India's media is losing its freedom and crackdowns on the press could get even worse
Amit Dave/Reuters
- After years of being the voice that brought social change, the media in India is now being controlled and manipulated by the authorities.
- In just over five years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, India's place in the World Press Freedom Index has dropped.
- Journalists in India have been beaten, arrested, and forced to resign for trying to report news about the government or other contentious issues.
- Peony Hirwani is a freelance journalist.
- This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
After India's independence from the British Rule in 1947, the nation has relied on newspapers to get their daily dose of information. This trust is in part because of the media's significant influence on India's freedom movement and its role as a gatekeeper of the public interest and protector of democracy.
However, in recent times, people in the country are forgetting the real job of the press: reporting the truth. After years of being the voice that brought social change, the media is now being controlled and manipulated by authorities who have attempted to kill stories that hurt their reputation.
Press freedom has been eroding in India over the past five years.
The current media situation seems to harken back to how it was at the time of the 1975 to 1977 "internal disturbance," when the exercises of the press were controlled. Back then, strict orders were imposed on the media houses, resulting in the abandonment of press freedom.
"Today's media, under either threat, luring or manipulations, is not only crawling but is happily licking the 'boots' of the present regime and wagging their tails to appease their 'masters' by overzealous publicizing government's narratives." said Apurva Trivedi, a journalist in India who has been working in the field for over 19 years. "Not only owners but most of the journalists have towed the line, either as a survival instinct or willingly. And that is the beginning of the end of journalism which used to be in India and which ought to be in India," he added.
In just over five years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, India's place in the Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index has, for good reason, dropped from 136th in 2015 to 142nd in 2020. The current ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party, is increasingly encroaching on the privileges of the media with laws similar to old British-Raj rules. The party has threatened to pressure journalists who don't regard the Hindu patriot government's principles.
Last year, Foreign Policy reported that New Delhi cut off state advertising for at least three publishers of prominent English newspapers and the senior heads of those groups and opposition leaders contended that the advertisement freeze was counter for news reports criticizing the lawmaking body. We're at a point where officials aren't even trying to hide the fact that they're manipulating the fourth pillar of democracy — freedom of the press.
"India's relationship with the freedom of the press is the exact same as its relationship with neoliberalism at large," said Aaryaman Trivedi, an entry-level freelance writer in the country. "The reasons why the independence of journalists in India is eroding are multifaceted as brave reporters fighting tooth and nail for the objective depictions of truth in our country are at direct odds with the institutions they fight alongside with."
Publication houses are surviving by staying in the good graces of elected leaders who cannot survive without, as Trivedi puts it, their "own uniquely crafted political truths."
Indian journalists have lost their jobs and been beaten for trying to report the news.
In 2018, a celebrated TV news anchor, Punya Prasun Bajpai, composed an exposé detailing the awful wreck that went around in the Indian newsrooms. He revealed that the administration had employed 200 people to provide directions to editors on how they "must" report on the prime minister's activities, alleging that he was asked by executives at his own network not to mention Modi on his programs. Eventually, Bajpai claimed, the news organization's satellite signals were tampered with during his broadcasts, leading to his resignation.
What's worse is that over ten police complaints have been filed against journalists who investigated India's migrant crisis, the size of which is as enormous as the pandemic in my nation. According to a public database, an excess of 600 individuals have lost their lives because of the unexpected nature of the lockdown for reasons such as mental pressure, starvation, suicide and police brutality. In my opinion, the residents of India need to know about these important issues in the news so they can try to help people who are vulnerable.
Yet, every time I turn on the news, there's no information about important topics like issues facing the LGBTQ community, India's efforts to tackle the climate crisis, or migrant workers who have lost everything because of the pandemic. Instead, I find channels showing entertainment gossip and live coverage of celebrities leaving and entering the airport. Isn't the main purpose of journalism to spread information to keep everyone updated with what's going on and make this world a better place through it?
According to a recent report by the Rights and Risks Analysis Group, an an independent think-tank based in New Delhi, in 2020 alone more than 50 journalists have been arrested, had police complaints enlisted against them, or been physically assaulted by the police. On April 11, police slapped and used batons to beat Srinagar-based reporter, Mushtaq Ahmed Ganai, to a "pulp," before putting him in lock-up for carrying out his reporting responsibility. This is only one of numerous such occurrences all through the nation.
"Indian media, at present is at such a point where they have to choose to be subservient as part of their survival. So there is no point of thinking about whether they need to get their priorities straight or not," said Apurva Trivedi. "I may sound dystopian, but there is no place for a young journalist, at least not in the mainstream media, who actually is dreaming to do journalism here."
India's loss of media freedom is emblematic of larger shifts in Asian media.
The sad reality is that India isn't the only country in Asia where press freedom has been jeopardized. Nations like Bangladesh, China and Sri Lanka have laws in place that have attempted to silence free speech. Bangladesh in particular has been detaining reporters for reporting on issues like COVID-19. Should anyone dare to speak the truth about the reality, they may fall prey to fines or imprisonment under the brutal Digital Security Act.
Asian nations who call themselves "democratic" don't appear to keep any principles a democratic nation should follow. The leaders have found loopholes to manipulate the spine of the democratic framework.
Authorities may believe that this practice is beneficial to keep harmony in various parts of their respective countries; however, keeping reality from residents is repulsive, and often people find out the truth one way or another. With a boom in social media usage, there has also been an increase in fake news. Instead of exploiting the confusion, authorities need to let news channels confirm and report facts and distinguish what's true and what's false.
Voters in India have surrendered their trust in the news and the government. It's hard to compel a large crowd to go out and vote these days because of the government's activities concealing reality. People have accepted that this is how things are always going to be. Hence, we also need some level of optimism from the voters' side.
Through this piece, I want to humbly request the Modi government press pause and think about their actions. Many people across India are angry at the ruling body for a variety of reasons — it would be wise to not add attacks on press freedom another item on the list. After all, freedom of the press is what liberated us in the first place.
Peony Hirwani is a freelance journalist who covers controversial issues that need to be heard by the public. She has previously written for titles like The Independent, Vogue Arabia, Grazia India, The Quint, and Harper's Bazaar. Apart from that, Peony is a huge hip hop, rap, and R&B music fan and loves to curate playlists on Spotify.
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