How Mainstream Media in India Covered The Wire’s story on Jay Shah
On February 16, 2025 By newsroom Topic: Big Media Doing Wrong
Notes from a post on Newslaundry.com:
The bad
On TV news, India’s leading English channels decided that The Wire story was not worth any play at all.
Times Now: Its primetime was dedicated to such issues as #ShakahariGurugram, #LoveJihadTwist and #FatwaRazesEyebrow. The channel, however, did air Goyal’s press conference defending Shah, even as it blacked out Sibal’s attack on the government.
Republic TV: Only covered Piyush Goyal’s presser.
State-controlled broadcaster Doordarshan News: Same as above
India Today: Focussed on Jay Shah’s statement against The Wire that called it a defamatory story.
Zee News: It carried an interview with Sadhguru at 9:55 pm and its 9 pm story was on Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visiting China border.
The good
NDTV ran the story as one of its top 9 o'clock headlines with the disclaimer that it could not independently verify the report. It gave prominence to both Sibal and Goyal’s presser and elaborated on the details of the report and the operations of Shah’s businesses.
ABP It actually covered the details of The Wire’s piece and its implication instead of focussing merely on the political battle that ensued after the story broke.
Related: The Jay Shah Story so far
