The Adani group had recently announced that they are moving to acquire a 29% stake at NDTV through an investor. As NDTV’s promoters Radhika and Prannoy Roy try to stall the takeover bid, a number of Indian media persons and general ‘Left-leaning’ commentators have been trying to paint Adani Group as some evil corporation that is all set to taint an honest media organisation by buying it through evil means.
Interestingly, such juvenile rants are not limited to India alone. Major international media organisations have produced op-eds lamenting the takeover bid. Ironically, the most vocal among them was Washington Post, a media organisation that is owned by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.
“Fears for independent media in India as tycoon eyes major news channel”, read Washington Post’s headline for the article. They shared it on social media with the text, “Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest man and an ally of prime minister Narendra Modi, made a hostile bid for NDTV in a move that could reshape India’s media landscape.”
Social media users tried to point WaPo towards the glaring irony in their article.
Hey @JeffBezos, your journalists are sly tweeting against you. They say a person like you is a threat to independent media. https://t.co/hyt4pWVbQu
— Kaushal S Inamdar| कौशल इनामदार (@ksinamdar) August 25, 2022
News Agency owned by 3rd richest man fears for independent media after 4th richest man plans to buy news channel. Irony just landed in North Korea and staged protest against Kim Jong-un. 😂 pic.twitter.com/nOFuTMJinN
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) August 25, 2022
Not just Washington Post, many other international media organisations also peddled similar claims, trying to paint the Adani bid as an evil political-corporate plan to attack the ‘so-called’ independent media. The fact that NDTV has long been a serial fake news peddler, agenda-driven, Leftist media house, was conveniently forgotten.
UK-based The Guadian ran an article titled, “Media freedom fears in India after Modi ally Adani buys 29% in NDTV”.
An article published in Reuters on August 25 read, “Takeover of NDTV by India’s richest man worries journalists”. Desperate efforts made by vacuous claims trying to paint Adani as some evil corporate arm of the Modi government only show how the Leftist media houses try to take their readers for a ride with misleading claims.
Reuters’ sharing test read, For years India’s NDTV pursued an independent line critical of the government as others embraced strident nationalism. Now a proposed takeover by tycoon Adani’s conglomerate raises fears that one of the country’s last bastions of free media is under threat.”
The claim that NDTV represented free and independent media might be called the best joke of the week. For decades NDTV has sold blatant fake news, and political bias and has worshipped the Congress party and Left. It has even produced news items that are appreciated in Pakistan and have been used by Pakistani groups to promote their anti-India agenda.
In one of its most recent fake-news attempts, NDTV had claimed that India had sent a private jet for ousted Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The channel deleted it when MEA called out their attempt to peddle blatant lies.
NDTV’s 29% shares were with Reliance Group for all these years, but Adani taking over from Ambani became ‘concern for media freedom’
Another glaring irony in the concerns and worries shared by journalists is that the 29% shares that Adani has acquired were with Ambani-owned Reliance Group all these years, Adani has merely taken over the investor that held those shares. The media persons who are lamenting over the move should first explain how is Ambani owning shares better or different than Adani owning shares if their concerns are about corporate ownership and journalistic freedom.
Reading this story just made me sad and worried.
— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) August 23, 2022
The Roys can prevent a takeover by Adani only if they can buy more shares from the public shareholders than Adani.
How Adani is taking over NDTV without consulting the Roys https://t.co/Ujt7Cs1ndx
Prannoy and Radhika Roy’s attempts to stall Adani may not succeed
Responding to the Roys’ allegations and their attempts to rile up false victimhood by friendly media houses, the Adani Group on Friday clarified the exercise was a mere warrants conversion from VCPL and for that no prior approval from SEBI was needed and claims made by the Roys are false.
An indirect subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Limited, VCPL said that RRPR is not a party to the SEBI order, which restricted Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy from dealing with securities. “The Warrant Exercise Notice has been issued by VCPL under a contract which is binding on RRPR. RRPR is therefore obligated to comply with its contractual obligations,” it said.
VCPL informed that the exercise of warrants conversion did not violate restrictions imposed on Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy against dealing in securities by SEBI. As such, it contended that no prior written approval from the regulatory body was required.
