On December 6, 1992, when two journalists from the India Today group reached the Babri Masjid atop with kar sewaks, moments before the demolition, they were brutally attacked. The car they were in, in Ayodhya, was burnt while anyone with a camera on the sight was targeted and beaten.
Recalling the incident, one of the journalists Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha , said 바카라While most media ran for their lives, the two Newstrack (India Today바카라s video section back then) teams hung on and shot everything. We caught on camera photographers and journalists being beaten, and bleeding,바카라 according to a report by Mint.
Jha바카라s story was not an isolated one as several journalists, from across media houses, admitted to facing a 바카라right-wing frenzy바카라 of this scale for the first time. Over the years, their accounts of how they saw the Masjid being demolished in front of a mob of over a lakh people while risking their lives, hinted at how the Hindu right-wing groups did not want to have any photographic or recorded evidence of the day.
A few days later, India Today came out with the issue: 바카라Ayodhya: Nation바카라s Shame바카라 -- one that is referred to even today as a piece of powerful reporting. The editor Aroon Purie had then written, 바카라There come moments in history when a nation's soul is seared. For India, that moment came on the afternoon of December 6 when the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi-disputed structure, call it what you will, was demolished. It exposed the fragile face of India's secular democracy. The true character of a person is often unveiled in times of crisis바카라It is a shame because the largest opposition party of the country thought nothing of reducing this country to a mobocracy by encouraging its followers to take the law into their own hands. It knew very well the catastrophic consequences of such an act.바카라
The demolition, which was largely condemned and criticised by the media, followed headlines from 바카라Kar Sevaks destroy Babri Masjid바카라 to 바카라Unholy War: Assault on the Secular State바카라, presenting to the world a critical perspective of the tumultuous events in the "holy" land.
In 2017, a report by The Wire described how journalists, who covered the Babri Masjid, were systematically attacked by the Sangh parivar karsevaks so that photos of them razing the masjid to the ground did not become public.
Seema Chishti, one of the journalists who covered the news, said, 바카라There was a clear method in what was going on. The whole idea was to battle the reporters and ensure they do not cover it. This is the biggest change between then and now. If they wanted to pull down a mosque in 2017, beating up reporters may not be necessary. At that time, they needed to do that so that the news does not get out.바카라
Cut to 2024. Thirty years later, as the Ram Mandir stands on the disputed ground, a stark transformation in the tone of media organisations is evident. Those who once labelled the demolition as the "Nation's Shame" are now seen celebrating the temple's construction, proudly proclaiming "Ram Aayenge."
As the Ram Mandir Prana Pratishta ceremony took place today in Ayodhya amid much fanfare, major news organisations across the nation joined in celebrating the 바카라ShriRamotsav바카라. Multiple pages of mainstream newspapers such as The Hindustan Times, The Times Of India, Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala were all about 바카라The Grand Celebration of India바카라 in 바카라Divine Ayodhya바카라. Pictures of the newly built structure along with pictures of PM Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath filled the pages. TV reporters on the ground and in studios were seen dressed in saffron, garlanded, while news channels changed the theme of their news layouts for the event.
Headlines such as --- 바카라Return of Ram바카라, 바카라Ram Mandir for India바카라, 바카라A wait for five centuries바카라, 바카라Wave of devotion across nation바카라, 바카라Significance of chanting matras explained바카라 --- dominated the prime time news. A collective narrative that suddenly seems to have erased the entire history of the Ayodhya and Babri Masjid demolition.
Further, there has been a surge in advertising rates on news channels leading up to the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, reports NewsLaundry. Increased demand for ad slots has been observed, particularly in the special program coverage of the ceremony. Zee Media바카라s chief revenue officer Mona Jain, as quoted in the report, said 바카라there is substantial growth in advertising rates바카라 and an 바카라overwhelming response바카라
In the weeks leading up to the event, the Ram Mandir has dominated headlines, gracing the front pages of newspapers and leading bulletins as the primary news package. However, this extensive coverage conspicuously sidesteps any mention of the mosque that once stood at the disputed site. This current narrative sharply contrasts with the media coverage back in 1992.
Another recent report by The Wire argues that mainstream media enabled the emergence of the Ram Temple in significant ways --- how the media began to systematically build up the prime minister as a quasi-spiritual figure by placing cutouts of Modi seen cheek-by-jowl with cut-outs of Lord Ram. In the report, Pamela Philipose, journalist and social researcher writes, 바카라Once the 바카라disputed structure바카라 was reduced to rubble and dust in 1992, it was the temple, not the mosque that gained media coverage,바카라
Perhaps, is that the truth? Ever since the physical removal of the mosque --- which has shifted the central narrative of Indian electoral politics --- has it also reshaped the media바카라s focus and framing over time?
