How news channels are peddling hate on prime time
SENIOR INDIAN JOURNALISTS VOICE CONCERNS OVER TOXICITY IN NEWSROOMS
Prime time television in India has become a platform to peddle hatred against Muslims, the largest minority group at 14 per cent of the country’s population, senior journalists and commentators have told Gulf News.
Muslims are openly targeted and ridiculed on live television debates and in reporting.
Senior Indian journalists Gulf News spoke to said a large section of mainstream media was pursuing an agenda to vilify Muslims and projecting the entire community as backward and disloyal to India. This hatred has acquired prime time legitimacy due to the massive reach of these channels.
“Yes, I do believe that sections of the media in India have contributed greatly to growing intolerance in our country. These sections have sought to portray a seventh of India’s population — comprising Muslims and other minorities — as second class citizens, which is in keeping with the ideology of many in the ruling regime,” Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, independent journalist, author and publisher told Gulf News.
“This is a form of Islamophobia that has been spread. In particular, I would like to name a few television anchors who have contributed to the recent toxicity in Indian society, and they include Anjana Om Kashyap of Aaj Tak, Sudhir Chaudhary of Zee News, Amish Devgun of Network 18 Hindi and Gaurav Sawant of India Today TV,” Thakurta added.
To be fair, hate-filled news programmes are not limited to the few channels or anchors mentioned by Thakurta. Hundreds of news channels follow the same format.
“Night after night, TV debates focus not on holding the government to account but communal rifts — real or perceived — between Hindus and Muslims,” independent website Scroll said in a media commentary recently.
This kind of programming is cleverly built around news events and saw a spike last week when the Supreme Court concluded arguments in Ayodhya dispute between Hindus and Muslims, the Scroll said.
‘PROTECTING HINDU INTERESTS’
“Mainstream media is murdering Indian democracy. This is not being done by one or two but by several hundred news channels. These channels pretend to talk about protecting interests of Hindus by raising the bogey of Ram temple, just look at their language. They are spreading poison in the society and poisoning people’s thought process. They are working on a plan to spread hatred against Muslims and to make Hindus insecure,” Ravish Kumar, managing editor of NDTV India, told Gulf News.
“Indian media was never so communal and I am worried that the media is turning Hindu
youths into a mob. Youngsters who want jobs, good education, want to become doctors are being turned into rioters to support a particular political party,” Ravish Kumar added.
TOXIC CONTENT
While the TV industry does claim to have a self-regulatory mechanism to monitor inflammatory content, there is little evidence that channels are following any guidelines or that any institutions are monitoring the content. Take the example of Sudarshan TV, a news channel owned by Suresh Chavhanke and operating from Noida, near New Delhi. Chavhanke himself appears on his channel and warns viewers about “conspiracy to turn India into an Islamic country”. Facts or corroboration of facts are not required for content aired on this channel. Sample this — “There is a conspiracy to marry Hindu girls to Muslim boys,” screams Chavhanke in one such video. “The speed at which the Muslim population is growing is not good for India,” he says in another clip.
SELF-REGULATION
While channels like Sudarshan TV freely disseminate toxic content, the industry is not willing to have a regulatory framework.
“There is no doubt that large sections of mainstream media have indeed become a bit partial. I think it’s important to maintain some semblance of balance in a complex multicultural society like ours. A regulatory framework may not serve the purpose and may only end up raising more questions. The story of media has to be handled by media itself,” Bhupendra Choubey, Executive Editor, CNN-News18 told Gulf News.
Other journalists were guarded in their response. When asked if Indian media is spreading hate, Sevanti Ninan, Founding editor of South Asian media watch website The Hoot.org, said: “No, that is too sweeping a statement. But some elements of news television indulge in unwarranted communal provocation. Those in Indian media who indulge in communal provocation are confined to a few TV channels and a few anchors. But unfortunately those are the ones with high viewership.”
IMPACT ON SOCIETY
Journalists also acknowledge that this kind of toxicity in newsrooms is spilling out on to the streets. Arfa Khanum Sherwani, senior editor at The Wire, said: “As a direct result of the communal politics in the last five-plus years, there is a clear deficit of trust between Hindus and Muslims. This lack of trust or mistrust can then easily be fuelled for creating hatred against the Muslims and makes them vulnerable for violent attacks on them. News channels through their shameless bigotry and naked display of communalism are normalising this hate and violence on vulnerable Muslims. This mainstreaming of bigotry is dangerous not just for the Muslims but is destroying social peace in the country. If this is not addressed immediately, it will have serious consequences for the unity and integrity of Indian nation.”
Arfa Khanum Sherwani
Saba Naqvi Who regulates Indian media
Ravish Kumar Indian media is controlled by three laws — Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1955 (television), Press Council of India Act, 1978 (Print and digital) and Information Technology Act, 2000 (Digital). Also, the industry’s self-regulatory bodies News Broadcasters Association and the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council are expected to play the role of ombudsmen.
HATE CROSSING THE BORDERS
Given the massive reach of these channels, their content reaching not just Indian homes but also to nations in the geographical vicinity and beyond. For example, Arabian Gulf region is home to millions of Indians, including Hindus and Muslims. There are concerns that this kind of toxicity can potentially cause social fissures in countries like the UAE also. Shajahan Madampat, Cultural Critic and Commentator based in Abu Dhabi, said: “The potential impact of the highly poisonous anti-Muslim discourse on India’s ‘national’ TV channels on the peaceful and multi-religious social fabric of the UAE is a matter of serious concern. On the one hand, this is a country where Indian Hindus and Muslims live and work in large numbers in an atmosphere of peace and harmony. On the other, it is a place where citizens of both India and Pakistan coexist peacefully in their millions. It is a matter of shame that a considerable segment of the media in our country [in India] has degenerated into a willing tool for communal mobilisation.”