India faces an environmental crisis, but this seasonâs election coverage is set to ignore it
Until the impending Assembly elections are over, we can expect little else in news coverage apart from the political circus.
Shambhavi Thakur
Once again, election season is upon us. In fact, in India, it never seems to end. And for some political parties, it's perennial.
From now until the results are declared for the Assembly elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry on May 2, we can expect little else in media coverage apart from the political circus.
For the news media, the electoral battlefield provides endless possibilities and a chance to increase readership and viewership. Elections are guaranteed to be entertaining with every politician extracting the maximum advantage from media attention. Yet, increasingly, elections have been reduced to a few personalities; the issues that matter to the majority of voters slip into the background.