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Deception in Indian Television: A Case Study of Telugu Media

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Chapter

DECEPTION IN INDIAN TELEVISION:

A CASE STUDY OF TELUGU MEDIA

C. S. H. N. Murthy
Department of Media and Film Studies,
Paradigm-Institute of Media and Film Studies,
Secunderabad, India

ABSTRACT

Deception in Indian electronic media, especially television, has

reached its zenith for several reasons in the recent times. Due to increased
competition among thousands and odd television channels, the media
tended to adopt deception and connivance as strategies of survival. While
deception subsumes a wide range of communication strategies, connivance
is tinged with politics of various hues such as national politics, regionalism,
casteism, and market driven economic considerations. The deception often
transforms into a form that exhibits a tendency to create crisis by arousing
passions of different sections of society towards a topical subject; later it
attempts to diffuse the same crisis in connivance with political


Corresponding author address: C.S.H.N.Murthy Ph.D. Professor in Media and Film Studies,
Paradigm – Institute of Media and Film Studies, Secunderabad, 500 017. Telangana, India. E
mail: cshnmurthy@yahoo.co.in.
2 C. S. H. N. Murthy

establishment. The present chapter not only highlights a few such

important deceptive stories of television in Indian media in the recent past
but also analyses the manner the Telugu media had created severe crisis
with regard to demonetization in the twin Telugu states through creation of
fake news.

Keywords: deception, fake news connivance, strategies, political

management, casteism, regionalism, market economy, etc.

INTRODUCTION

Deception primarily relates to communication (Hearn, 2006). In day to

day practice, the term ‘communication’ has wider import both industrially
and academically. While the traditional definition of communication is
‘exchange of similar experience between individuals (interpersonal
communication) through commonly understood signs or semiotic rules,’ the
advanced state of understanding it as a process of enhancing such
‘experience’ has begun with the development of mechanistic as well as
humanistic models of communication based on the initial linear model of
communication developed by Harold Laswell, a scientist of political science
from Yale University, US (Lasswell, 117: 1948; Shoemaker, Tankard &
Lasorsa, D, 120: 2004). These models of communication have later
developed into transmission models (Berlo, 1960; Shannon & Weaver,
1949; Schramm, 1954) and transactional models (Barnlund, 2008) leading
to the present day’s modern forms of communication such as
telecommunications (including mobile and internet technologies),
television, etc.
James Hearn (2006) is first to identify the critical role ‘deception’ played
in human life. This concept has gone deep into unearthing how humans make
use of ‘lies’ or ‘falsehood’ or ‘fake or fabricated stories’ for deceiving, and
how it impacts human relationships. This has led to the development of
‘Interpersonal Deception Theory’ (IDT) by two communications professors,
David B. Buller and Judee K. Burgoon, in 1996. Buller and Burgoon (1996)
posit that in most cases people find themselves not merely observing, but
 Deception in Indian Television 3

actually interacting with persons who are less than honest. They concluded
that the data obtained in their study is least helpful in determining the effect
of deception in the context of social interaction. Their studies merged
interpersonal communication theory with the previously derived deception
principles. The studies of Guerrero et al. (2007) have further led to laying
down three types of deception strategies: falsification through creation of
fiction, concealment amounting to omission of certain facts, equivocation in
which the message sender skirts certain issues, by changing the subject or
offering indirect responses. Thus, deception could be briefly defined or
summarized as follows: … several types of communications or omissions
that serve to distort or omit the complete truth. Examples of deception range
from false statements to misleading claims in which relevant information is
omitted, leading the receiver to infer false conclusions
(https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Deception).
The present study is an engagement with the extension of these
strategies of deceptive political communication into many ways that media
are currently indulging in (Bwoblunder, 2015; Kate et al. 2017, Sawant,
2017) going beyond inter-personal communication to one-to-many
communication (Barlund, 2008). Further the study assumes significance in
unplugging how deceptive political communication including ‘fake
news’/’fake stories’ is fast becoming a base for adding strength to the
offensive of politically weaker parties to attack the numerically strong
political ruling front.

METHOD

The study is grounded in qualitative and descriptive analysis. The study

examines not only primary sources such as news telecasts or clippings of
specific programme telecasts (loaded on YouTube) that indulged in deception
through transmission of ‘fake-news’ but also makes use of available secondary
sources such as scholarly and journalistic articles on deception in media
communication to analyze and support its findings.
4 C. S. H. N. Murthy

Though the telecasts of a number of channels such as ABN-Andhra Jyothi,

Sakshi, TV9, NTV, TV 5, HMTV, etc. were watched for the purpose of the study,
the samples provided here were from two prominent Telugu channels—TV 91
and NTV2—which had the highest viewing among Telugu audiences (See
Annexure I for important videos translated into English text, omitting flashing
recurrent visuals together with music scoring and repetitions by anchor/voice
over in the background). The period chosen for the study of deception in the
transmission of channels was November 8, 2016 to May 2017. The summary of
items of ‘fake news’ identified in Table I is drawn very much from the videos
in the Annexure I with relevant URL links to YouTube with details of date and
time of transmission. The study examines whether the deceptive ‘fake news’
stories telecast by the select sample of channels conforms to the categories of
‘deception’ identified by Guerrero et al (2007) and Buller and Burgoon (1996).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Different Ways of Deceptive Communication

In fact, there are multiple ways of deceptive communications. Similarly,

there are various ‘forms’ and ‘verbatim’ of deception. In other words, deception
has both form and verbatim. For instance, a television showing visuals regarding
an issue or an incident without reflecting the date and time of its recording
simultaneously amounts to deceiving the audience. In other words, the
television channel is trying to show a visual which is not connected with the
news item it is reporting. Such visuals may show a person who is dead or no
more connected with the political party or government in the ‘news’ creating an
impression that the television channel is offering an old clip or visual along with

1
TV 9 –Owned by Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited (ABCL). Founded by Ravi
Prakash who is its CEO in 2004, the Company has established its channels in various
languages across India—Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi. It is one of the channels which has highest
viewing in Andhra and Telangana. One can view its transmissions in US on Dishnetwork and
in Africa on Simba Television Network.
2
NTV--Owned by Tummala Narendra Chowdary, it was established in 2007 under the corporate
title Rachana Television Private Limited (RTPL). Today it is also one of the few like TV 9
among most sought after channel for viewing by Telugu audiences.
 Deception in Indian Television 5

the breaking news or latest news. Since it is not reflecting the word ‘from file’
or ‘recorded’ on television screen, it amounts to deceiving the audience into
believing that whatever is shown as visuals concurrently is true.
A click on the following link will suffice to establish this sort of deception
freely indulged in Telugu media channels or for that matter in English and Hindi
media channels also. Various strategies of deception as categorized by Guerrero
et al. (2007) were identified in bold giving justification as to how they
constituted ‘false news,’ ‘misinformation,’ ‘misinterpretation’ leading to
deception.

