New Delhi: Over half the journalists surveyed in the recent report on Indian media Lokniti and Centre for the Study of Developing Societies say that they suffer from various degrees of worry over losing their jobs due to political leanings.As many as 16 percent of journalists said that people in their organisation were asked to quit due to political leanings.One of the key findings of the study, titled ‘Indian Media: Trends and Patterns’, was that 82% of those surveyed responded that their media organisation supported the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.This number of news organisations favouring the BJP increased to 89% when the opinions of only the independent journalists were considered. Four-fifths of the journalists working in the English news platforms also said that news media organisations generally favoured the BJP.Over half of English language journalists reported a higher prevalence of experiencing workplace discrimination based on their political opinions. Over four out of every five independent journalist surveyed (82%)said that the news media today generally favours certain political parties when it comes to coverage. This number was 70% when it came to those who worked for a news organisation, with 74% senior journalists saying only one political party is favoured.More English journalists (81%) than Hindi ones (64%) believed news media was favouring a particular party.The findings say that journalists, particularly those working in English media, are concerned about the lack of press freedom and they perceived a significant decrease in freedom of news channels (88%), newspapers (66%) and online/digital platforms (46%).Gender Lokniti-CSDS has based their findings on an online survey among Indian journalists across the country. While a number of journalists were approached, the writers say in the ‘Methodology’ section of the report that 206 agreed to participate. Seventy five percent of them were men and 25%, women. Most are senior level and are on the payrolls of media organisations.Naturally, a larger proportion of women journalists reported experiencing gender-related discrimination compared to their male counterparts.The study has found that one-third of surveyed Indian journalists have admitted to having been misled multiple times by inaccurate or fake information shared on internet and social media.When asked how often it was that they were misled by information or a news item shared on the internet, through a social media site or WhatsApp, which was inaccurate or fake, 15% said it happened very often and 33% said it had happened a few times.The report also looks at the mental health of journalists and shows that nearly seven in ten journalists reported an effect on their mental health because of their current news media job. This affects more women (89%) than men (66%).Social mediaThe study also found that 69% of surveyed journalists were very concerned about the prospect of being misled by inaccurate information circulated on social media.Social media jeopardises the way journalists work in another way – one-third of Indian journalists frequently hesitate to share opinions on social media due to consequences at work. The study found that Hindi language journalists were more comfortable expressing opinions on social media than English language journalists.“With the increasing commercialisation and ownership of the media in India, there seems to be a rising concern for legitimacy and accuracy and especially in terms of the capacity of news journalists,” the report says.The report also found that digital journalists face higher rates of online harassment compared to TV and print journalists and that two-fifths of journalists express high levels of unsafety regarding privacy on social media platforms.Two-fifths of female journalists feel extremely unsafe using WhatsApp, it found.The report also notes that journalists feel there is inadequate focus on underprivileged sections, such as women, rural areas, farmers, Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, and the poor, in the Indian news media.A striking aspect of the survey results is the financial constraints that prevent many journalists from leaving their current news media jobs, the conclusion notes.“Furthermore, the fact that over half of the journalists surveyed have contemplated quitting their news media jobs altogether and pursuing something else is a cause for concern. This suggests a deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the profession and raises questions about the underlying causes,” it says, calling for further research on these causes.
