IN REPORTING CONFLICT, TRUTH WAS FIRST CASUALTY

When credibility was needed, Indian television channels delivered spectacle — not facts or journalism

- BY JYOTSNA MOHAN | Special to Gulf News

here is a popular refrain in news-rooms. It goes something like this: when one person says it is raining, and another says it is not raining, it is your job to look out the window and find out which is true. The last few days have shown how firmly closed the windows of most Indian newsrooms are.

The 'news' coverage of the India-Pakistan tension was a travesty. To put it bluntly, citizens were denied the truth. They were sucked into a maelstrom of lies, hysteria and imagination of such intensity that even comic books were serious reading. 'Islamabad was captured', 'Karachi Port was destroyed' and 'Pakistan's army chief Munir was in custody', according to Indian newsrooms. If you wish to invest in fantasy, look no further.

In the shadow of war, a solemn analysis and gravitas in coverage calms already jittery minds, especially citizens who live in border areas. We were subjected to the Wild West.

Instead of measured coverage, television journalism fanned a bloodlust in a country not short of keyboard warriors. That the genie, once out of the bottle, becomes a monster was evident when Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, merely the messenger, was trolled brutally for announcing the ceasefire. Vile messages even targeted his daughter, forcing the diplomat to make his X account private.

A web of deceit