Ambani's “Firstpost”: A Mouthpiece for Modi Government

Firstpost, an Indian online news and media website, has become a mouthpiece for its owner Mukesh Ambani, after being acquired by Reliance Industries-led Network 18. Before its acquisition, it was owned by Ragahav Bahl. The website has stopped being critical of central government policies and instead attacks opposition on every issue. This is evident in many of the articles they posted after the acquisition.

They recently published an article titled "How in Modi's regime rules cannot be circumvented to favour anyone". Interestingly, the Modi government has tweaked laws many times to favour the Reliance Industries (especially JIo) led by Mukesh Ambani. The article was written as a counter to the narrative that Modi government has tweaked laws to favour Adani Groups.

In one of its op-ed, it writes “The attack on Modi ahead of 2024 so far has been just like 2014 and 2019: poorly thought-out, in a language that the masses don’t relate to, and reeking of disdain for Hindus and India”. How the right wing media outlet “First Post” has connected the analogy of criticizing Modi government with Hindus and India. Since when does criticizing a government has become unpatriotic and anti-hindu? 

Whereas for the opposition they write “Rahul Gandhi fails to realise that the idea of new India amalgamates a truly modern nation with an innate civilisational soul. It no longer loathes money and distrusts the invisible hands of capitalism”.

This brings us to another notable point to consider in the discussion of Firstpost's editorial stance is that Mukesh Ambani's controlled media outlets, including Firstpost, have a reputation for consistently praising the Narendra Modi government and rarely, if ever, criticizing its policies.

These media outlets are nothing but corporate-controlled right-wing media that are more interested in promoting the interests of the government and its allies than in providing independent journalism. Instead of critically examining government policies, these media outlets tend to focus on asking questions of the opposition, suggesting a clear bias in their coverage of political events.

Ambani’s news channel be it digital media or institutional media always sings the eulogy of the Modi Government. They have rarely been critical of any of its policies. They run shows on communal lines which perpetuate the ideology of the government. This is financially supported by Ambani's network 18.

Furthermore, Firstpost's acquisition of Faking News and its subsequent shutdown raises questions about the website's commitment to journalistic integrity. Faking News was known for debunking fake news that tended to favor the Modi Government. The debunking of fake news by it which may have indirectly affected the political interests of the Modi Government.

Recently, Mohammed Zubair was also arrested on vague grounds. He is the founder of ‘Alt News’ which  is another Indian non-profit fact-checking website. Fake news, undoubtedly is supporting pillar for the BJP government. BJP spokespersons have several times spoke against Alt News and their work, when all they do is to debunk the fake news. 

In addition, the hiring of Palki Sharma also seems to indicate a bias towards the ideology of the Modi government. Palki Sharma's pro-Modi government stance, evident in her previous reporting at WION, serves to further the media narrative promoted by Network 18, ultimately benefiting the media conglomerate's political interests.

Overall, it appears that Firstpost's acquisition by Reliance Industries has led to a shift in the website's editorial stance, raising concerns about its independence and impartiality in reporting on government policies and actions.

Around 8 months back, our team made a video on how Ambani-led ‘Network 18’ is dominating the institutional media and thereby controlling the flow of information. Do watch the interesting video (embedded below) our team at “The Philox” published.