There are two types of media houses, one who does PR activity for the government and the Prime Minister, hiding all their flaws and covering every mistake. Other than the government, they attack anyone to anything. On the other hand, there is media, which is fearlessly making government accountable for their failures and false promises. There is a rare section of media, which is neutral and not loved or hated by all at one time. Since 2014, the media had its own turbulence and unrest. Many bold journalists had to lose their jobs and some of them are forced to leave. ABP News Network’s Managing Editor Milind Khandekar left the channel on a very disappointing note. Khandekar had been instrumental in shaping and strengthening the editorial structure at the organisation. His service has been very valuable to ABP news; the channel was yet to settle this loss, another fellow journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai also quit the news organisation. Bajpai confirmed his resignation but said that he would not elaborate on the details. ABP News Network has not issued a statement about the departures. Bajpai hosted a primetime show called Master Stroke. He was a news anchor and Executive Editor at Aaj Tak and primarily used to host weekday show 10 Tak which was one of the popular show. He was made to resign Aaj Tak because he asked awkward questions to Baba Ramdev. Three months ago, he joined ABP News and hosted the show called Master Stroke, in which he repeatedly exposed Modi government and their false campaigns. This amounted to tremendous pressure from all sides and finally, he resigned on August 1, 2018. The moves within the newsroom have made waves far beyond the journalism community. Bajpai is a well-known name in the field of electronic media. He has more than 20 years of experience in the electronic and print media. Bajpai has also worked with many other reputed media agencies such as Jansatta, Sunday Observer, Sunday Mail, Lokmat, Zee News and NDTV. Khandekar, Punya Prasun, and Abhisar’s resignations were the results of an attempt to suppress truth being spoken to power. Abhisar Sharma does the same by speaking against the establishment and BJP every day and has made a huge fan base among left ideology people across the country. These people quote him, re-tweet his tweets and share his words on Modi. A large section of social media is his fan.
Nowadays, only two types of people are getting highlighted in this country — people who are supporting Modi and BJP and others who are against it. Since a large number of media houses are supporting/opposing Modi openly or secretly, very few are clear and louder to oppose or support.
Politicians may put forth various types of opinion about 2019 General Election, but by all probability, the Caste leaders to the maximum extent and Religious leaders to certain level must be having the last laugh. Most probably the politicians in their eagerness to defeat Modi might not hesitate to stoop to any level that includes even playing second fiddle to Caste/Religious leaders. Modiji had made big promises but he failed at many of them; one has to point out those flaws without dreading the pressure. This is what journalism all about, making your government accountable and keeping the spirit of democracy alive. The BJP government is hardly open for critics and if someone dares to expose their fake attempts of convincing people about their imaginary achievements, they go wild. Abhisar, Punya Prasun and Ravish Kumar like journalists are exactly doing the same. BJP supporters do not like them. That’s the reason they are attacked on every front. They might not like it because they love Modi, but this is the job of Reporters and Anchors. I mean, informing you about misgovernance and bad government policies. Suppose, there is no media left, which criticises the government, what will happen? The government may start a policy that goes against its citizens and nobody will be there to raise voice. They will become arrogant and anti-people, that is what exactly happening too. Hence, a good media is the one which criticises the government so that we can see how the government is functioning. Now BJP is in power, hence criticising the party is actually a citizen oriented reporting. Just think about the scenario before 2014, all the media used to criticise UPA, that’s the job of media. If the policies of the government had failed, then why is there a need for an alliance to rule out BJP in 2019? Why can the opposition parties not elect a candidate for PM in the 2019 election? Are they really afraid that BJP may come in power again in 2019? People do not vote on the basis of historical happenings. Especially, the younger first-time voter generation. They go by what has been done in the near past. They are selective as per my assessment, being educated; they discuss amongst themselves and decide. The illiterate are the ones who tilt the scales. They go by the ancient traditions, castes, and money and fall prey to rhetoric. We cannot definitely say that Demonetisation and GST have gone down well with the people, not because the opposition parties say so. It is their assessment.
(This is the first part of the editorial and remaining portion will continue on Sunday.)
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