Modi’s war on black money a flop show: Business Prime Time

TV 9--Jan 21, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2U7qqhSKbI

All claims of Modi that he would bring the culprits of black money to
book have ended up as a flop show (false statement -- no one knows what
are those claims—except Modi’s statements during his election campaign
regarding the culprits having black money in foreign banks). Modi’s
government kept on indulging in one wrong step after another
(false)…People are refusing to give pass marks even to Modi’s government
(false--In fact Modi’s party won in regional elections in several states
including the latest election in India’s biggest state Uttara Pradesh). All his
efforts to curb black money failed to yield any results (false)—Voluntary
Disclosure of Income Scheme 2015 flopped (false)—Income Declaration
Scheme of 2016 failed (false)—His step to demonetize has ended in
humiliation (false)—Garib Kalyan Yojana also failed (false)—The
statements of panel speakers who are business analysts and auditors did not
testify to the statements of anchor and/or background speaker in the show.
The whole show continues till the end with a single agenda to misinterpret,
misinform and enrage the innocent public (chief strategy of deception)
about whatever affirmative action government of India is taking to curb the
black money circulation in public life. While the visuals of montage do not
bear any date, time of recording, context and place of recording, the whole
story is full of false statements unsupported by any shred of evidence in
the form of authentic reports from recognized and/or accepted sources. The
6 C. S. H. N. Murthy

visuals not only repeat within the duration of the same story but also recur
in similar stories aired by this channel. (Deception)

Similarly, media channels showing videos on Facebook or YouTube in

the main news bulletin transmission without showing the actual date and
time of the recording of videos also amount to deception as those videos do
not tend to relate themselves to the contemporary situations within which a
news bulletin is going on air (See Bwoblunder, 2015; Kate et al. 2017,
Sawant, 2017 for detailed examples in Indian context).
This is just one side of the coin of deception as one tends to understand
its legal import academically (See Pearson, 2017 for legal consequences of
‘fake news’). In fact media resort to deceiving audiences in many ways.
Various terms have come to stay to denote deception such as beguilement,
deceit, bluff, mystification, ruse, faking, and subterfuge among others. But,
mostly all these in one way or the other tend to involve propaganda,
distraction and camouflage. Despite its vastness in scope and sweep, there
is a dearth of literature as far as the research on deception through creation
of fake news in Indian communication studies is concerned.
At the same time, it also concerns academics and media practitioners
alike (Flood, 2016; Hunt, 2017; Kirchik, 2017; Pearson, 2017). In fact, the
worst criticism of this burgeoning fake news and ‘post-truth’ distortions has
stemmed from nonetheless editors of the tabloids (Tablet) and newspapers
(The Guardian, etc.) from overseas. However, there is no realization of this
growing menace in Indian media among academics or media practitioners
(for an update see Sawant, 2017). The fact that fake news has fast turned
into a global phenomenon and reached mind boggling proportions is obvious
from the write ups of the authors like James Kirchik in Tablet (2017) and
Hunt in the Guardian of Australian edition (2017).
 Table I. Summary of fake news staements reported in TV 9 and ntv telecasts on demonetization
(based on videos cited in Annexure i)

S.No. Summary Statement Proof that they are fake Actual Fact Channel name & Date of
of Fake News Video cited in Annexure
I
1. It is a big scam. Modi No beneficiaries are named Modi truly believed it as one step TV 9 & NTV-- Dec 9,
cheated India. in the right direction 2016
TV 9- Jan 2, 2017
2. It is meant to benefit No industrialist/Corporate Modi has exposed the high level TV 9 –Jan 2, 2017; NTV
capitalists not to curb entity named as beneficiary. corruption in the Indian banks who Dec 9, 2016.
black money tried to make money during this
time by favouring some bigwigs
3. Public suffered due to Some bytes of commoners People have accepted Modi’s step TV9 – Dec 15, 2016;
crunch of currency and standing in queues at banks and cooperated with the crunch NTV Dec, 27, 2016
limitations imposed on have been relayed though patiently.
withdrawal of currency no time, date, person’s
name, place of recording is
not given.
4. Hundreds of people No evidence May be some coincidental deaths NTV - Dec 27, 2016
died in queues not due to long queues.
5. Marriages stuck or No evidence shown Government issued quickly NTV- Jan 9, 2017
postponed or affected instructions to Banks to help
Weddings on time.
 Table I. (Continued)

S.No. Summary Statement Proof that they are fake Actual Fact Channel name & Date of
of Fake News Video cited in Annexure
I
6. Modi pandered to US No evidence shown Government may have its own NTV—Jan 9 and Jan 11,
and surrendered policy to go cashless. 2017
national interests to it.
7. Modi let off the big No evidence shown Modi took all steps to get Malya NTV—Dec 9, 2016
business houses like extradited from UK
Malya of Kingfisher by
canceling their dues in
billions to banks
8. Modi’s step pushed No evidence shown No serious impact on GDP. No NTV—Jan 11, 2017
back India for another prices escalation during this time.
two decades. GDP has
slid down
9. People started hating No evidence of any survey Modi won almost all elections NTV-Dec 27, 2016
Modi. His electoral showing declining public after demonetization
chances became grim support to him
after demonetization.
 Deception in Indian Television 9

