When media is without shame

Shame waited to see the depth to which Indian media could fall as Prime Minister Narendra Modi flanked by Chief Minister Adityanath inaugurated the Kanpur metro rail on December 28 On the same morning the three Delhibased national dailiesmdashidentified here as One Newspaper Another Newspaper and Third Newspapermdashhad featured a fullpage advertisement announcing Modirsquos programme for the day Shame thought the event would not get page one treatment in gross underestimation of our editorsOne Newspaper latched on to a reference in Modirsquos speech about a Kanpur businessman from whom crores had been seized The businessman Modi claimed had links with the Samajwadi Party the Bharatiya Janata Partyrsquos principal rival in the state Assembly elections On December 29 the daily headlined Modirsquos quote on its front page Take lsquocreditrsquo for businessmanrsquos cash pile PM dares SP The story had a photo of Modi showing yes his metro ticketOne Newspaperrsquos Lucknow edition advertised its conclave slated for December 29 The conclaversquos theme Destination Uttar PradeshmdashReform Perform Transform The chief guest Adityanath On December 30 One Newspaperrsquos Lucknow edition had this lead headline Mafia are worse than coronavirus but we have bulldozed them YogiEven Shame blushedAnother Newspaper too was given the Kanpur Metro advertisement and it responded with a lead story on the flapmdasha strip attached to page one brought into vogue by One Newspapermdashwith this headline Modi advocates tech with a human touch Shame wondered why clicheacutes sound news to editors although it was relieved to read Third Newspaper speculate on the possibility that Modi mistook the Kanpur businessman reportedly aligned with the BJP for an SP supporterThird Newspaperrsquos spine of courage however bent a bit on December 31 when it carried the BJPrsquos palpably communal ad In protest academician and columnist Apoorvanand has communicated to Third Newspaper that he will no longer write for themAdvertisements legislative decisions and media are weaved together in the BJPrsquos poll strategy The three national dailies featured on December 21 a fullpage advertisement Mission Shakti which lauded Adityanath for empowering women On the same day a Bill was introduced in Parliament raising the marriage age for women to 21mdashand Modi landed in Prayagraj for a rallyOne Newspaperrsquos front page lead on the Bill had an accompanying story which headlined a quote from the prime ministerrsquos Prayagraj speech Modirsquos dig at Opp Move has caused pain to some The story mentioned two Muslim leaders who had been critical of the Bill leaving none in doubt who the ldquosomerdquo were Another Newspaper said on page one PM transfers R1K crore to bank ac of selfhelp groups in UP This was part of Modirsquos December 21 programme Third Newspaperrsquos page one story too mentioned Modirsquos remark about ldquosomerdquo having problems with the Bill but it chose a different quote of Modi for its headlinemdashMove for daughtersrsquo sake their studies PM in UPIt seems Another Newspaper and Third Newspaper even though indebted to Adityanath for placing ads in their publications refrain from amplifying Modirsquos dog whistle to polarise the electorate But such scruples do not restrain One Newspaper For instance the three national dailies received adverts announcing the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor in Varanasi But only One Newspaperrsquos front page screamedmdashFor every Aurangzeb therersquos been a Shivaji Modi in Kashi By contrast Another Newspaper opted for a staid page one lead PM opens Kashi Vishwanath corridor So also did Third Newspaper PM flags off new Kashi corridor as a bridge from past to futureAdvertisements make the three dailies forget even their own past investigations On December 18 each had the same admdashUttar Pradesh Express Pradeshmdashwhich announced that Modi would inaugurate the Ganga Expressway In his inaugural speech Modi said lsquoUPYogi equals Bahut hai Upyogirsquo or very useful Variations of this quote were used as page one headlines by both One Newspaper and Third Newspaper Another Newspaper however led page one with Ahead of UP polls Modi lays Rs 36Kcr expressway stoneAs evidence of Adityanathrsquos usefulness Modi said criminal gangs compelling people to leave their villages ended in Adityanathrsquos tenure Modi was referring to the BJPrsquos 2016 claim that Muslim gangs forced Hindus out of KairanaYet in 2016 One Newspaper had carried a story with this headline Hindu families in Kairana say BJP lying about lsquoexodusrsquo Another Newspaper said a committee of five saints found the BJPrsquos claim bogus Aditi Vatsa of Third Newspaper showed the list of Hindus touted to have left Kairana included the dead and those who shifted to cities for better economic opportunities None of the three reminded readers that Modirsquos claim was likely fictionEditors will argue reports on speeches of leaders should be published without countering them Tony Rosenstiel former executive director of the American Press Institute once said ldquoSomething can be factually accurate and substantially untrue at the same timerdquo He cited an example ldquoIf I quote NeoNazis saying a bunch of stuff that is technically accurate but a total distortion of reality then Irsquove quoted them accurately telling their liesrdquoSince Indian media will replicate lies to grab advertisements Shame is destined to die a thousand deaths before the state Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh wind upThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper