Cobrapost, an investigative platform, which carried out several sting operations on communal and corrupt politicians in the past, this time exposed several prominent Indian media houses whose representatives were caught on camera expressing their willingness to spread communal hatred and promote so called “Hindutva” for money.
Codenamed ‘Operation 136’, the sting operation was conducted to expose how media owners, publishers and managers agreed to peddle content and political propaganda in return for money. In its first part of the expose, Cobrapost carried out a sting operation against seven TV news channels, six newspapers, three news portals and a news agency.
The cobrapost.com not only uploaded several secretly shot video clips of the official representatives of the media houses, but also held a press conference at the Press Club of India in New Delhi on Monday and screened a two-hour-long sting operation causing embarrassment to the reporters and cameramen of the TV channels like Republic TV, India TV, Times Now and Rajya Sabha etc.
The representatives of these outlets were caught on camera agreeing to run political campaigns, mythology and spirituality cloaked in political terms and “Hindutva” agenda for electoral gains by way of content and malign many senior Opposition leaders and Union Ministers in lieu of proceeds ranging from Rs 6 crore to Rs 50 crore.
Cobrapost plans to release the next part of the operation in April. As part of the plan, an under-cover Cobrapost reporter offered huge amounts, by way of advertisements and also in cash, for fulfilling his undemocratic demands.
Representatives of the said media houses were also offered money to “rake muck” on some prominent names in the legal fraternity, brand the agitating farmers as Maoists and also raise questions on judicial orders.
Operation 136 undertaken by senior journalist Pushp Sharma establishes Indian media’s propensity to run content irrespective of its nature to soar up their bottom lines, said a Cobrapost statement.
The reporter promised to pay for promoting Hindutva through customised religious programmes, promoting speeches of Hindutva hardliners, running campaigns against Opposition parties and their leaders and also target certain Union ministers on various platforms.
“Shockingly, almost all media houses showed their eagerness to undertake such a diabolical media campaign,” said Cobrapost.
“First, the proposition itself is potentially violative of various sections of the Indian Penal Code, which hold publication of content of communal and defamatory nature a criminal act punishable by imprisonment,” said the statement, adding that the act violated several other laws.
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