Is the pillar broken?

"Just as street lights and the rounds of police constables bring to light anything wrong or unjust happening on the roads in the dark, the editorial pen brings to light the injustices and the wrongs of the administration." 

The quote is from the first issue of Kesari, a Marathi weekly, founded by one of the greatest nationalists, Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1881. I'm amazed that how someone can write so bluntly against the government, despite knowing the fact that the government is ruthless for anyone standing against them. But the best part is, he was not alone. There were editors-journalists-nationalists-freedom fighters, whatever you call them, who were brave enough to stand against the British government. Kesari along with many newspapers like The Patriot, The Hindu were so influential that the British government passed laws against the Freedom of Press. Tilak was later tried on charges of sedition and was transported to Mandalay for 6 years.

This was the quality of our "media houses" back then. We were able to maintain this quality even after the independence. It wasn't long ago when the so-called best orator of our time, our prime minister, abruptly ended the interview in just 5 minutes of its commencement. As stated, our media was acting as the fourth pillar of our democracy. There was reporting against the bad, there were sting operations, there were intense interviews. But now the editorial pen narrates power and money only. No, this is not my opinion only but the whole world is asking about the credibility of our media houses. 

It's been around 6 years that Mr. Narendra Modi has been the Prime Minister of India. But in these 6 years, there haven't been any press conferences in which our PM answered. There has been only one press conference till now and in that too, Mr. Amit Shah, the then-party president of BJP, was answering questions. It was a questionnaire between the Indian government and reporters or it was between BJP and reporters. If he is doing well for the nation, if he is clean, if he one of the best then why does he fear a small press conference. And what's amusing is the accepting reaction of our media houses. 

Why our government's poster boy never comes up in a press conference? None of the media houses has the courage to ask this. And, why our media houses are not asking this question? Unfortunately, none of the citizens are ready to ask this.

It was Mr. Karan Thapar, who was going to interview, the then Chief Minister of Gujrat, Mr. Narendra Modi. CNN-IBN was the media house and within 5 minutes of the commencement, Mr. Modi abruptly leaves the interview. Why? Was it the phobia of media or was it the questions of Mr. Thapar regarding the Gujrat killings were way too much for him. After 7 years, Mr. Modi became the PM of India. As a PM he came to many renowned news shows, and all he was asked about was how he sleeps? how he manages to be so young and fit? Ok, we are curious to know about the well-being of our prime minister but we are way more curious to know about our economic crisis? What were the benefits of demonetization? Why there is a recession automobile industry? 

In one of his interviews, he was seen reading a poem from a sheet of paper which also had a set of questions that he was going to be asked. There was a small questionnaire between Mr. Modi and one of the Bollywood stars. And the best question he could ask him was-"Do you like mangoes?". This is hilarious as well as a matter of grave concern, that no one dares to think about. Why journalists like Mr. Thapar did extinct and why these kinds of embarrassing interviews are there? Well, none of the media houses dares to ask the question. And we have failed as citizens to have a strong will to ask our media.

8th Nov 2016, demonetization was declared to curb the practice of counterfeit currency and funding terrorism. Was this demonetization successful? What was the impact of demonetization on the Indian economy as well as Indian lives? These are some of the questions which the media neglected and citizens, being blindfolded, did not ask. Why?

Another very interesting and hilarious part of this demonetization was a rumor that-" 2000  note had a micro-chip in it, which help the government to track and find black money". Many of us considered this to be foolish but hilarious; many of us considered this rumor to be true. And it's totally acceptable if a normal citizen believes in this foolishness. But if a person who is editor-in-chief of one of the most 'prestigious' news channels Zee News, goes on ranting the same, then it's dangerous. Someone at that level, who has a full team for content verification, goes on proving a rumor true on national television. Media at its best! And yes I cannot ignore the fact that Mr. Shubhash Chandra, chairman of the parent company of Zee News, publicly supports the ruling party. It's a mere coincidence that his new channel acts as an advertising company for the government rather than a media house. 

In this crisis, where every human is doing their best to save themselves and their families. Some are busy dividing the society, no not the politicians, MEDIA. The editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News,  Mr. Suresh Chavhanke tweeted his opinions on COVID19.

Where is the sedition law? Where are the intellectuals? Mystery!

Another news anchor on this list is, Mr. Amish Devgan. An FIR has been filed against him for spreading fake news related to a particular religion. After the FIR was filed, he corrected his mistake on his next show and also stated that "anyone who spreads communalism in this crisis, stay away from me". And his TV show depicts a very different picture.

And this list never ends; reporters like Mrs. Rubika, Mr. Deepak Chaurasia, Mrs. Anjana Om Kashyap, Mr. Sudhir Chaudhary are all on this list. One claims to be the discoverer of "Land Jihaad", one wants to go to the moon with a motorcycle helmet on his head, one forgets their own surname and replaces it with the surname of the most popular politician, one starts crying about rape but ignores another sexual harassment. USCIRF recently added India to the list of countries of particular concern but there were no shows, no special reports, no debates, nothing. Only one channel NDTV broadcasted this. Why? Everyone failed again.

Really this is the fourth pillar of democracy? The whole world is starting to point out this highly corrupted system, but we the citizens of India blindly trust our government and their allies sitting in the media and will ensure that no one stands against them! It's not only the media who are wrong in this, the ones watching their shows, showing support to them are equally responsible. 

The true motive of my blog is not to question the media houses; it is to question the citizens. Open the blindfold; see what's really going on here. Don't support anyone blindly. 

Just a fact-

Hitler, after sitting on the throne, the first thing he did was to control the media.