The arrival of social media and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has already got us into a tailspin. Half of the time we are figuring out what is fake news, misinformation and disinformation, the last being a mischievously crafted information produced in rooms swarming with bots ready to send out blistering retorts each time anyone dares question Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the Home Minister, Amit Shah.
That the two names are today hyphenated and called out simultaneously tells us that in new India, the PM is equivalent to the US President.
If this is the state of the country, then in most BJP-ruled states too, the Chief Ministers calls all the shots. In Assam, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s is the only face that occupies prime time television. The voices of other ministers are muted or too insignificant for the media to pay them any attention.
One naturally wonders at the collective responsibility of the cabinet and why the other ministers are receding to the background. Is there an unwritten code that addressing the media is the onus of only the CM, lest other ministers speak in a different tone and undercut the Chief?
Sycophancy or Censure?
This dire need by those in government to project a positive image of themselves is not a new phenomenon except that it was never so blatant in the past. And the media too is complicit in that it has taken these new frontiers in its stride. Asking uncomfortable questions which is the brief of any self-respecting media is no longer par for the course.
Forget about investigative journalism. Journalists are today more concerned about guarding their backs because there is no one to protect them. In India’s disparate North East, with seven states ruled either by BJP governments or in coalition with it, there is no media fraternity. There is no North East Journalist’s Forum of any kind to stand in solidarity with journalists who are needlessly persecuted for questioning the power holders in any of the states.
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.