In fact, the ‘Word of the Year 2016’ selections by the editors of

Macquarie and Oxford dictionaries have shown ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’
as newly emerging globally accepted controversial media jargon. Hunt
(2017) termed ‘fake news’ as ‘disinformation and hoaxes published on
websites for political purposes or to drive web traffic, and ‘the incorrect
information being passed along by social media.’ Flood (2016) defined the
‘post-truth’ as one ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective
facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion
and personal belief.’ The committee of Macquarie dictionary said in a
statement that fake news was one of the biggest issues of 2016 in Australia
and around the world: ‘It captures an interesting evolution in the creation of
deceptive content as a way of herding people in a specific direction.’ James
Kirchik writes:

Since the phenomenon captured public imagination in the wake of

Trump’s victory, the term ‘fake news’ has evolved from describing the
product of websites deliberately pushing false stories, hoaxes and
conspiracy theories to now include pretty much any claim of dubious
nature. Robbed of its original and specific meaning, fake news is now used,
often sarcastically, to describe any piece of information that someone
doesn’t like (Tablet, February 6).

But, the deception in media goes far beyond a sum up of these

definitions for Indian media. The early deception studies in the academic
circles have mostly focused on the issues of distrust and betrayal between
human beings especially the lovers or people between whom the
business/profit interests lie uppermost (Conely, et al. 2011; Guthrie and
Kunkel, 2013). However, as stated earlier, the work of Buller and Burgoon
(1996) has offered deeper insights into deceptive communication in
explaining the phenomenon through sender and receiver (S to R) model.
Their study documented several important sub-phenomena that arise in
deceptive communication, such as Cognitive overload, Concept of leakage,
Truth–bias and Suspicion, Adaptive behavior of deceiver, and Othello error.
These theoretical illustrations have received parallel anchoring from the
studies of psychology and human behavior.
10 C. S. H. N. Murthy

a. Psychological Analyses

Much of the research on deception in communication is focused on

interpersonal communications that involve trust and betrayal between two
individuals, lovers, etc. (Conley, et al. 2011; Guthrie, J., & Kunkel, A. 2013;
Guerrero, Anderson, & Afifi, 2007; Lemay et al. 2013; Zuckerman,
DePaulo, & Rosenthal, 1981). Further a lot of research in deception revolves
round ‘psychoanalysis’ or ‘psychological studies’ (Conley, et al. 2011;
Zuckerman, DePaulo, & Rosenthal, 1981). For instance, the study of
Zukerman et al. (1981) revealed that the act of deception occurs along a four-
factor model. Under this model, an extreme concentration required by an
individual engaged in deception and employing the compensating
mechanisms to mask that deceit may result in their performance appearing
polished or rehearsed. According to them, lying causes a lot of arousal in the
sender both psychologically and physiologically. Such an arousal cannot be
suppressed or hidden and it will automatically lead to evidence by itself.
Zuckerman, et al. also observed that those engaging in deceit experience
strong feelings of guilt and anxiety which must also be dealt with and
suppressed. Thus, the cognitive difficulty and rigor of engaging in deception
will have an effect on the sender. Further, the study of Buller and Burgoon
(1996) pointed out that there is a tendency among people to believe what
they hear first as truth. They called it ‘truth-bias.’ This means that, all things
being equal, a person will err on the side of believing the information
conveyed to them interpersonally. That said, there is still a lot of scope left
for the receiver to analyze and judge what s/he listens is right or wrong. In
IDT, this is referred to as suspicion. On the continuum of trust, suspicion is
at midpoint falling between absolute truth and the expectation of falsity
(Buller and Burgoon, 1996). The studies further documented that the senders
of deceptive messages will have a lot of manipulative skills which enable
them to gauge the suspicion of the receiver. Accordingly, they manage the
messages to avoid any scope for doubts.
However, there are a number of other factors which render it difficult to
gauge the deception. It is called ‘Othello Error,’ which means that
individuals who speak truth react in much the same way when falsely
 Deception in Indian Television 11

accused or confronted with suspicion as do the individuals who habitually

indulge in deception. These psychological studies using communication
models have led to the foundation of establishing how deception transpires
between individuals such as lovers or business partners in industry. Further,
these studies have also established that humans will not have the ability to
detect deception in general. According to DePaulo (1981), the power of
humans to detect deception is just above 53%, a little above flipping a coin
for a chance of head or trial.

b. Lack of Ethics in Profession

In addition, the study of growing lack of ethics/bypassing, deliberately

ethics in reporting or writing in the media profession did constitute
‘deception’ (Pearson, 2017). Thus, the scope of deception has been fast
expanding. As a result, today media is confounded with worst form of
deception — ‘fake news or post-truth.’ As mentioned earlier, these are the
latest terms to add to the jargon of deception (Bwoblunder, 2015; Hunt,
2017; Kate et al. 2016). Not only do several journalists expressed severe
anguish against this growing tendency to report fake news, but recently
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the Facebook, sounded alert to its
communities for ensuing truth while maintaining divergent views and
alternative perspectives. This has become quite essential in the light of the
fact that alternate media have become the major shareholder in circulating
fake news. Dharmendra Jore, secretary, Mumbai Press Club and political
editor of Mid-Day says (Sawant, 2017):

“I have read fake news mostly on social media sites and on WhatsApp.
I haven’t really come across fake news in print or television, but I have
certainly come across news that is not entirely true. Unconfirmed rumours
or half truths are made into news.”
According to Jore, the Press Club of India does get its fair share of
complaints that deal with libel, where the complainants think that
12 C. S. H. N. Murthy

information published about them is defamatory in nature. That also

technically comes under the gamut of ‘fake news’ (Sawant, 2017).

