Prasar Bharati was never independent. But employees didn’t ‘look over their shoulder’ either

Former employees say govt scrutiny over Doordarshan and All India Radio only intensified over the last ten years after the Prasar Bharati Act 1990 did the opposite of giving the public broadcaster its long sought-after autonomy.

Illustration by Prajna Ghosh | ThePrint

New Delhi: Every morning, Hindus have the option of waking up to Ram Lalla. But they don’t necessarily need to travel to Ayodhya—courtesy Doordarshan. The public broadcaster screens an aarti live at 6am and ensures viewers get the full experience. It’s a full 20 minutes, and both idol and ceremony are visible from every possible angle.

“Now every day, lord Ram Lalla’s divine darshan!” read their announcement. More than 15,000 people tune in every morning on an average, and the chat sessions on YouTube are filled with proverbial cries of Jai Shri Ram.

In April this year, Doordarshan made headlines when its logo turned saffron, a colour associated with the BJP-RSS. There was bliss, bewilderment, and anger among Indians. The change in colour marked a shift in their eyes. The signs were there, but now it was official: India’s state broadcaster was saffronised. Doordarshan justified it by citing its “aesthetic appeal”.

Three decades ago, the Prasar Bharati Act came into force with the promise of giving the public broadcaster its long sought-after autonomy. This need was felt most during the Emergency when “the executive shamelessly misused  Broadcasting.” But the Act instead brought Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR)—the two arms of Prasar Bharati—firmly under government oversight.

And that gaze has intensified over the last ten years, claim several former employees.

Our news headlines begin with Mr Modi and end with Mr Modi

“Our news headlines begin with Mr Modi and end with Mr Modi,” said a now-retired AIR employee. Instructions come straight from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), and there’s an inordinate focus on Modi the man.

“Of course, we never had the reputation of being independent. But I never felt like anyone was looking over my shoulder,” he added.

Doordarshan has always been the keeper of India’s history, a distributor of nostalgia, and a vehicle for government narratives. Now, it is trying to accommodate all three identities to a fast-changing media landscape, where social media reigns supreme. It has become flashier, louder, more aggressive—all while growing more tightly bound to the PMO.

On the DD News’ YouTube channel, there’s a 156-video long playlist dedicated to every angle of the Ram temple inauguration in Ayodhya, understood to be the culmination of a decades-long political project.

Of course, we never had the reputation of being independent. But I never felt like anyone was looking over my shoulder

“The inauguration was a national moment. It was one of our country’s most important events. DD made the best arrangements for the very best of people. It was the best coverage. This is the duty of any broadcaster,” said Mayank Agrawal, Doordarshan’s former acting Director-General, who retired last year.

Even Prasar Bharati’s YouTube channel dedicated to its archives favours PM Modi. There’s a playlist consisting solely of his swearing-in ceremonies—both as Gujarat chief minister and as Prime Minister. No other PM has received such treatment.

The favouritism charge

The retired senior AIR staff quoted earlier was self-censoring. Before every Parliament session, he would curate a roundtable, bringing together politicians of various shades to discuss agendas and expectations for the programme, ‘Issues Before Parliament’. Opposition MPs were part of the fray, be it the Shiv Sena or the BJP. But in 2014, when the BJP-led NDA was voted into power, the norm was recast as an exception.

“I would think twice before calling guests because I knew who wasn’t in their (the government’s) good books. The current dispensation has scared people,” he said. He retired after serving 35 years in the AIR.

“If you called someone not to their liking, there would be arm-twisting [by the CEO]. They would make an example of you.”

He cites the example of a newswriter whose bulletins were focused heavily on Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party leader. The staffer in question, apparently, had to “face the music,” which entailed being admonished by the CEO—who at the time was Shashi Shekhar Vempati. He held the position from 2017 until 2022.

I would think twice before calling guests because I knew who wasn’t in their (the government’s) good books. The current dispensation has scared people If you called someone not to their liking, there would be arm-twisting [by the CEO]. They would make an example of you

But Vempati denies this, saying no such incident occurred.

“Look at the evidence. There’s nothing to suggest that this happened. I gave no instructions as such. We are a news channel, not a views channel,” he said. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Doordarshan came under the Election Commission’s scanner for its ‘biased coverage’. In response, Vempati wrote to Rahul Gandhi’s office, requesting an interview. The Congress leader never responded.

Modi means more air time

A typical evening of news on Doordarshan during the just-concluded election season consisted of a careful listing of the Prime Minister’s whereabouts—where his rallies had been held and where they would be the next day. These were the top news items of the day. The content of said rallies was often missing. What had been done by Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav made it in right before, but only in flashes.

