Dr John Mohan Razu
2024 predictions of almost all the major media channels in their exit polls opinion in the recently completed parliamentary elections between 1st and 3rd June, 2024, came out with their unscientific, imaginative, subjective, and cut-and-past like numbers went topsy-turvy and thus bitten the dust. Such blatant and inflated numbers show duplicity and wild imagination. Their figures have hit the new low and thus been ripped open in absolute terms by the people of India. The dominant main-line corporate media in India owned by the tycoons have totally abdicated their objectivity, morality, and ethicality by subtly towing the ruling dispensation in the past ten years with all kinds’ projection of images, theatric, and rhetoric in their telecasts.
On the 4th of June, 2024, the number games that most of the main channel media played have been nakedly exposed by the electorates—between 1st and 3rd of June, 2024. Media’s deep fakes offering all kinds of narratives, analyses, theatrics, and rhetoric in their respective channels. Numbers what the corporate media predicted and the results came out on the 4th of June, 2024 have failed to synchronize or came anywhere closer to their claims. From one-sided 380-400+ predictions of the ruling party to a fractured mandate where the ruling party failed to get that magic number 272 for simple majority to form the government. It makes many to wonder the levels that the main-line corporate media have stooped down question their credibility.
Exit polls results projected between 1 and 3rd of June, 2024 by the main corporate media channels echoed numbers that gave the ruling BJP party a clean sweep by offering small and negligible numbers to the opposition I.N.D.I.A. The numbers exit polls projected by the by the TV media channels irked those who spent months and years on the ground interacting and working for different political parties to question the numbers, the how the samples were taken, methodology employed, and the ways with which the collected data were tabulated. Rather the 4th of June, 2024, reflected a fractured mandate neither giving the numbers to BJP or Indian National Congress (INC) conveying a clear message BJP has to align with its coalition partners and Indian National Congress should sit in the opposition.
All these ten years (2014-2024) media somehow dumped the major narratives on the viewers and gave all kinds of analysis and interpretations. Its deep fakes came out openly in the exit-polls’ predictions and numbers. Media is considered to be the fourth pillar of democracy, but in recent times media is increasingly being controlled, monitored, and surveiled. It is in the hands of the tycoons who have their nexus with the ruling dispensation. If the dominant narratives are repeated many times in the major channels even if they are false in due course of time eventually tends to become true. This is what happened in the opinion/exit polls of the recently concluded parliamentary elections. PM Modi’s going after 400-paar (seats) the magic number that offers him tow-third absolute majority empowering him to tamper or introduce whatever he wanted in tune to Hindu rashtra has been dented very badly by the electorates of India.
400 has been the frequently shown number in the media and it became a kind of obsession for the viewers and in the process it got internalized. It’s a kind of psychological manipulation that the media by and large pushing a number into the psyche of the viewers that represents the dominant to secure. Accordingly, the exit/opinion polls shown during those three days kept repeating and thus reinforcing in the minds of the viewers. The game media has been playing the game in the last ten years went hay-vey going for a toss. Corporate media in India has failed to get connected what was going on and went ahead with its superficial number-games, analyses, and interpretations. To the surprise of media, even PM Modi has secured a lead of 1, 50,000 votes, and the top wigs in BJP lost so badly including some of sitting ministers. Barring a few, corporate Indian media was enemasse got exposed during this election.
Most talked about constituencies projected negatively in Uttar Pradesh—Raebarelli and Amethi went to Congress party as against the predictions. This election has brought TV poll game to the fore and thus exposed its partisan views saying ‘enough is enough’. The people of India spoke clearly and voted cleverly and gave the deep-fakes the right and fitting response and verdict. On the 4th of June, 2024, those spokespersons belonging to the opposition parties came out openly questioning those channels that falsified and fabricated the numbers and their interpretations. Media should act responsibly in presenting its views and images. It should be impartial and objective in all its telecasts because the hearers and viewers happened to be its mass and so be endowed with greater responsibility and accountability to its stakeholders.
A raucous group of mostly young men and women covered the voting process did whatever they could and fed their YouTube channels with what they judged to be their best and the boldest election stories from those terrains of different states. They did temper the opinion on the ground forging alliances with local and independent journalists—carrying phones, cameras, and tripod along with their YouTube offerings and Facebook posts, Whatsapp messages and tweets. Fearlessly went about capturing and sharing the stories and realities in diverse context-specificities. There were numerous journalists and others went to places where there were no televisions. Mainstream media despite having all the paraphernalia do not go to places where real stories exists and votes that could tilt. YouTube subscribers in India currently stands 46 million and growing swiftly that makes the largest growing audience in the world. The real big sharks think that they have the scientific data and solid analyses, and think that they could offer kinds of junks that the people would buy, but now people in general do not want to buy their data. 2024- Election has changed everything that the mainstream media thus far has been claiming .
