Right I got to work as soon as I saw the shooting. I focused on #RepublicTV to see how they would cover the incident #jamiafiring where one #RambhaktGopal shot a student. In what follows, pay attention to the topmost header of the screenshots.
Republic TV is trying very hard to blame the violence on the students of Jamia. 
They’re spinning the narrative where they want to say that Jamia or someone from it was involved in the shooting.
They don’t identify the gun wielding man. The reporter stumbles and hesitates over his name.
Then they try to suggest that Jamia is in deep violence. They use plural “guns”
Again “they” let this happen. Who? These are serialized so they’re suggesting to the audience the answer.
They say “end the provocation“? What provocation? By who?
Again they are suggesting that someone was responsible for this. And they want the audience to guess.
Again they are suggesting that someone was responsible for this. And they want the audience to guess.
Then they connect #ShaheenBaghProtests To Jamia.
Rhetorical question? As if there has been a LOT of violence by protestors.
Then they get their ask on the headline. “Vacate Shaheen Bagh”
Double down on the violent protestors angle by saying “unimaginable escalation”
They Reiterate the message by trying to suggest that people should be shocked by a “Jamia gun tape”
Double down on the ask “vacate Shaheen Bagh Now”.
I think you will have to click on the images to see the top headline. They don’t appear in the tweet thread.
The long and short of it is that this channel in particular is priming the public into a certain manner of thinking. This is absolutely against journalist ethics. It’s like advertising. Where your mind unconsciously picks up the text even while you’re listening to the words
I’ve shouted myself hoarse about this channel but please be aware they are priming the public for violence. This is not journalism. It is straightforward propaganda and worse.
Distance yourself from whatever emotion your feeling and start observing the channels like a scientist looking at a slide. Pay attention to what is being said. And examine the words carefully.
You can look at the time stamps on the screen grabs top right corner. The first one is at two in the afternoon. The rest are at four pm. Stay alert tonight. And very importantly DO NOT engage with any provocation.
Please remember sometimes in life the only way to win is to NOT play the game. Especially when the game is rigged.
Update and addition. I was asked to
Look at Hindi channels so I started with Republic Hindi. Narrative is worse maybe. I will post screenshots from their broadcast here.
Look at Hindi channels so I started with Republic Hindi. Narrative is worse maybe. I will post screenshots from their broadcast here.
This one asks “when will we be free from fundamentalist thought?” Which fundamentalist thought? No clarification.
This one asks who is behind the Jamia gun incident? As if we don’t know the identity of the man behind it. He’s been posting about this on Facebook for a few days.
This one alleges stone pelting.
This one suggests that the pistol was handled by someone who was OPPOSING CAA.
This one says that the Shaheen bagh demonstration was “bloody”
This one asks some imaginary people to leave violence and talk in peace. They’re again trying very hard to pin violence on the protestors by suggesting that the people who are to be talked with are somehow violent.
I don’t know what is happening but this isn’t journalism.
This one says that more than one protestors climbed on the police barricade. We know the student who was injured HAD to climb over it as police did not remove the barricade for him to be taken to the hospital. I don’t know if others did. Please update me if they did.
This one had me speechless. It says “one Shaheen bagh, 100 gunmen”
Again asserting that Shaheen bagh is full of people with guns? How is this even allowed?
Again asserting that Shaheen bagh is full of people with guns? How is this even allowed?
The actual facts they haven’t flashed on screen yet. I’ll write them here. The gunman was not an anti CAA protestor, he was not a student of Jamia and he was not a Muslim. He was not a Shaheen Bagh protestor. There was only ONE civilian gunman.
If any of these facts are incorrect, I will correct them immediately. Because that’s the first rule of journalism. Don’t make shit up.
A more grievous issue is that they have taken all these editorial calls when the matter is still being investigated. The second rule of reporting is try to be absolutely sure of what has been observed. Don’t speculate. Describe details as you see or as reported, without bias.
The main man is back saying “these things will only stop when Shaheen bagh protest is lifted.” That’s the ask. It’s been this way for days now. They’re trying their very best to get the protestors to go.
Why is a news channel is keen to see protestors gone? That’s not their job. Their job is to observe and report on the protests. Instead they are demonizing it.
update: I’ve been told that sometime tonight Arnab issued an apology on TV. I’ve not seen it yet. Their tweet in apology was inadequate. The biased coverage lasted for at least four hours from what I observed on both the Hindi and English channels.
If the apology is adequate then that’s a good sign because it shows he understands he ain’t above public scrutiny. No one is. I still have to watch it though. Will revert once I’ve seen it. If anybody has the TV link pls send it to me.
