Indian Journalism’s Rightward Turn: A Response to Competing for Cultural Authority

Right-wing populist movements have become something of a global phenomenon. And although they have arisen in diverse national contexts, their emergence, almost universally, has been accompanied and arguably fueled by the rise of right-wing media. But while the role of such media in media disseminating and amplifying conservative perspectives is widely recognized, the manner in which they impact the workings of mainstream journalism remains underexplored. Taking this absence as a point of departure, this essay explores this development in the Indian context. Outlining a defining feature of right-wing media discourse, namely its othering of the country’s Muslim minority, it argues that even as right-wing media position themselves in opposition to professional journalism, they nevertheless influence the latter in the Indian context, contributing to a “right turn” in mainstream coverage. The essay suggests that this “turn,” which has real-world implications, manifest in the stigmatization of the Indian Muslim community, merits closer investigation within other national contexts.