The ex-employee explains that the news’ reach will increase because it’s going to people who weren’t listening to it before—but it’s still the same news available to them on AIR. “What plus point can this have? AIR has always toed the government line—that is a fact. This particular move is to only increase their audience base.”



The ex-employee says three months into their job at AIR, the Babri Masjid demolition took place. The ex-employee was given the task of putting together the “press comments” section of the bulletin—a 3.5-minute segment which collates important things covered in major newspapers. “That day’s editor asked me to put it together, but my senior stood up and asked the editor how he could give such sensitive responsibility to someone who was so new. He (the senior) said that I would report the news as I saw it in the newspapers which, according to him, wasn’t how they did things at AIR. He then put together the press comments section himself. But now I realise that all he was trying to do was protect me because if I had reported the events as it was in the newspapers, I would have probably lost my job early in my career.”



The ex-employee adds, “We reported on Babri Masjid that day—but we didn’t even utter the words ‘Babri Masjid’ on air. Till date, we refer to it as a ‘vivaadit dhaancha’ meaning ‘disputed site’.”



If the aim of the “news-sharing” is to make people aware of various schemes, this already happens—AIR is vastly listened to by people in small towns and remote villages without access to private FM channels. The ex-employee says, “With private FM channels now being able to broadcast AIR’s news bulletins—without even putting a comma or a full stop and with the added obligation of reproducing it verbatim—it is an exercise at getting sarkaari news to reach more people who listen to other FM channels apart from AIR. Modi wants you to listen to the news that is controlled by him and wants it to reach you not only through AIR and DD but also through private FM channels.”