c. Fake News as a Market Strategy Peaks in Indian Media

The election period is when there is a high possibility of the spreading

of fake news, according to Jore. He cites a very recent news item which he
came across in print and television media. The item pertains to the recent
crisis in AIADMK party in Tamil Nadu. The news item reported as:
‘Recreation of TN MLAs who were lodged in a resort.’ When he carefully
examined the photos, it turned out that the pictures were of some community
feast and of a person drinking at a roadside garden restaurant. Bwoblunder
(2015) has highlighted an array of lies that media had spread over a period
of time during April 2015 itself. The author collected the ‘fake stories’ from
various media outlets which included reputed news media organizations like
Indian Express, Times of India, Times Now, NDTV, etc.
Most of the times, Indian media generate news from the social media
such as Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, etc. Again, and again glaring
ignorance of ethics shock the readers while media were happily passing on
the information, visuals, messages from these sources without complying
with the ‘twice verification principle’ of media reporting/writing or avowed
objective neutrality. The alarming level the ‘fake news’ has reached in India
is best illustrated by Michael Safi (Kate et al. 2017) below:

After India’s prime minister announced the introduction of a new,

2,000-rupee note last month, phones around the country lit up with the
news the bill would come installed with a surveillance chip, linked to a
satellite that could track the notes even 120 metres underground. The
claims, debunked by the country’s reserve bank, nonetheless spread like
fire over WhatsApp – which has more than 50 million users in India – and
migrated into mainstream news. As in the United States and elsewhere,
increasing numbers of Indians are getting their news from social media.
But the 2,000-rupee episode illustrates the deeper impact of fake news in a
 Deception in Indian Television 13

country where media is prolific, but journalistic standards, especially in

regional media, can still fall short (See Michael Safi report from India).

Quoting the statement of Prabhakar Kumar, from the Indian media

research agency, CMS, Safi further wrote that ‘Mainstream media in India
is more impacted by the phenomena [of fake news] because they broadcast
these kinds of stories without verifying,’ He further adds that ‘There is no
standard policy for TV news and newspapers about the process of
researching and publishing stories.’

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

Connivance as a Source for Deception (Fake News):

Evidence from Telugu Media

Evidence from regional media (Telugu Television Industry) in India

illustrates how innovatively the regional media, (Telugu Media) resorted to
various forms of deception eroding the public confidence in it in the recent
times (See Annexure I). The Telugu media channels in fact have combined
all the strategies of deception explained in the theoretical anchoring (See
Gurrero et al. 2007 & Buller and Burgoon, 1996) in foreground as a strategy
to meet the growing challenges from market competitors.
Last two decades have witnessed tremendous explosion of market
economy contrary to the earlier government regulated economy in India.
Among several sectors that received the fillip due to privatization and
globalization in the post 1990s, the media economy and political
communication has stood in the forefront (Thomas, 2010). The explosion of
media channels and the increased growth of the television industry both in
Hindi and Telugu in India have also contributed to the adoption of diverse
deceptive strategies. While deception subsumes a wide range of
communication strategies, ‘connivance,’ a form of deception is tinged with
politics of various hues such as national politics, regionalism, casteism, and
market driven economic considerations.
14 C. S. H. N. Murthy

The deception of connivance often transforms into a form that exhibits

a tendency to create crisis by arousing passions of different sections of
society towards a topical subject (recent example to cite is – the
demonetization program undertaken by the Prime Minister in the Modi
Government of India) and later attempt to diffuse the same crisis in
connivance with the support from political establishment. This has become
phenomenal as there are more than 13 dedicated news channels and as many
as 40 entertainment channels in Hyderabad, the capital of then undivided
Andhra Pradesh.
The State of Andhra Pradesh, which was the 5th biggest in the Federal
Republic of India prior to June 2, 2014, was divided into State of Telangana
and State of Residual Andhra Pradesh. As such, Hyderabad, the earlier
capital of Andhra Pradesh, has turned out to be the capital of the State of
Telangana, leaving the residual State of Andhra Pradesh without a capital.
Given that all the media channels have concentrated themselves in the city
of Hyderabad, the intensity of competition to garner higher audience ratings
(Television Rating Points) has engendered media to indulge in aligning
themselves with the political establishments. In other words, the media have
become platforms for the creation of fake news to vilify or target the political
opponents. The modus operandi is to create or pick up the fake news put on
social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., by the media units
or by the fans of the political group with which the television channel has
tacitly or openly tied up. Another unique feature of this deception through
generation of fake news is that the media divisions of the political parties
themselves launch minor television channels which host a two-minute video
news bulletin in their own media outlets giving scope for copying them into
YouTube or Facebook or personal blogs.
For instance the mini-television channel Daruvu
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dej1vJrCkSE), Political Eye
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV-lhSbjEJQ), Political bench
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcSJ6Lz9gHs) Tollywood
Mirapakaya
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnkVL-hSSxwo97SBet8Ohag),
etc., are of this kind of ilk and politically sponsored by the media units
 Deception in Indian Television 15

affiliated to a major political party. A thorough search in search engines for

the identity and address proof of these channels has drawn blank. But, the
videos produced by these operators against the ruling TDP are very much
available on YouTube as shown here through their links.
While the State of Telangana operates with multiple party system
comprising Congress (INC), Telugu Desam (TDP), Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), etc., the residual Andhra Pradesh has only two political parties
namely –YSR Congress Party (Yuvajana Sramika and Rytu Congress Party)
and Telugu Desam party (TDP). The TDP, headed by its party supreme N.
Chandrababu Naidu as Chief Minister, is now ruling the State of residual
Andhra Pradesh while Y. Jaganmohan Reddy, the head of YSR Congress
Party, is the leader of the opposition in the State Legislature. As such he
holds a cabinet rank as an opposition leader at the level of government.
The irony with both the States of Telugu is that either the political parties
own some media channels (both print or television) or tie up with the media
channels for not only propagating their political ideology but also target the
opposition parties (Sudhir, 2012). Thus media and politics are strongly
interlinked here giving rise to deception through connivance. For instance
TDP has no media channels of its own though there are print and electronic
media channels such as ETV (Eenadu Group of Media), ABN-Andhra Jyothi,
etc. which align themselves with the ideology of its supremo N.
Chandrababu Naidu. On the other hand, Y Jaganmohan Reddy owned a
media conglomerate –Saakshi and Indira television--under the flagship
organization called Jagati publications, located in Hyderabad. His wife
Bharati acts as Chief Executive Officer (See Murthy, 2007, 2008, 2010,
2011, and 2014 -- for details of how this media indulged in spin-doctoring
and market rivalry by resorting to faking news).
Similarly the present Chief Minister of State of Telangana, who is also
the party supremo of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), K. Chandrasekhar
Rao (KCR) owns a media outlet called Namaste Telangana as well as
T-News Channel. The vicious nexus between media, its political affiliates
and market economy has thus led to the current strategy of deception in
political communication in both the Telugu states comprising over 850
million Telugu speaking populations (Murthy, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011).
16 C. S. H. N. Murthy

