A rising threat to Indian journalism

The TLDR: India has never been a hospitable space for journalism. But over the course of this year—while we’ve been distracted by the pandemic—it has become increasingly risky to write or say anything critical of the government (state or union). No one is safe, be it a Vinod Dua or Rajdeep Sardesai—unless you are a right-leaning website or channel.

First, a few quick stats

India is ranked 142 out of 180 on the global press freedom index. We slipped two places this year. The Committee to Protect Journalists placed us at the bottom of its list of countries with the worst record of bringing killers of journalists to justice—for the 12th time this year. The Coalition of Women in Journalism documented 145 threats and intimidation against women journalists from January 2020 to April 2020 around the world. India was #3 on that list. The good news: No journalist was killed last year. 

When the global press freedom index was released this year, Information Minister Prakash Javadekar promised: “[W]e will expose, sooner than later, those surveys that tend to portray bad picture about ‘Freedom of Press’ in India.”

This is sedition!

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