NL Tippani: NDTV buckles. But was this a first?

Last week, after running promos all day of an interview with Congress minister P Chidambaram by journalist Barkha Dutt, NDTV ultimately decided not to broadcast it. Instead, what we saw on the screen was a graphic plate declaring “India above politics” which was followed by the statement “NDTV will not air any remarks that risk security for political advantage”. And, of course, this was not taken well by the minister. In an interview given by the former Finance Minister to the Indian Express on October 12, he stated that “Indian media must be fiercely loyal to freedom of the media.”

But is this the first time that the media had to toe the line or crawled when it was asked to bend? Does Chidambaram mean to imply that during the Congress’ or the UPA’s time, there were never any restrictions placed on media’s freedom?

We think differently. Watch what Abhinandan Sekhri has to say in this
new episode of NL Tippani.