SAMAJ WEEKLY UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
Vidya Nath Jha is not an exception on Indian news channels, he is the exact model of what prime-time television has become. When confronted with hard questions about state policies, Jha does what modern Indian news anchors do best: he panics, pivots, and attacks.
Demanding to know what foreign politicians are doing about “attacks on Hindus” in response to domestic critiques is not journalism. It is a manufactured stunt designed to protect authority by turning every serious political debate into a noisy, emotional shouting match.
This spectacle is not an accident; it is built into the system. Newsrooms across India are owned, run, and hosted almost entirely by a narrow upper-caste elite. Independent media audits show that leadership positions in mainstream TV news are practically devoid of Dalit, Adivasi, or lower-caste voices. Because the people who decide what gets broadcast share the same social status, privileges, and political goals, the airwaves have become a massive echo chamber for majoritarian, Hindutva-focused talking points.
When news executives and anchors belong to the same privileged circle as those in power, holding the government accountable becomes secondary. Instead, anchors like Jha act as ideological bodyguards. They reframe every critique of state failure as an attack on religion, weaponizing communal identity to shield politicians from public scrutiny.
Real issues, like civil liberties, economic hardship, and caste violence, are erased from prime-time TV to make room for endless, manufactured outrage.
India’s dismal spot near the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index is the direct result of this failure. When a media system is locked down by an exclusive elite, factual reporting dies. Television news in India has traded truth for propaganda, leaving the public with loud noise, fake outrage, and zero accountability.
Source:
Vidya Nath Jha (who hosts the prime-time debate show Brahmastra on Times Now Navbharat)
