Paid Media: Is the Media for Sale to the Highest Bidder?

In 2017, a video surfaced on social media and quickly went viral. It was the video of an old woman, christened Gormint Amma by the public, saying “Ye Bik Gayi Hai Gormint” which loosely translates to “The government has been sold”.

Gormint Amma (Source: YouTube)

We all know that historically, the government comprises of three main parts: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.  But, in the modern governmental context, most people have come to admit that there is a fourth segment of governance as well; the media, often called the Fourth Estate. 

The media is perhaps the most powerful estate in any democracy. It has the power to make or break opinions, to dictate policy, and to bring about change in the society. But do they? No, they don’t, at least not in India. So today, in this article, we analyse the claims of our beloved Gormint Amma with respect to the Fourth Estate, the media.

So, has the media been sold to the highest bidder? Is it performing the functions that it was supposed to? Well, let’s find out.

Paid News (Source: Cluster of Thoughts)

Is the Media for Sale?

Well, considering that the biasedness of the media is the sole reason I even started this blog, I sure hope so. But don’t take my word for it. Let us look at some facts and then you can decide for yourself.

Zee News, one of the largest new channels in the country, is owned by Subash Chandra, who is a BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan. if one of the largest news channels is owned by someone who works for the ruling party, how far can we expect them to be unbiased in their reporting?

Subash Chandra (Source: Forbes)

Left-wingers, don’t be so happy. You’re not doing much better. One of the major Indian news channels that aligns itself with the left is NDTV. Well, there is a reason for it. The founder and Chairperson of NDTV, Radhika Roy, has a sister (Brinda Karat) who is a member of the Communist Party of India. NDTV’s star anchor, Ravish Kumar, has a brother (Brijesh Kumar Pandey) who is a member of the Indian National Congress. Is it any wonder then, that ex-NDTV reporter Barkha Dutt was openly campaigning for Communist candidate Kanhaiya Kumar in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019?

This is not to mention that the Republic Media networks are owned by Arnab Goswami (whose paternal uncle was the Assam state President of B.J.P. till 2015) and Rajeev Chandrashekar (a member of India's Upper House of Parliament from the B.J.P).

Ravish Kumar (Source: OpIndia)

So then, why do we even expect them to be able to publish or propagate true news? It is fairly obvious to anyone that these news channels will only follow the narrative of the hand that feeds them, so why do people waste so much time on these news channels that only show a very narrow side of any issue?

Because people don’t watch the TV for news anymore. People aren’t going to news channels to get facts, they just want their own opinions to get validated, no matter how questionable the source. That is the reason most BJP supporters would rather watch Zee News than NDTV, and left-wingers would rather watch decidedly anti-BJP channels like NDTV, The Quint, or The Wire.

But the problem is not limited to just here. While peddling a particular narrative or toeing a party line can be explained as basic capitalism, there is a far worse demon that we need to contend with: fake news.

The Spread of Fake News

Fake News (Source: The Financial Express)

Fake news is everywhere. I’m not even kidding. Just open your WhatsApp family group right now, and you are guaranteed to come across the following:

1. 3 – 4 guaranteed to work home-remedies against COVID-19
2. 1 long post detailing why we should all boycott all Chinese products
3. UNESCO has declared Jana Gana Mana to be the world’s greatest national anthem
4. 1 – 2 communally charged post designed to spread hatred

But why? Why do people even bother sending these messages when a simple Google search can easily reveal that most, if not all of these messages are false?

Because the people sending these know that most people won’t even bother with that one Google search. And again, this is the fault of the underlying bias and the hidden fears that most people have, somewhere deep inside them.

Let me illustrate this through a story.

Let ABC be a normal, working class, Hindu man who lives with his wife and two kids. He has a colleague XYZ who works at the same position as him, and they are more or less the same except that XYZ is Muslim. Both of them have been severely competing for a promotion, and since only one of them can be promoted, tensions have been running high over the past few days, and it is a very competitive atmosphere.

In the middle of all this, ABC gets a WhatsApp forward.

“On June 5 i.e on Monday is Nirjala Ekadashi, people will drink Rooh Afza with great pleasure. Hamdard’s Muslim owner will be very happy. Because in just one day, Rooh Afza of 60 crores is being consumed without being realised that ‘Hamdad’ is the Company which does not employed single non-Muslims.

These people at one side butcher our mother cow and bleed its red blood and the other side, they offer us the red-coloured sweet drink and gains profits. It is still time Hindu brothers to wake up and make the change.”

Note: This is an actual WhatsApp forward that I received a few days ago.

Rooh Afza (Source: The Economic Times)

Upon reading this, ABC immediately thinks of XYZ. He says to himself “First XYZ tries to steal my promotion from me, and now he thinks he can profit off me as well. I won’t let that happen.” And he forwards the message to all his contacts asking them to boycott these products. 

You see what happened here? The message tapped into the suppressed inner feelings of ABC and thus made him forward the message without thinking of the repercussions or even fact-checking. This incident could just as easily have been the other way round, with XYZ receiving a similar message and forwarding it. And that is exactly what needs to change.

The media has been sold, and nothing we do can change that. What we can do is stop watching such media channels, and instead opt for unbiased news and actual facts. Remember, it is the supressed hatred and fear that we have inside of us which is giving these news channels even more confidence. The day that goes, they will have no option but to change. So, let us focus on bringing about that change, and the rest will sort itself out.

Jai Hind!

-NK

Check out our YouTube video on the topic here: Paid Media: Is The Media for Sale to the Highest Bidder?

On a side note, if you’re looking for unbiased analysis on recent events, you might consider Openions. To subscribe to us on WhatsApp and receive regular updates, text BROADCAST to 6396904018.