3rd March was just another day of spreading falsities, untruths and half baked truths in the life of Indian Media. No wonder that a report by Eldmen Trust on behalf of the World Economic Forum has reported that Media is the most untrusted institution in the country. Even NGOs, Businesses and Government fare better than media in Indians’ trust perception. There is a reason why the Indian media is widely discredited and that reason is the tendency of Mediapersons to circulate lie through their dirty teeth. Media is widely believed to be controlled by politicians and serves as a propaganda machine for politicians to peddle their lies.
Rajdeep Sardesai, who is quite reviled on the Social media symbolizes the sold-out media.
The political discourse in the nation over the last few weeks has been centered on Uttar Pradesh. As elections have progressed in the state, so has the possibility of a BJP/BJP-led government in the state. This has understandably set off alarms in the media, which tends to be politically biased. The Media, predictably has responded in ways that undermine the electoral campaign of the BJP. For instance, Barkha Dutt was seen left-radicalizing BHU students, which serves to alienate youth from the Modi juggernaut. Economic Times ran articles on Akhilesh Yadav as though it were a mere party newsletter. And, then there was Media’s frenzied coverage of Priyanka Gandhi’s entry into the electoral hustle bustle.
Media’s preferential coverage of certain candidates or political alliances is something that it is free to do. However, is it morally justified to drag a private citizen into the mud and muck of Media coverage? This is precisely what Rajdeep Sardesai did. On 3rd of March, he tweeted that he had spotted Banaras Hindu University’s VC at a Modi roadshow. Predictably, the left leaning ecosystem went berserk. Online platforms heaped scorn upon Mr. Tripathi for acting like a political stooge. Two-bit political tweeters like Arvind Kejriwal and his cronies retweeted links that shamed BHU VC. In a matter of hours, Mr. Tripathi was widely reviled and humiliated. Probably, the patrons of Rajdeep Sardesai wanted to create a scenario where they could argue that Universities’ autonomy was being curbed under Modi government or that political appointments were wreaking havoc on students’ lives.
Unfortunately, in this case, Mr. Tripathi chose to respond. He slammed the peddlers of untruth and rued the attempts to defame him and the university. He pointed out that one journalist had chosen to tweet this brazen lie, resulting in wild allegations flying around. Rajdeep Sardesai, perhaps understood that Mr. Tripathi could not be dismissed lightly. He was quick to delegate his lies to ‘mistaken identity’ and withdraw his tweet.
Mr. Tripathi went a step further and said that if Mr. Sardesai set foot in the university, he would be given a proper thrashing for spreading lies about him and the University. Given the nature of his comments, Media again went into a frenzy, decrying a VC who openly claimed that he was associated with the RSS. The lie, however, had been milked enough and this story was quietly buried.
Such is the nature of the Indian Media. An innocent man was hauled over the coals, subjected to scorn and criticism and openly derided for a ‘crime’ he did not even commit. As for the man who levied the allegations, he simply issued an ‘Apology’ and withdrew his tweet. Mr. Tripathi’s honour was shattered, his dignity compromised and the eminence of his office lowered, no wonder he threatened to give Rajdeep Sardesai a (well deserved?) beating.
Not so long ago, Derek O’Brien had shamed some private individuals during his speech in Rajya Sabha, effectively blacklisting them as criminals. How is Rajdeep Sardesai’s ‘innocuous-looking’ tweet any different from that?
http://trollindianpolitics.com/…/indian-meedia-2nd-untruste…/
http://www.opindia.com/…/can-economic-times-be-trusted-wit…/
http://www.opindia.com/…/how-rajdeeep-sardesai-and-biased-m…/
https://scroll.in/…/will-beat-up-journalist-for-spreading-l…