Powerful media man

IN Media Watch Briefs | 16/02/2015

Talk about the nexus between politics, business and the media. Rajat Sharma epitomises it all. A detailed profile of one of India's most high-profile television anchor-owners  by the Economic Times highlights how individuals and firms associated with the corporate conglomerates headed by Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani have been generous in investing in the company that broadcasts India TV and is headed by a one-time student activist of the ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students' wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) who is today close to just about anyone who matters in the country, from the world of politics, business and showbiz.

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The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.                   

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.                 

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