What Have We Become?

These past few days have been a revelation for me. I’ve always known the media — both print and television — to be powerful tools of information, but I never quite grasped the depth of responsibility that comes with reporting until now.

_sr

It’s not just about stating facts. It’s about how those facts are presented, which ones are chosen, and which ones are left out. It's about credibility. About intention. About the ethics behind every headline.

I've come to understand how dangerous disinformation and misreporting can be — not only when the truth is completely hidden, but when it is twisted, half-told, or strategically edited to fit a certain narrative. There's a difference between reporting truth and reporting your version of the truth. Even the truth, when told selectively, becomes a tool of manipulation.

And what's scarier? Most of us don’t even realize it — until we find ourselves personally affected. Until something happens close to us, and we see the contrast between lived experience and what’s being portrayed. That’s when it hits you: what does reporting even mean anymore?

There is a profound importance in saying the truth even when it doesn’t serve your side. That’s what real integrity looks like. That’s what journalism is supposed to be. But so often, it gets lost in the race for ratings, influence, or political alignment.

The television coverage of the conflict wasn’t reportage—it was theatre. Prime-time debates turned into shouting matches. Newsrooms abandoned facts for frenzy. Anchors behaved like generals, issuing war cries instead of asking questions. The editorial voice of reason was sadly missing. The crisis exposed the decadence that has crept into Indian media institutions, and an absolute abdication of editorial responsibility.
_sr

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The media holds immense power. It can amplify voices, or silence them. It can shed light, or blur realities. And in that balance hangs the right of every citizen to know — really know — what’s going on around them.

We must demand better. And we must, in whatever ways we can, be better — more critical, more questioning, more aware. Because staying silent in the face of misrepresentation is also a form of complicity.

_{This is a person explaining how the media fueled and encouraged war hysteria in their country — and how they defeated us in the war of misinformation and warmongering.}

Social Media??? When Humanity Is Sold!

Well, this is a whole different debate.
For clicks, for content monetization — how low can people sink? How far are they willing to go?
This is the first time I’ve noticed it all so closely and sharply.

Even those who closely followed the recent nightly air battles between India and Pakistan might have missed some of the most earth-shattering developments. They may not know that the Indian navy launched strikes on Karachi’s port; that India’s army crossed the international border; that Pakistan’s prime minister fled to a bunker; that its army chief was deposed in a coup. These events were nowhere to be found in India’s newspapers or even in supposedly reliable Western journals. Why?

Because none of these things happened. That did not stop Indian broadcast news from reporting each confection as fact, while sirens blared and animated fighter jets zoomed in the background. One presenter helpfully reassured viewers that “All information coming in goes through a system of vetting”. If news segments were merely outrageous, commentary was unhinged. One anchor demanded: “Set fire to Karachi, blow up the entire city.” On another channel a former army officer called Iran’s foreign minister a “son of a pig”, triggering a minor diplomatic incident. Over the past few weeks Indian television achieved the astonishing feat of making social media appear sane.
_sr

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It doesn’t take much for a human to become a beast...
And it takes even less to be bought and sold.
I never truly realized this until now.
These people are nothing but a stain on the name of humanity.

Many of you might already know the context of what I’m talking about.
And no, I’m not saying that such people don’t exist on our side — or that this is happening only across the border.
But the way their media added fuel to the fire…
Spreading hate, igniting a war frenzy among the public —
For what? Just for money? For loyalty to the ruling party?
To glorify something as horrifying as war, to stir violent emotions in people?
This is the lowest, most disgraceful insult to humanity.

Such people aren’t even worthy of being called human.
So heartless. So selfish.

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I’m angry.
I’m still angry.
And I can’t find my way back to my creative space.
Why?
Why such brutality?
How far can a human being go?
Is there no limit anymore?

Has something replaced the heart in a person’s chest?
Something that makes them capable of such cruelty?
Is there no sense left of responsibility? No concept of accountability?

What the media has done —
The chaos, the divisions, the violence they’ve fueled —
It's not just a mistake.
It’s a permanent stain.
A scar on our collective conscience.

This won’t be forgotten.
And it won’t be forgiven.

Generations to come will suffer because of this vileness.
Because of these actions completely devoid of ethics, of humanity.

This isn’t just about one event, one news piece, or one side.
This is about what happens when people with power choose profit over truth,
Clicks over compassion,
And rage over reason.

I’m still angry.
And maybe I should be.

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✌🏻 Peace over War: Today and always!