As the world is progressing, the fourth pillar of democracy that is the Media is on its fall. All over the world, people’s faith in mainstream media has been dwindling and there are good reasons for it. Trust me; it’s not the media’s fault at all. Big media is substantially unviable, and ultimately it is only funny money or political funding that can keep the big media afloat.
This is when the soul of journalism is compromised and believe me, it’s not the big media’s fault. Any firm/industry will opt for the way that helps it survive, how does it matter if it asks you to compromise your responsibility towards your nation. There are plenty of such examples in India and The Hindu is the one leading the list.
How and When The Hindu was founded?
On 20th September, The Hindu started as a weekly 144 years ago. It was in the year 1877, a first that happened in British India, still makes it to the legal history of India as a significant development. Lawyer Thiruvarur Muthuswamy Iyer was appointed to the bench of the Madras High Court.
The appointment of the first Indian to such a crucial position drew a lot of ire from the developing press of colonial India. With the objective to counter the propaganda of the press working as the stooges of the British, a weekly journal was founded in Madras, named ‘The Hindu’ on September 20, 1878.
It was published by a group of six people, comprised of four law students and 2 teachers- T. Rangacharya, P. V. Rangacharya, D. Kesava Rao Pantulu and N. Subba Rao Pantulu, G. Subramania Iyer and M. Veeraraghavacharyar. It soon turned into a tri-weekly newspaper by 1883 and an evening daily in 1889. There was no looking back after that.
Read More- Why The Hindu newspaper should consider renaming itself to “The Han Chinese”
The Hindu – Bible for students
Along with The Hindu, many newspapers were found. In the last 144 years, the majority of its contemporaries have died away. But, The Hindu is still relevant, the main reason is that it kept adapting and responding to the changed epochs of the country and slowly it made its place into the list of compulsory books. Students started picking the newspaper with the belief that it disseminated the facts without agenda.
But what is the secret that kept The Hindu afloat, despite being transferred to different hands. When the newspapers around the nation were finding it hard to pay basic salaries to their employees, The Hindu kept booming. Well, at times The Hindu has itself served the reason behind its success. Let’s have a look at some of the examples.
The Hindu- An embarrassment to the nation
In every nation, there exist one or two major left leaning media outlets that end up clashing with the nationalist right. Given how propagandist the left cabal can be, it is quite common for the left to get called out. And today, in our firing line is The Hindu, which is infamous for running its propaganda through its left leaning reports and fake news.
The list of The Hindu’s misadventures is very long, so let’s start with the hottest topic-the Russia-Ukraine crisis. In February this year, The Hindu published a quiz. The question was -’Which part of Ukraine is already annexed by Russia in a previous invasion of 2014?” Crimea was one of the options.
This did not go well with the Russian Embassy and the Embassy tweeted, “Dear @the_hindu, tell us more about “the previous invasion”. We haven’t heard of that.” The response was obvious as Crimea was annexed by Russia following a referendum in the year 2014, and the referendum is often disputed by the Western media. India then also had opposed Western sanctions against Moscow.
The Hindu’s pro-China ‘journalism’
During the time of the Galwan valley standoff, The Hindu had embarrassed itself by running a full page advertisement of the CCP (China Communist Party). The Hindu dedicated its third page to the CCP and its private militia-PLA.
Now, any naysayer can understand the huge amount of money must have been paid to The Hindu by the respective party for publishing an advertorial (an advertisement presented in the form of editorial content).
CCP spends billions of dollars on overseas propaganda. Some newspapers help lubricate CCP's propaganda mill by publishing its full-page ads, without clearly marking them as ads. Any ad deceptively looks like the newspaper's own full-page coverage on China (as in The Hindu today). pic.twitter.com/vfTtJ55Mv0
— Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) October 1, 2020
The Hindu and its pro-CCP propaganda have also been trashed by the Indian Army. During the Galwan clash, while our brave Indian soldiers were busy securing strategic heights, The Hindu was putting all its resources to build fake-narrative against the Indian Army.
In May this year, The Hindu published that a minor face off has occurred with the Chinese troops in Galwan valley. The Indian Army then clarified that no such incident has happened. And this is how The Hindu’s fake news was exposed.
An article titled "Minor face-off with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley" published in The Hindu on 23 May 2021 has been taken note of. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/kBP5K3fvJW
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) May 23, 2021
On December 9, 2021, The Hindu reported CDS Bipin Rawat’s unfortunate death with the headline, “Rawat, 12 others killed in T.N. chopper crash”. The Hindu could not put in the effort to add the rank of the Army officer, which was supposed to stay with him forever. Any officer should always be addressed by his or her rank, call it a strict rule or basic decency but it applies to everyone, including journalists.
At multiple instances, The Hindu has been caught red handed working as a propaganda tool for China. Income Tax department has also raided The Hindu for alleged Chinese funding.
Journalism is a challenging profession as long as it remains a calling. However, for the likes of The Hindu, journalism has become an industry. It has become a mouthpiece for the CCP and has been converted into personal fiefdoms.
This is why readers now treat The Hindu with a pinch of salt. And if The Hindu does not change its methods, the day will come when it will lose its already dwindling readership.
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