Eleven left-leaning digital news outlets have come together to launch DIGIPUB News India Foundation apparently in a bid to create “a healthy ecosystem for the digital age”.
The founding member organisations of DIGIPUB are Alt News, Article 14, Boomlive, Cobrapost, HW News, Newsclick, Newslaundry, Scroll, News Minute, Quint and Wire.
What is concerning is that many of these organisations have reported fake news in the past and even had FIRs against them.
The Left are already dominating the Editors Guild of India that calls itself a conscience keeper — a premier, non-partisan association of editorial leaders in India who are committed to free, fair and independent journalism.
They are also healming the affairs of National Broadcasters Association, a private association of different current affairs and news television broadcasters in India.
And now with DiGIPUB they have entered the digital space too.
The left-leaning media has constantly targeted the Narendra Modi government and said India was becoming a fascist country ruled by a control freak who wants to suppress the media. However, can someone really point out what restrictions have been imposed on them by the Centre?
Despite mocking Modi on several occasions, the question is how many journalists have been prevented from writing and how many media houses have been harassed and prevented from publishing what they want? Also, has social media been shut down and the offenders put behind bars? The answer is NO.
In the guise of reporting, these organisations have simply brushed aside the real issue under the carpet. Whatever the government does, it only has negative implications for them. They resort to exaggeration and hype to score political points.
These liberal intellectuals’ desperate attempt to somehow discredit a democratic government is equivalent to questioning people’s verdict which installed the leaders and parties they dislike in positions of power.
Why are right-leaning organisations, though a minority, failing to come up with such a forum to present before the public the real state of affairs? Are they myopic in their viewpoint that they fail to think of the long-term effect they can have on society?
Online is where the real battle is happening now and if the right wing goes missing in action, it could end up paying dearly.