New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got nearly six times the coverage that his predecessor Manmohan Singh received from the state-owned All India Radio (AIR), government data accessed by ThePrint has revealed.
Data from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, which allocates a hefty budget to Doordarshan and AIR annually, shows that while Modi got over 1,068 hours of airtime on AIR between 2014 and 2018, Singh had received just 191.9 hours of it between 2009 and 2013, his second term as PM.
Figures for 2019 are not yet available, but sources said they would substantially increase the figure for Modi, since he has received a lot of airtime on AIR news bulletins in the build-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
The data has come to light just a few days after the other state broadcaster, Doordarshan (DD), said that the BJP gets most coverage on its news network. The Election Commission of India had pulled up DD after the admission, but it hadn’t issued any instructions to AIR.
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Domestic events
Between 2009 and 2018, live coverage of the prime ministers’ events inside the country got the lion’s share of airtime — Singh received 135 hours on AIR, while Modi got 644 hours. In 2018 alone, Modi’s events received at least 143 hours of airtime, with the data being mentioned as “incomplete”.
The least airtime went to their press conferences — Singh got 7.45 hours of airtime, while Modi got nil since he did not hold a press conference in his five-year term.
Modi’s monthly Mann Ki Baat programme also made a big difference to the numbers — while Singh’s addresses to the nation got 20.45 hours of airtime, Modi’s addresses received 103 hours. If regional language broadcasts of Mann Ki Baat were considered, the number for Modi would have been much higher.
Foreign visits
The most stark difference between the two prime ministers, however, is the airtime given to the coverage of their foreign visits.
While Singh got a total of 29 hours of airtime for his foreign visits, Modi got 321 hours, more than 11 times Singh’s number. In 2017 alone, Modi’s foreign visits got 103 hours of airtime on AIR.
Also read: I&B ministry tells DD & AIR to ensure level-playing field for all parties after EC rap
‘Modi has been more active’
A senior I&B ministry official defended AIR’s coverage by saying that Modi has been “more active” than his predecessor, so the airtime would obviously be higher.
“His addresses to the nation, his foreign visits and his events inside the country have been much greater in number. So, the visibility would of course be much more, as would the space on Doordarshan and AIR. There is nothing out of place there,” the official said.
However, Congress leader and former I&B minister Manish Tewari accused the Modi government of “blatantly” misusing every institution, including the state broadcasters.
“The EC needs to step in to prevent further misuse. The logic that this government is more active and hence gets more airtime is absolutely absurd. There has to be a level playing field (between all political parties),” Tewari said.
This is party which was critical of Ms Indira Gandhi misuse of Doordarshan.
Congress people do nothing and then they want other people to do nothing as well. If someone does more work then they start complaining about the state resources being used. What a joke.