Nudge from Indian advertisers may force news channels to be less toxic

Rhea Chakraborty needs to be called a witch because she does witch-craft.” “Sushant was a victim of Rhea’s black magic.” Over the past weeks, we have seen the majority of the Indian news channels pose serious allegations like these on actress Rhea Chakraborty, for having a role in the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. On June 14, Sushant was found dead at his apartment in Mumbai’s Bandra.
Soon after, the late actor’s family alleged that Chakraborty, Rajput’s girlfriend, had abetted his alleged suicide and registered a case against her in Patna on July 28. Since then, Chakraborty has been the center of relentless attention on news channels and attacks on social media. Chakraborthy is currently in jail for over three weeks on drugs-related charges linked to a probe into the actor’s death.
Several cartoons rightly represent the current state of media.
Concerns of top advertising brands The rising toxicity, however, caught the eye of the country’s top advertisers. Several industry captains and experts have expressed their concern over the state of India’s news channels, saying the on-going toxicity and unwanted aggressiveness in content doesn’t bode well for advertisers in terms of brand safety.