Upendra Rai
In the second edition of the ‘News4Media Journalism 40 Under 40’ program by Exchange4Media group, Upendra Rai, the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Bharat Express News Network, addressed the audience. During his address, Upendra Rai mentioned that the media is often referred to as the fourth pillar of democracy and wields significant power. The role of the media has a profound impact on society.
Upendra Rai said, When I was with Sahara, the management there gave us complete freedom for publishing news. From selecting news to publishing, they never interfered. Neither the RBI’s director-general nor the government ever made any phone calls to stop or promote any news.
The news should be entirely based on facts
Speaking about the media’s activism and responsibility, Upendra Rai said, When we analyze an event, it appears to us just as we have reported it on television. What we have reported cannot be reversed. There are no rules for the media. Rules are for law and order, for running courts. There are no rules yet for governing the media. But we have to talk about the dangers for freedom. You should definitely do it, there is no problem in doing it. But it should be entirely based on facts.
Mainstream media is remaining silent on the Manipur incident
Upendra Rai said, The way social media and mainstream media are… It saddened me that on May 4th, after the incident, two women in Manipur were stripped naked, and that incident remained suppressed for months. Many people in mainstream media were aware of this news, I didn’t know about it, but when it came to light, many people knew about it. However, no one had the courage to show that human story, and it wasn’t shown in the mainstream media.
A video surfaced, and then the whole world became outraged
Chairman said, A social media post comes up after a month, and then it’s discussed in the media. The government wakes up, and even Parliament gets disturbed. So, what does this tell us? It tells us that mainstream media failed in its responsibility and challenge at that time. The media we were not expecting, the hard news that was taken up by mainstream media, social media put it on the forefront, and then the whole world became outraged. 35,000 troops were deployed in Manipur for peacekeeping. The Home Minister had to make a statement in Parliament. The Prime Minister had to make a statement. The entire opposition became agitated. The entire media became agitated. This incident is not from a foreign country; this incident is from the land of India itself, Manipur state.
The challenges of the new era cannot be solved with the books of the 5th century
He said, Today, the challenges we face are of the 22nd and 23rd centuries. If we try to find answers based on the knowledge from the 5th century, they won’t align with the challenges of the new era. Often, we try to solve our challenges by referring to books from the 5th century. It’s a habit we’ve been taught since childhood that what’s written in the Vedas is true, what’s in the Ramayana is true, what’s in the Quran or Bible is true. It must be true… and what’s true should be believed. But some truths of this era don’t align with those old books. I often tell people of the Jain faith that if Mahavir were born today, he would wear shoes and not walk barefoot in the scorching afternoon sun. Many scholars have also said that today it’s not necessary because back then, there were no paved roads, only dirt roads. There were no roads made of tar and concrete. But today, if someone wants to walk barefoot on such a paved road, they will get hurt. Nowadays, I see many ascetics walking with thick layers of cloth wrapped around their feet. I ask why this happens, and when I attended satsangs, I posed this question there as well. I asked why they don’t wear sandals. But we are bound by a tradition that is more than three thousand years old. We are not prepared to change it. We carry the burden of these traditions on us. We are so entrenched in these traditions that we cannot accept change.
