Amidst all narratives that exist, always hear the shadow first

The destruction of journalism, amidst a pack of dogs stands a Tiger

Whom people vote for, is what they deserve

Journalism I feel is a very essential stakeholder in a democratic setup. Without journalists who are the real armed stallions, the powerful elite and fictitiously imbued criminals will rule the political space. But Is Journalism the type of work that we imagined to be, exist now? If not, then there is a big problem. At the very start, I want to mention, that I am not pushing this piece into a territory of political leanings, ideology or media as a corporate sellout. I am just trying to draw your attention to the values, and intrinsic and inherent ideals that define journalistic integrity. What it means to be a journalist in today’s polarizing times.

India’s concocted interspersion with Journalism

Journalism in India is at such a deprecatory low that beyond this state, something to go any lower will classify the power enabling Journos as bootlickers of the current dispensation. I have always been fascinated with how Journalists behave when they try to adjust themselves in the fulcrum of power. India post-2014 seems to have so many fickle minds as journalists that parade a dystopian narrative every night now at 9 PM prime time debate shows. They change colours faster than a Chameleon does. And the deep sinking shame has been lost somewhere, and the people are buying this disoriented worldview that sucks up their wild imaginations often strengthening their egos. Conducive, appealing to someone’s ego in today’s world is as easy as getting something viral on the internet. Using your identity as a weapon, history as a shield, and armour as electoral prowess; all variegated ideas fuse together to create polarity in society. It is very easy to create the “other” in today’s demanding times. Even if the ‘other’ itself is suffering from their own.

How to be a Journalist?

Journalism is such a great job, If I am not wrong you would aspire to be one right if you are nationalist or open to serving the public by putting the powers to be accountable. If yes then, here are some things that you very much need to keep in your mind before writing your first piece, doing your 1st show by cross-checking many sources.

Never lie for the sake of lying and pretend it is a fact

Indian news media is so blatant at the lying game that they shamelessly propagate fake news, and when called out they will deny that they said it. Haggling hands with corporate stooges and sleeping alongside the money of Govt advertisers, all they serve as interest is their corporate masters who then have to listen to the govt to keep the mutually beneficial relationship alive. And Govt has to listen again to the corporates as the election campaigns will be funded by these giant industrialists.

There are so many lies that the Indian news media has spoken, I have even lost count of them. Liars are not just who spew lies, but also who enables a lie. The Prime Minister in all Indian Independence Day from 2014 in his speech from the ramparts of Red Fort says 5–10 lines of some crazy spewed-out fact that he thought in dreams, yet no one questions him. Many examples have happened, Bias coverages have happened about pollution and have been done to dismantle the opposition. Calling Farmers terrorists and linking them with terror groups, name-calling dissenters as anti-nationalists is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many bigger lies that news media has hidden under the cohorts of the govt, This includes GDP manipulation and failure of demonization policy to name a few among the barrage of incidents.

Never create fissures in the social fabric

The easiest way to win elections in today’s time is simple, create an artificial enemy. The classic minority vs. majority, in which either side can be infuriated as the victim, but in most cases it's the minorities and supposed bottom echelon races, genders and classes Populus that take the heavy-handed beating. In India, 24x7, the news channels spews venom time and time again. Attacks are being made for pre-created hurting sentiment situations or a ploy for the majority religion to buy in, using it as a weapon to increase viewership and enabling the network owners to mint more money. With Govt siding with them and providing them with ads, it becomes very easy to do the dirty without having to fear the consequences.

Never change your colours when power shifts happen

The easiest way out for a part-time Journalist and a full-time actor, I mean if you do make-believe stories on your TV screen at best you are an actor, right? Regardless, these wannabe Chameleons show their true colours when power shifts happen. You need to keep it together, Temptations obviously are very hard to beat, but we need to be mindful of our choices. As claimed earlier, 99.99% of Indian media is lapdog media, they have their masters to please, When these so-called journalists start toeing the line and ask one of their masters some Journalist-like questions, they treat them like puppies. More than half of them are spineless ideologically flexible disappointments who just wanted to enter journalism, maybe to get fame, I mean no one earns a million dollars as a paycheck when you start reporting, writing or editing at a newsroom.

Try to have at least some amount of intellect to be a Journalist

Media is such a profound space in terms of the power echelon layers in a social setup, but time and again we have seen subpar nefarious people become anchors and readers, who organize bipartisan debates. Beyond that a considerable conscious understanding of history, polity, economy and society needs to be in one’s back of their mind; to relate and connect with the events of today with the timeline we had and will have. Things are so bleak, that an anchor of India could not pronounce the full name of Mahatma Gandhi, which even 1st grade students can do in the country, which is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Majority of my readers are also out of India and none will have problem to pronounce the name in one go.

Is all hope lost?

Reading this might make you feel sick in more ways than one, but there are many journalists in today’s time especially ones that cover war, take interviews with dangerous people and fight for social equity and space. I was watching a documentary movie called, “While We Watched?” and that movie prompted me to inform the state of media in India to the world, how bizarre Indian media’s state is. Seeped in crony capitalist propaganda, bootlicking govt, and many things that might shake your core, it is one of the most sold-out information streams in the world.

The protagonist of the movie Ravish Kumar, is one of the few voices dissenting and not falling to cliques of prepositioned argumentation of religion, respect, tolerance and other fanciful stuff. His story is one of grit, and determination, drawing back to the basics, asking questions on public issues, about jobs, public health care, education, and irregularities in policies and the shadow aspects of the public topic we tend to avoid.

Amidst a pack of dogs stands a Tiger

Ravish Kumar is an honest journalist from an Indian Television news network called NDTV India, belonging to NDTV group. Ravish Kumar’s nonchalant ways of opening his space to documentary makers also portray the gritty and rugged reality of the dichotomy we see in his face, pondering over all the cakes he has eaten, on account of people leaving the organisation. The stress that he was in, seeing the public going against the righteous bend, he questioned his methods.

You know as I was seeing the movie, I felt if I was in his position, I would have given up. When you keep your feet in someone else’s shoes you realize, will you be able to take it? How tough it is to stand by the righteous side? When it's a strong ‘no’, It's time to bow down in front of that person. Ravish had death threats at the flicker of time and space. He was a family man constantly in fear for his daughters and his wife, Amidst all the darkening monotonous and sad gaze, his last push to the edge came when the channel owners were called in for tax theft by the Income Tax department. The movie ends with him getting the Asian Noble Prize also known as ‘Ramon Magsaysay Award’ in ‘Journalism’ in 2019. By the way, Ravish Kumar left NDTV last year in December 2022 after a corporate swap of shares happened in which the owners lost their majority stake in their own company, and lost all rights to their company. He now has a YouTube channel which has 7 million subscribers. In a matter of days when he opened his YouTube channel he amassed 1 million subscribers easily.

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