AS a journalist struggling to cope with the environment in Pakistan, the state of the media here and worldwide is never far from one’s thoughts — in more ways than one can say. Indeed, this navel gazing is not limited to hacks in the country either. Overall, there is much concern in the world over the state and fate of journalism. And this is the subject of a book titled Dictating Reality: The Global Battle to Control the News by Martin Moore and Thomas Colley.

Offering multiple case studies of national media machines and how they are being controlled or used by authoritarian or autocratic governments around the world to create their own version of ‘reality’, the book offers a rich variety with chapters on India, Russia, China and Mexico among others.

Unsurprisingly, for a Pakistani, the chapter on India titled, ‘Godi media’, is perhaps the most attractive. And while it does not cover the Indian media’s coverage during the 2025 Pakistan-India conflict, it does cover the 2019 Balakot events. By focusing on Arnab Goswami and his rise in anchordom, it explains the manner in which the state has come to dominate the electronic media — to the extent of presenting a reality at times far different from what exists on the ground.

It explains the characteristics of this media as hyper-nationalistic with pro-government views, having colourful and loud screens, and exhibiting considerable emotionalism. None of this may come as a surprise to those of us who have been paying attention to the Indian media but the details about the government’s performance during Covid or the manner in which the farmers’........

© Dawn