While nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan stood on the brink of their most serious conflict in five years, the true battle wasn’t along the frontier – but in TV studios where anchors made geopolitics into gladiatorial battle. A searing new report by the Media Research Foundation follows how:
– 87% of prime-time coverage (Feb-Mar 2024) employed war-gaming graphics
– No fact-checks were done on 62% of “exclusive” military reports
– Arms industry-linked panelists received 3x as much airtime as diplomats
The Absurdity Archive:
Channel A: Utilized AI-generated imagery of “Pakistani troop movements”
Channel B: Featured debate with actors acting soldiers (later discovered to be from a drama school)
Channel C: Ran scrolling ticker of “martyred soldiers” that included names of living officers
Why It Matters:
This wasn’t just bad journalism – it had real-world consequences:
– Stock market swings correlated with sensational segments
– Hate crimes against Kashmiri students spiked 300%
– Actual backchannel diplomacy was undermined by manufactured outrage
