ABSTRACT
Among the many changes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ecosystem has brought about in the last few years, is the change in large swathes of India's journalism. The Covid-19 crisis encompasses the thousands who battle it in hospitals, health workers and frontline workers who have been at their tasks at great personal risk, often without PPE, hundreds of thousands out of jobs and livelihoods, rural Indians in deeper distress, and millions of migrant workers virtually forgotten by the government. When millions of Indians face pain and despair, to deliberately focus on stories of hope would mean an abdication of the core purpose of journalism. In his earlier avatar, Vempati was CEO of Niti Digital, an online venture set up in 2012 by businessman Rajesh Jain.
