{"id":5347,"date":"2016-05-23T04:10:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-22T22:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347"},"modified":"2016-05-23T04:10:59","modified_gmt":"2016-05-22T22:40:59","slug":"ravish-kumar-magsaysay-award-speech-citizen-journalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=5347","title":{"rendered":"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

M<\/span><\/p><\/div>

\ny memories of growing up in small-town India are inseparable from the binding powers of television. I grew up in the age of Ramanand Sagar and <\/span>Shaktimaan<\/span><\/i>, and witnessed the sudden incursion of phenomenons like <\/span>Small Wonder<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Baywatch<\/span><\/i>. Central to everything, though, was TV news. Regardless of the generational gap in our family, all of us sat glued to the rounded, blurred screen at prime time to gather our straightforward summaries of the day. But listening to <\/span>Ravish Kumar<\/span><\/a>\u2019s Ramon Magsaysay award-winning speech, reminded me how those years of flowing interchanges have been replaced by aggressive and often pointless debating. Worse, it has been done by newsrooms that claimed to be its first avengers, as Kumar pointed out.<\/span>\n\nI\u2019ve had my share of disagreements over issues with my <\/span>family<\/span><\/a> members and friends, but that was in an age of uncompromised, trustworthy reporting. We might have debated the merit of one thing or the other, but we never needed to debate the political origins of a fact, the possibility of news and fiction being one.<\/span>\n\nThere were plenty of takeaways from Kumar\u2019s humble yet deeply affecting speech. He began, on the day India waits for <\/span>Chandrayaan 2<\/span><\/a> to land on the moon, by reminding people of the potholes in our road, the infections in our system. \u201cMy streets have craters and potholes that outnumber the moon,\u201d he says. But of the many things that Kumar\u2019s speech was mindful and an honest-to-reality reflection of, his anecdotes were what stood out, reminding me of a time when newsrooms informed rather than incited their viewers. Kumar tells the story of a schoolgirl who continued to watch his show despite her father telling her not to. \u201cAs long as people like her are there, democracy will survive,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span>\n\n

