“Godi Media” (the media sitting on the lap) is a hard-hitting term coined by eminent journalist Ravish Kumar as an idiomatic equivalent of what's known in journalism as “lapdog media”. It is used to describe the sections of media that have become obedient lapdogs of the ruling establishment instead of fulfilling its expected role as society’s astute watchdogs of the government and other powerful institutions. Besides Indianising the term formulated by some Western scholars, Kumar’s original contribution is turning it as a pun on Prime Minister Modi. In India, even as it remains ensconced on the state’s lap, the godi media barks and bites at its critics. The fondness it reserves for the ruling party, in contrast to the ferocity with which it tears into the Opposition, must be seen to be believed.

The Indian lapdog media’s sycophancy was at its frothy worst during the Ram temple consecration when it revelled in the emotional euphoria, leaving barely a nominal space for the event’s critics. Even the so-called cosmopolitan and modernist English media became blatantly communal and resonated with Mantras and Bhajans.

The next round of toadyism followed in the debates held over the interim Union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1st.

Ever since the Indian state took a definitive right turn in the 1990s with the Congress government led by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao initiating sweeping market-friendly economic reforms, the Indian media, especially its English language section, have been its self-proclaimed camp followers. The rise of the right wing during this time was also related to the global developments of the period, like the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the demise of the Socialist dream. The neo-conservative tide........

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