Another Media Controversy: Where Is Journalism In India Headed?

Republic TV Editor-in-Chief and news presenter Arnab Goswami was arrested by Mumbai Police on November 4 morning. Contrary to common assumption, the detainment isn't in relation to the allegation against Goswami of peddling fake news in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case.  The arrest is in connection with a 2018 case on charges of abetment to suicide.

On November 9, Bombay High Court rejected Goswami's bail plea and told him that he can move lower court for the same. "No case was made out in the present matter for the high court to exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction," said the two-judge HC bench in its order. The High Court has told the lower court to take a decision on Goswami's bail plea in coming four days, reports NDTV.

Some people have called Goswami's arrest as censoring of press freedom, as he is known to have targeted Mumbai Police and Maharashtra government in his media coverage. The question however here is a larger one. That of journalism and ethics. Does Indian media as a whole need to rethink how their approach news? Are we making demi-gods out of journalists when what they need to be doing is telling us the news and leaving out the bias?

As a viewer, I wonder, will Indian media and its star reporters one day suffer the same fate that they put the likes of Rhea Chakraborty through?

Arnab Goswami is facing exactly what he has been encouraging, applauding and even instigating for others. If Delhi Police had arrested some AAP MLA for old abetment of Suicide Case, right now he would have been applauding and thundering from his studio and attacking the “Lobby”

— Joy (@Joydas) November 4, 2020

Rhea wasn't a Criminal. Arnab made her look like one. Arnab is a criminal and is being treated as one. Justice.

— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) November 4, 2020

Also Read: Coverage of Rhea Chakraborty Signals New Low for Indian Media

India media is out of empathy from its viewers. That sums up where Indian media stands today. When news coverage is commodified and turned into a heartless business willing to go to any lengths to make a profit, you lose out on empathy. Not just with its sensational coverage in Sushant Singh Rajput case that made us look the other way in shame, but Indian media has failed itself and its audience consistently.

Also Read: Dear Navika, your journalism hit a new low today

The circus of news that we had set up, we are an "act" in it now. Those viewers that we tried to woe with noise, garish graphics and sensationalism, watches in fascination as tables turn. Indian media should right now be worrying about the irreversible damage done to its reputation and the repercussions that are fast catching up.  When the backlash against media, the fourth pillar of democracy, stirs nothing but indifference or a sneer from the public, we've got to admit Indian journalism went wrong somewhere.

Those in the free press who don’t stand up today in support of Arnab, you are now tactically in support of fascism. You may not like him, you may not approve of him,you may despise his very existence but if you stay silent you support suppression. Who speaks if you are next ?

— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) November 4, 2020

The social media reaction to the arrest of a prominent journalist is a telling sign of Indian media's struggle to clutch at its eroding reputation. So where does journalism head from becoming the news itself, rather than being a mouth piece to facts? Do we continue with scandalous reporting, risque coverage and outrage in name of opinion? Or do we find our way to performing our basic duty, that is to report facts, and only facts, and refrain from becoming political mouthpieces? Unless media builts its reputation up from ground zero, it is foolish to expect anyone to empathise with our ordeal.

Also Read: Do Social Media Algorithms Erode Our Ability To Make Decisions Freely?

One doesn't need a degree in journalism to know that theatre and news reporting are not talents that can overlap.

A newsroom isn't a stage, and our audience isn't giving us their attention for the sake of entertainment. Can we as a community re-discover this basic difference? It is up to those sitting in newsrooms now, to revive this corroding fourth pillar, whose collapse from within could have catastrophic consequences for the entire nation.

The views expressed are the author's own.