BJP begins media strategy audit with eye on 2019 elections

The party is conducting a review to assess the role of print, electronic and social media to ensure it spends resources wisely​ and they make an impact.

The BJP has begun a country-wide impact assessment of its media strategy that sources within the party say could leave the RSS and party officials with far more control over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s communications strategy.

According to the sources, who requested anonymity to preserve their standing within the party, the BJP is conducting its review to assess the role of print, television, electronic and social media ahead of the 2019 elections. The party wants to ensure that its resources are spent wisely, with the greatest impact.

The order to begin the assessment came during a spate of recent meetings between senior party leaders. National general secretary of the BJP,​ Ram Lal, specifically, requested that the party’s top brass in every state submit reports to the party’s national leadership as soon as possible.

Sources stated that the BJP’s national organisation has instructed its state subsidiaries across the country to seek an independent assessment of media outlets that includes analysis of their reach, impact, target audience and area of operations.

As an example of how such an assessment would work, a senior party leader​ said that state party leaders might report on the composition of a Sindhi newspaper’s readership base, including which voters it caters to and whether its readers interact with editors on a regular basis, among other factors.

A senior party leader added that the national party has encouraged these state units to engage with media barons and editors to build rapport​ ahead of the 2019 elections. Moreover, these state leaders will need to regularly monitor every major media. The sources stated that for states in which the BJP has only recently gained power, this exercise will be even more vital.

“All these issues could help us in engaging with the targeted media outlets with a much better prepared plan of action. We could ask our senior leaders to engage with these outlets more and could also work on other spending arrangements, like advertisement revenue, in a better manner,” a source said.

Sources noted that this assessment could also include analysis of whether and how media outlets have negatively portrayed Prime Minister Modi’s government. Though the​ Prime​ Minister’s​ Office already requests daily reports from all ministries on ‘negative’ media coverage, this assessment, which will include analysis from the​ mandal, state and national levels, will play an important role in the party’s preparations for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.