How news channels failed Sushant — and their viewers | LME 67

Nearly five years ago, we subjected to some "serious investigative journalism"

Yes, Navika, you have. You’ve let down journalism and your viewers. 

But she was not alone. 

In the days following the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput, across news channels journalism hit a new low.

Anchors turned into self-proclaimed crusaders for justice. Filling prime-time slots with endless speculation.

Conspiracy theories ran wild — from witchcraft, black magic to political plots. It was beyond absurd.

Sushant’s suicide could’ve been a moment to have an open conversation about mental health, how Bollywood works, even nepotism. Instead, this happened.

With zero evidence, the media labeled Rhea Chakraborty a gold-digger, a manipulator, and a drug supplier. 

She was painted the villain, accused of exploiting Sushant for money and driving him to suicide.

Anyway, after five years of noise, the CBI gave a clean chit to Rhea.

The CBI closure report said Sushant’s death was suicide.

This week, let’s take a step back and see how news channels shamelessly exploited an actor’s suicide and the emotions of his fans.

How BJP leaders twisted the tragedy to serve their political agenda.  

And how crucial conversation on mental health took a beating.

Let me break it down.

While most news channels were busy running a circus in the name of reporting, here at The News Minute, we went a different way.

We kept our focus where it mattered — on mental health and the urgent need for better awareness. So that tragedies like Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide can be prevented. No clickbaits. No TRP-chasing.  

One of our stories won the Project Siren Award for sensitive reporting on suicides.

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After Sushant's death, news channels and social media launched multiple attacks. On people they saw as enemies of Hinduism. 

Ironically, many of those targeted were individuals and ideas that Sushant had supported in his own films.

Take Kai Po Che for instance. 

Released in 2013, it touched on the 2002 Gujarat riots

Sushant’s films didn’t shy away from acknowledging difficult truths about caste and class, either.

In 2019, Sonchiriya was praised for its raw portrayal of caste and gender dynamics. 

Even more telling, Sushant himself had removed his surname from his Twitter handle in 2017. This, to protest the violence by the Karni Sena against the movie Padmaavat 

He was also part of Chhichhore, a 2019 film that tried to tackle mental health stigma. 

The irony is striking. His death became fodder for reckless media coverage. It only deepened the stigma his films had tried to challenge.

The real conversation about depression and pressure in the film industry got completely buried under this witch hunt.

News channels violated ethical guidelines about reporting on suicide. 

Reporters threw around terms like “depressed” and “bipolar” without understanding them.

Many of them crossed serious boundaries. 

They named Sushant’s psychiatrist and leaked confidential information. 

This kind of breach could stop others from seeking help.

They interviewed his therapist, dissected his old videos to see if he "looked" depressed.

And even asked his ex-girlfriend about his mental state.

It was a clear disregard for the privacy and dignity of someone who had just died. The coverage wasn’t just sensational — it spread harmful myths about mental illness. 

Myths that mental health professionals have worked hard for years to tackle.

The most dangerous were the TV shows that recreated the suicide

I am not sure if you are aware. But there are multiple guidelines that say media cannot disclose the way in which a person died by suicide

Because that runs the risk of "copycat" suicides. Celebrity deaths often lead to a rise in similar incidents.

Then came the absurd narratives: How could someone “so happy” be depressed? This reinforced the myth that depression always has visible signs.

Beyond damaging Sushant’s legacy, this coverage hurt real people struggling with mental health. 

Look, I am not saying there wasn’t anything to discuss about Sushant’s death . 

Perhaps there was.

Social media was exploding with allegations that he had been “bullied” by a powerful film lobby. 

A small-town boy from Bihar who became considerably big in Bollywood. Perhaps he felt ostracised or even pushed to the edge. We don’t know for sure.   

But Sushant himself had never framed his journey this way. 

Like many newcomers, he struggled, worked hard, and ultimately made it on his own merit.

But facts mattered little

Industry figures—aligned with the ruling government—conveniently jumped in. 

“Justice for Sushant” became a rallying cry. Not just for his fans, but for news outlets desperate for TRPs. 

Systematically the coverage worked to replace the word suicide with murder. Not just in the minds of his fans but also those stuck at home in the middle of a pandemic, glued to their television sets. 

Every personal detail of Sushant, his family, and those around him were picked apart.

The Bombay High Court later ruled that such media trials actually interfere with the delivery of justice, and could even amount to criminal contempt. 

It specifically called out Republic TV and Times Now for their role in sensationalising Sushant’s death. 

And opportunists like Kangana Ranaut thought this makes for a great chance to build their political career. By spinning lies after lies after lies .

Meanwhile, the country was in crisis. 

COVID-19 was wreaking havoc, the economy was crumbling, and crucial policies were being pushed through with little debate. 

But none of that seemed to matter. 

Instead of discussing the transparency of the PM Cares Fund, the protests of health workers or the need for accountability in the Delhi riots investigation, 

the nation was glued to a different drama.

And then, the “witch hunt” began.

All eyes suddenly turned to Rhea Chakraborty.

She lost her partner in the most tragic way possible, and before she could even grieve, she became the villain of the story. 

She was accused of emotionally controlling Sushant, isolating him from his family, and even practising “black magic.” 

When that didn’t stick enough, the drug angle came in. 

A few WhatsApp chats mentioning marijuana were leaked, and suddenly, she was being hounded as the face of Bollywood’s “drug mafia.”

Rhea was eventually arrested, not for murder, but for a few grams of weed.

The TV channels cheered on

By the time the dust settled, the damage was done. 

A woman’s career, reputation, and mental health—all destroyed. 

This story does not have just one villain-the news channels. There’s another one. The BJP. 

The upcoming Bihar state election only added fuel to the fire, with political parties hoping to gain an upper hand.

A study from the University of Michigan looked at how social media shaped public opinion after Sushant’s death. 

The researchers went through 7,000 YouTube videos and 100,000 tweets — from politicians, journalists, and media houses. 

And they found some pretty clear patterns.  

First, the language. BJP politicians really pushed the idea that Sushant was murdered. 

And all this wasn’t random. 

Around mid-July 2020, BJP leaders started demanding a CBI inquiry. That’s when the “murder” narrative really took off. Coordinated, intentional.   

In fact, the study showed that within just a week of his death, mentions of “suicide” dropped fast. “Murder” became the word of choice of BJP leaders.

And right on cue, many channels jumped right in, fueling an anti-Maharashtra government story.  

You see, at the time, the Shiv sena, NCP and Congress had formed the government in Maharashtra. One that the BJP was trying hard to dislodge by hook or crook. 

Then came the Bihar elections. Suddenly, Sushant’s face was everywhere.

Posters, car stickers and the conspiracy theories didn’t stop. 

Ironically, these same voices had criticised Sushant for his 2018 film Kedarnath, where he played a Muslim man in love with a Hindu Brahmin woman. The film was accused of promoting ‘love jihad’.

His cameo in PK—another movie that challenged religious intolerance—also saw similar outrage. 

In the end, Sushant’s tragic death became a distraction—a “political proxy war” that diverted attention from national issues

For many of us, it was difficult to watch our own colleagues stoop so low on screen.  

And now, with the CBI confirming that Sushant died by suicide and Rhea being given a clean chit — have you heard a single apology from those anchors or reporters?  

Not one.  

My hope is that this serves as a wake-up call for these so-called journalists on what not to do.  

And that the CBI’s closure report reminds viewers just how untrustworthy those news channels truly are.

For suggestions and feedbacks write to pooja@thenewsminute.com

Produced by Megha Mukundan, edited by Nikhil Sekhar, research and script by Lakshmi Priya and Pooja Prasanna

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