Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday lashed out at the “structure of media” under the current government, claiming that it had become a mechanism for “distraction” rather than a “watchdog”. Speaking at a press briefing in Punjab's Hoshiarpur, Gandhi turned down a question about his "so-called" constant attacks on "Godi media (loosely translated as lapdog media)". “I have never said 'Godi Media'... that is not my phrase. I do say that the media is being controlled, that a lot of pressure is being put,” he claimed.
Gandhi, who is soon set to begin the final leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra that will end on January 30 in Srinagar, alleged that a lot of “hatred” was being spread and that the media was playing “the role of distraction instead of a watchdog”. “The small businessmen are being crushed, farmers are being looted, but you distract it by doing Hindu-Muslim, Bollywood, sports.”
“The media is being pressured... The reporters are not at much fault. You have constraints. You have to do what your owner tells you to do. I understand this as you tell me… I'm not criticising you. I'm criticising the structure of the media,” he said.
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The former Congress president went on to cite his party's philosophy of treating media as “feedback channels”. “If you were given freedom, you would have asked about the data which we have presented here. You should be raising issues like farmers' issues, and employment issues. We would like the media which puts pressure on the government. You are feedback channels for the Congress governments,” Gandhi asserted.
{{/usCountry}}The former Congress president went on to cite his party's philosophy of treating media as “feedback channels”. “If you were given freedom, you would have asked about the data which we have presented here. You should be raising issues like farmers' issues, and employment issues. We would like the media which puts pressure on the government. You are feedback channels for the Congress governments,” Gandhi asserted.
{{/usCountry}}He also slammed the BJP and RSS for having "captured all the institutions of India" and said that there was a fight between the institutions "captured" by the BJP and those by the opposition.