While KCR attempted to stifle the independent voice of some of the Telugu
television channels such as TV9 and ABN-Andhra Jyothi immediately after
coming to power on June 2, 2014 by manipulating the television cable
operators (Murthy, 2014), the TDP in Andhra Pradesh launched disciplinary
action against minor television channels mentioned above for broadcasting
false information that has the potential to create or spread anarchy in the
State. It was only after police action, that it came to the knowledge of the
public that the minor television channels named Daruvu, Political bench,
Political eye, Tollywood Mirapakaya, etc., are administered by the media
division of YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh.
While it is globally acknowledged that the major share of fake news goes
to social media (See Kate ea al. 2017), the mainstream media in Telugu is
not lagging behind in the rat race to produce news, be that ‘real news’ or
fake news. Several Telugu channels, some of them being very reputed like
Sakshi, TV9 and NTV, have been producing fake news either against the
establishment within the State or against the Centre obviously adopting the
streategy of connivance of deception (See the videos in Annexure I for a
grasp of the connivance of deception). The latest is the murky role played
by the Telugu media against the demonetization, a flagship program by
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, to wipe out black money and
corruption from public life. These channels have vied with one another to
inform the citizens that the demonetization program is a big scam and even
suggested that it is in fact a way out to help the corrupt and corporate entities.
These channels carried out this propaganda with a missionary zeal though
they could not substantiate this allegation against the Prime Minister; nor
did they identify those who are the beneficiaries of the scam involved in
demonetization (see the videos in Annexure I and read the English
translation of Telugu).
In order to bring back the times of liberal use of liquid cash most of
which again turns black money, these television channels fully fought for
more liberal operations of banks as well as ATM (Automatic Teller
Machine) operators. In the process they created ‘fake stories’ sending the
public into a mode of panic (See Table I for important findings that stem
from fake news transmitted by the television channels). Along with their
 Deception in Indian Television 17

‘fake stories,’ they showed visuals informing the audiences that there are a
large number of people in each queue near each bank or their ATM. These
visuals have never reflected the place, date, time and context of recording,
and the same visuals were shown recurrently conveying an impression that
there was a growing sense of dissatisfaction among people which might even
turn into civic revolt or riots against the Central government or PM Modi.
The language used by the Telugu anchors in TV9, ABN Andhra Jyothi,
Sakshi, and NTV against the PM of India is unprintable (Tuglaq, Idiotic,
etc.). Collaterally it raises another fundamental epistemological question–
should media observe decency of language irrespective of their level of
disagreement with a policy or decision of Government, be it Centre or State.
In an endeavor to substantiate their critique against the action of PM in
demonetizing the higher currency, the Telugu channels have rummaged
through a number of fake social media videos the intent of which was to
create anarchy and arson and borrowed them for transmission (See the
Videos in Annexure I together with translated text in English).
Safi (2017) has already illustrated one such example of fake news which
the Hindi and English media channels have transferred to mainstream press
against the action of demonetization announced by the PM Narendra Modi.
Not to lag behind, Telugu media channels have also been in the forefront. It
all created an impression in the minds of the people at large that media
channels are the primary hoarders of black money, and the PM’s
demonetization has hit them worse than any other corporate business entity.
Above all, Indian audiences are pretty aware that neither the media channels
nor the political opponents of BJP could so far offer any evidence of scam
or retrogressive effect of demonetization on Indian economy. An important
evidence to cite is that neither the private agencies nor government agencies
reported escalation of prices or commodities during the time of currency
crisis arising as a result of demonetization.
The drama going on inside the news operational rooms of Telugu
television channels as well as their print media outlets is another side of the
big story of fake news. The channel like T-News (owned by KCR and TRS
party of Telangana State) and ETV and ABN-Andhra Jyoti often indulge in
mutually accusing one another for producing fake news. While T-News
18 C. S. H. N. Murthy

belongs to Telangana State, the ETV and ABN-Andhra Jyoti are alleged to
be the pro-Andhra and favor its Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of
TDP. Another big embarrassment the Telugu audiences are entrenched to
encounter is the incessant manner the Sakshi television channel produces
fake news against the TDP supreme and the AP Chief Minister
N. Chandrababu Naidu and his government. The minor video channels as
well as the mainstream channel Sakshi of YSR Congress Party not only
target Chandrababu but also his family members and its female members of
legislature and ministers of his cabinet. These defaming stories have been
countered by the TDP pro-Telugu media channels such as ETV and ABN-
Andhra Jyoti.
The irony is that while these Telugu channels themselves face the crisis
of credibility due to their continuously producing fake news and deceiving
audiences (Murthy, 2008, 2010 & 2011). Of late, these channels have begun
to discuss the fake news put on YouTube in the mainstream press entitling
the program: Which is true? Which is viral? Many television channels such
as TV 9, TV 5 and NTV, besides TV5, HMTV, etc. have also begun to
discuss the videos of fake news that has gone viral. But, truly speaking there
is no definition of the term—viral. Every video put on YouTube, Facebook
or Twitter does not automatically turn into viral. Then why these channels
are crazy about doing a program of half-an-hour slot? The Telugu channels
know pretty well that their audience viewing rates are high despite
transmitting fake news. Hence, they wish to add some more fake news drawn
from YouTube, and Facebook, to augment their viewing rates. It is time that
media programmers/managers come to grapple with the question whether
such an exercise of borrowing ‘fake news’ to their mainstream transmissions
is ethical; at the same time they must also discuss the exact definition of
what is ‘viral.’ So far no criteria have been established to define what is
‘viral’ in the context of Indian social media. Obviously, the number of
likes/dislikes cannot decide the ‘virality’ or ‘viral’ character of a video put
on social media. Moreover, the mainstream media which is indulgent in
creating fake news cannot sit in judgment of other videos posted by social
media.
 Deception in Indian Television 19

