In a harsh assessment of the debates on the most watched English show on prime time news, Vice has called Arnab Goswami’s Newshour “Fox News on steroids”. (You can read the article on Vice here.)
There’s more.
This is how Oscar Rickett, describes the show and its anchor Arnab Goswami in a piece titled: “The Newshour is an Indian TV Show That’s Fox News on Steriods”
He writes:
“If you've never seen The Newshour , then imagine nine disembodied heads surrounded by flames screaming at you in a format and color configuration that looks like a slot machine. Then imagine one large head in the middle that controls all the other heads and shouts more than them and at a greater volume. That's Arnab, the one shouting head to rule them all. His show is Fox News on steroids. It makes most other news programs look like an official broadcast of a 19th-century royal coronation.”
It also refers to the many music videos that have sprung up around the senior journalist. However, towards the end, the story also notes that this phenomenon of loud shouting matches on the news was not limited to India.
The writer also comments on the manner in which this format of ‘demanding accountability’ from ‘those in power’ was little more than an illusion, but which is aped by other news channels in India:
“The Newshour provides the potent illusion of democracy: The people want their often corrupt rulers to be held to account, they want to see them being shouted at. But while Arnab dishes out the punishment, it amounts to nothing. And in his style is being aped as desperate competitors try and claim some of his massive audience.”