The Writing is on the Wall for Godi Media

In the late-90s and early-2000s, 24-hour news channels replaced newspapers as the predominant source of news. In the last decade, the space held by news channels has shrunk dramatically. As have their ad revenues.

It’s a tragedy of Shakespearean scale. And like most Shakespearean tragedies where the fall of a character is caused by the fatal flaw in their own personalities coupled with hubris, so is the case with channels like Adani’s NDTV, Ambani’s Network18, India Today, Times Now, and Zee.

SELLING OUT

These channels and their revolving anchors, in their greed for government ad revenues and the titbits tossed to them, ignored the interests of their viewers. With an inflated sense of their own importance, they considered themselves opinion-makers. Now, they cower in their studios, preferring to offer up junior reporters as sacrificial lambs when they finally had no option but to cover the biggest story in the country.

I watched multiple reporters from these networks unable to report from Jantar Mantar, the epicentre of the NEET protest. They were shouted down, jeered at, their channels mocked as ‘Godi media’. The term 'godi media' coined by Ravish Kumar, one of the few prominent journalists who hasn't gone over to the 'dark side', refers to portions of the media that sit in the laps of their political masters. As lapdogs do.

I have worked for two of these channels—NDTV in the good old days and News18 both when the going was good and then less than good, moving steadily towards whatever this is.

I resigned 5 years ago and have never regretted that decision. The thing about the media is that you can see how things are going even from a seat far, far away. Ad revenues are plummeting, job cuts are a regular feature and the content hit rock-bottom many years ago and has settled there. In short, it is exactly the kind of shitshow I expected.

WHO KILLED THE NEWS?

Most people, especially in the news business, point at social media as the killer of news channels. That’s partially true. Attention spans are short and news breaks on social media now. By the time traditional media ties its shoelaces, folks have moved on to the next thing. But that’s not the whole story.

The fall of legacy media, especially news channels, is also a story of self-sabotage. Most of these channels, derisively clubbed together as ‘Godi media’, are privately-owned by old and new friends of the BJP. They are responsible for their own irrelevance. There was a time when one would see a social media post or a tweet, and reach for the television remote looking for confirmation, context or additional information.

Today, you don’t need to be a media maven to know which stories will be covered by the national media and which ones won’t. Most stories which are of some concern to the general public are either not covered, or so twisted out of shape to suit their masters’ narrative that you have to look really hard to spot the facts. The graphics are loud, the anchors even louder, perpetually anguished by some or the other affront to the pride of the nation.

SMELLING THE COFFEE YET, GODI MEDIA?

One of the oft-repeated phrases in journalism schools is “the medium is the message”. The Gen Z protest has sent out a message to the medium – “You’re redundant and have been tossed into the trash”.

There are memes galore about reporters, anchors and their organisations lacking a spine. My contention is they also lack an immune system.

The purpose of an immune system is to attack and destroy any threat to one’s own survival. And yet, so short-sighted and greedy are these bright sparks that they can’t see how they have accelerated their own irrelevance and extinction.

A WASTELAND OF CHANCES

It is not my contention that daily news cannot generate ratings. It can and does. But the last 15 years have also delivered the Indian TV news media several major stories that were absolute TRP-spinners. There was the India Against Corruption (Anna Andolan) protest in 2011, the Nirbhaya protest in 2012, the Farmers' protest starting in 2019 which lasted a whole year, the CAA protests of 2020, the Agnipath protest of 2022 and now, the NEET/CJP protest.

Only two of these protests were covered by national news channels in the way they should have been. It resulted in great viewer ratings too. In a coincidence which surprises no one, the uprisings covered with gusto all took place before 2014.

I’m not naïve enough to expect journalists to keep their personal leanings from colouring the way they report the news. That’s to be expected, and forgivable as long as it is limited to opinion.

What is unforgivable is to lie, misconstrue and present as fact something you know to be untrue. To not cover a story that is relevant to your viewer because of orders from people who send editorial instructions over WhatsApp is shameful. Ultimately, it results in you being reviled in the street and mocked by the majority for whom you are a symbol of selling out for thirty pieces of silver.

NOT JUST SELLING OUT

Unfortunately, Godi media’s problems aren’t limited to their prostration at the feet of the powers that be. It’s also about the dearth of energy and fresh ideas in their newsrooms.

In January 2018, when I was still working at a news channel, the head of the network sent out a mail to all of us asking for ideas and insights to improve the channel. I wrote back a long mail including,

“If people can get more information about Bitcoin/Ripple or even the Virushka wedding from their Facebook feeds than a 30-minute show on our channel, why would they tune in? I wouldn't and frankly, I don't.”

My view remains unchanged.

DUMB AND DUMBER

The only people who watch the news today are either not on social media or like their news unhindered by fact-checking, critical thinking or good taste. If you think I’m being unkind, sample this.

Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of Republic TV and the leader of the sheep tumbling down the cliff of journalistic shame, declared that the CJP/NEET protest was funded by a shadowy ‘foreign hand’. At least for that telecast, Arnab decided that this foreign hand belonged to America’s CIA.

He based this damning conclusion on an advisory, issued by the American embassy on 17^th July to American citizens in India, regarding a protest march set for the 20^th. Pretty standard stuff. The Cockroach Janta Party had announced this march to Parliament on 9^th July. The information was reported in newspapers and shared widely on social media.

In Mr Goswami’s opinion, this was a super-duper secret even if everyone on Instagram was privy to it. He believed that the American embassy having this information proved the CIA’s link to this protest. I mean, come on, we’ve watched Homeland. I’m sure CIA deserves a little more credit even if the same can’t be said for Mr Goswami!

CONCLUSION

What a time we’re living through. News anchors are shrill, their words hollow. Things that matter don’t make the news. Sometimes, jokes are the news. At other times, the news is the joke. Sadly, no one is laughing because no one is watching.