Biased Media :: Threat to Indian Democracy

JOURNALISM, the tool by which a common man knows about global society. Indian democracy is failing because the vast majority of citizens do not recognize media biases and supplemented propaganda. The term refers to the mass media communications industry, such as print media, publishing, the news media, broadcasting, and advertising.
The Transparent medium has now become a one-way mirror. Biased journalist or biased news channel shows that all policies and steps of government or a political party are always right, they do not criticize the government for their wrong work and this will harm the democracy because criticism is the backbone of democracy, criticism keeps the government on right track, and media is the fourth pillar of democracy, media keeps democracy alive.
The international NGO, Reporters Without Borders, released its annual World Press Freedom Index (WPFI). The index ranks 180 countries based on media independence, transparency, quality of infrastructure for news production, and violence against journalists and media persons. India ranked 138, down two points from last year, and five points from 2016. With the index having India performing worse than countries like Afghanistan, Palestine, and Nepal.
There is no objective truth but a lot of malice, there is no accountability but to serve the particular regime. This crisis of Indian media is writing a new history that recommends the death of critical journalism with constant manufactured opinion. News Anchors have become Judges and pass their judgment shamelessly without any ethical consideration. News has lost its worthiness and the priorities are shifted from people to serve the particular regime and its supported business houses that control and set the agenda. Any genuine critics of the regime’s policy are categorized as anti-national.
There is a constant exercise of silencing the unpleasant voice. Media has become a game of circus to divert people, to support the ill policies of demonetization, crippling the economy, and hard truths on unemployment(worst in 45 years). JNU is thus a victim of that nexus between the current regime and its patronized ‘Godi media’, all in the name of freedom of the press.
Privately, journalists, editors, and media persons admit that they’re under extreme pressure from the government to serve its agenda. Journalists were victims of physical violence by party activists and politicians.
Hatred has become India’s newest religion and fake news is an everyday ritual. The sharing of fake news without analyzing social platforms and the content which stimulates violence are shared in social platforms is also a threat to democracy. Terrorist groups like Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Qaeda and countries like Pakistan have been extremely effective in using social media to radicalize people and position them to commit violent acts. E.g. Hate videos were circulated before the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013.
Compare this scenario to the US media. Most mainstream platforms are against the current establishment that President Donald Trump routinely accuses them of being agents and culprits of ‘fake news’ and character assassinations.
Media has given political parties the tools to reach large numbers of people and can inform them of key issues ranging from policies to elections. Those tools can easily be hijacked by the government and in turn, be used as a weapon against peoples. In this way in the past few years, the media has become a direct threat to Indian democracy.