The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known to abhor a free press. Yet, mindful of the fast-changing communications landscape, Information and Broadcasting Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw says the government would hold a World Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai in May, which would see representation from over 10,000 entities from across the world. This is conceived as a global platform for media and entertainment, similar to the informal and highly acclaimed annual World Economic Forum summit in Davos.
Notably, the media sector rarely got its due from the Modi establishment. The Prime Minister distances himself from the media. His frequent official visits abroad kept the usual contingent of media personnel out. Media is hailed as the fourth pillar of democracy – its envisioned role being of informing, educating, entertaining and provoking the society at large through faithful reporting of the ground realities. Yet, as in the case of the three other pillars of democracy – the executive, parliament and judiciary – here too extraneous influences have hurt the established media’s fair name. While the role of the media is to question those in power and hold them accountable, large sections of the media today pillory the Opposition parties instead. Many have become lap dogs of the ruling party. Prime Minister, Modi realised that if he has to hold on to power he needs to curtail the freedom and independence of the media and patronise only those that do his bidding. Since becoming Prime Minister, Modi has never held a press conference but resorted to a one way address to the nation through his Mann Ki Baat broadcasted by the state-owned All India Radio.
Modi believed that the media had done a witch-hunting post the 2002 Gujarat communal riots and used his own stratagem to contain them post 2014. Today most media establishments have lost their objectivity while performance their duties. Unlike in the past, the Information and Broadcasting department has been handled by those like Vaishnaw as a part-time engagement, thereby reducing its importance.Consider how the Modi government has repeatedly unleashed its central investigating agencies on media outlets, holding raids on entities that were critical of the government. This has created a heightened sense of fear. Large sections of the media today have compromised in order to survive. They soft-pedal on issues if only to save themselves from harassment in the forms of IT and other raids. The establishment is unleashing its agencies selectively against opposition figures too. The Congress stresses that the National Herald case is one such. Modi’s strategy ensures him a safe existence; those on his side feel safe too. Social media targets lesser evils, safely keeping entities like the central government outside of their purview, as their canvas is small. Unfortunately, the media is divided and hence unable to fight back. It’s time for the established media, many of them facing an existential crisis, to rework their strategies and return to the era when they served the cause of democracy and not political interest.