One of DD’s election debates took place by the ghats in Varanasi, PM Modi’s constituency. The Congress and BJP representatives engaged in a slanging match. The BSP representative remained mum. The presenter interjected, tone aggressive—how many times had Mayawati visited Varanasi, even when she was chief minister? The BJP representative was not subjected to any adversarial questioning. Instead, he was given room to talk about Varanasi’s development.

The Prime Minister was lavish in his doling out of interviews, and Doordarshan was, of course, one among many channels. Senior anchor Ashok Shrivastav introduced Modi as “the world’s favourite Prime Minister,” and asked—how had the Prime Minister coped, given this was his first election without his mother?

Senior anchor Ashok Shrivastav introduced Modi as “the world’s favourite Prime Minister,” and asked—how had the Prime Minister coped, given this was his first election without his mother?

Shrivastav is also the author of Modi vs. Khan Market Gang: Bharat’s Assertion of Elitist Narratives. He positions Modi as a lone warrior engaged in battle against a covert group—one which exists solely to undermine India. It’s not just a war between cultures; it’s eventually going to make it onto the field. Shrivastav claims in the book that the late Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat, was aware of this looming threat and was preparing “for a war on two-and-a-half fronts.”

The Khan Market gang conspiracy is more insidious than ever—with members stretching from New Delhi to New York—according to a review in the RSS mouthpiece Organiser.

The tech overhaul

In 2022, a report by the Reuters Institute of Journalism named All India Radio and Doordarshan as the nation’s most “trusted” media organisations, based on data by YouGov, a British analytics firm. In an era when TV news is laced with drama 24×7, AIR and DD present news simply and sensibly.

“People continued to trust us as gospel truth, even during difficult times like the Covid-19 pandemic. DD and AIR represent a need,” said Vempati.

The Reuters report was confirmation of the success of DD and AIR’s protracted digital overhaul, for which Vempati is seen as responsible. A self-described technocrat, he was brought in as a complete outsider—unfamiliar with the rhythms of then 20-year-old Prasar Bharati.

People formerly associated with Doordarshan say that under Vempati’s stewardship, news, not nostalgia, became the channel’s priority. However, “renewed interest in Doordarshan brings out its greatest strength: nostalgia,” Vempati told ThePrint, seated in the coffee shop of a hotel in Delhi.

In the run-up to the 2014 elections, Vempati operated a digital campaign platform, india272.com. He described it as being key to securing Modi’s first national victory—one of the first examples of the BJP’s wielding of online spaces.

In the run-up to the 2014 elections, Vempati operated a digital campaign platform, india272.com. He described it as being key to securing Modi’s first national victory—one of the first examples of the BJP’s wielding of online spaces. He is also the founder of iticentral.com, India’s first “center-right digital news platform.”

Many Doordarshan and AIR channels were brought under the same umbrella. Vividh Bharati, AIR’s entertainment channel, was absorbed into the news division, though its programming continued.

DD now has a flashier style, investing more in detailed interviews and ground reporting.

This marked a shift from its long-standing USP of news reading without reportage. Janadesh, a 2019 programme, was a series of 40 episodes on the general elections. It looked at all states, election manifestos, and the verdict that culminated in the formation of the NDA government.

“Prasar Bharati was running at least 4-5 years behind other platforms. The website looked like it was from the 1960s. We needed to provide content in a format that was easy to digest. DD’s videos were dated,” said a media expert who did not want to be named. “There was no live-streaming, they didn’t know what SEOs were.”

Vempati and his team were brought from the private sector in 2012, made their websites user-friendly, and started their social media handles—on which they began posting regularly. Today, Doordarshan National has 57.2 lakh subscribers, DD News has 41 lakh, while All India Radio has 6.9 lakh. But the live-streams don’t acquire too many views, seldom going above a few hundred people. The aarti is an exception.

Prasar Bharati was running at least 4-5 years behind other platforms. The website looked like it was from the 1960s. We needed to provide content in a format that was easy to digest. DD’s videos were dated

But these sweeping changes took time to implement across the vast broadcast organisation that was set in its ways. Until 2017, everything was done on paper, with years of broadcasting history located in rooms filled with reams of paper. On the one side, there was a government institute hesitant to change, and on the other was an ex-Infosys engineer rearing to go.

“We saw a lot of resistance, but we were able to leapfrog and switch over to cloud storage. It was a game changer,” said Vempati. “Prasar Bharati had been modernised.”

