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It’s been two years since the Modi government came to power. In the build-up to the 2014 election, the ‘media walon’ have been subjected to their fair share of mocking. Bhaiyon & Beheno have often been told about the biki hui and biased media who are out to malign Modi’s party and prime ministership.
But two years since the Modi sarkar, has political journalism in the country changed? And if so, how?
The Quint spoke to beat reporters and editors – while some complained, some didn’t, but most chose to remain anonymous. Curiously telling of the times?
Most journalists concur that the dissemination of information is more controlled under the Modi regime as compared to previous ones. Reporters and editors who cover the Cabinet, PMO and key ministries say there is no longer a points person to even divulge basic information like schedules and agendas. This is problematic. A senior beat reporter says:
Many reporters say that the government’s strategy towards the media underwent a tangible change post the Bihar election defeat and that it has been a point of contention in the party. However, reporters covering the Ministries of Defence and Home tell a different story. A lot is kept under wraps, obviously, because that is the nature of the beat, but this government has left nothing to chance. A reporter covering defence says:
No longer do journalists go on junkets in the Prime Minister’s plane and unlike the previous governments, no longer does the PMO have a media advisor. He prefers talking to the people directly, be it through his new and improved website, his Twitter outreach, his radio program Mann ki baat, or his recently launched ‘Narendra Modi App’.
The fan-following on twitter is no secret (ask anyone who has ever tweeted something critical of the Prime Minister!), but does it tell the good old story? Senior journalist Praveen Swami says no!
The fact that government critics or adversarial reporting has always rubbed every government the wrong way is no secret and Modi’s BJP government is no exception.
Also read: “R**di TV ki R**d Anchor...”: Barkha Dutt, Trolls & Sexual Slurs
Celebrity TV anchor Rajdeep Sardesai, who has been on the receiving end of the worst kind of hate online, offline and abroad, however ,believes this is not a Modi phenomenon.
While Sardesai says that controlling the flow of information is the choice a government makes, it doesn’t indicate press censorship, it is just a way of operation to restore the primacy of the executive and not give the media a free run.
However, he also says that the current government is guilty of not trying to manage or control the ‘abuse and hate’ on social media.
So Modi doesn’t speak to the media, he speaks to the people. But Manmohan Singh, two-term PM, didn’t do either. But then, the flow of information under the UPA didn’t really follow a chain of command, because as a senior journalist adds, “most ministers in the UPA were leaders in their own right and thus couldn’t be controlled like Modi’s cabinet.”
On issues of national security for instance, there was never a formal channel for flow of information, no spokesperson and no go-to ministry per say. In that sense, those covering internal security say their beat is an ‘outlier’.
But that this government is more ‘opaque’ than the past is a matter of rapport, one that many believe has been discontinued between the Prime Minister’s representatives and the media.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
Published: 23 May 2016,05:01 AM IST