‘Politicians want media to discuss issues they throw at us'

The Caravan has attracted attention in recent years, both for shining the torch on media itself and for its dogged pursuit of ‘tough’ stories. The magazine’s executive editor Vinod K. Jose talks about the state of journalism and what drives the magazine in an interview to Puneet Nicholas Yadav.

- Puneet Nicholas Yadav

Is the Indian media becoming increasingly polarised on ideological lines?

The world over, how the institution of journalism has evolved over the past 450 years or so, you’ll see a pattern of media entrenchment with one set of values or the other. What is expected in a democracy is for journalism to be entrenched with democratic principles. As the fourth pillar (of democracy), the natural cause for journalism is to be aligned with truth and justice, against any form of injustice, and speak truth to power. This is a model of people in positions of power —corporate or political—always find a nuisance. In India, this has happened from time to time: whether during the Emergency or now. Alongside this, we have also seen an evolving pattern of heightened self-censorship and ownership-related issues over the past 7-8 years.

Are the curbs today the same as those during the Emergency or are we worse off?

I think we are losing the plot of how journalism must contribute to strengthening the democratic space. The difference between the Emergency-era curbs and today, perhaps, is that three interests—corporate, political and a much larger ideological divide—are working in tandem to exert pressure on the institution of journalism. During the Emergency, the news was being suppressed and some organizations were happy carrying just what Indira Gandhi or her government wanted. Now we have gone a step ahead: the media space is being cleverly destroyed by making owners and leaders in the professional allies of the government. These owners and professional leaders are now stakeholders in power and act like an ideologically committed extension of the government. We are moving towards a totalitarian model of journalism; the model in a democracy ought to be either that of social responsibility or libertarian.