And you heard that.ĬHANG: It was like a lullaby is what you're saying. And suddenly he fell into my trap and started singing. I asked him, can you sing a song with me? We both love country, so let's sing. What possessed you to break into song like that right on the phone? UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).ĬHANG: I was so struck by that moment because I don't know how I would feel if I were listening to someone yell at me like that. KUMAR: (Singing in non-English language). (SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "WHILE WE WATCHED") Like, at one point, while you're fielding menacing phone calls, you start singing a patriotic Indian song to someone who is attacking you on the phone. This is not a routine story of media decline, I think.ĬHANG: There are multiple moments in this film where you get death threats. They are working hard to stop information reaching to the viewers and to the voters. KUMAR: These media are not working for dissemination of information.
When I came across Ravish's broadcast, with him, I found a news anchor who was not only questioning the government but also questioning the audiences.ĬHANG: I talked to Shukla recently, along with his documentary subject, Ravish Kumar, and I asked Kumar why he felt the need to begin speaking out to his viewers and to the rest of the world about the state of Indian media. You will very often hear news anchors saying things like, we are here to serve the audience, and whatever the audience wants, we'll deliver. VINAY SHUKLA: When I came across Ravish, I was very surprised.
The documentary "While We Watched" tracks his life as a journalist at the center of those political fights at a time when his own newsroom was crumbling around him. Indian media is in a state of crisis, and this crisis is not accidental or random but systemic and structural.ĬHANG: Kumar was a news anchor and senior executive editor for the news network NDTV in New Delhi for many years.
RAVISH KUMAR: (Non-English language spoken). UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST #2: Anti-nationals in India - they must be made to pay, too.ĬHANG: One journalist who found himself targeted by those remarks, accused of being an anti-nationalist, is Ravish Kumar. UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST #1: For every Indian soldier killed, a hundred Pakistani soldiers killed. And in recent years, with the rise of Hindu nationalism, some Indian news anchors have openly sided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during broadcasts, labeling critics of the Modi government anti-nationalists. In India, the media landscape has become an even more deeply divided echo chamber. Here in the U.S., Americans who watch Fox News likely don't watch CNN, and that goes both ways.
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