In their 1988 book, Manufacturing Consent, academics Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky model out the political economy of the American medi...
In their 1988 book, Manufacturing Consent, academics Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky model out the political economy of the American media, arguing that large corporations that control newspapers and TV channels often serve to push propaganda even in a polity where freedom of the media is legally guaranteed.
Could a similar thing happen in India too?
Witness the past two months where Indian TV channels – especially national ones that broadcast in English and Hindi – have developed an obsession for one single piece of news: the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Over thousands of hours of broadcast, there is no angle that has been left uncovered. The iron grip of Bollywood’s family-run businesses, women as gold diggers, Bengalis as black magic practitioners, recreational drug use – no matter how small or absurd, the Indian news media has left no stone unturned while reporting on Rajput’s death.
But, of course, this obsession means real issues affecting India are being ignored by powerful sections of the media. This would be terrible at any time – but it is particularly glaring now given that India is facing conditions that are the worst in decades, if not since Independence.
Here are the top five crises that the Indian media is ignoring by...
