The newspaper instills its ideology to the reader through the style of its reporting

But wait!!! we need fact and not concocted narratives.

The SIT probe on journalist Gauri Lankesh killing is going on its own pace. There have been some arrests in connection to the same but the sad thing that each arrest with a new narrative is making things more complex for ones consuming the news. The funny part that reporters of the news claiming “sources” saying every arrest point to Prof Kalburgi’s killing makes the case more confusing and derailing.

While the Left brigade had already declared that a right winger is responsible for Gauri Lankesh’s murder before even the police took charge of the incident, the reporting of some newspapers also tend to imply the same. The recent in the list is Kannada newspaper, Prajavani which boasts a tagline – “most reliable daily” which covered the recent arrests by the SIT in their front page stating one of the arrested was an “RSS leader” (mukhanda.) The RSS released a press notification in the evening yesterday that the news was far from truth and baseless.

Ganesh Miskin and Amit Baddi were arrested in Hubballi in connection to Gauri Lankesh’s killing. Needless to say the source – “the SIT official” harps again that the same people might be involved in Kalburgi’s killing too. Or atleast the newspaper reports it so.

Prajavani the Kannada daily has been traditionally oriented towards infamous left and has been supportive to writers, columnists who subscribe only to their ideology. The letters to the editor also are so biased and one sided that makes the reader purport that his view is never addressed logically.

While the RSS workers in Hubballi themselves do not know who the arrested Ganesh Miskin was, the fact that he was an RSS leader remains way far from truth. The newspaper has won in sensationalizing the news, caught few eyes to read the report by publishing “RSS mukhanda seri ibbara bandhana.” When I read the news, the condolence of RSS published in the same newspaper flashed in my mind which demanded for fair, unbiased probe into the killing. Apparently RSS in its release yesterday have also quoted the same.

There was a time when the myth was floated in media that RSS worked in their close circles and never mingled with media. The fiction has been busted time and again by its leaders that RSS always worked for the betterment of the society and stayed away from media reporting the work as the organization felt the need to work for society should not get carried away in mere advertising. However the days have changed where I have heard there is a media department of the RSS which tries its best to connect to journalists to provide the best information it has. The reporter of Prajavani could have asked the media department of the RSS if the arrested Ganesh Miskin was a leader of the RSS or atleast a member of RSS. The organization which stands high and believes in hating nobody has some who ideologically differ in opinion and viciously comment against it and this goes on.

It seems the “most reliable” newspaper relied on the fact that maligning the organization could ensure them a great readership at least from the Left wingers. Did it not forget the basic ethos of journalism and displayed the capricious attitude in front of its readers? When none of the reports published in English or Kannada newspapers yesterday have carried this venom which Prajavani fed to its innocent readers, the team stands exposed. The newspaper failed to do some diligent reporting just to please some or to muddy some waters? Not sure. Is it the reporter who collected the news who is at fault or the desk editor who edited the draft or the editor in chief who guaranteed the publishing at fault? In all the newspaper has gone to nadir and wish the basic tenets of journalism is followed in any reporting. After all, news need not be sensationalized, it ought to carry value and lest we forget….

Truth shall prevail.