In the modern era, newspapers have become dwarfed, people have stopped watching news on TV and negative news has become dominant. The distinction between news and opinion has disappeared, misinformation is rampant. The condition of the media has deteriorated a lot. The press has been bought and corporatized. News has started being distorted and the people’s vote and democracy have been crushed. The same thing has happened in India in recent years, anyone who shows courage is booked for defamation, sedition or criminal cases. He is sent behind bars. India is ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index. Cases of journalists being arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other sections have occurred in India. In the last few years, more than a hundred journalists have been killed in the country, including renowned editor and writer Gauri Lankesh.
Being a journalist is more dangerous than ever. Editors tell journalists to bring news that benefits them and their employers. In addition, journalists are asked to parrot the government’s propaganda. Everything has been corporatized and painted in the government’s colors. Words and language style no longer matter. The state pushes its right-wing agenda through the media. The left opposes it. What is considered true often depends on the political ideology of the journalist concerned. This is why the famous journalist Rivish had to leave ND TV some time ago. These days, he runs his own YouTube channel.
So journalists have disappeared like dinosaurs. Now they are either puppets of the government or slaves of the corporates. There is no need for journalists anymore. Why is AI system becoming its alternative?
The media has been banned or at least everything possible is being done to stop it. So all efforts are being made. This week, Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, did what has been happening in India for at least 11 years. The man who bought the newspaper in 2013 to save it from financial ruin, made a strong announcement that the newspaper’s opinion pages would only publish views that support individual freedom and open markets. Following this announcement, the paper’s top opinion editor, David Shipley, who was not in favor of the restrictions, immediately resigned. And he did the right thing.
The news was shocking and made it clear that Bezos does not want to be the owner of an independent news outlet. He wants a puppet, a political tool that benefits his business interests.
Facebook owner Meta and ABC News have paid Trump millions of dollars in out-of-court settlements in defamation cases, and the president is still fighting a lawsuit against CBS News seeking up to $10 billion in damages. The lawsuit relates to the alleged misleading editing of an interview with Kamala Harris that aired on the program 60 Minutes. The White House has been accused of compromising press freedom during Trump’s second term since it was announced that the White House would decide which journalists and news organizations would be allowed to speak closely with Trump. Previously, decisions regarding the press pool were made by an independent organization called the White House Correspondents Association.
Populist leaders around the world are trying to strangle the press. They are repeatedly targeting the media as the enemy of the people. The media’s credibility has been destroyed. And whatever was left – at least in India – has also perished after the corrupt practices of journalists.
How sad. Democracy is sinking into darkness and dying. The flag bearers of democracy have closed their eyes as journalists have happily agreed to become tools of the future dictator. Free journalism has accepted the slavery of the state and corporations who try to intimidate their critics. How can a fearful and commercial journalism be the voice of the people and the public interest? How can the democratic system then survive?
India’s deteriorating state of media freedom is actually a symbol of the strengthening of fascism here. It is beyond the capacity of the traditional media to confront such a situation. This situation can only be confronted by a media that is directly connected to the revolutionary struggle of the people, that is completely dedicated to the people and runs on the strength of the people. Thus, as a part of the organized revolutionary struggles against fascism, only the revolutionary media can survive the attacks of the ruling class to a large extent in the current circumstances and can do real journalism while taking the side of the people.
