Editorial | December 2, 2022
It was one busy day yesterday for the business and media world. Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, the founders of New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV), resigned from the holding company of the television network after they transferred its shares to a company owned by Asia’s richest man conglomerate. This has made Gautam Adani’s group the majority shareholder of NDTV and marks the end of a hostile takeover battle between the Roys and Adani.
The acquisition sparks several concerns about press freedom in India. While NDTV was known for its critical coverage of the current government, the magnate is perceived to be close to the Bharatiya Janata Party. In a recent interview with the Financial Times (FT), the billionaire said he saw the purchase of NDTV as a “responsibility” rather than a business opportunity—not unlike how a month ago the richest man on the planet said he bought Twitter because he wanted to “help humanity”. The truth is, controlling the media gives conglomerates control over their image, and this is Adani’s response to Reliance’s takeover of Network18 eight years ago.
Adani in the same interview also said he wanted to “support” the media house in having a “global footprint” because India does not have any outlets that compare with FT or Al Jazeera. But the reason why we do not have any international-level media is partly due to media monopolies, where a few groups have control over various media houses, and because of abysmal press freedom levels in India. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders 2022 Press Freedom Index ranks India at 150 out of 180, its lowest ever.
The future of the broadcaster is uncertain. Ravish Kumar, its senior executive editor and Magsaysay awardee, who had become the face of the television group, also resigned following the Roys. One thing, however, is for sure: Gautam Adani is no supporter or patron of independent media in India. And this deal, like all of Adani’s deals so far, will change the industry ecosystem—in this case, for the worse. The media organisation under his group will take a different shape from what it had been since 1980. He made his motivations clear when he told FT: “media should have courage to say when the government is doing the right thing”. And we must not expect otherwise.