Apart from being based in the previous century when it came to operations, there was also the question of its broadcasting. DD and AIR used to function using rooftop antennas, with a network of 2 lakh transmitters. A radio transmitter converts electricity into radio waves, which are emitted through antennas. They need to be manually operated. That meant there were engineers spending entire days in dusty offices, just putting switches up and down. One of Vempati’s first orders of business was to shut them down. Now, only about 40 remain, based only in remote or conflict-ridden regions.

Censoring govt’s criticism

In December 2012, when the current Trinamool Congress politician and Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar was Prasar Bharati CEO, a group of photographers and journalists rushed into his office on Copernicus Marg. The Delhi bus gangrape protests were in full swing. Police were using water cannons against protesters, but the Director-General refused to let them cover the protests, saying they were anti-government.

“The usual style was to pretend as if nothing was happening. I remember giving them orders: If it’s news, it should be covered,” Sircar said  “But ultimately, we covered it as much as anyone else.”

Doordarshan credits itself with being different from other news organisations because of its staid style of presentation. DD’s English news telecasters, to date, have anachronistic, anglicised accents. A 1995 discussion on assembly election results, moderated by senior journalist Nalini Singh, which also included Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was a measured conversation on the future of the BJP and Congress.

Nearly 30 years later, despite claiming otherwise, Doordarshan has also resorted to the popular formula of slanging matches and a more aggressive form of delivery. Backgrounds are glitzy, presenters are livelier.

According to a now-retired staffer who did not want to be named, the entry of Sircar in 2012 brought in a minor shift. There was more diversity in coverage, and Prasar Bharati meetings were more inclusive, with a wider range of people involved. But for Sircar, his stint was riddled with challenges.

A 2016 episode of Doordarshan’s Sansad Samachar was a sedate reading of the day’s updates in Parliament—without opinion or analysis. A December 2023 episode of Sansad Samachar was read against a backdrop of a moving image of Parliament building. The telecaster, his brow furrowed, says that once again, the Opposition made a spectacle of itself.

According to a now-retired staffer who did not want to be named, the entry of Sircar in 2012 brought in a minor shift. There was more diversity in coverage, and Prasar Bharati meetings were more inclusive, with a wider range of people involved. But for Sircar, his stint was riddled with challenges—apart from it being an already precipitous time for the industry. The onslaught of social media meant patterns of consumption were changing, and the entire fraternity was being pushed onto new platforms, which was no mean feat for an institution rooted in tradition and nostalgia.

“By 2014, I was surrounded on all sides. There were some decisions where they [the board] supported me. But the board was politically packed. There was no longer a single Congressman,” said Sircar.

Sircar, towards the tail end of his tenure in 2016, wanted to run a stanza from the Ramcharitmanas every morning on All India Radio, which happened. But it was supposed to be accompanied by carols, which didn’t happen. In 2014, Swachh Bharat Diwas was covered with fanfare. An order came: the Prime Minister was going to be doing yoga. “They wanted 20-25 cameras. I said make it 35. Why wouldn’t we cover it? There isn’t conflict at every level,” said Sircar.

But when the RSS sarsanghchalak addressed the nation by way of Doordarshan that year, Sircar wasn’t informed.

Contrary to the claims made by the retired AIR staffer and others, a government advisor insists that coverage and content have improved under Modi. 

Surya Prakash, the chairman who had up until then held a nominal position, began to be part of daily operations. A new office within the premises was built exclusively for him, currently the vice chairman of the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalay in Teen Murti Bhavan.

An internal tussle ensued. Sircar was convinced that he was being iced out while the chairman took on a more hands-on role. Since then, things have changed. Today, channels of communication are more transparent, media commentators and journalists said.

Contrary to the claims made by the retired AIR staffer and others, a government advisor insists that coverage and content have improved under Modi.

“There has been a lot of distancing between the government and Prasar Bharati. Now, communication is more direct, and messages come straight from the PMO, instead of the ministry,” said the advisor.

The middleman has been eliminated, with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting taking on a more minor role.

“Prasar Bharati has become better-performing, better-equipped and more accountable to the people in its coverage. It’s in a much better state than before 2014,” said Kanchan Gupta, former journalist and a senior advisor at the I&B ministry in the outgoing Modi government.

Why DD can’t become a BBC

Over the years, what has troubled employees and experts alike is not just deepening government influence but Prasar Bharati’s inability to infuse its organisations with fresh blood—despite the fact that it was set up to separate it from the government.

