It is a truth universally acknowledged that when there is a terrible situation, there is a tendency to shoot the messenger. And in the communal riots that shook parts of northeast Delhi this week, of course, the messenger is the media.
Blackout, spineless, paid, grovelling – these were the words used for the media and bandied about with ease in the last few days, and frankly, I am sick and tired of it.
First, let’s take the word ‘blackout’. After the Narendra Modi government diluted Article 370, a blackout was imposed in Kashmir in August 2019 – when people in the region literally had no idea what was going on around them. That is not something that can be said of the violence in Delhi. Since last Sunday night, when news broke that the police had lathi-charged anti-CAA protesters at Hauz Rani, after which there were reports of violence in northeast Delhi Monday, the mainstream and non-mainstream media houses have kept their focus on the violence as it grew from what was first seen as a clash between CAA protesters and supporters to full-blown communal riots.
Also read: Rajdeep Sardesai to Tavleen Singh, one dilemma during riots: preserve harmony or report hate
Why blame the media?
Did the media also focus on US President Donald Trump’s India visit? Yes, absolutely, as it should.
But let me be very clear, you would not know what you now know about the Delhi riots if it wasn’t for the journalists, from most newspapers, TV channels and websites, going to riot-hit areas, risking their lives, getting roughed up and even badly thrashed in the course of their job. So, when people complain about a blackout, I really wonder what they read or watch.
I asked a few friends who told me they found the lack of media coverage appalling, or they were told by friends outside Delhi that there was no information coming out about the riots. I found this difficult to believe, so I probed a bit further and got some vague mumblings about how they were “not talking about any specific media outfit but making a general point”.
Either someone was very annoyed that one rag of a newspaper carried the story lower down on its page, or that in the maybe 10 minutes they watched a news channel, the riots weren’t mentioned.
A friend in Mumbai told me that the fact that Seelampur had been on the boil for months should have been reported as context. I sent him articles published by multiple mainstream newspapers from December on violence in Seelampur. He then said that no one outside Delhi would remember or even know where Seelampur is. How, I ask, is this the media’s fault?
Another friend shared a link to an article on the riots in a well-known US newspaper, saying this is the kind of accurate coverage missing in India. On reading it, I found absolutely nothing unique to it that the local media didn’t have – every horrific incident and every quote from a survivor was something that the Indian media had been reporting since 24 February. When asked, she said she had heard that Indian websites were being asked to take down content, but she didn’t know which ones. Later, she pointed me to Hotstar blocking the Modi episode of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight. At this point, I just want to remind everyone that Hotstar is a private entertainment entity, not a news website or channel.
Also read: On Delhi riots, TV channels finally reported news. Then the anchors swooped in
Responsible criticism
What Delhi has been through this week is a communal riot. Religion is the reason this happened, whether you want to admit it or not, so why the hell should that be hidden away like a dirty secret?
Is every media outfit responsible? Certainly not. But if you watch and read only the ones that are crap, then the information you get will also be crap. Can the media do better? Of course, always. Can you also criticise more responsibly so that we genuinely do better, instead of just calling every media house spineless, paid, grovelling and whatever else, just because it sounds trendy? When you tell us it’s a clash, no it’s a riot – you also need to understand that any good media house has deliberated and chosen its words carefully, based on fact and not sentiment. Please do also choose your words carefully.
Also read: Delhi riots neither designed by Modi govt, nor Islamic conspiracy. It’s far more dangerous
This article has been updated to reflect @theworkplacedoodler’s clarification on the Instagram post on the role of media during the Delhi riots.
I‘m the artist whose work was used in this article. The author and the Print have not taken my consent prior to using the work, and neither have they reached out to me for clarification. They have thoroughly misrepresented my work and the author had not responded to my personal messages clarifying my stance.
Its not because of just reporting. It’s because of selective reporting, its because of conveniently fitting news as per propaganda, its because of targeting only one section of people, its because ignoring big facts like what was the preparation for?, ignoring and twisting truth of people who were burnt alive and stabbed 400 times. This kind media is much more to blame then rioters on streets.
I am with the government. These paid protesters are pests for our economy.
I thank the media houses that I depend upon for updating me with the events in India and abroad; without doubt, a few might be having a tendency to report in a way so that they not upset the current Govt or even report with a jaundiced eye; it could also be termed as saffron eyes. Unbiased reportage would invite the wrath from the affected side and their followers.
Since I don’t watch TV and apprise myself with the news and events on my laptop, I prefer to see select videos on Youtube also go through the commentary on both ‘The Print’ and ‘The Wire’; I also sometimes watch Quint, Scroll, and NewsClick.
Media can report what it gets to view and how it analyses the events; I also find the analysis of the event and the historical background informative and even educative in the commentary of Shekhar Gupta.
It’s better to ignore the uninvited comments of those who have decided to be on one or the other camp; it is a difficult job for one to do independent reportage in the today’s world as the winds of majoritarian politics is blowing hard.
A section of biased medical is having responsibility for this riot and ongoing street protest by distorting facts and building fake narratives. Kind of Yogendra yadav ,sardesai ndtv hell bent on creating problems to reinvent Congress
First of all,
1. u media mafia shld STOP demonizing Hindus
2. Tk Muslim culprits names properly…u hide calling out ‘Muslim’ word, when they hv done the mistakes…u tk their side
3. Be impartial…tell the world that Muslims start the violence first
Print, and be damned. Felt very happy to see in Episode 400 of Cut the Clutter the young journalists who have been reporting from the trenches. They should serve as an inspiration to some of their seniors in the profession who can no longer be called journalists.