Press and Media, being the fourth pillar of democracy, is expected to owe responsibility to the society and the citizens of the country just like the Executive and the Judiciary does. A democratic nation’s policies are framed depending on the information available to its lawmakers. So, how do policy makers avail the information? Mostly through the Press and Media. And, therefore, Press and Media play a significant role in bridging the gap between the public and the policy makers.
However, over the past few years, journalism in mainstream Indian TV, despite the mushrooming of outlets in the industry and growing into corporate giants, have not only lost its credibility but have become a mere joke. Larger sections of such media seem to have their own vested agenda and more devoted to manufacturing public opinion on politics, election, governance and power, rather than deliver news as is. Most of such Media houses have stopped analyzing the pros and cons of certain policies implemented by the government. Its role to evaluate social, economic and political processes, educate and create awareness among the general public all seem to have washed down the drain. And unfortunately, they have detached themselves from the reality of citizens’ lives and are rather busy acting as the mouthpiece of the ruling dispensation in the government. Most TV channels seem more interested in emotionally manipulating the public with sensationalized headlines and unauthentic news. Such journalism, today, lacks quality, diversity, reliability and legitimacy for all we see is heavy slanting news headlines, communal hash tags and shallow nationalistic views. It is almost impossible to hear viewpoints from underprivileged and vulnerable sections of the society.
Apart from all, the most terrifying scenario is the unashamed, opinionated support for extreme-right wing, promotion of religious extremism and pseudoscience while adding communal color and branding all dissenters of the ruling government as “anti-national”. Large sections of such media, now, instead of delivering truth, rather spread unverified news or half-truths and are shamelessly refusing to rectify one’s errors of facts.
As the quality of mainstream Indian TV journalism continues to decline, the fear is, if the media continues to work at such low credibility, how will a nation progress and society remain in order? Who will enlighten the realities at the grassroots to the policy makers? Who will inform the general public about the activities of the government without diluting the facts? India, being the largest democracy in the world, needs to uphold the essence of democracy and preserve the ‘idea’ of India by moving on from petty politics and TRP.