In almost every major national issue over the last year, we have witnessed a divided media. In the process of supporting or criticising a move by the government, media houses have named and shamed their rivals.
And the latest incident comes amid the ongoing row over a temporary black out of Hindi news channel NDTV India. The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry has slapped a one-day ban on the channel for its coverage of the Pathankot terror attack that, as per government, revealed “strategically sensitive” details while covering the attacks live.
Zee Media founder Dr Subhash Chandra, in a series of tweets, supported the penalty on rival channel NDTV India today. Chandra justified his stand in the name of national interest and even took on the Editors’ Guild for looking the other way when Zee News was similarly being (allegedly) targeted during UPA days.
Here’s what he tweeted:
While Chandra did receive a huge support for his opinion, his holier-than-thou attitude was also massively taken down by readers who mentioned the infamous extortion episode that always gets Zee on the backfoot. Along with its not-so-hidden closeness to the ruling BJP.
There was expected criticism from those calling the government move a draconian step to gag the press.
Some just had some fun of both Zee and NDTV’s expense