Media Trial of Rhea Chakraborty in Sushant Case Plummets to New Low

Sweeping away crucial issues facing India like the pandemic, the economic crisis, loss of jobs, border issues with China, and other governance challenges, the media has launched its own trial against Rhea Chakraborthy in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case weaving all kinds of conspiracy theories without any evidence or substance. Instead of puncturing falsehood with facts, it uses soundbites from those who have no clue of the intricacies of the case and makes random charges that border on the scandalous. It has once again shown the media in a poor light.  Ashutosh M. Shukla reports from Mumbai.

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THE loud voice-over could not have been more direct in pronouncing judgment. On Sunday, one Hindi News Channel continued its trial and tirade against Rhea Chakraborty, calling names that inferred her to be guilty. Among those used were "Khalnayika", "Bubly" robbing her lover Sushant with brother "Bunty", and weaver of theories – irony died, to escape from the sword hanging overhead.

All were sweeping declarations. This is one of the first things that one learns never to ever do in any journalism school.

The Channel further said, as a lover, she did everything to make her boyfriend "weak", portray him as one into drugs to avoid being questioned for the same. It pronounced her guilty, even as it said investigations are underway with "tough questions" awaiting her because officers were not satisfied with her replies. No officer confirmed or backed such claims with a statement. Was the media cooking up these details?

(Screengrab from Aajtak)

Not long ago, reports on financial transactions in print media contradicted allegations made on TV and punctured the "gold digger" theory blared on TV throughout the day. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), looking after "money laundering" and "siphoning of funds", did not find any sizable transfer of funds. It was not the only time insinuations fell flat.

Talking of backing claims with proof, the media's basics of reporting on this news story has been en abysmal since the beginning. To ensure that the narrative suits itself, it has quoted people who have nothing to do with the case. Newslaundry, a website that analyses media reporting, published a detailed story of how a prominent English channel passed off "muddle of contradictions" as "news".

Facts lose in the battle over fiction

Among the theories it proposed, one linked Sushant's death with that of Disha Salian, who briefly worked with the actor and died nearly a week before. The English Channel spoke to the person based on whose allegations they linked the two cases and called them "murders". They ran stories based on his Facebook post that Disha died in a party called and attended by high-profile celebrities, including a young minister, was raped and murdered and her body found naked.

But to disturb a federal structure, trouble an elected government, target an upcoming leader, or spoil the image of a professional police force with allegations that disappear into thin air, all for sensation and TRPs, is aiding design for manipulation.

This was aired along with a disclaimer that whatever was written on the Facebook post could be "factual or fictional". The Facebook post itself was based on an internet-based phone call, one that he could not record or trace, with a "friend" of Disha he did not know or had met. The bizarreness did not end there. He even contradicted what he said saying a "writer from Gujarat" gave him the details at one point, according to the Newslaundry report.

But the story played on nevertheless till Disha's parents, talking to a news channel, said that their daughter was not found naked or murdered and that fake rumours should not be spread. A police complaint was also filed by the family later.

Nevertheless, reporting without verifying facts or not correcting them continues without qualms.

Two English News Channels, to amplify their theory, did not even verify the facts and allowed misinformation to flow. These included one saying there was no fan in the room where Sushant was found, and that Sushant's leg was broken, none of which were corroborated or verified. In between, there were theories of two bodies of differing heights that died their own deaths.

(Screengrab from Rhea Chakraborty's Instagram account)

State's Complicity in Media Trial

News Channels instead seemed to justify venomous forwards floating on social media against the accused after selective leaks to the media. Writing for NDTV, former journalist, Nidhi Razdan, who now teaches at Harvard, said, "There are no editors or journalists here who are gatekeepers, who question the propriety of broadcasting private messages; who will not air information planted by agencies and do their own verification." She made a pertinent point that investigating agencies are complicit in this as they have selectively leaked parts of their probe, including private WhatsApp chats, to select "news" channels.

Not long before, prominent lawyer Harish Salve had panned Mumbai police for selective leaks. He had told a channel that such leaks damage the tracing of evidence and could lead to their destruction.

Selective leaks including that of private Whatsapp messages that power the "Rhea drug cartel", "mind control" and "money control" theories continue unabated. A new "audio" clipping of Sushant and others was run. One channel insinuated that the desire to have "hold over funds" came out clearly, giving substance to accusations.

The audio clip conversation, instead, gave the impression that the actor was worried about his source of income drying up, wanting a plan, and even moving to another place. Audio even said that such arrangements may not be held valid considering health conditions. The media houses, however, did not corroborate which part was a clincher for them.

Theories and political comments indicating the direction that the narrative is likely to have, make the coverage questionable. If the Narcotics Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, and CBI were not enough, a ruling party member has even asked for the National Investigation Agency's role.

A few days ago, NIA being left out was a joke on Twitter.

The Press Council of India (PCI) has condemned this kind of coverage. It even asked media houses to show restraint and follow the code of ethics. Some called PCI a "toothless tiger" getting up late.

Media and manipulation

What is also coming up time and again, but failing to gain attention, is mental health as an issue. After initial statements by psychiatrists and psychotherapists, not much has played out in the media on the effect on the health of a person suffering from mental health illnesses. Is it as serious a threat to a person that a sufferer could take a drastic step when no one would suspect and when things seem to turn alright? Can skipping or being irregular with drugs swing mood to such an extreme? This should have found space, without discarding any other allegations that require probing.

But not much is being talked about even on the COVID-19 crisis that has brought the nation to a halt and continues to take lives every day. Nor has there been enough debate on the economy, a slump in trade, loss of jobs, and border row. It highlights the lack of seriousness with which health and other serious issues are taken.

(Screengrab from ETIMES)

Despite the Supreme Court not finding any wrongdoing by Mumbai Police while transferring the case to CBI, one news channel alleged that Mumbai police were in cahoots with the accused and saving them. Through the day it slammed the Mumbai police on Sunday. The fresh reason for this allegation was that the police did not allow the channel to hound Rhea Chakraborty.

Hounding an accused and being partisan is not journalism. Nor are theatrics of getting "bagful" of evidence dramatically into a newsroom. Whether a drug was given as a medication or not, forcefully or otherwise, can be corroborated and put out straight. Authorities can be made to answer on record. In the times of propaganda and fake news, puncturing falsehood with facts should be what gives real journalism a high. Not one where anchors cravingly beg on prime time, "Mujhe drugs do, mujhe drugs do, mere liye ganja lao, charas lao, MDMA lao, ecstasy lao." Seriously, this was what one anchor did thinking he was probably dramatic.

Drug cartel, or the now-dead debate of nepotism, should be tackled in Bollywood. But to disturb a federal structure, trouble an elected government, target an upcoming leader, or spoil the image of a professional police force with allegations that disappear into thin air, all for sensation and TRPs, is aiding design for manipulation.

By falling for cheap sensationalism, the media fails in its job and does not live up to the role that it is expected, and supposed to do.

(Ashutosh M. Shukla is an independent journalist based in Mumbai)