NDTV was recently awarded the International Press Institute (IPI) India Award for ‘excellence in journalism’ for its coverage of the Kathua pape and murder case where it apparently managed to “expose of the conspiracy to scuttle” the probe. The jury was headed by the former Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee.
“The award is for the expose of the conspiracy to scuttle probe into the heinous Kathua rape and murder, and a strong expose of the political hypocrisy across the political spectrum represented excellence in journalism…,” a statement issued by IPI read.
The award to NDTV for its reportage on the Kathua case reveals quite clearly the biases that pervade the ivory towers of the Left. The media coverage of the Kathua case, especially that of NDTV, marked one of the lowest points in the history of Indian media. The fact that one of them is now being awarded for it speaks volumes for the nature of these institutions.
It is important to remember the numerous journalistic ethics that the NDTV violated during the Kathua case in order to pursue its political agenda. The Delhi High Court issued notices to several media houses including the NDTV for revealing the name of the minor rape victim in contravention of the existing rules. The same Court then ordered the media houses to pay Rs. 10 lakh for violation of the norms.
Read: Kathua rape case: panellist lies on-air, NDTV’s Nidhi does not correct her
If that was not enough, Nidhi Razdan of the same ‘news network’ live on television said without a shred of evidence that the victim was targeted due to her Muslim identity. She said that the eight-year-old girl was raped ‘because she was Muslim‘. It was the most disgraceful attempt to give the heinous crime a communal colour. During the same debate, one of her panellists claimed that the incident had emerged after three months, therefore, there must have been a cover-up. This was a blatant lie as the incident had been reported earlier by the media as well. Nidhi Razdan did not correct her.
Not the just the NDTV, the entire media create a fake narrative that attempts were made by the lawyers of Jammu to save the perpetrators of the crime. The lawyers were demanding a CBI inquiry over the matter and there were allegations that the investigations were biased. There were some shouts of Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai too, and invariably, the media came to the conclusion that they were trying to save the criminals.
Read: Supreme Court restricts media from revealing the identity of the victims of sexual assault
The Jammu High Court Bar Association were demanding a CBI probe into the case as well claiming that the state police crime branch investigation botched up. The Bar Council of India, after a thorough investigation, came to the conclusion that the incident of the protests were completely misrepresented by the media and gave a clean chit to the Jammu Bar Association and Kathua Bar Association during the Kathua rape controversy.
The concerns of over the investigations were perfectly legitimate. There were reports of forced demographic change in the area over which protests were being organized. There were also reports of the investigative team picking up civilians at random and torturing them which escalated the demands for a free and fair CBI investigation into the matter. The media portrayed all these valid concerns as attempts to shield the criminals and thereby, did a great disservice to the people who appear to have suffered greatly due to the media’s agenda.
Allegations were also made that the chargesheet was framed after the men were tortured and forced to confess. One of them was Vishal Jangotra, the son of the main accused in the crime. As per the chargesheet, he was the one who dumped the dead body. His family had maintained that he was innocent and that the chargesheet was filed with malafide intentions. However, all such concerns were brushed aside the media amidst claims that attempts were being made to shield the criminals. Ultimately, Vishal was found innocent of the charge although the others were declared guilty.
Amusingly enough, it was Zee News which prevented the life of an innocent youth from being destroyed. A report by Zee News showed a CCTV footage from an ATM in Muzaffarnagar, which had Vishal standing in a queue at the ATM on the day the charge sheet claimed he was in Kathua. This glaring hole was the biggest nail in the coffin for the hallowed manner in which the chargesheet was treated by the media. If the Courts had bought into the media frenzy, Vishal Jangotra’s life would have been destroyed. But now, one of the media networks which nearly destroyed the life of an innocent man is awarded for their irresponsible and motivated coverage of the entire matter.
Read: Kathua rape case: Media houses to pay Rs. 10 Lakh for disclosing the identity of the victim
The concerns over the conduct of the investigative received a further boost when the Jammu court-ordered to lodge an FIR against six SIT members, who had probed the case, for indulging in custodial torture of witnesses, criminal intimidation and manufacturing of false evidence. It is alleged that the SIT members wanted to implicate Vishal Jangotra in the case by forcing the witnesses to give false statements against him.
The acquittal of Vishal Jangotra and the Jammu Court’s order to register an FIR against the SIT members is the biggest blow to the conduct of the media during the Kathua controversy. In order to pursue a political agenda, the media used the tragic death of an eight-year-old girl. And the NDTV played a prominent, if not the leading role, in this disgraceful farce during the coverage of the Kathua case. However, now, they are getting awarded for it.
It only shows that international institutions only exist to pat the backs of their ideological brethren. They do not care about credibility, they do not care about authenticity, they do not care about due diligence and they certainly do not care for performance. In the world of the Left-Liberal Clown World, conduct does not matter. As long as a person keeps mouthing the Leftist talking points, they are going to be rewarded for it. Ethics, principles, performance be damned.
If the media wants to learn why it is that they are at the receiving end of so much hate, they need only take a look at the conduct of those among them who keep receiving awards. The ones who receive awards personify everything that is wrong with the media today. And it’s no wonder that they are being thoroughly rejected by the ordinary citizen worldwide. It’s because they deserve it.
The NDTV is the Queen of Fake News in India. They are the biggest manufacturers of fake news in the country. Their journalists are known to first peddle fake news and then attempt to brazen it out when exposed. Its founders are not beacons of morality either. When FIRs are filed against them for alleged crimes, they twist it to give the impression as if the FIRs are not about individuals committing crimes but a larger battle between good and evil. They use ‘freedom of the press‘ as a cloak to hide their alleged crimes.
Thus, in hindsight, although the conduct of the entire mainstream media during the Kathua pape case was atrocious, the NDTV was truly the most deserving candidate for the award. It’s because NDTV is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the media.