CONCLUSION

The present chapter engages actively in discussing the consequences of

emerging deception through connivance in the form of ‘fake news’ in
mainstream media at the regional, national and global levels. The study not
only offers various definitions and imports of deception as a process of
communication (as understood in the scholarly parlance), but also tends to
scrutinize several strategies of deception through the latest theoretical
anchoring for deception in communication. While deception has initially
been considered as distrust or a betrayal between individuals or lovers, it has
later transformed into advanced communication modes and market
strategies. The shift from interpersonal communication to one-to-many
communication has a phenomenal consequence for the television media
industry - the biggest industry to benefit from deception.
‘Fake news’ has become a global strategy of media deception as a matter
of profit making and sustaining market competitions. Though fake news
emerged primarily from both mainstream media as also alternate media
platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, the latter had overtaken
the mainstream media in eroding public confidence in the credibility and
integrity of media. The study reviews the whole gamut of this declining
media credibility by discussing the current media strategy of deception
through connivance with political establishment.
The Indian media scenario is replete with the stories of deception
through active connivance of media with political system. The Telugu
television media leads the nation in such deceptive reporting of ‘fake news’
along the side of Hindi and English media channels actively indulging in
similar exercise in the North. The role of Telugu mainstream media during
the immediate days of demonetization is a glaring example of the worst
levels the media can stoop down by grossly overlooking the national
interests. The study offered substantial evidence to that effect here (See
Table I for the findings of the study regarding fake news generated by
television channels TV 9 and NTV).
20 C. S. H. N. Murthy

ANNEXURE I

Deceptive Communication in Indian Television: Telugu Media

Video Links—Translated Samples of Text to English
(Omitting burning visuals with background music scoring and
repetitions of anchor/voice over)

TV 9

1. Demonetization: Modi and Urjit take India for a ride--Jan 2, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzFYf1JUTEQ

The title of the story is –A White lie. Fifty days have passed by but there
is no new golden world as promised (false). The visuals that follow these
words of anchor do not bear any date, time and place of recording besides
context (fake videos) but show on screen a title that both RBI and Modi
cheated the people of India (a patently false statement and gross
misinterpretation). The anchor alleges that Modi did not offer any relief to
Indians after 50 days of demonetization (false). There are no data regarding
the magnitude of returned money to banks after cancellation, alleges the
anchor (false-the RBI has clarified that it would need some time to
disclose the actual money deposited in the banks). The RBI kept stoic
silence, anchor repeats (false). The government failed to respond to the
queries raised under Right to Information Act 2005 (false). Government did
not file its response to the 10 queries raised by the Supreme Court (false-
The government respondent to all its queries. Therefore the Supreme
Court refused to grant any stay on the government of India’s
notification demonetizing 1000 and 500 rupees notes. Further, the
Supreme Court has agreed to transfer to itself all the cases filed at
various High Courts in India). The story alleges that Government slighted
the Supreme Court also by giving false statements (false. The Supreme
Court is not blind. Its judges are also public who are facing the
 Deception in Indian Television 21

problems arising out of demonetization). The visuals are not related to the
story; they are without date, time, context and place of recording
(deception).

2. Modi's Flip Flops on Demonetization - 30 Minutes - TV9 –Dec 9,

2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_-v0yzAxEQ

Title shown on visuals: It is a big scam. Modi’s somersaults in

demonetization as he has taken the decision to demonetize all at once
without proper planning (false-no justification given; in fact media failed
to point out what planning should have been in place given the fact that
any such decision should be handed down at once without giving scope
for the culprits to escape). …The background voice goes on explaining and
attacking how Modi government issued various circulars regulating the
demonetization from time to time (Do media expect a government to issue
all circulars before the commencement of demonetization?). …There
were no bytes from outsiders or experts except from known political
antagonists of Modi. Names of the people who were giving bytes were not
acknowledged on television screen for independent sources to verify its
veracity (Deception). Known antagonists of government were asked to give
their bytes on demonetization; it automatically resulted in venting out spleen
on the government’s efforts to curb black money in public life through
demonetization. As usual the visuals of montage have no connection with
the story; no date, time, context and place of recording (Deception).

3. Impact of Social Media on Demonetization - Journalist Diary -

TV9- Nov 21, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUYzxMeEawQ –

This is a journalist’s agony on the wretched role the social media in India
is performing on demonetization. He is trying to prove the point that
22 C. S. H. N. Murthy

traditional media which is capable of acting independently is being swayed

away by the social media posts. He is attacking the social media created by
the fake agencies whose details of identities are unknown and beyond
verification (Deception of social media given life in traditional media).
The journalist’s critique points out –are we staying in information age or in
technical age of Whatsapp? …Social media has become the primary vehicle
of carrying forward false and fake news (defeating the very purpose for
which the social media were welcomed by the academics a decade ago).
The titles and the content in social media videos or messages are out of the
reach of any ethics or responsibility. ..They tend to distort the meanings of
the terms like demonetization or surgical strikes beyond what they literally
convey. The posts in social media with likes and dislikes and shares tend to
portray a white lie as truth. As usual the visuals bear no relevance to the
context (Deception).

