News vs views: India Today’s age-old formula of using actor’s swimsuit pics, this time for Galwan debate

Prurient interest is all well and good, but served within the backdrop of India’s boundary dispute with China, it may acquire an olfactory resemblance to the much disputed pineapple pizza termed Hawaiian by its Canadian inventors.

To the relief of discerning and calorie-conscious readers of Newslaundry, the subject at hand is a bit more serious than exploring the legitimacy of the anointment of a sweet-sour recipe as an exotic pizza.

Amid outrage over actor Richa Chadha’s remarks on the Galwan incident, in response to a tweet claiming the Indian army was ready to capture Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, India Today’s Shiv Aroor recently decided to explain to viewers how the Indian response was an example of a much smaller force beating back the more powerful Chinese forces.

Except, several viewers were left baffled as the telecast was leniently interspersed with images of the actor in a black swimsuit.

The Network of Women in Media India called out the anchor as well as the network on Twitter. “What's the link between these visuals and your show's theme,” it asked, reflecting concerns of the discerning viewer. “Kids, never mix sexism with journalism.”

Richa Chadha had tweeted “Galwan says hi” in response to a statement by the Indian army’s northern command chief, and her three-word tweet scrolled on the screen as Aroor discussed the deaths of Indian troops in eastern Ladakh. “The truth of what happened, not broadcast loudly with crass clippings and blaring propaganda courtesy the Chinese, is far from anything that can be captured in a sarcastic three-word tweet,” the anchor said, about “crass” video clips, with the actor’s visuals in a swimming pool on one side of the screen.

But this isn’t the first time that the India Today Group has indulged in such tactics for eyeballs.

In 2021, while reporting on Mehul Choksi’s abduction from Antigua to Dominica, India Today decided to focus on the mystery woman behind the secret operation – replete with bikini shots and a blurred face.

In September this year, when the Delhi police questioned actor Jacqueline Fernandes in an extortion case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, the actor’s item numbers played on screen while anchor Gaurav Sawant discussed the details of the case. 

Even during Rhea Chakraborty’s questioning following Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in June 2020, news channels such as Times Now decided to have three small windows for its panelists and anchors while a bigger window was dedicated to clips of Rhea on a beach.

Celebrities have always been fodder for “news”. From why an actor changed her surname on social media to trying to identify random shadows in celebrity photos, even “serious” news websites often have sections devoted to mindless gossip.

Newslaundry earlier reported on how mindless coverage of bra-less celebrities is perceived as a foolproof technique within several mainstream media newsrooms to gather internet traction and ad revenue.

The state of entertainment journalism today serves as a cautionary tale to what will happen if news organisations depend on digital ad revenue as a main source of income. The pandemic really drove this home. Legacy brands like the Hindu and Indian Express began putting content behind the paywall, while digital brands like News Minute, Quint and Print began relying on subscription and donation appeals as a precursor to the paywall approach. Meanwhile, organisations like News18 and NDTV, which are broadcast news outlets first, use their digital fronts for ad revenue. Hence the proliferation of “trendy” news copies on bikini shoots and going braless.

Of course, the way out is to break away from this reliance on advertising. Some media outlets have – and will continue to do so.

However, as the NWMI trolls Shiv Aroor, we would like to channel our inner BJP spokesperson and throw our weight behind him: WHAT ABOUT RAMDEV? #IStandWithShiv.