Most Doordarshan and All India Radio employees have been roped in from the Indian Information Service, understood to be “media managers” of the government. It has cropped up as a hurdle in DD and AIR being recognised as public broadcasters on par with their global counterparts like the BBC and Deutsche Welle.

“The problem is in our setup. Whether it’s BBC, NPR, DW, or ABC — they’re free to rope in experts and mobilise resources as they see fit. Their news is handled by professionals who can move to any media outlet. There’s a fluidity between public broadcasters and traditional media. But with us, it’s a legacy issue,” said a media advisor associated with the I&B ministry on the condition of anonymity.

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru attempted to bring in experts. Khushwant Singh, for one, whose storied career began with a stint as a government information officer. But what was then called the India Service soon became a full-fledged government arm. Then came Indira Gandhi, whose additional role as I&B minister diluted its ‘independence’ further. That’s also when All India Radio began to be known as ‘All Indira Radio’.

The problem is in our setup. Whether it’s BBC, NPR, DW, or ABC — they’re free to rope in experts and mobilise resources as they see fit. Their news is handled by professionals who can move to any media outlet. There’s a fluidity between public broadcasters and traditional media. But with us, it’s a legacy issue

But again, that’s not the only issue. DD isn’t attractive enough. “The problem is the best and brightest do not apply to the Information Service. Whichever party comes to power would want a certain degree of compliance. But compliance should happen in a more intelligent manner,” the same media advisor said.

The entire system needs a makeover, beyond a shift from traditional platforms to digital ones. “Hiring has to be programme-specific and tenure-specific. Young and bright people should be brought in, and they should be given competitive salaries.”

This doesn’t mean restrictions won’t remain. For example, DD will never be allowed to speak against the Prime Minister. Its governing charter states it cannot present content that goes against the Prime Minister or a country with which India shares positive relations. There’s also the argument that because the PM remains in the public glare more than most, he receives greater coverage.

A govt ‘weapon’ that almost wasn’t

Criticism of Doordarshan has always consisted of its poor production, but it has also been tempered by its hold over the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The versions of Ramayana and Mahabharata that are intrinsic parts of DD’s identity, as well as entire generations’, were privately produced. In 2020, when the pandemic hit, PM Modi was “keen” that the Ramayana be brought back on air. The tapes were with the family of director Ramanand Sagar in Mumbai. Amid a lockdown, they made their way to Delhi.

“For those many months, there was renewed interest in DD. It brought out one of its strengths—nostalgia,” said Vempati.

The media advisor quoted earlier recalls a programme curated in homage to India’s 75th year of Independence.

In 2010, a committee headed by Sam Pitroda, advisor to then-PM Manmohan Singh, gave several recommendations: Liberate Prasar Bharati from controls that come with being a government broadcast and aid in its transition to a public broadcaster.

“The content was good, but the production was horrible,” he said. However, it’s still doubling down on news and has seriously ventured into ground reports. According to Mayank Agrawal, DD’s acting Director General until last year, they have produced at least 10,000 ground reports in the last 10 years. These primarily consist of dissections of various government schemes—usually extolling their virtues. “Ayushman Bharat is an ambitious scheme, and is emitting colours of success in Bilaspur,” begins one such report.

Ayushman Bharat has been tracked over several towns by DD: from Kathua in Jammu to Katni in Madhya Pradesh. The reporting is consistent with the government’s claims that the scheme is a resounding success and has changed the lives of lakhs of people.

There’s also a dramatic ground report from the Gaza border. The anchor is dressed in bulletproof gear and is yelling into the camera: “The Israelis are arriving, their tanks are visible.”

There’s supposedly no preferential treatment, according to Agrawal. “Both sides of the coin have been presented. The response to the reports has been positive. If they are positive, it’s because the scheme has worked,” he said. “And they’re in regional languages as well. Only a small section of the population speaks English.”

In 2010, a committee headed by Sam Pitroda, advisor to then-PM Manmohan Singh, gave several recommendations: Liberate Prasar Bharati from controls that come with being a government broadcast and aid in its transition to a public broadcaster. The board was to be made independent, the Prasar Bharati Act was to be amended, and the government’s messages would be showcased separately, distinguishing it from regular content. Essentially, Prasar Bharati would be run the way other corporations are: privately and professionally. But many of the recommendations weren’t taken on board—Doordarshan and All India Radio are precious entities.

“When you have a powerful weapon in your hand, why would you not use it?” asked a former staffer.

But if global examples are to be taken seriously, public broadcaster is not a phrase synonymous with government mouthpiece.

“Most nations finance a public broadcaster. They don’t run it,” said Sircar.

(Edited by Prashant)