The congruous relationship between the Congress party and some ‘pliable’ media houses are not a secret anymore. The controversial media group NDTV, which often indulges in anti-India propaganda and the likes of India Today group have always stood behind the first family of the Congress by pushing the narrative of the political party under the guise of “independent” journalism.
On Friday, both NDTV and India Today ended up being a laughing stock after social media users found that they had published a bizarre report glorifying Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s stopover at a restaurant to have South Indian delicacy dosa and filter coffee.
India Today even went on to mention how Rahul Gandhi is ‘often known’ to visit restaurants in ‘mostly middle class and upmarket areas’ in Delhi. Not sure whether India Today meant the Sagar Ratna Rahul Gandhi visited was middle class or upmarket since the outlet he visited is situated inside Hotel Ashok, a five-star hotel. If the average cost for two at Sagar Ratna outlets is Rs 600-750, the one Rahul Gandhi visited costs around Rs 1,200.
NDTV, the foster channel of the Congress, which also performs the duties of managing public relations for Congress President Rahul Gandhi seemed to be very happy to report Rahul Gandhi’s dosa endeavour following his stopover at one of the restaurants in opulent Lutyens Delhi.
Social media reacted to the ‘so-called’ independent media’s attempts of indulging in public relations management of Rahul Gandhi and called out the inherent bias of these media groups.
Oh so sweet Dear NDTV! Now the moot point is, did #RahulGandhi pay for the dosa and coffee? Ahem ahem. Cough cough. https://t.co/YdZFrWr43H
— Shikha Singh Menon?? (@ShikhaClouds) January 31, 2019
Is this some kind of joke? नेताजी ने छींक मारी तो news हो गयी, c’mon grow up, show us true journalism and true news. Is this the standard you maintain?
— Pushpendra Surana (@PSurana2311) February 1, 2019
Another social media user went on to note the desperation of the NDTV as it posted the same report multiple times in a span of a few hours to promote Rahul Gandhi’s Dosa event.
Seems like you guys decided to run the same story for every few hours passing.
Least you can change the Menu ?? pic.twitter.com/oIRUD167mV— Mission 2019?? (@JerryByomkesh) February 1, 2019
NDTV has become a propaganda channel-covering what rahul gandhi had for lunch 😉 #AbkiBaar400Paar After Day At Parliament, Rahul Gandhi Stops For Dosa, Filter Coffee https://t.co/0c6xaSmJOS via @ndtv
— Prasant (@PrashantKS1989) January 31, 2019
Congress party with its media ecosystem seems to have managed the issues extremely well in both creating and sustaining narratives for decades now. Recently, we had reported regarding a similar public relation event of the Congress party ‘directed’ by a reporter belonging to India Today group.
NDTV, often known to be the country’s greatest embarrassment in the field of journalism has maintained a very close relationship with the first family of the Congress party. Recently, a journalist who worked for NDTV had revealed how NDTV used to take editorial orders from PMO during the UPA era.
NDTV, once a hot shot during the Congress regime, seems to have been rejected by the people as there are several instances of them being caught for not only spreading fake news but also sometimes alleged to have revealed sensitive details.
NDTV is not only under severe challenges of stable revenue generation and credible journalism but is also facing an existential crisis. The promoters of the channel, Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy have been alleged to have indulged in massive fraud and are being investigated by the present government. After these facts came to the fore, many usual suspects from the media started to malign the NDA government by resorting to fake news.
