Media coverage of 2019 India–Pakistan standoff explained

The media coverage of the 2019 India-Pakistan standoff was criticised for largely being "jingoistic" and "nationalistic", to the extent of the media war-mongering and the battle being fought between India and Pakistan through newsrooms.[1] [2] [3] During the escalation, fake videos and misinformation were prevalent on the social media which were further reported to escalate tensions between India and Pakistan.[4] [5] Once tensions started de-escalating, the media coverage shifted to comparisons being made between "India and Pakistan" and "Narendra Modi and Imran Khan" in terms of who won the "perception battle".[6] [7] [8] [9]

Background

Propaganda and psychological warfare through the media is an old concept.[10] The media in both India and Pakistan are important "stakeholders" during times of heightened tensions between the two countries.[11] [12] Previous studies conducted have suggested the "nationalistic" role of the media in relation to India and Pakistan conflicts.[13] A Bournemouth University doctoral study by Chindu Sreedharan concluded the dominance of "anti-peace news" in the overall coverage of Kashmir suggesting that the press in India and Pakistan has a counterproductive role in the Kashmir issue and that the "coverage was vigorously government-led and intensely 'negative'".[14] [15] A study in the Pakistan Journal of History and Culture found that newspapers of both countries (India and Pakistan) were "setting the agenda on Kashmir issue positively in the light of foreign policy of their respective country".[16]

War mongering

Various accusations were made against the sections of the Indian and Pakistani media for war-mongering.[17] [18] Indian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi acknowledged the war-mongering prevalent among the Indian media, but added that there were many journalists trying to "de-escalate" the situation too.[19] Both in India and Pakistan, media unions called for a stop on the war-mongering. A story in Quartz quotes Indian journalist Sadanand Dhume (a fellow at the American think tank American Enterprise Institute) where he says "Paradoxically, the over-zealous Indian media and Pakistani media may help prevent escalation of conflict."[20] Foreign Policy came out with an article titled "India’s Media Is War-Crazy". According to it, Indian journalists were very much willing to “reproduce unverified, contradictory and speculative information” that suited the Indian government.[21]

Perception war

Ajai Shukla, an Indian journalist and former Indian Army colonel, writes in Al Jazeera that "Pakistan won the perception war", however adds that Pakistan is losing out in other ways. A report in an Indian media digital website, Scroll.in, was titled "How Imran Khan stumped Narendra Modi in the perception battle over air strikes" where it criticises Narendra Modi for not addressing the media directly during the crisis as compared to Imran Khan who addressed the media directly during the crisis more than once, and in turn directed the narrative.[22] A report in a Pakistani newspaper The News International however said that even if Imran Khan and Narendra Modi won the perception battles in their respective constituencies, neither side wanted a war according to Vipin Narang, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[23]

Fake news and fact-checking

Various media houses resorted to fact-checking related to misinformation related to Air Marshal Chandrashekharan Hari Kumar,[24] Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthanman,[25] F-16s,[26] an Indian submarine and various other things.[27] [28] [29] [30] It was reported after the Balakot airstrikes on 26 February, a fact checking website "Check4Spam" reported a 79% increase in traffic. Old videos and photographs of "crashing fighter jets" were being circulated in both India and Pakistan during the crisis as recent events.

