In a highly charged political climate, where mainstream media is often accused of being biased and one-sided, there is a new trend of independent media channels and YouTubers who de-clutter things for us. Some of these channels/individuals have large number of subscribers and are not shy of criticizing the powers that be.
This consists of the brilliantly understated Varun Grover, the extremely acerbic Sanjay Rajoura and the outspoken Rahul Ram with the guitar and the gruff singing voice (of Indian Ocean fame). We have Grover critique the government – seemingly gently but quite inexorably. Rajoura is less restrained in the expression of his contempt for the hypocrisy of the ruling class and privileged Indians in general. And then we have Ram adding an interesting musical parody into the mix. My only problem with these guys is that they don’t make enough videos.
He has about 1.5 million subscribers and is one of the most popular YouTubers of India. His videos are well researched and fact checked; he gives us a clear explanation of some of the most hyped topics of the day. Rathee has frequently been threatened for what is seen as his critical and anti-government stance and he has had FIRs lodged against him. It is a testament to how influential he is that a number of YouTube videos have cropped up to counter what he says and to attack him personally.
When viewers aren’t commenting on how good looking this guy is, they are actually listening to the calm insights of this award-winning journalist and writer on YouTube. He does videos for The Wire channel and also appears as a guest elsewhere such as on the Cyrus Says podcast etc. His videos offer a startling understanding of the way that history currently seems to be repeating itself.
His YouTube channel's description of himself – Chief Instigator, Satirist & Host- WhySoSerious, Founder & Head Chatterbox – is self-explanatory. He is irreverent, funny and topical. His #TheDeshBhakt series of videos is a satirical take on the narrative of victimhood peddled by and for some of the most privileged sections of our society. He appears sometimes in saffron, complete with bombast and large tilak and sometimes in casual tees with outrageous quotes… and is always watchable.
He appears on the strangely named YouTube channel, The Lallantop. After working in mainstream media, he turned to YouTube. His dramatic, expansive style appeals to people and he doesn’t mince his words as he calls out those in positions of power in his newsy, informative videos.
She happily plugs holes into mainstream media's pliant and fawning reportage and its often OTT, unashamedly skewed reporting on her ‘TV Newsance’ series of videos for Newslaundry. Some of TV news’ shouters-in-chief – such as Arnab Goswami, Navika, Sudhir Chaudhary and others – are the butt of her most cutting observations. Basically, she points out everything that is wrong with today's media and is a part of the brave breed that tells us like it is.
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