Sreenivasan Jain spent nearly three decades anchoring NDTV, one of India’s most prominent news stations. Then, in 2022, billionaire and Modi ally Gautam Adani bought a majority stake in the company and turned it into a pro-government outlet.
Sound familiar?
Jain and many of his NDTV colleagues responded by resigning in protest, and Jain now reports for the independent Newslaundry, one of the many digital outlets unabashedly holding the right-wing BJP government accountable.
In an important ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ interview, Mehdi asks Jain what he makes of Trump’s campaign against the free press in the United States, as well as the unprecedented “complete media capture” in India, the so-called “world’s biggest democracy” – where journalists have been jailed, physically assaulted, and even killed.
“The problem is that if promoters and owners who actually have deep pockets, who have institutional safeguards, if they don’t show spine, then newsrooms are screwed, and independent journalism is screwed,” Jain tells Mehdi.
During this timely conversation, the two also discuss:
Pro-BJP “Godi media” outlets and the anti-Muslim propaganda they spread
The Trump DOJ’s recently dropped lawsuit against billionaire Gautam Adani
How the most prominent figures in Bollywood have been “brought to heel” by the Indian far-right
The importance of independent media in the U.S. and in India, and Jain’s specific advice to U.S. journalists based on his own experiences.
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