The left-liberal media establishment of India is the epitome of hypocrisy. People in this establishment never miss a chance to take the ‘high moral ground’ in front of the camera. The Wire, a web portal launched in May, 2015 is one of the leading left-liberal media organizations in India. The media portal, run by many journalists, has only one agenda- to oppose the Modi government.
On the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) issue, The Wire stooped to new low to criticize Modi government and, exposed its hypocrisy. Being a leftist portal, ideally The Wire should have opposed the free trade deal, which it did when India was in negotiation phase. But when Modi government ditched the deal, it started publishing stories about the possible benefits of RCEP and how it was a mistake to leave the largest trading block in the world.
When the government was negotiating the RCEP deal, The Wire published an article titled, “Only a Killing Instinct Could Compel India to Sign the RCEP” on November 1.
After India ditched the deal due to its unaddressed concerns, the portal published another story titled, “Why India Shouldn’t View its Refusal to Join RCEP as a Victory” today. In the article, Pradeep S. Mehta and Amol Kulkarni wrote, “The decision will also not boost domestic demand or consumption, something the economy urgently needs at this stage. This could have been made possible if our consumers had access to better quality low-cost products from RCEP countries. Unfortunately, they will have to continue to make do with low-quality but high-priced domestic products.”
MK Venu, one of the founders of the portal, wrote an article titled, “Invoking Mahatma Gandhi to Stay out of RCEP Is a Lazy Act” on November 5. “If truth be told, India’s rhetoric and hype about being a major economic power is not matched by the reality on the ground. This poses a deep dilemma to India when it is confronted with situations like the offer to join RCEP, which must theoretically benefit everyone,” wrote Venu in the article.
Over the period of last three years, The Wire has become ‘lender of last resort’ for ‘irrelevant’ people ousted from mainstream media organizations. The old school journalists who were unofficial ‘Congress spokespersons’ during the UPA regime are employed by the organization.
MK Venu, one of three founders, was embroiled in the Niira Radia tapes controversy which came out in 2008-09. According to the tapes, he was among the alleged power brokers of the UPA government and a part of the government-corporate-media nexus. Despite his name in the controversy, MK Venu was roped in for the Rajya Sabha TV to host a show named ‘State of The Economy’.
Appointment in RSTV comes under the discretion of the Vice President, who is a part of the government for all practical reasons. The macroeconomic condition of the country was strained in the second term of UPA era and India was a part of ‘fragile five economies’ in 2012. The show was part of Public Relations exercise by the government to propagate the view that ‘the things are not very bad and situation is under control’.
And then there is Karan Thapar or rather The Karan Thapar, a well-established member of Lutyens’ cabal who publishes interviews with eminent personalities for The Wire. His family has close links with Nehru-Gandhi family and he has been a part of the power structure for decades. He was a close associate and schoolmate of Sanjay Gandhi “I first got to know Sanjay as my sister Shobha’s friend. It was the early 1960s, Daddy was army chief and we were living in Army House on what was still called King George’s Avenue (now Rajaji Marg) in Delhi. At the time, Sanjay was the prime minister’s grandson and studying at St Columba’s School,” wrote Thapar in his biography. He is well known for having pro-Gandhi family stance and vehement opposition to PM Modi.
So, majority of the journalists at The Wire are part of ‘old establishment’ and have close association with governments of Congress party or Nehru-Gandhi family. They are united by ‘Anti-BJP’ ideology, like Pakistan establishment is based on ‘we are not India’ rhetoric, The Wire’s only motive is to oppose BJP.