Indian Youth Protesters Attack Reporters, Highlighting Distrust in “Godi Media”
NEW DELHI: This week, Indian television reporter Dev Kotak was attacked while covering a significant youth protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Initially intending to deliver a live broadcast, Kotak found himself at the center of chaos as protesters, chanting “godi media,” assaulted him, perceiving his channel as pro-government. The incident, captured on mobile phones, quickly went viral on social media.
The physical assault on Kotak was not an isolated event; it occurred amid a wave of protests that have intensified over the past week. Reporters from nearly all mainstream television channels have faced heckling and abuse, with demonstrators accusing them of being aligned with the government.
Kotak, who reports for Times Now, described the scene as terrifying. “The mob might have actually killed me. There was a seething anger among them because they felt the media hadn’t reported their side of the story,” he stated. He recounted being subjected to slaps, kicks, and thrown water bottles, expressing fear for his life as he sought to escape the situation.
Anger After Crackdown on Protesters
The protests have escalated in response to a police crackdown on thousands of demonstrators marching toward parliament, resulting in injuries among many students. Kotak noted that protesters accused the media of failing to represent their perspective. “That’s simply not true—I’ve reported injuries on both sides,” he clarified.
The hostility directed at reporters reflects a broader discourse on the declining state of media freedom in India since Modi’s ascent to power in 2014. India’s position in the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index has significantly declined over the past decade, dropping from 122nd in 2010 to 157th out of 180 countries in 2026. The Paris-based media rights organization attributes this decline to violence against journalists, the concentration of media ownership among government-aligned businesses, and increasing political polarization.
Flawed and Biased Reporting
The Editors Guild of India condemned the hostility directed at media representatives perceived as close to the ruling party. They emphasized that “flawed and biased reporting not only exacerbates a bad situation but also has serious and lasting consequences that impact the fabric of our society and weaken the media’s role as a pillar of democracy.”
Requests for comments from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Modi’s office went unanswered, while a spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party declined to comment.
News Has Become Anti-People, Says Veteran Editor
Ravish Kumar, a prominent journalist and Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, coined the term “godi media,” which has gained traction due to its phonetic similarity to Modi’s name. This term now encompasses nearly all television channels and some national newspapers, criticized for their lack of scrutiny of the government and overly favorable coverage of Modi, often ignoring dissent.
Kumar described “godi media” as “anti-democracy, anti-people, anti-opposition,” asserting that it vilifies dissenters and labels critics as foreign agents, rarely featuring opposition voices.
Deepak Baliyan, a spokesperson for the protest movement led by the Cockroach Janta Party, stated that organizers have consistently urged demonstrators not to mistreat reporters. “We have urged and we keep urging protesters to not misbehave with godi media. Let them do their job. We want to ensure that no one gets mistreated here,” he said.
A Product of Years of Disillusionment
Manisha Pande, editorial director of the news website Newslaundry, indicated that the growing distrust in mainstream television news is a culmination of years of disillusionment. “We have always had propaganda, partisanship, opinion-driven prime-time news,” she remarked. “However, since 2014, there has been a clear shift in how news has become anti-people.”
Digital commentator Akash Banerjee noted that the decline in trust towards traditional news outlets has propelled audiences toward independent online platforms. “The fact that the media has stopped questioning the government has resulted in a rise of alternative digital media, which would not have happened otherwise,” he explained. Banerjee, a former Times Now journalist, now runs a YouTube channel that attracts millions of followers.
The protests against television crews reflect years of accumulated frustration, according to Banerjee. Pande cautioned that this rising hostility poses its own risks. “The worrying part is that the anger has now taken on a life of its own. For many protesters, a reporter is no longer seen as an individual but as the face of a thick-skinned media establishment that is responsible for their pain.”
Source: www.emirates247.com
Read all the latest developments and breaking updates in the Latest News section.
Published on 2026-07-24 14:05:00 • By the Editorial Desk
