Today some journalists come on national television shouting at the peak of their voice every night. They call guests who are invited for the sole purpose of listening to them because probably they are unsure of whether other people do it or not. Suddenness. The sheer suddenness of the move. The fact that there was no warning…Yes, their shows should start with a Health Warning “Listening to the show requires a lot of mental instability and hearing capacity. Viewers are advised to switch off their brains and reduce their TV Volumes to prevent mental damage.”
Indian journalism has come down to the quality of a daily soap where there is more sensationalization than actual news. There was a time when people used to switch on news for information and social media for entertainment. Oh, Look how the tables have turned – Now we have come down to scrolling Instagram and Youtube for news and watching TV Debates for entertainment. The credibility is nearing death and there is a need to uplift the quality of Journalism in the nation.
It is high time we understand and voice out “Kyaa Puchta Hai Bharat?” There is an Urgent need to improve our media and its ethics. Coming to ethics how can we forget the reporting of the SSR Suicide Case? It created complete chaos. All standards were tossed. From visuals of the corpse to rushing onto the faces of the family of the victim – Everything was showcased. We witnessed months of mockery with other news topics being flung out of the limelight only to focus on Suicide which was then converted into a drug case.
News Delivery has been mocked because of the lunacy. People are losing their faith in news channels and this is when channels like Newslaundary and Peeing Human have to take up the Youtube platform for delivering accurate news. There is an immediate need to inculcate a proper news function where channels talk about the economy and crisis rather than the same Mandir-Masjid on prime-time debates.
Being a democratic country India should have ranked at least in the top 10 countries in press freedom. India did not even make it to the top 150 countries in terms of Press Freedom. In 2024 India’s press freedom was ranked 159 out of 180. India was behind countries like Libya, and Zimbabwe. Even a monarch like the United Arab Emirates was ahead of India in terms of press freedom. These stats are available on the Reporters Without Borders official website. This is what we have come down to.
“The press is called the Fourth Estate. It is definitely a power, but, to misuse that power is criminal.” Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi a.k.a the Father Of Our Nation had quoted this. It is sad to see this pitiful condition of Indian journalism. The pride and esteem which we have in being a Free Democratic country are all in vain because our fourth pillar of democracy is chained. Today news channels have just become a constant political rally where the candidates do not come directly. They just put up their representatives in front of the camera. These people are no less than puppets controlled. They speak what they are told. They blindly believe what is enforced.
This is the sorry state of Indian Journalism. Press Freedom is tossed for a six. Journalists are doing comedy and comedians are doing journalism. It is sad to see our press declining like this. Prime Time debates are nothing more than a daily source of gossip and drama. It is the same case where six panelists will be invited and only the moderator will be allowed to speak because of an intentional typo in the invite stating speakers instead of listeners.
It is high time we respond that India does not want to know what loud journalists show. India wants to know the truth. India does not want to know the TRP Points of a channel. India wants to know the points we have lost in Press Freedom Index. India does not want to know the personal opinions of journalists. INDIA wants to know when Journalism will improve. Alas, no one has the answers to these questions as of now. It is upon us whether we want a democracy or tyranny.