Reporter beaten as India protests target 'godi media'
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- Dev Kotak, a Times Now general news reporter, was beaten by dozens of protesters on July 24 while covering a youth protest against Modi's government, as crowds chanted "godi (lapdog) media" and the assault clip went viral on social media
- Protesters have heckled and abused crews from almost all of India's mainstream TV channels over the past week, accusing them of being pro-government and "sold out"
- Anger escalated after a Monday police crackdown on tens of thousands of protesters marching on parliament injured many students, with Kotak saying the mob "might have actually killed me"
- India's press freedom ranking fell from 122nd in 2010 to 157th out of 180 countries in 2026 per Reporters Without Borders, which attributed the decline to violence against journalists, concentrated pro-government ownership, and political polarisation
- The term "godi media" — which rhymes with "Modi" — was coined by journalist Ravish Kumar, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, to describe coverage critics see as fawning and uncritical of the government
- Protest spokesperson Deepak Baliyan of the Cockroach Janta Party urged demonstrators not to mistreat reporters, saying organizers "keep urging protesters to not misbehave with godi-media"; the Editors Guild of India condemned the violence but also criticised "flawed and biased reporting"
Why it matters: The physical hostility toward journalists — paired with the Editors Guild's own admission of "flawed and biased reporting" — marks a shift in India's press credibility crisis from editorial pages to the streets. For a country that dropped from 122nd to 157th on the World Press Freedom Index since 2010, attacks on reporters endanger the shrinking space for independent coverage that digital outlets like former Times Now journalist Akash Banerjee's YouTube channel are filling.
