Let India’s Media Rise —A Call to Our Visionaries
To those who are architects of India’s future — now is the time to shape its soul.
To Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Mukesh Ambani, Mr Gautam Adani, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Nithin Kamath (Zerodha), Deepinder Goyal (Zomato), and the gutsy entrepreneurs and leaders of New India — this is a call for leadership beyond balance sheets and ballot boxes.
The moment is yours, media hosts such as Prannoy Roy, Arnab Goswami, Shekhar Gupta, Faye D’Souza, Ravish Kumar and voices shaping public debate — step up and be the architects for national transformation.
The Challenge We Can’t Keep Turning a Blind Eye To
India is constructing highways and satellites, digital payment systems and unicorn startups. But what’s the roadmap for the Indian mind?
Our media, which is supposed to inform and encourage us, is frequently turned into a circus of rage, drama and noise. Instead of cultivating growth mindsets or civic thinking or ethical awareness, it dulls us with polarizing debates and petty theatricalities.
We’re confusing emotional manipulation for information.
We prefer controversy to clarity.
We are feeding the brain junk and declaring it national discourse.
What If Gandhiji Had a TV Channel?
Imagine if Mahatma Gandhi had a daily broadcast in 1930.
Would he shout at Nehru for TRPs?
Would he add music behind Salt March headlines for effect?
Would he invite British officials for 8-way debates?
Or would he do what real leadership requires: address the conscience of a nation, not just its attention span?
The Salt March of our generation is AI, education, dignity of labor, justice, sustainability — but our channels are stuck in gladiator mode.
Mr. Modi, You Can Turn the Narrative Around
You have envisioned Viksit Bharat. You have led us into Digital India, AI for governance and reinvented the Vishwa guru brand for India.
Now you need to think: Is India really ready to become the leader of the world if our people get misled every day by performative media?
We need a media movement that:
- Educate our children about ethics and entrepreneurship.
- Show the lives of rural innovators, scientists and artists in India.
- Educate the countrymen about AI, mental health, and climate change.
- Replaces volume with vision
Even a single address to the nation by Your Purposeful Eminence – saying, “Let our news raise the nation, not just ratings” – can trigger a generational change.
Mr Ambani, Mr Adani — You Control the Pipes Now Shape the Flow.
You own telecom, infrastructure, digital distribution — and even the media channels themselves. That’s an immense influence.
We’re not asking for control. We’re asking for courage.
- Can you plant India’s Khan Academy of Journalism?
- Do a show like “India 2047” — forward-looking, idea-driven, hopeful?
- Construct a public interest newsroom: not left, not right — but forward?
Nobody’s got a business that flourishes in an angry or confused or misinformed culture. A nation divided against itself cannot create a strong future.
To Founders Such as Kamath, Goyal, and Others — You Master Disruption
You’ve disrupted broking, fintech, food delivery, health tech — now help disrupt toxic media.
- Fund independent creators.
- There has been little interest by anyone to support civic storytelling labs.
- Build the Netflix of Bharat. The Spotify of Indian science. The moral journalism equivalent of Axios.
Unicorns are not all that India needs. It needs unifying voices.
To Indian Media’s Stalwarts — Now Is Time to Lead the Rebuild
Prannoy Roy. Shekhar Gupta. Arnab Goswami. Faye D’Souza. Ravish Kumar. You’ve shaped media history.
Now shape the future of media.
Not with louder voices — but with values.
Not with breaking news — but breakthrough narratives.
Reclaim the newsroom. Redefine relevance. Reimagine what it means to inform a democracy.
What Will Your Grandchildren Watch?
Imagine it’s 2060. Your grandchild asks:
“But why was the Indian people so angry and so lost, when India had it all — tech, talent, capital?”
What will you say?
“We built shiny airports and amazing apps … but forgot to invest in how our people think, learn, and grow?”
Or,
“We witnessed the confusion, the shouting all around us — and we chose to bring clarity, truth, and wisdom to the dialogue?”
Your legacy is not what you create. It’s what you uplift.
Like Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’: A Moral Logic for a Media Revolution
In 1776, a pamphlet by Thomas Paine helped ignite the American Revolution. Not with ideology but with logic, clarity and conviction.
He reminded citizens that:
- Informed citizens are the basis of free societies
- Truth must remain unfiltered by the powerful
- When provided with clarity, ordinary people can exhibit extraordinary bravery.
Let us follow that tradition.
Let us not just give our people smartphones — but sense: common sense, civic sense and future sense.
Let India Think Again
We’re not requesting anybody to censor anybody. We’re not asking for control.
We’re asking for rebirth.
A media culture that:
- Celebrates depth over drama
- Values clarity over chaos
- Uplifts the mind instead of shouting it down
You’ve all demonstrated what’s possible in your industries. Now demonstrate what’s possible when vision and voice converge.
Let this be the era in which India didn’t just digitize — it civilized its discourse.
Let this be the moment that the powerful chose to empower minds.
Because as Lincoln said:
“We yet do not know what new freedoms this transformation might bring.”
And should India decide to raise its media, we might even discover freedoms and benefits previously unknown to us.
With a deep belief in India’s future,
A Citizen Who Believes in the power of Thought
Note: If this post speaks to you, pass it on. Amplify it. And if you’re one of the leaders addressed above — hear this: the nation is listening. And it is ready.
The END
Sources & References
- Thomas Paine’s Common Sense – Full text and historical context: Library of Congress
- Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Philosophy – Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012), screenplay by Tony Kushner, inspired by Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Media Landscape in India – Observations and critiques from:
- The Caravan, Scroll.in, The Wire, Newslaundry, and Faye D’Souza’s independent work
- Public commentary by Ravish Kumar and Shekhar Gupta (via ThePrint)
- TRP System and Newsroom Incentives – News reports from The Hindu, Indian Express, and BBC News India
(on Sushant Singh Rajput media coverage, Aryan Khan case, and TRP manipulation investigations) - Digital India, Viksit Bharat, and AI Push – Government of India initiatives via:
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Thought Experiments – From The Black Swan, Antifragile, and Skin in the Game (for the style of future-looking, logic-based reflections)
- Guy Debord’s “Society of the Spectacle” – Cultural commentary on media and spectacle: Marxists.org Archive