There are some irrefutable facts that emerged from an exercise to seek readers’ opinion on how the Indian media in general, and The Hindu in particular, performed its task in covering the first three years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s rule, compared to the American media’s role in covering U.S. President Donald Trump’s. These facts are, at one level, in conflict with the first principles of journalism. The tone and tenor of vocal readers, with contending and conflicting claims, bring out the complex nature of this exercise.
Five facts
The five facts that I deduced from readers’ communications are, in reality, the challenges before every journalist. First, Mr. Modi is a central figure who defines not only the political discourse of this country but also the contours of public discourse — people either adore his approach to governance or they are worried about the hyper-centralisation that is taking place. Second, for his supporters, the idea of giving him a chance seems to be without a deadline. Or if there is a deadline, it is very fluid; for those who do not see any virtue in this government, the media has given him the longest honeymoon period compared to any of the other post-Emergency politicians. Third, a section of the public is not concerned about the fact that Mr. Modi has not called for any press conference, while others feel that he has denied the media the chance to pose counter-questions and seek clarifications. Fourth, he speaks directly to the people, which is seen by one section as a brilliant move to remove the intermediaries and by the other section as a form of monologue that is not subject to scrutiny. Fifth, both sections recognise the power of information that is created outside the legacy media but arrive at directly opposite conclusions. For Mr. Modi’s supporters, his direct approach, amplified by the social media, is a god-sent alternative to the mainstream media. For those who are sceptical of the government, this is a dangerous mix of half-truths, myths and lies and pieces of information that is not subject to the basic requirement of what is news — namely, verification, fact-checking, attribution and gatekeeping — and hence its resonance with a growing number of people is a cause for concern.
Whenever the shortcomings of the government pointed out by reporters, based on investigation and verifiable evidence, there is a counter-question that defies logic: what about the failures of earlier Prime Ministers? The values that govern the public sphere are seen as an impediment to the majoritarian march. The language of dissent, difference and dialogue is not seen as a democratic function but as a dirge of a bygone era.
Readers react
Former Air Vice-Marshal K.R. Karnik questions an editorial in this paper, “Preserve the idea of India”, which appeared immediately after Mr. Modi’s electoral victory. He was convinced that if the newspaper looked at the achievements of the last three years and juxtaposed them with the editorial, the idea of India was not only intact but had even been cemented stronger by the day. Neither did Mr. Karnik spell out the successes of this government nor was he able to point out how the editorial was wrong in its assumptions.
A reader from Bengaluru, Ravindra Ramarao, felt that newspapers should refrain from having a political ideology in a democracy. He wrote: “Policies of the government must of course be challenged and queried as and when the need arises, but can the ideology of the government be questioned? Who is to decide if the ideology of party A is better than that of party B, C or D? Surely the electoral choice of the people in a democracy should hold supreme and be the arbiter of what should be the country’s ideology — till the next elections.”
There seems to be a gap between what this newspaper reports and the public’s perception of these reports. A letter from Vijay S. Raghavan, from Mumbai, was in a sense a reflection of this conflicting actuality. He wrote: “There was also feeling that The Hindu ought to have been more neutral and ‘unbiased’ in coverage of Modi-related news. However, at present, I don’t remember any such items to pinpoint.”
readerseditor@thehindu.co.in
