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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Covid-19: How Compliant Media Erodes Democracy - Vihang Jumle and Vignesh Karthik KR

Covid-19: How Compliant Media Erodes Democracy - Vihang Jumle and Vignesh Karthik KR

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published Published on Jun 12, 2021   modified Modified on Jun 13, 2021

-Newsclick.in

It should worry everybody that a section of media recast ground realities to make them seem less despite panic and despair during the second wave.

When the second wave of the pandemic was raging through India in April and May, at least one Indian was dying of Covid-19 every 30 seconds [since 28 April 2021]. India set a new record for the highest number of daily new infections and deaths. A severe shortage of oxygen and health infrastructure, poor administrative controls, and discord between the Union and the states cost many lives that might have been saved.

Despite this gloomy scenario, a section of the mainstream media kept on pushing a rosy pro-government narrative. As has often happened in recent years, the new narrative is being propagated in the name of upholding India’s reputation. However, the difference during the second wave is that this narrative is not being projected onto an ideological issue. In other words, the media is not busy defending the government’s positions on Hinduism, Hindutva or the state of the economy. Instead, it is glossing over the government’s failure to handle the pandemic that is causing the deaths of Indians over unavailability of essential health services.

While on ideological issues the media can easily go all-out to support the government, it is concerning that it is recasting ground realities to make them appear not-so-grim despite widespread panic and despair.

For instance, when bodies washed up on the banks of the Ganga in Bihar, Times Now, a prominent English news channel, did an on-ground report of the site on 10 May. Yet, on its prime show ‘India Upfront’ aired the same evening, its anchors opened the show by generally reassuring its viewers that things are “not looking as bad as they were just a few days ago”. By then, around 2,000 abandoned bodies had been found along a 1,140 km stretch of the river. India officially lost about 38,000 people between 1 May and 10 May and about 41,000 between 11 May and 20 May.

The question is, how did the media get here? A possible explanation lies in understanding how populist leaders view the world. Previous research informs that many populists are skeptical of intermediaries or mediators of public discourse, in which one can count the judiciary, the legislature, other institutions, and especially the media. Populist regimes see these mediators as part of elitist structures and project them as a hurdle between the will of the people and the populist leader’s desire to fulfill that will. In a democratic setup, such mediators enable the distribution of power. They help keep each arm of the government in check, which is anathema to a populist leader. In their bid to keep strengthening their position of power, they seek to work around institutions to establish a direct, seemingly personalised and unmediated, connection with people.

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Newsclick.in, 12 June, 2021, https://www.newsclick.in/Covid-19-how-compliant-media-erodes-democracy?fbclid=IwAR0mSQA6duJpYXktpYtY73MDGc3_LfYe6m_RKNlnX4OdY4Py5VSGIj_sqf0


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