4. Demonetization: What after Dec 30th 2016 –TV 9-Dec 22, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfhDkx-naSo
Title of the story: After 6 days of demonetization. Modi vs Rahul
Gandhi. Anchor says that Rahul has so far failed to challenge or compete
with Modi. But, now the situation has changed. From Rahul (Vice-President
of Indian National Congress) to Kejriwal (The Chief Minister of Delhi), now
everybody is attacking Modi on his scheme to demonetize to curb black
money in public life. The story goes seamless by compiling the speeches of
all known political opponents of Modi. Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal, Lalu Prasad
Yadav, Mamata Benerjee, etc against Modi’s demonetization. However, the
story does not report the appreciation Modi received from several other
political leaders who too do not belong to the party of Modi. Chandrababu
Naidu (Head of Andhra Pradesh State), K. Chandra Sekhara Rao (Head of
Telangana State), Nitish Kumar (Head of Bihar State), etc have lent their
support to Modi’s efforts to demonetize and curb black money in public life
(partial reporting also amounts to falsification of objectivity of news).
The story says that Modi’s image is sulking (false-as Modi’s party won in
the elections held in 7 states in the recent times with a thumping
 Deception in Indian Television 23

majority. It must be remembered that Modi is the primary attraction in

the election campaign). The time has come for unity of opposition (false).
The BJP is unable to counter the attack of the opposition (false). All these
statements meant to enrage the public have failed as Modi succeeded in
getting his party massive mandate in the elections held after demonetization.
The visuals are recurrent as in the case of earlier videos and do not bear any
relationship. They do not have time, date, context and place of recording
(Deception).

5. Demonetization - Currency troubles increase - TV9 –Dec 15, 2016

https://www.youtube.com 2890-\ /watch?v=vDK7T2vs6Vk

The story is related to public thronging the ATMs (Automatic Teller

Machines) for withdrawal of money. The news reader claims to present a
story live from Andhra Bank situated in a city called Vijayawada. But the
visuals do not show any time, date, context, place of recording of the
video (deception). The anchors from Hyderabad report in the news item that
commoners are facing problems due to demonetization (Deception
continues). The anchor boards an auto and seeks replies from public in auto
to her questions on public troubles due to demonetization. Such a
questioning by anchor foregrounds the argument that Modi has no
forethought of the problems the public face due to demonetization. Such
stories try to camouflage the facts of Modi’s speech on Nov 8, 2016 when
he announced the scheme of demonetization from that day’s midnight
(Deception). In fact he appealed to all the people to kindly cooperate with
forbearance in the days ahead. Truly people believed his conviction behind
the demonetization and cooperated with his scheme. Then what the anchors
are trying to convey through garnering such bytes from public?

NTV

6. Shocking Secrets behind PM Modi's Demonetization || #Cashless

Transactions || Story Board || Part 01 –NTV—Jan 9, 2017
24 C. S. H. N. Murthy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTv9lEplee4

Title of the video: Big Brother Obama told Modi to demonetize. The
story is replete with bunches of lies by trying to connect apparently unrelated
things to demonetization (Deception). The story says that Modi has resorted
to demonetization apparently at the instance of Barrack Obama, the
President of US (false-no evidence is placed before audience). The story
asserts that it discovered the actual truth behind demonetization belying
what Modi spoke on the day of imposing demonetization (false-no evidence
offered again). Repetitions of false statements and visuals telecast earlier
without any substantiating evidence (Deception). The background voice is
overshadowed by ear piercing music and meaningless montages. It mouths
platitudes stating that hundreds of people died in queue lines (false as
no evidence offered to substantiate this). People have been reduced to
beggary without currency (false). The marriages were stopped or postponed
due to cash crunch. Will people pardon if they get to know that Modi has
indulged in mortgaging India’s interests to US? (false statement to inflate
the public passions against Modi).

7. Shocking Secrets behind PM Modi's Demonetization || #Cashless

Transactions || Story Board || Part 02 –NTV—Jan 9, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV4fCW_N0Mg

Anchor says that to appease the US bosses, Modi tried to pander the
interests of a billion people of India. Instead of directly admitting that India
wants to meet the US requirements of digital economy by opting for cashless
business transactions, Modi clandestinely indulged in browbeating the
public by saying that he wanted to curb black money in public circulation
(false statements attributed to Modi without any evidence). To
substantiate its version, the story claims to adopt the findings of
www.asiapacificresearch.com. It is a web portal to which several authors
 Deception in Indian Television 25

and scholars write stories. They are not any investigative reports from any
authentic body like World Bank or IMF, etc. The story of Asia Pacific
Research.com is one such story that refers to certain developments in the
world economy and how US offered leadership to such steps. As part of this
broad agenda, US established an agency in the US. That agency collaborated
with Indian Central Bank. As a result a cashless policy suitable to India was
worked out, the story claims (false as no evidence to this claim is offered
in the story). In keeping with this policy, Modi has announced
demonetization (false as it bears no link with it). If it were so, Modi would
have taken all the steps to ensure India’s smooth transition over to cashless
economy as suggested in the document. But, the same channel has made
several serious allegations earlier that Modi’s demonetization was a big
scam, meant primarily to benefit the capitalists in India (All false
statements). Thus, no two stories of the same channel put forward same
argument in continuity. Thus these stories are apparently manipulated to
inflate public opinion against Modi (Deception through connivance). In
the whole run of the story, the purported articles/documents were never
shown on the screen (hence justifies falsity). The story does not reveal
which US companies were benefited by Modi’s demonetization.

8. Will Demonetization Make India Better in the Future or Present?

|| Story Board || Full Video || NTV—Jan 11, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUtwvAQXr9o

Title of video: Which is true, which is false? The story starts with
attributing false statements to Modi (These are repetitions as identified
above). The anchor says that Modi claimed to wipe out black money and
corruption from public life with a single stroke of demonetization
(false/gross distortion. If one hears his speech of November 8, 2016,
Modi has never claimed to wipe out entire corruption and black money
with a single step of demonetization. He said that it was first step in the
direction, and he has to follow it up with many more steps). The anchor
quotes the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement in Lok
26 C. S. H. N. Murthy

