There was one big story about television news in 2024: it glimmered, briefly, with hope before it snuffed itself out.
That makes for a glum start to 2025. Midway through last year, Hindi and English news channels found their sense of balance, politically, by giving almost equal coverage to the ruling BJP and the Opposition led by the Congress.
Ho hum, you’ll say, what else is new? Nothing, really. As January 2025 rolls in, Assembly elections in Delhi will roll out. Be prepared for the same old shrill, divisive poll campaign with heated, incomprehensible political debates on TV.
You almost wish you could sit it out at Bigg Boss house, throughout the year: at least you know it doesn’t take itself seriously. Come back Salman Khan, all is forgiven.
And yet, and yet, it could have been so different.
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In June 2024, general elections gave the Opposition hopes of revival with 234 seats and the BJP a mild rebuke with what many news channels called an ‘underwhelming result’. Immediately, TV news remembered India had an Opposition and began to feature spokespersons and MPs from the Samajwadi Party, DMK, TMC, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) in stories and prime-time debates.
We got different points of view on the news and questions being asked of the ruling party: A good example was RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments after the Lok Sabha election results that a genuine sevak was never arrogant. New channels such as CNN News 18 actually dared, yes dared, to debate Bhagwat’s remark, which were widely interpreted as criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During the election campaign, TV remained enthralled by Modi but newspaper coverage of him and the BJP dropped visibly—in mainstream English dailies.
When Parliament convened in early July, we saw and heard much more of the Opposition—in the past, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha TV studiously ignored the opposition, focusing their cameras on the BJP. However, this time, Opposition benches were clearly in the frame.
In fact, when Rahul Gandhi made his first speech as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, he was the main draw, dominating news headlines—not PM Modi.
Usually, TV news reports on Rahul Gandhi only to attack him; last summer, it couldn’t get enough of him. When he travelled through the US in August 2024, TV news followed him there—each time he held up the pocketbook copy of the Constitution, they snapped him up. Now, he is back to being the villain of the piece.
During the summer months, news anchors spoke less dismissively of and more politely to the Opposition. They analysed the BJP’s losses in the Lok Sabha—Uttar Pradesh especially received wide coverage on Hindi and English news channels. Awadesh Prasad, the SP’s newly elected Ayodhya MP, was profiled extensively on news media. KL Sharma, the giant slayer of former MP and Union Minister Smriti Irani, was another TV favourite.
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This was a big change from the earlier part of the year with the dazzling display of Ayodhya lit up in festive lights and by PM Modi’s inauguration of the Ram Mandir. Beginning with his 11-day religious fast before the Pran Pratistha, he lived in reflected celestial light with TV’s entire focus on him.
By the time elections were announced, the media was flooded with BJP advertisements—always featuring Modi prominently. TV news and newspapers alike had ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ written all over them.
During the campaign, Modi’s every speech went live on TV—Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and BJP president JP Nadda were also featured—but the Opposition barely flickered across the TV screens.
As if this wasn’t enough, interviews with Modi were everywhere: in the international media and Indian press. In fact, the PM has never been so accessible before, singling out TV news for soundbites and one-on-one interviews throughout the campaign. These were not merely sit-down official interviews; they were choreographed features with Modi standing casually in a boat, walking in a garden, and strolling through a building.
If anything, there were too many TV interviews—at least one led to considerable controversy when the Prime Minister told Aaj Tak, “…Parmatma ne swayam mujhe kisi kaam ke liye bheja hai…parmatma ne Bharat ko chuna, parmatma ne mujhe chuna…” (The Almighty has sent me for a special purpose…)
Also read: News anchors studiously avoided PM Modi’s name on Haryana counting day—until about 10 am
After the Opposition’s summer in the sun and in the spotlight, TV news went back to its old ways: attacking the Opposition and promoting the BJP.
Here’s one way to confirm this: TV channels report controversial (non) issues from Opposition-ruled states—West Bengal, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab—but have you seen anything similar from BJP-ruled states? Other than speeches and events featuring UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, there’s seldom any news from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, UP, Haryana, Uttarakhand, or Bihar.
It’s as if nothing ever happens in them worth reporting. They are seen in promotional or sponsored events and in TV commercials—that’s it.
Luckily, we know this and therefore have learnt not to believe everything we see on television or to recognise that it’s been exaggerated. Increasingly, viewers will tell you they no longer watch TV news—and that’s the fault of news TV.
At the start of 2025, we hope some balance returns to the screen.
Also, we wish Hindi news channels would stop staging-managing a Hindu-Muslim conflict. Each day, one Hindi channel or another will rake up some issue to debate along communal lines. This has needlessly increased the religious divide. Please, can we have an end to it?
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)
