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The corporate takeover of India’s media

Press freedom has been badly hit by the gobbling up of India's media platforms by a few large companies. Independent journalism in India is under threat as a consequence of corporate control of media houses.

By R Srinivasan, 360info
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India's Media

Independent journalism is under threat as a consequence of corporate control of India's media houses. | Sandor Weisz | Credits Flikr

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December 30, 2022, was a day to forget for the already badly mauled and tamed India's media.

For, that day, influential – and, for many, controversial – Indian businessman Gautam Adani, then the world’s third richest man, took nearly full control of the much-respected and revered NDTV after his Adani Enterprises acquired 27.26 percent additional shares, taking his total holdings to 64.71 percent.

A few months before delivering this coup de grace, Adani’s media company, AMG Media Networks, had hired a new CEO and a retinue of government-friendly journalists. 

His tail up, Adani’s next target was The Quint which, like NDTV, wore its anti-establishment badge with pride. On March 27, 2023, AMG Media Networks acquired 49 percent stake in Quintillion Business Media Pvt Ltd, The Quint’s holding company. This happened five years after central tax authorities raided The Quint’s offices in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Over the last 15 years or so, large and powerful corporate houses such as Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Adani Enterprises have exercised diverse strategies to acquire several well-established media companies. 

What has arguably worked to favour the Ambanis and the Adanis is their closeness to Narendra Modi’s government.

While one 2019 report said that Reliance “controlled” 72 television channels across India, the company does not shy away from claiming that it has an “omni-channel presence”. This brings to sharp relief the issue of diversity, or the lack of it, in India's media.

The government has made no secret of its intent to control the media narrative. 

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