Why are some anchors rattled by Alliance INDIA’s decision to boycott “hate-filled anchors”?

https://x.com/shaandelhite/status/1701957826996809986?s=20

As excitedly shared by a Congress supporter, “#Breaking: It has been decided in the INDIA alliance coordination committee meeting that all the parties of the alliance will boycott the Godi anchors and their channels. 🔥🔥”

The blocked anchors include Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV; Rubika Liyaquat, anchor at Bharat24; Sudhir Chaudhary, Chitra Tripathi, Gaurav Sawant, and Shiv Aroor of India Today-Aaj Tak network; Navika Kumar, group editor at Times Network; Sushant Sinha, anchor at Times Now; Aman Chopra, Amish Devgan, and Anand Narasimhan of CNN-News18, Prachi Parashar of India TV; Aditi Tyagi of Bharat Express; and Ashok Shrivastav, anchor at DD News.

Anchor Navika Kumar one of the banned anchors reacted to this calling it a fascist movement hindering the free press and released a statement on Twitter.

@navikakumar
#TogetherWeReport

https://x.com/navikakumar/status/1702405560522744008?s=20

News Broadcasters and  Digital Association says the decision taken by the alliance INDIA’s Media Committee sets a dangerous precedent.

Slamming the opposition INDIA bloc’s decision to boycott 14 anchors, the News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) on Thursday said it poses a danger to press freedom and goes against the ethos of democracy.

Urging the opposition alliance to withdraw the decision, the NBDA said it was “anguished and concerned” by the decision taken by the INDIA Media Committee not to send their representatives on the shows and events hosted by certain journalists/anchors.

Why did I.N.D.I.A boycott some anchors?

Did not want to legitimize”hate-filled” narratives

Amid all the criticism for this boycott by Alliance INDIA, Congress party spokesman Pawan Khera said in a video statement on Thursday, “We do not want to legitimize this hate-filled narrative which is corroding our society.”  He also said, “We will not partake in these showrooms of hate.”

The opposition politicians have accused India’s noisy “Godi Media” news shows of including polarising content on Muslim and Christian minorities.

The presence of opposition leaders only promotes these channels

The decision of Alliance INDIA is key because their presence in the news channels only promoted the media channels’ advertisements, reinforced by the presence of tall opposition leaders.  The viewers would eventually get bored watching just government news with no fresh live debates or voices from prominent people across society with this new boycott.

During its time, “The Big Fight” of NDTV was widely popular.  People would wait for the nightly debates in eager anticipation.  With INDIA’s decision, the top shows rankings would drop and the Media houses would eventually lose big money in the bargain.

Opposition leaders going constantly to their shows only empowered these Media houses, which were all set out not to discuss serious issues in the nation but rather set out a narrative of “divide and rule” spewing out open hatred to minorities.

It is an act against fake news

Congress-led Karnataka government under Karnataka’s IT Minister Priyank Kharge waged a war against BJP’s IT cell with a fact-checking unit with law-enforcement officers, digital forensic experts, and many others to monitor fake news which over the recent years has been rapidly and uncontrollably spreading. These strong measures were necessary under the rising propaganda and hatred spread by certain news channels, particularly under some anchors.

https://x.com/Rahul_ForPM/status/1702608876049428814?s=20

It will also boost minorities to resist invitations

It is often noticed that certain minority leaders are constantly invited to news channels where they are blatantly crushed and shamed. Perhaps for the offer of some money, they would accept invitations, but inadequately represented minorities and many times put their foot into their mouths uttering controversial statements which put minorities in a poor light. Perhaps, the questions were set up by Media houses forcing them to react with substandard statements.  This new step would also embolden these minority leaders to resist such ill-conceived invitations.

It will challenge the Media to be more fair in delivering accurate news

As the nation has never faced such media manipulation to this extent before, this action by Alliance INDIA was inevitable.  Boxed in four corners with confined space with less advantage to a wider viewing due to the lack of prominent personalities attending their shows, not only would their pay slips slump but also, “Godi Media” as Indians often call it, would be royally dumped.

News channels have a particular responsibility to the nation and that is to bring forth what is happening in the country to the people.  Unfortunately, this has not been happening as it is been noticed that the anchors rarely cover the central government’s activities but focus on nitpicking on Opposition parties.  They often would divert topics and not allow them to speak whereas BJP leaders were given ample time to speak.

What probably could have triggered Alliance India’s decision to boycott these anchors was the recent shocking piece of news where NDTV’s new editor-in-chief Sanjay Pugalia allegedly asked anchor Sohit Mishra to disrupt Rahul Gandhi’s press conference, “create a ruckus” and “change the narrative” just hours before the event. Apparently, Sohit Mishra resigned from NDTV later.  Critics said that this is how Adani used his media channel to create a ruckus at that press conference which was against him only.

The general public expresses that they do not need journalists who beckon to the call of the government but rather journalists who have the guts to question the Government of India on the basics like inflation, unemployment, and misuse of power.

This would force journalists to take up a more responsible role of speaking for the nation rather than speaking only for the ‘ruling” government’s party.  This is noticed in the case of these particular journalists who are being boycotted.  Perhaps then, this action would prompt them to be more forthright journalists when they realize their tactics, perceived by everyone are not working.

During the Delhi Riots, the JNU campus was in trouble, Kashmir 370 Abrogation, and even during COVID-19, the news channels were not delivering accurate news and more preferentially lined up with what the government wanted them to say.  The Farmers’ Protests, known globally as the biggest protest of the world, were downplayed and the massive campaigns of NRC, and CAA were not covered properly The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi was rarely shown in the news.  The present trouble in Manipur is greatly hushed and news reporters are removed.  A report was filed against the fact-finding team, in fact, not allowing any truth from the ground to reach the country.  It is noteworthy to say that BCC has even covered the floods in India better than our Indian News channels!

As we all know, a journalist or a reporter is responsible for researching and writing informational news articles and stories about real events using a fair and unbiased perspective, but this is clearly not seen in news channels where they actually downplay important events and highlight others, all according to the convenience of the government.  This move of INDIA calls for a higher class of journalism.  This move will ultimately make journalists more accountable and stop them from spewing hate and division across communities as well because a lot of trouble is triggered by the news they accentuate.

India, a nation of over one billion people, the highest population in the world deserves news channels that tell the truth to help the people of the country.