See also

References

  1. News: India and Pakistan: How the war was fought in TV studios. Vaidyanathan. Rajini. 10 March 2019. BBC. 2019-03-12. Kermani. Secunder. Secunder Kermani . en-GB.
  2. Web site: Nobel winner Satyarthi warns of media 'war-mongering' in India. 12 March 2019. DAWN. Agence France-Presse (AFP). 2019-03-12.
  3. Web site: Could better accountability put a stop to India and Pakistan's war-mongering?. Mohmand. Shandana Khan. 6 March 2019. Institute of Development Studies. en-GB. 2019-03-12.
  4. News: Social media fake news fans tension between India and Pakistan. Phartiyal. Sankalp. 28 February 2019. Reuters. 2019-03-12. en.
  5. News: Fake news & misinformation on Indo-Pak tension flood the social media. Chaturvedi. Anumeha. 28 February 2019. The Economic Times. 2019-03-12.
  6. News: Modi v Khan: Who won the propaganda battle?. Biswas. Soutik. 1 March 2019. BBC. 2019-03-12. en-GB.
  7. Web site: India-Pakistan tensions: Who won the war of perceptions?. Shukla. Ajai. 4 March 2019. Al Jazeera. 2019-03-12.
  8. Web site: India and Pakistan engage in perception war. Ganapathy. Nirmala. 10 March 2019. The Straits Times. en. 2019-03-12.
  9. Web site: A War of Words? Conflicting Media Narratives Between India and Pakistan. Sriram. Akash. 8 March 2019. The Diplomat. 2019-03-12.
  10. Web site: Fake news & war hysteria. Editorial. 11 March 2019. DAWN. 2019-03-12.
  11. Web site: Indian Media Plays a Crucial Role in Times of Crises With Pakistan. Ruhee. Neog. Haegeland. Hannah. 10 December 2018. The Wire. 2019-03-12.
  12. Web site: Anatomy of a Crisis: Explaining Crisis Onset in India-Pakistan Relations. Lalwani. Sameer. Haegeland. Hannah. 2018. Stimson Center. 2019-03-12.
  13. Dwaipayan Bose (2011). "Journalism Caught in Narrow Nationalism: The India-Pakistan Media War" Reuters institute for the Study of Journalism. University of Oxford. Thomson Reuters Foundation.
  14. Sreedharan, C., (2009). Reporting Kashmir: an analysis of the conflict coverage in Indian and Pakistani newspapers. Doctorate Thesis (Doctorate). Bournemouth University. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017.
  15. Web site: Dr Chindu Sreedharan - Bournemouth University Staff Profile Pages. Bournemouth University. https://web.archive.org/web/20180726064933/https://staffprofiles.bournemouth.ac.uk/display/csreedharan. 26 July 2018. 3 February 2018.
  16. Ali. Shahzad. Fozia. Perveen. 2015. Representation of Kashmir Issue in the Mainstream Newspapers of Pakistan and India: A Test of Media Conformity Theory. Pakistan Journal of History and Culture. XXXVI. 2. 46. https://web.archive.org/web/20190203132008/http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/Jul-Decem%202015%20No.2/3.%20Representation%20of%20Kashmir%20Issue%20by%20Shahzad%20Ali%20and%20Fozia%20Perveen.pdf. 3 February 2019.
  17. Web site: How the fog of war has blinded journalists to their roles. Tripathi. Salil. 2 March 2019. The Caravan. 2019-03-12.
  18. News: Fighting under TV and social media glare, can India & Pakistan contain escalation?. 28 February 2019. The Print. 13 March 2019.
  19. Web site: Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi warns of media 'war-mongering' in India. 12 March 2019. Business Today. Press Trust of India. 2019-03-12.
  20. Web site: Indian media trumpeting about Pakistani fake news should look in the mirror first. Thaker. Aria. 28 February 2019. Quartz India. 16 March 2019.
  21. News: India's Media Is War-Crazy . Foreign Policy . March 1, 2019.
  22. Web site: How Imran Khan stumped Narendra Modi in the perception battle over air strikes. Yamunan. Sruthisagar. 1 March 2019. Scroll.in. en-US. 2019-03-16.
  23. Web site: Modi vs Imran: Who won the war of perception?. 4 March 2019. The News International. 2019-03-16.
  24. Web site: Fact Check Alert: No, Air Marshal Chandrashekharan Hari Kumar Was Not Sacked. Kapoor. Urvashi. 4 March 2019. Business World (BW). en. 2019-03-12.
  25. Web site: FAKE: Wing Commander Abhinandan features in Pakistani tea advert. 6 March 2019. The Times of India. 2019-03-12.
  26. Web site: Pak Official Falsely Claims F-16 Makers Filing Suit Against India. 2 March 2019. The Quint. en. The Print. 2019-03-12.
  27. Web site: Fact check: Fake IAF Balakot airstrike video goes viral. 26 February 2019. The New Indian Express. 2019-03-12.
  28. Web site: Fact Check: Pakistan shows old, doctored video, claiming it an Indian submarine. Kundu. Chayan. 6 March 2019. India Today. en. 2019-03-12.
  29. News: Fact check: Do viral videos show India, Pakistan fighter jets in Kashmir?. 27 February 2019. The Hindu. 2019-03-12. AFP. en-IN. 0971-751X.
  30. Web site: Fact-check: Viral videos showing Indian, Pakistani warplanes in action fake?. 27 February 2019. Qatar-Tribune. en-US. AFP. 2019-03-12.

Further reading

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