But listening to Ravish Kumar\u2019s Ramon Magsaysay award-winning speech, reminded me how those years of flowing interchanges have been replaced by aggressive and often pointless debating.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nGenerations are often defined by the times they live through. My grandfather, at least on a mental level, never survived the <\/span>Partition<\/span><\/a> and the visceral pain it must have caused him at the tender age of 12. Over the last couple of years, though, he has been convinced by prime-time propagandists that India has come to exist on another Partition-like precipice, ready to jump and sink, one way or the other. My attempts to calm him often go unheeded. He\u2019d rather believe his lived nightmares than the promise of sanity this country tried to build for 70 years \u2014 now eviscerated because some news anchor must empty his lungs to the beat of majoritarian politics. Unfortunately, grandpa can\u2019t even change that many channels to reach a Ravish. Before long he might not even have that option; something that, as Kumar made distinctly clear, can be felt in the pulse of the media.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nKumar\u2019s speech broadly appeals to the citizens of the country, to their dogged sense of curiosity and activism. Kumar requests citizens to see beyond the click-bait \u201capocalyptic headlines\u201d to search for meaningful information. He says that co-opted media \u2014 a media that speaks the language of the <\/span>government<\/span><\/a> \u2014 is a privileged accessory. It makes sense, on multiple levels. Amid a landmark slowdown in the economy, rather than peer into the windows of the finance ministry, the media has turned its eyes toward spicy tidbits that are ideal fodder for their prime-time verbal akhadas. The simple dissemination of information and reportage alone feels nostalgic, as if it belonged to some relegated period of golden history; the kind of history that is now criminally misrepresented by the media of today. We\u2019ve made it through worse times, but I\u2019m not sure if we\u2019ve had worse motivations, all of us.<\/span>\n\nKumar may enounce sanity in the newsroom, but outside he is as ineffective, as inconsequential, perhaps, as the next man. It is a fact he acknowledges his speech as well. \u201cIn my opinion citizen journalism is the need of the hour when traditional media turns hostile towards information,\u201d he says. Kumar appeals to the citizen\u2019s sense of pride in his or her rights, their sense of despair at being conned and lied to repeatedly. A media that is complicit in advertising a certain <\/span>politics<\/span><\/a>, Kumar says, is naturally against minorities, and interests it should rather pitch forward. A lot of what Kumar says isn\u2019t rocket science, it is palpable, easily noticeable around us. The falsification of facts has become a vocation of its own. The fourth estate is nothing but the people\u2019s ire \u2014 their anger and curiosity bundled into a voice note. The likes of Kumar should only be asked to play messenger instead of the hero\u2019s role asked of him. We need to stop waiting for other Kumars. Because as Kumar says, \u201c\u2018testing times\u2019 is a meek euphemism for where we are today.\u201d <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his acceptance speech ahead of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ravish Kumar\u2019s appeals to the citizenry\u2019s sense of pride in their rights, despair at being conned, and frustration at being lied to repeatedly. It\u2019s time to pay attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":5348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[9114,115,3367,33,9115,8316,9116,9117,9118],"class_list":["post-5347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pov","tag-chandrayaan-2","tag-citizen-journalism","tag-government","tag-politics","tag-prime-time-propaganda","tag-ravish-kumar","tag-ravish-kumars-magsaysay-award","tag-ravish-kumars-magsaysay-award-speech","tag-traditional-media"],"yoast_head":"\nIn An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his acceptance speech ahead of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ravish Kumar\u2019s appeals to the citizenry\u2019s sense of pride in their rights, despair at being conned, and frustration at being lied to repeatedly. It\u2019s time to pay attention.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his acceptance speech ahead of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ravish Kumar\u2019s appeals to the citizenry\u2019s sense of pride in their rights, despair at being conned, and frustration at being lied to repeatedly. It\u2019s time to pay attention.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-22T22:40:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1567777362.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Manik Sharma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"In his acceptance speech ahead of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ravish Kumar\u2019s appeals to the citizenry\u2019s sense of pride in their rights, despair at being conned, and frustration at being lied to repeatedly. It\u2019s time to pay attention.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Manik Sharma\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Manik Sharma\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8964d05835d3b635d4a359a761d57a76\"},\"headline\":\"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-22T22:40:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347\"},\"wordCount\":830,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1567777362.png\",\"keywords\":[\"chandrayaan 2\",\"citizen journalism\",\"government\",\"politics\",\"Prime-Time Propaganda\",\"Ravish Kumar\",\"Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award\",\"Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech\",\"traditional media\"],\"articleSection\":[\"POV\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347\",\"name\":\"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1567777362.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-22T22:40:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8964d05835d3b635d4a359a761d57a76\"},\"description\":\"In his acceptance speech ahead of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ravish Kumar\u2019s appeals to the citizenry\u2019s sense of pride in their rights, despair at being conned, and frustration at being lied to repeatedly. It\u2019s time to pay attention.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1567777362.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1567777362.png\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=5347#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8964d05835d3b635d4a359a761d57a76\",\"name\":\"Manik Sharma\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/11b5179257edb242d630c554e7f7b75fa4e35c1e6151c9c7d8f12d92e937bc08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/11b5179257edb242d630c554e7f7b75fa4e35c1e6151c9c7d8f12d92e937bc08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/11b5179257edb242d630c554e7f7b75fa4e35c1e6151c9c7d8f12d92e937bc08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Manik Sharma\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=137\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen","description":"In his acceptance speech ahead of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ravish Kumar\u2019s appeals to the citizenry\u2019s sense of pride in their rights, despair at being conned, and frustration at being lied to repeatedly. It\u2019s time to pay attention.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen","og_description":"In his acceptance speech ahead of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ravish Kumar\u2019s appeals to the citizenry\u2019s sense of pride in their rights, despair at being conned, and frustration at being lied to repeatedly. It\u2019s time to pay attention.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-05-22T22:40:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1567777362.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Manik Sharma","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen","twitter_description":"In his acceptance speech ahead of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ravish Kumar\u2019s appeals to the citizenry\u2019s sense of pride in their rights, despair at being conned, and frustration at being lied to repeatedly. It\u2019s time to pay attention.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Manik Sharma","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347"},"author":{"name":"Manik Sharma","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/8964d05835d3b635d4a359a761d57a76"},"headline":"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen","datePublished":"2016-05-22T22:40:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347"},"wordCount":830,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1567777362.png","keywords":["chandrayaan 2","citizen journalism","government","politics","Prime-Time Propaganda","Ravish Kumar","Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award","Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech","traditional media"],"articleSection":["POV"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347","name":"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1567777362.png","datePublished":"2016-05-22T22:40:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/8964d05835d3b635d4a359a761d57a76"},"description":"In his acceptance speech ahead of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ravish Kumar\u2019s appeals to the citizenry\u2019s sense of pride in their rights, despair at being conned, and frustration at being lied to repeatedly. It\u2019s time to pay attention.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1567777362.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1567777362.png","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5347#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In An Age of Prime-Time Propaganda, Why Ravish Kumar\u2019s Magsaysay Award Speech is a Must-Listen"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/8964d05835d3b635d4a359a761d57a76","name":"Manik Sharma","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/11b5179257edb242d630c554e7f7b75fa4e35c1e6151c9c7d8f12d92e937bc08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/11b5179257edb242d630c554e7f7b75fa4e35c1e6151c9c7d8f12d92e937bc08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/11b5179257edb242d630c554e7f7b75fa4e35c1e6151c9c7d8f12d92e937bc08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Manik Sharma"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=137"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1567777362.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}