Truth vs. TRP: Exposing Media Failures in India-Pak War
- Pratichha S.
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
Amidst the chaotic and dangerous situations straining between India and Pakistan, we got to see everything on the news channels, newspapers, or social media. But in the last few days (i.e., April end and May 2025), the Indian population does not seem happy with the coverage on news channels. But why?
What Happened in the Last Few Days?
The Kashmir dispute has been an ongoing cause of tension between Pakistan and India. These countries have gone through several wars, insurgencies, and diplomatic crises. One level high, India shook when a heart-wrenching incident took place on 22nd April, 2025, when Pahalgam, an area in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, faced a terrorist attack claiming the lives of 26 tourists. The Resistance Front (TRF), a part of Lashkar-e-Taiba, initially took the responsibility, but subsequently denied the claims. India blamed Pakistan for cross-border terrorism support, resulting in escalated tensions, such as the suspension of diplomatic relations and water treaties.
But India strikes back with "Operation Sindoor," aimed at terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan. This resulted in a series of tit-for-tat measures, like drone attacks, artillery exchanges, and a major aerial dogfight with more than 100 fighter jets and around 800 drone attacks, one of the biggest air battles since the partition.
What is the situation currently?
The fights resulted in civilian casualties on both sides and generated international alarm at the possibility of a nuclear confrontation. By May 10, diplomatic efforts, particularly by the U.S., resulted in a ceasefire deal between the two countries. The situation, however, is still hot-blooded, with Indian and Pakistani bordering cities on high alert and the issues at stake unresolved.
But why is the Indian population angry with the PRESS?
Being a Journalism student, I was always taught that the purpose of news is to spread information, which must be neutral at all costs. When a piece of news becomes biased, it not only becomes problematic but also demolishes the role of media in Indian DEMOCRACY, being the fourth pillar. This overall has led to people concerned about media failures in India-Pak war coverage and news informatics.
In the last few days, news about sudden drone attacks and jet fights within Indian cities and bordering towns is gradually coming. Amidst them, almost every Indian is concerned, afraid, tensed, worried, angry, and obviously jumbled up by the situation, recalling the fact that this war does not end here- it’s a long way to go.
The revolution of fake news
However, the news coverage reaching us through some ‘popular’ TV news channels does not seem to be real. Already, when the situation is at its worst, we can see these channels spreading fake news and trying to intensify the situation through religious angles. Also, some ‘famous’ channels and agencies are trying to cover what is not permissible and right for the nation, mainly in order to gain TRP. Rather than telling the right story, some channels have tried hiding the damage done to India during the war, denying the facts of ‘security gaps’, and even exposing Indian secrets. Don’t you believe? We will show you.
Some media channels are trying to stop the reports that depict there was a security gap in the Pahalgam tourist area. From the video, we can see that there were Indian and foreign tourists in the Pahalgam area, and absolutely no security officials present in the bordering region, which definitely required a security system. When the reporter tried to expose the truth, he was stopped from saying this! See the video below.
Other than this, we can see that a piece of false news is circulating that Pakistani terrorists have enabled a ‘Fidayeen’ attack in Rajouri, apart from drone attacks. In simple terms, a Fidayeen attack refers to a suicide bombing. However, we can clearly see that this news is absolutely fake from the PIB fact-check post, and even the security officials have denied it.
Also, some other fake news, like a drone attack in Jalandhar, Punjab, has been identified as the video surfacing on news and social media depicts a farm fire.
Another fake news sequence that has been identified in the last few days include:
‘Fidayeen’ attack in Rajouri (J&K)
A ‘confidential’ fake letter by an Army staff General V.K. Narayan sent to an Army officer of Northern Command regarding military preparedness
Another video claiming Pakistani missile launches in retaliation resurfaced and was later found to be an old clip from the 2020 Beirut explosion
A claim depicting that the Ambala airbase was used by the Indian military to attack Amritsar and its own residents
Social media circulations depict that the government has banned entry to all Indian airports
A video clip showing the attack on the Hazira port of Gujrat, later found to be an old clip from 2021, which was recorded as an oil tank explosion
Beyond Fake News: Irresponsibility and Sensationalism
Now that we know these news stories have been fake, here are some things the Indian PRESS is focusing on. These stories have either been kept hidden or are trying to expose the secrets of India.
In the above video, we can see an agency live covering a military operation after the war began between these two countries. Even though the government is asking people to stop posting news and expose their plans, this act clearly shows how irresponsible the ‘news’ has become. Why is the channel even allowed to showcase and openly expose the revenge plans?
Other than this, another channel amidst this chaos has been trying to report the terrorist attack news in India through a completely religious angle. When a panellist is asked to expose the truth through a religiously biased opinion, the anchor does not seem to be happy because this is not what was expected from the speaker, seen below.
A few weeks before the ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Indian media exposed the military weapons and superpowers, the Indian forces have. But amidst the attacks, some channels reported the use of some specific missiles and fighter jets, which were not even used in any operation. Also, some media channels, in order to gain TRP (Television Rating Point), tried to fake depict blast sounds. However, the locals and town residents confirmed them to be something else. Recently, some channels showed that ‘drone destroying blast’ sounds were heard late at night in some areas of Amritsar, however, some residents confirmed the time to be early morning. While some channels broadcasted fake news, some of them tried to correct them after knowing the truth, as we can see in the image below.
One question that arises here is whether this information was purposely made fake to gain some TRP, or is this some rounds of misleading information brought up from unauthorized sources? Whose fault is it?
Misplaced Priorities in News Coverage
We understand there are endless news stories across India to cover, but some channels need to understand what is important and what is not. While there are geopolitical events, business news, political issues, international affairs, sports, and other news, the Indian press is showcasing a popular actor’s interest in painting as news! Many people might know the popular ‘Seema Haider’ case and opinions shared by their neighbors that became a trending topic for discussion, but after the India-Pak war, the news features articles openly discussing whether Seema Haider is going back to her country or not, as we can see in the images below.
Rather than focusing on important news stories, some channels are busy knowing how popular actors named their children, why actors copied each other in the Met Gala red carpet, and tweets from recognized people of India.
It does not matter whether you are trying to do justice to the news; the matter to Indians is whether you are covering something important or not. Is the news worthy? Is the news important to people? Is the news helping the people in any way? Is the news actually educating anyone? Is the news focusing on the spread of correct information? Is the news helping the masses to recover from the fear they’re living in? Is the news channel helping the Indian military to keep its operations secret? Is someone trying to show what the ground reality is, rather than creating fake news and gaining TRP?
Here are some proofs that the Indian population is actually tired and frustrated with the media. Please note that the IDs and names of the commenters have been hidden for specific purposes.
DISCLAIMER: The purpose of this article is not to spread hate, violence, offend anyone, or defame Indian media. All the information is truly based on sources, reports, and human opinions.
References
Thank you for this well-researched article. As an avid Twitter user, I was confused about whom to trust. This really helped clarify things.
Great explain and also we could see difference between fake news and truth
What a lovely explanation about fake news and the role of the media in the recent terrorist attack. The article is very useful and effective.
Well described news with clear & accurate facts. Good job 👏 👏
Nice and detailed information. Had a good read. Well written.