information reports against several senior scribes from many States are representative of the perils of being a journalist committed to the pursuit of truth in contemporary India. Furthermore, the leaked WhatsApp chats featuring Arnab Goswami showed that there was a casual nexus between …

Be It Farmers Protest, Covid Deaths or Vaccine Drive, Global Media’s Shrill Headlines Fail the Credibility Test
3 years, 11 months ago

Be It Farmers Protest, Covid Deaths or Vaccine Drive, Global Media’s Shrill Headlines Fail the Credibility Test

News 18  

“Angry farmers storm India’s Red Fort in challenge to Modi,” screams The Washington Post. From the pandemic to the storming of India’s Red Fort, the privileged Western gaze has been a feature of almost all reporting about India in global media. An attempt to demonise India Last week, Joe Biden, the newly inaugurated President of the United States, addressed his …

WSJ story about Facebook India being ‘partial’ to the BJP is the revenge of the old media
4 years, 4 months ago

WSJ story about Facebook India being ‘partial’ to the BJP is the revenge of the old media

Op India  

Last evening, on Independence Day, I saw a couple of self-declared liberal journalists tweeting about how they were deleting their Facebook profiles. Not because I keep track of all top executives of big corporate houses – which otherwise being an ‘MBA types’ perhaps I should have been doing – but because I had sent several emails to her complaining about …

LIVE: Can the Press Speak? Discussion on Press Freedom in India
4 years, 6 months ago

LIVE: Can the Press Speak? Discussion on Press Freedom in India

The Quint  

Article 19 of the Constitution of India states that all citizens have the right to freedom of speech and expression. This right is the foundation of freedom of the press as well, so that they can speak truth to power without worrying about fear and favour. In just the last one week, an FIR was filed against Scroll journalist Supriya …

Delhi based English media should stop calling themselves national media
4 years, 7 months ago

Delhi based English media should stop calling themselves national media

Op India  

In the year 2012, there were riots in Assam. It is still unclear as to when the Delhi based English TV media that covers news only from a few cities started to assume that they are “national media”. How does one summon the consciousness to call oneself has “national media” when you have zero presence in capital cities of more …

Looking for facts in slew of 'infotainment': On the current state of Indian journalism and finding a way forward
4 years, 8 months ago

Looking for facts in slew of 'infotainment': On the current state of Indian journalism and finding a way forward

Firstpost  

Joining the Dots is a weekly column by author and journalist Samrat in which he connects events to ideas, often through analysis, but occasionally through satire *** The recent interrogation of Arnab Goswami by the Mumbai Police in connection with a case filed in Nagpur accusing him of attempting to incite communal violence during a televised rant against Sonia Gandhi …

Attacks on Indian journalists highlight growing intolerance
4 years, 10 months ago

Attacks on Indian journalists highlight growing intolerance

Associated Press  

NEW DELHI — Reporting in India has never been without its risks, but journalists say attacks on the media during last week’s deadly communal riots between Hindus and Muslims in New Delhi show the situation is deteriorating. But experts and journalists say the attacks on reporters covering the riots — and censorship of critical content in the aftermath of the …

India’s media is failing in its democratic duty
4 years, 10 months ago

India’s media is failing in its democratic duty

Al Jazeera  

India ranks so badly for press freedom because much of the media has simply stopped doing its job. The protests in India against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which grants a fast track to citizenship for certain religious-minority immigrants, have underlined the importance of not just the democratic process, which includes the right to peaceful protest, but also the role of …

If Indian media fails to speak out against the silencing of Kashmir, it risks losing its own voice in the future
5 years, 4 months ago

If Indian media fails to speak out against the silencing of Kashmir, it risks losing its own voice in the future

Firstpost  

Zero evidence exists to support the government’s claim, peddled by journalists who ought know better, that the communications blackout in Kashmir is saving lives Tearing free of the leash customarily placed on his inner thoughts, the prime minister’s rage tore across the room, and snarled at his distinguished foreign visitor. “Terrible, something terrible,” he said of Indian journalism, “And we …

Prashant Kanojia vs Yogi Adityanath: What's the Pulitzer-kind of journalism we are defending in name of press freedom here?
5 years, 6 months ago

Prashant Kanojia vs Yogi Adityanath: What's the Pulitzer-kind of journalism we are defending in name of press freedom here?

Firstpost  

If, after what he has one, Prashant Kanojia is to be the face of India’s press freedom, there is a serious problem with the way the media has internalised that freedom. Yet, to defend Kanojia in the name of press freedom for his “right” to spread mischievous and scandalous information about a woman besotted with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is …

Rahul Gandhi admits having ‘journalists’ on his side doing Congress’ bidding
5 years, 7 months ago

Rahul Gandhi admits having ‘journalists’ on his side doing Congress’ bidding

Op India  

Congress President Rahul Gandhi today admitted to having ‘journalists’ on Congress’ side who could go and pose questions on the party’s behalf to his opponents. While addressing a press conference himself, at a time when the BJP was addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi inadvertently acknowledged that there are a few journalists, who probably identify themselves as neutral, are on …

Gandhiji: The Hindu's Editorial on the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi
5 years, 7 months ago

Gandhiji: The Hindu's Editorial on the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

The Hindu  

Here is the full text of the editorial that was published on February 1, 1948 in The Hindu after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse in Delhi. For, as the Prime Minister of India has suggested in his broadcast, at no time in the long and chequered history of this great country were Gandhiji's wise counsel, courageous guidance, …

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