Why are journalists being booed in public places?
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Opinion: As a large section of mainstream media continues to distance itself from ordinary people, becomes a tool of crass propaganda while peddling blatant lies, and while it consistently fails to underline the issues ordinary folks face and struggle with, it is steadily losing both its audience, revenues, and credibility.
Independent Ink Copy Desk
The media has become the news.
It is the most unlikely thing to happen, and when it does, it usually shows that something is gravely wrong. The media's job is to practise journalism. When it does its job right, it should not become the news.
Since news, by its very nature, is often driven by conflict and controversy -- although positive news is increasingly gaining importance and popularity -- the media becoming the news is a worrying sign.
Recent incidents suggest that journalists are increasingly becoming victims of editorial positions taken by their editors/ proprietors.
Journalists are, after all, employees. What they say is often not their personal opinion or observation, but the editorial stance taken by the organisations they work for.
While some rogue journalists directly involve themselves in running propaganda and lies, most are simply compelled to follow the editorial line to keep their jobs, as many have nowhere else to go ‘at this age’, or, in the current circumstances being what they are, to find alternative employment.
For the public, however, these subtle differences hardly matter. Journalists are the faces of the media houses they represent in the public sphere, especially the audio-visual media – a large section of which is being widely castigated as ‘godi media’.
The recent incidents at Delhi's Jantar Mantar and in Kolkata's Dorina Crossing suggest that most people have lost their faith in the current form of political journalism practised by heavily corporatised mainstream media, which has largely detached itself from the masses it exists to serve.
This form of journalism often appears to amplify the voice, opinion and narratives that those in power want disseminated, while the ground reality tells a different story.
The media's job is not to become an activist, or stooge of the government, but to disseminate information while maintaining objectivity -- something that many media houses now seem to lack.
The media is supposed to function as a watchdog by exposing wrongdoing in government, holding those in power accountable for their actions, reporting on change and development, and bringing people's voices and the challenges they face in their daily lives to the forefront.
The media is meant to be the people's voice, but, instead, much of it has become the government's voice, portraying events on the ground differently from what is actually happening, and turning a blind eye to policy failures, corruption and administrative shortcomings.
Most mainstream media houses have now kowtowed to the government's line, while only a few still attempt to strike a balance by maintaining objectivity without antagonising those in power.
The recent NEET paper leak, affecting millions of students, also reflect the shrinking space for investigative journalism. Sometimes, merely reporting an incident is not enough. It is the media's responsibility to investigate the real causes and identify those who benefit from such collusion, especially when paper leaks continue to occur repeatedly at both the national and regional levels.
Journalism has to remain responsible and accountable to the people/readers/audience. Sensationalism is not acceptable, as it does not help serve this purpose. Sadly, however, most media houses seem to have embraced this shoddy practice.
Paper leaks are not the only incidents that expose the toothlessness of today's media. If the government no longer fears media scrutiny, then the media's original role as a watchdog and position as the fourth pillar of democracy inevitably suffers.
Indeed, people have begun to notice this. Certainly, the ‘digital citizens’ of Gen Z seem to have found them out. The non-stop fake narrative of fake news lies exposed.
As a result, frustration is growing. Heckling journalists simply because one disagrees with their reporting or observations is unacceptable. At the same time, these recent incidents also point to the blindness of media decision-makers in understanding the realities on the ground.
To be honest, most journalists, down the line, are often not part of this decision-making process. They are salaried employees who follow instructions from their bosses, many of whom are not journalists and have never reported from the ground themselves. Why they are made bosses by the owners, well, it is obvious.
For the people, however, this internal dynamic hardly matters. Journalists remain the face of the media organisations they represent. Consequently, they are the ones who are bearing the repercussions on the ground, especially those in television, in particular, those who choose to work for the ‘godi media’.
It is time for the media to reflect and introspect on its role and what it is doing, and correct themselves. The willingness to resist pressure from those in power is important. The media business is not like any other commercial enterprise. It carries social responsibility.
History has repeatedly shown that media organisations are ultimately judged by their ability to stand firm against government pressure rather than surrender to it.
Most mainstream media organisations are also reeling from declining revenues since Google introduced AI Overviews, reducing the need for people to click on news links. People don’t seem to feel the need the need to help the ‘mainstream corporate media’ sustain this onslaught and overcome this phase. The longer the media takes to understand this growing frustration -- or the more it ignores the calls for change in its current way of working -- the more irrelevant it risks becoming.
In its current form, mainstream media is also indirectly contributing to the rise of citizen journalism. More people are now raising their voices on social media by sharing their opinion or live-streaming events directly from protest sites. Increasingly, audiences are gravitating towards such grassroots reporting, especially in places where mainstream media is largely absent.
Besides, a section of social/independent media seems to have become reliable, as has been reflected during the farmers’ protracted and peaceful struggle earlier, and now, during the recent Jantar Mantar protests, when members of Gen Z, and independent journalists, were successful in creating a parallel media narrative which seemed more rooted, realistic, and trustworthy.
Citizen journalism, however, is not without its drawbacks. Without a professional and balanced editorial framework, it carries a higher risk of misinformation, fake news, privacy violations and hate speech.
Unless the media changes its approach, it will continue to lose its influence and relevance. With zero credibility, and no accountability whatsoever, many organisations are already struggling, and some may, therefore, eventually face closure.
Editor's Note: This perspective piece has been written by a working journalist who wants to remain anonymous.