In the summer of 2020, India had no shortage of stories. 

The country was emerging from what was described as the world’s harshest lockdown, one that had triggered the largest internal migration since Partition and, it later emerged, had been enforced without consultation within the government. The economy was about to record its first recession in four decades, driven not so much by the pandemic as by the lockdown itself, which contracted the economy by nearly 24 percent in that quarter. Petrol and diesel prices were hiked every single day between June 7 and June 21. 

On June 14, Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide following a bout of depression. 

Two days later, on June 16, 20 soldiers were killed during clashes with Chinese forces in Ladakh, the first combat deaths on that border in at least 45 years.

So what did two of India’s most-watched English news channels — Times Now, operated by Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd, and Republic TV, independently set up by anchor Arnab Goswami with initial funding from a former BJP minister — choose to focus their primetime debates on across May, June and July?

This is what ‘Godi media’ looks like in practice. 

The overall tone and tenor of these primetime debates can be captured by the headlines running across May, June, and July of 2020:

Times Now:

➜ “Congress accuses NDA of exploiting migrants for train fares. Is Party faking fear?”

➜ “Rahul Gandhi lauds pictures of 'Azad'. Sacrifice of braves insulted?”

➜ “Handwara martyrs avenged. Dreaded terrorist killed but backers attack our braves?”

➜ “PoK on India weather map. Safest in PM Modi’s hands?”

➜ “India united to fight pandemic but Lutyens spreads 'Communal virus'?”

➜ “PM-CMs crucial meet to put lifeline back on track but why Opposition red flags?”

➜ “PM Modi’s motto to power self-reliance but Congress sees 'No real relief'?”

Republic TV:

➜ “Congress and Lobby politicise Aurangabad tragedy”

➜ “Rahul Gandhi aide to Nirav Modi’s rescue?”

➜ “Congress in trillion-dollar controversy”

➜ “Are states blocking migrant movement?”

➜ “Mystery over Congress’ China strategy”

➜ “Congress plays petty namecalling over 20 lakh crore package”

➜ “India leads global fight to expose China”

➜ “Migrants need trains, not lies and propaganda – Congress dumps migrants”

➜ “Proof demolishes Congress’ '1000 buses' claim”

➜ “Priyanka Gandhi’s bus sham falls apart, Congress loses plot”

This pattern does not exist in isolation.

Evidence of coordination between what the government wanted put out and what the channels broadcast came on June 19, 2020, when former NDTV correspondent Arvind Gunasekar tweeted the text of a note the government had circulated to journalists as ‘talking points’ after an all-party meeting on the Chinese intrusion — the same meeting in which Modi claimed there had been no intrusion by China.

Gunasekar said: “This was circulated to media from PMO as ‘Govt Sources’ even when the meeting was underway.”

The talking points the Modi government wanted the media to focus on included:

➜ India stands solidly behind [the] PM. Most leaders express their confidence in [the] way [the] Modi Government has handled the situation.

➜ Congress efforts to create wedges trashed by KCR, Naveen, Sikkim Kranti Morcha.

The channels obeyed. Times Now’s primetime debate a few hours later was headlined: “All parties unite behind India but Sonia Gandhi won’t slam China?” The next night: “Congress disarmed our braves first and now supports ‘tukde’ ethos?” and “PM Modi’s strong message over India–China LAC standoff decoded”. 

Republic TV’s main debates that evening were headlined: “Unarmed with fact, Congress insults army”; “Is there a ‘special relation’ between Congress and China?” and “People’s movement against China gets bigger”. The next day: “PM sends a powerful message to the nation on LAC” and “Cong traitor caught: ‘Break India’ forces reveal their agenda”.

However, not all channels followed the PMO’s line.

NDTV India’s Ravish Kumar headlined his debate “Desh ke liye jaan dene wale jawanon ko shradhanjali” (Tribute to India's martyrs). 

The next day: “Pulwama ke samay jaisi parampara jari reh sakti thi” (Pulwama’s tradition could have been continued) — a reference to how differently the State had treated the 20 Indian soldiers killed by China in Galwan and the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama suicide attack in February 2019, whose coffins were received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Ravish Kumar would leave NDTV after Prannoy Roy was forced out and Gautam Adani took over, about which more later.

This total capitulation across the industry raises a question that is less often asked: why does it persist when it appears to have done nothing for the bottom lines of the companies that produce it? This analysis attempts an answer.

What the numbers show is striking. Corporate Indian news media ended the decade from 2014 to 2024 with most of its major companies, including Bennett Coleman, HT Media, and NDTV, stagnant or in the red.

And yet, through this period of economic decline, the same companies chose to act as enthusiastic defenders of the government presiding over their stagnation.

Understanding why requires looking at how Indian media is funded, who owns it now, and what the Modi government has done, with both carrot and stick, to keep it in line. And, of course, talking to the people who run India's biggest media companies.

Overview of Indian news media

India has a robust media universe with 146,045 registered publications and 20,208 registered dailies, according to the Office of Registrar of Newspapers for India.