🎙️Media in Distress | Arfa Khanum Sherwani & Mani Shankar Aiyar on Press Freedom in India

Mani Shankar Aiyar and his wife, Suneet, who started her professional career in the media with AIR and Doordarshan, discuss with Araf Khanum Sherwani, the celebrated young current affairs commentator of The Wire and other independent digital media platforms, the growing crisis of information, press freedom, and Indian media. They argue that although there are thousands of journalists in India, much of the information they uncover disappears into a black hole, never to reach the public. They examine how increasing governmental encroachment on freedom of the press has contributed to India, once regarded as the world's largest democracy, slipping to 159th in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. Illustrating her argument with reference to the alleged theft of crores from the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, Araf Khanum Sherwani explains that the story emerged only because of cracks within the highest ranks of the Sangh Parivar. The discussion also explores how, whereas restrictions on the media were once largely aimed at preventing the spread of communal hate speech, such hate speech has now become widespread and viral across sections of the media. The conversation further examines how constructive journalism, once regarded as essential for nation-building, democracy, and development, has increasingly been overshadowed by the use of traditional and digital information ministries as agencies for the suppression of news and the propagation of partisan political interests. Finally, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Suneet, and Araf Khanum Sherwani discuss what the Indian media, independent journalism, and journalists themselves can do to reassert the media's role as the vital Fourth Estate of democracy. #indianmedia #godimedia #pressfreedom #journalism #democracy #politics #bjp #modi #amitshah #arfakhanum #manishankaraiyar