New Delhi: Those looking for instant stardom, wealth, fame and paid foreign junkets have an easy way out. No need to involve in corruption or malpractices. All you have to do is to write and speak against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central Government which is presided by him.
Articles and news reports against Prime Minister Modi command a premium of Rs 10,000/- in global market and Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 in domestic market. The digital portals masquerading as saviors of “secularism, socialism and democracy” are the pay masters. Since the union Government is wary of ordering a thorough probe into the affairs of these digitals portals and magazines lest it be attacked for violating media freedom, these fifth columnists go scot-free and unpunished.
Even an Islamic extremist who was caught with his “trousers down” while engaged in fomenting communal riots in Hatras, is being projected as a journalist. The media is being used and manipulated to assemble and manufacture fake news accusing the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and other Sangh Parivar leaders.
Th reports about the observations made by the Supreme Court in the Pegasus scam expose the hidden agenda of these new-age media and reporters. The news reports/ head lines said the Centre’s role in tapping and snooping the phones of important individuals and journalists in the country has been revealed by the committee of experts appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the phone tapping and Pegasus incident.
The Centre had made it clear from the word go that it would not share with the committee any details of the software deployed by the Home Ministry for security purposes. The committee headed by retired judge Raveendran of Supreme Court had said in its report that it could not establish whether Pegasus software was deployed by the Centre to tap the phones. But what the newspapers, news portals and TV channels reported was that the supreme Court appointed committee has established that phones were tapped by the Centre. All these reports featured an “unimportant” line towards the end of the report. There is no conclusive evidence to prove that the phones were tapped really.
During a heated debate in Lok Sabha, the BJP’s young MP, Tejaswi Surya cornered the entire opposition by disclosing what J Gopikrishnan of The Pioneer had reportedly told in a meeting about paid news. “Gopikrishnan, an investigative journalist had told that he was offered a hefty sum for writing a 1000-word news report tarnishing the Narendra Modi Government. It was an open offer and this is what the mainstream media does in India,” Surya had said in Lok Sabha. But the mainstream media buried the news and “stayed safe” by not publishing the news.
Reports of rapes and murders in Opposition ruled States are covered conveniently while even hearsay reports from States like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are blown out of proportion.
Leaders of the CPI(M) in Kerala are accused in many cases of rape, sexual assault and other misdeeds. But these reports do not figure in any of the newspapers and TV channels in the State.
A news anchorperson working with a pro-CPI(M) channel was shown the door for asking his lady colleague to come to the office without wearing brassieres! Another veteran secular journalist had to quit his job following widespread complaints of sexual assaults from lady journalists. This secular journalist, known for his leaning towards Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other CPI(M) leaders have a weakness of teaching budding lady journalists how to manipulate news and reports.
