Adani Group’s influence over the news channel would inevitably lead to changes in editorial policy, which implies that those who made their living only by criticising the government will have nowhere to grow. The Prime Time star has already submitted his resignation and begun the path where he will be using YouTube to air his criticism since he has sensed what may be coming. One could argue that NDTV has several ardent supporters of the Left and Congress who have done everything in their power to spread their ideologies and promote the other parties by serving as their messengers. Today, however, the same has gotten them a smack in the eye.
The line of action is clear and under the new policy, the news channel will be giving more time to what the Government is doing instead of only focusing on the other side which depicts resentment, dissatisfaction and opposition. The same was made clear by Gautam Adani in an interview recently in which he said that showing what is being achieved by the Government on the ground is equally important: This is what is going to scare several prominent faces in the NDTV away because their fan base stands on what they have been doing so far.
There is no denying that NDTV was astute and continued to be successful in building a loyal audience, but over time, it struggled to maintain that delicate balance in its coverage and veered more towards the criticism of the Government, putting the opposition in the spotlight and remaining at odds with the Government on almost every issue. The outcome is now in front of us. The top news channels in terms of TRPs share the same situation, as they too have lost their delicate balance over time and swung too far to one side, leaving a gap in the middle.
The current situation for NDTV is a result of two factors: first, the loss of delicate balance in its reporting, which subtly pushed it into the realm of subjectivity and put the channel’s core objectivity on a long hiatus; and second, the inherent affinity of several key faces of the news channel towards parties other than the ruling BJP and other like-minded parties across the country. What cannot be ignored here would be the power, the money-power, which might have just changed the future course of media in a country like India.
