New Delhi. February 2019. Following the clashes between Indian and Pakistani armed forces, the Indian media has become even more vocal in its support of the ultra-nationalism being propagated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.

Writing in The Wire, Sidharth Bhatia, notes that TV anchors and social media trolls are attacking those questioning the government’s propaganda efforts, namely the usual ‘anti-national’ suspects – students, liberals, peaceniks.  

The build-up of nationalist hysteria is not merely a cynical business-oriented tactic but part of a wider strategy involving television channels, social media troll battalions and the fake news factories, Bhatia writes. It also comes a few months before Modi faces a tough national election.

“The bread and butter practices of journalism call for fact checking, asking the government for some evidence and a certain level of detachment…It may be the ‘mood of the nation’ – a dubious concept to begin with – but even if it is, should it matter to a journalist?” states Bhatia.

For The Wire article: https://thewire.in/media/indian-tv-medias-blatant-endorsement-of-hyper-nationalism-is-shameful

Photo: The Wire