The truth finally came out...
Sumit Awasthi, consulting editor at NDTV, admits that they cannot show anything negative against the ruling party as news channels are heavily dependent on govt ads for revenue generation.
Sumit Awasthi, formerly managing editor of ABP News, News18 India, and currently consulting editor at NDTV, admits that they cannot show anything negative against the ruling party as news channels are heavily dependent on govt ads for revenue generation. “They get 70 to 80 percent government ads”, he added.
The X post by Sourav_3294 features a video clip from a podcast interview with Sumit Awasthi, where he admits that news channels are heavily dependent on government advertisements for revenue, influencing their editorial decisions to avoid negative coverage of the ruling party.
“That is why we called Godi Media, because the news channels and newspapers are scared of arm-twisting. If they go against the ruling party, the government stops issuing ads,” Awasthi reveals.
The term "Godi Media," coined by journalist Ravish Kumar, refers to media outlets perceived as biased towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a perception reinforced by Awasthi's admission and the broader context of some big media houses, and others being labeled as such due to their support for the government.
This revelation aligns with the 2024 Indian general election results, where the BJP-led NDA Alliance's seat reduction from 353 to 293 contradicted exit poll predictions by these media outlets, further damaging their reputation and highlighting the influence of financial dependencies on media integrity.
Media houses and news entities alleged as Godi media include Zee News, Times Now, India Today, Republic Bharat, Republic TV, Aaj Tak, ABP News, Sudarshan News, CNN-News18, India TV, the TV Today Network, NDTV, Firstpost, and others.
Godi Or Lapdog Media
Godi media (Hindi pronunciation) means ‘media sitting on lap'; idiomatic equivalent: 'lapdog media'. Rajdeep Sardesai, news anchor and author, once said that "a large section of the Indian media… has become a lap dog, not a watchdog."
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