Sabha that ‘demonetization’ is a giant blunder committed by Modi. (Since

Manmohan Singh belongs to opposition Congress party in Lok Sabha, his
statement could be read from his political obligation point of view. But the
anchor weighs his statement as biblical since the former Prime Minister was
also a noted economist. But, in India rarely academic views have been given
objectively). The anchor quotes that during Punjab elections Manmohan
Singh has made a statement that ‘due to demonetization, the GDP has
undergone diminution by 2%.’ But, the actual transmission in video did not
offer any such statement having come from Manmohan Singh (a highly
fraudulent statement attributed to Manmohan Singh) The story has
really nothing new to offer except reiterating the channel’s views against
demonetization by selectively quoting the statements of political opponents
such as Montek Ahluwalia, Rahul Gandhi, etc. who are arrayed against
Modi. Amidst burning flashes, ear piercing music scoring, unsubstantiated
allegations of failure or disasters of demonetization were aired. Not a shred
of new evidence was placed before the viewers. It is an out and out
shameless attempt of media to malign the government through
misinformation and misinterpretations. The visuals as usual do not have
date, time, context and place of recording (Deception).
9. Forbes Magazine Slams Modi's Demonetization || Story Board
Full || NTV—Dec 27, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf4EuisxDiw

Video title—Meaningless. The anchor quotes the latest editorial Steeve

Forbes published in Forbes magazine describing the Modi’s action of
demonetization as a blunder of this era. It also quotes another article
published in Wall Street Journal which described Modi’s action of
demonetization as something akin to competing F 1 car race sitting on
bullock cart. (Deception--The actual write up details were not
transmitted. Only selective portions convenient to the agenda of media
are transmitted) The story says that Modi promised a radical change in 10
days time after demonetization. Trusting his words, people welcomed his
move but soon they realized that they were wrong (false). The problems of
 Deception in Indian Television 27

people in getting the required currency from banks to meet their daily needs
are perpetuating even after 48 days of demonetization (false). They lost their
hopes of Modi. There were long queues before banks or ATMs even after
48 days of demonetization (false-deception as no prices have gone up).
People are not going to jobs (false). More than hundred people died in
queues (false-no evidence of deaths produced in media). The anchor
sounds pessimistic about the wiping out black money and/or corruption from
public life. With endless repetitions of same statements and ear piercing
music in the background the story proves it a waste of time for the listeners.

10. No Cash Boards at ATM || Demonetization || Hyderabad ||

NTV—Dec 14, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8PEyE9Q79I

The title of video—No cash at ATMs in Hyderabad. The story shows

the anchors reporting long and huge queues before ATMs and how the latter
hang the boards of ‘no cash’ making a mockery of public needs. But the
visuals do not have any date, time, place of recording (Deception). There is
no denial of the fact that the media did not report the problem from almost
all the ATMs. It has selectively shown only some ATMs where for several
reasons the queues are bound to be longer. The anchors and reporters
transmit the bytes taken from the selected public expressing their problems
in spending long hours in queues.

11. Did Centre Fail in Demonetization Process? || Story Board || Full

Video || NTV-Dec 9 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imKslcSr0lY

The title of video- Empty Month. The story says that one month passed
by since the date of announcement of demonetization but the problems
encountered by the public continued to stay. The anchor says that public
turned as beggars standing in long queues before banks and ATMs while the
28 C. S. H. N. Murthy

rich people have got their money exchanged with new currency without any
limitation on withdrawals (false). The anchor refers to a latest incident of
eight hundred millions of money being recovered by income tax authorities
from the house of Sekhar Reddy who served as a trust member of reputed
Balaji Temple at Tirupathi. Out of the money recovered from his house,
about 750 millions are the new two thousand rupee notes printed by Central
Bank after demonetization. The anchor says that this is due to a big scam
behind the demonetization as a lot of newly printed currency reached the
coffers of industrialists, politicians and film actors even before they reached
the banks and ATMs (false—based on one story, the anchor shows the
anxiety to generalize it attributable to the Prime Minister of India as a
scam). The anchor of the story alleges that the Modi government as well as
Banks has been silent against those who cheated the banks to billions of
rupees showing the visuals of Vijay Malya, the former founder Chairman of
King Fisher airlines (false-as government has already initiated action to
get Malya extradited from UK at the earliest). At the same time these
banks are acting tough with the innocent mediocre public (unrelated to
demonetization leveling sweeping allegations against Modi as though he
was responsible for whatever happened in Indian economy in the past i.e.,
prior to his becoming the PM of India) .

12. Demonetization: Currency Emergency Still Continue in AP ||

NTV –Dec 8, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5vtpfh5Cfk

Video title: Cash crunch. This video is in continuation to the previous

story. It is a report on 31st day after demonetization. Hence, there is no much
difference in the content; no new evidence or findings. Repetitions of same
unsubstantiated allegations against banks and Modi through public bytes
were shown in long queues. The video story offers reports on cash crunch
encountered by public in Vizag another industrial city in Andhra Pradesh.
The visuals do not show any date, time, place and context of recording
(false).
 Deception in Indian Television 29

13. Are Narendra Modi Schemes Helpful to Indians? || Story Board

|| Part 1 || NTV—May 26, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GydV8bvQAuk

Video title—Have good days come back? The video attacks Modi on his
completion of 3-year term as PM of India. Anchor makes several statements
and promises which the video alleges purportedly made by Modi and his
colleagues in the party. Except repeating its vitriol or diatribe against Modi,
as witnessed in the videos seen earlier, this story also offers a disappointing
scenario of Modi’s governance contrary to the real scene of appreciation of
his governance among peoples.

14. Are Narendra Modi Schemes Helpful to Indians? || Story Board

|| Part 2 || NTV—May 26, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0fuZBiWQ5E

Video title—Have good days come back? The video is a continuation to

earlier video. It enlists a number of promises which Modi has made to Indian
republic and will argue that they failed the hopes of people who trusted him
most (no evidence to this statement). It again attacks him on his scheme of
demonetization. Strangely the story at the end takes a detour and showers
encomiums on Modi’s 3-year rule. It says that Modi’s governance has made
India to take lead over China. It has also enabled India to show a steady
growth in its GDP compared to other countries performance in the same Asia
Pacific Region. As usual, unrelated visuals without date, time, place and
context of recording besides ears cracking sound, the video in question
brings a headache to the viewers.
30 C. S. H. N. Murthy

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