Zee News Producer Quits Over ‘Biased’ JNU Coverage

A Zee News producer has quit the channel for showing ‘biased coverage’ over the JNU issue.

Vishwa Deepak resigned from Zee News over its biased JNU Row coverage. (Photo: Vishwa Deepak’s Facebook Page)

Vishwa Deepak, an output producer with Zee News television has resigned from the channel for allegedly manipulating the video of the JNU protest that was broadcasted on the channel.

Deepak was part of the team that produced the show, which portrayed Kanhaiya as shouting ‘anti-India’ slogans inside the campus while protesting against the hanging of convict Afzal Guru.

Are we the mouthpieces of the BJP or the RSS that we will do whatever they say? The video didn’t have any “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans at all – yet we played it repeatedly to spread madness and mayhem. How did we believe that some voices coming out of the dark belonged to Kanhaiya and his companions?

Kanhaiya Kumar being roughed up by lawyers at the Patiala House Court complex. (Photo: ANI Screengrab)

He expressed his concerns over Zee News’  ‘biased coverage’ of the JNU protest that ultimately led to JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest on charges of sedition, in a letter to Zee News.

I have started to seriously doubt whether we are journalists at all. It seems like we are nothing more than the government’s mouthpiece or contract killer. Modi is the country’s prime minister, he is my prime minister but as a journalist I am unable to swallow any more Modi worship. My conscience has started to revolt against me. It’s like I am ill.

He brought up the suicide of Rohith Vemula and how the media wasn’t clear about the report.

This is what happened on the issue of Dalit scholar, Rohith Vemula’s suicide. First we addressed him as a “Dalit scholar”; then as a “Dalit student”. That’s still fine. But at least they should have written the news properly. The role of ABVP leader and BJP’s Bandaru Dattatreya in driving Rohith Vemula to commit suicide is still surrounded by dubious questions (everything is clear). But as a media house our work was to dilute the issue and to be their saviour.

Students in Delhi protest against the suicide of Rohith Vemula. (Photo: PTI)

I am not able to sleep well. I am restless. Maybe it is the result of a guilty conscience. It is the biggest taint any individual can be marked by: treason, of being a traitor. But the question is, as journalists, what right do we have to give certificates and degrees on being a traitor? Isn’t this the domain of the courts?

Read his Hindi post on Facebook below.