\n
\u201cJournalism is dead,\u201d declares Ravish Kumar as the veteran journalist discusses the crisis he says India\u2019s media are confronting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to find journalism in India today, you need to pick up your magnifying glass,\u201d he told VOA.<\/p>\n
Kumar quit his job as an evening news anchor in November 2022, after more than 25 years with NDTV, one of India\u2019s biggest networks. At the time, he cited concerns about editorial independence after billionaire Gautam Adani, a close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bought the network.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey pocket money from the market in the name of journalism, and still they are not doing journalism,\u201d Kumar told VOA.<\/p>\n
Broadcasting in Hindi, Kumar had built a reputation for taking the government to task with tough questions. He has twice been awarded the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award, and won the Ramon Magsaysay Award, among others.<\/p>\n
He says India\u2019s journalists have been intimidated by the government, and don\u2019t ask questions because they fear backlash.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything from the government is going to the public without being scrutinized by the mainstream media,\u201d Kumar said.<\/p>\n
When he resigned, Kumar said he had a Facebook following of millions. So he hoped his social media popularity would help as he launched a YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
The channel, Ravish Kumar Official, has more than 9.6 million subscribers and through it, says Kumar, he can tell the stories India\u2019s mainstream media won\u2019t cover.<\/p>\n
Kumar says he hasn\u2019t watched NDTV, and has no plans to do so, since his departure. But with his own channel, he can cover stories that he says the mainstream media ignore.<\/p>\n
He feels India\u2019s media failed to adequately cover issues such as electoral bonds. The bonds would have allowed unlimited anonymous donations to political parties. He also says political corruption isn\u2019t adequately covered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI demonstrated that one politician, a member of parliament, had been behind bars for six months and there\u2019s a picture of him coming out from the jail,\u201d Kumar said. \u201cTwo Hindi newspapers made this non-significant news.\u201d
But taking on political stories is a risk at a time when press freedom in India is in decline.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know whether or not my channel will survive, and what kind of action will be taken,\u201d Kumar said. He added that this kind of apprehension and anxiety \u201cruns through every YouTuber who is doing journalism and who are questioning the government of India.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, as an independent journalist broadcasting on YouTube, \u201cYou have to do everything on your own,\u201d said Kumar. \u201cThat comes with its own sets of problems and challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kumar starts his days at 5 a.m. and is often still working at 9 p.m. He produces two shows a day, with a team of eight people.<\/p>\n
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, has long warned of rising hostility and pressure on India\u2019s journalists.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince Narendra Modi came to power, we see the persecution of journalists and the media has intensified,\u201d Celia Mercier, who heads RSF\u2019s South Asia desk, told VOA.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have cases of censorship, intimidation, attacks, repression of critical voices, cyber harassment,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd it\u2019s all the more worrying in a country considered the world\u2019s largest democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Modi came to power in 2014, India ranked 140 out of 180 countries on the RSF World Press Freedom Index. In 2023, it ranked 161, where 1 shows the best environment.<\/p>\n
The Indian Embassy in Washington did not respond to VOA emails or calls requesting comment.<\/p>\n
RSF and other watchdogs have also cited India\u2019s use of laws, including on information technology and national security, to target media that report critically.<\/p>\n
The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, for instance, has been used to target reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen this anti-terrorism law used to crack down on journalists in the case of NewsClick, which is an independent media,\u201d Mercier said.<\/p>\n
The media advocate said a special cell of Delhi police raided the news outlet in October.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a deployment of 500 police officers and the head of this independent media, NewsClick, has been detained for the last six months under the anti-terrorism law,\u201d Mercier added.<\/p>\n
International news organizations have also been affected. The New Delhi and Mumbai offices of the BBC were raided in February 2023. The action, described by the government spokesperson at the time as a \u201ctax survey,\u201d came weeks after India described a BBC documentary on Modi as \u201cpropaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n
UCLA information studies professor Ramesh Srinivasan said that with the loss of press freedoms, India is losing its larger Ghandian vision.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is directly tied to the Modi government and its neo-authoritarian actions,\u201d Srinivasan told VOA. \u201cA number of independent journalists have been intimidated, harassed, bullied and some independent media networks have been shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kumar says the government hasn\u2019t threatened him yet, but he worries his news channel may be next.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf YouTube shuts down my channel, my journalism ends with that,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause no news channel or newspaper is willing to publish my column.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kumar says as challenging as his life has become, quitting NDTV and starting a news channel was his choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo regrets I made the right decision,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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