On 3rd December, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières or RSF) held its 32nd edition of the Press Freedom Awards in Washington, DC. Propagandist YouTuber Ravish Kumar, who calls himself a journalist, won the ‘Independence Prize’. Kumar was praised from all directions by RSF on the awards page. Interestingly, RSF is a Ford Foundation and Western government-funded organisation known for its anti-India and anti-Modi coverage.
"This is a difficult time for journalists all over the world. Many are knowingly risking their lives everyday. It is only a very firm belief in the value of our independence that has enabled journalists like us to continue our work."
— RSF (@RSF_inter) December 4, 2024
-Ravish Kumar pic.twitter.com/SoTIEtzbuj
Ravish Kumar has been described as someone who personified the resistance of Indian media to political pressure. RSF called him a “true hero of journalism” in the country. RSF claimed that Ravish Kumar was “brutally ousted from NDTV” after the Adani Group took over the media house, which is a false allegation. Ravish, in fact, resigned from the channel. RSF, however, did not name the Adani Group for some reason but mentioned “a businessman close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
RSF recently came out in support of so-called fact-checker Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, after he was booked by UP Police for allegedly endangering the sovereignty and unity of India.
#India: The co-founder of @AltNews, @zoo_bear, is being prosecuted for "endangering the sovereignty and unity" of India after he posted on X about complaints against @narsinhanand. RSF condemns this legal harassment & calls for the charges to be dropped https://t.co/pRMImHu3JQ pic.twitter.com/PHU62TEYbt
— RSF (@RSF_inter) November 29, 2024
RSF is funded by Ford Foundation and Western Governments
For those who are unaware, RSF is heavily funded by Western governments and private foundations, including the Ford Foundation. According to its 2023 financial statement, the European Commission MFA, AIDS, Front Line, Oak Foundation, NHRF TAPIEI, MOF Danida Taiwan, Ford Foundation, OSF Core Support, and others are among the top funders of RSF. The European Commission MFA has given 1,760,915 Euros, NED (a US government-funded organisation) gave RSF 333,283 Euros, and the Ford Foundation gave 384,008 Euros in 2023 to RSF.
One of the other important supporters of RSF is the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which is funded by the US Government. Its website states, “Funded largely by the U.S. Congress, the support NED gives to groups abroad sends an important message of solidarity to many democrats who are working for freedom and human rights, often in obscurity and isolation.”
It states further, “Created jointly by Republicans and Democrats, NED is governed by a board balanced between both parties and enjoys Congressional support across the political spectrum. NED operates with a high degree of transparency and accountability reflecting our founders’ belief that democracy promotion overseas should be conducted openly.”
The RSF is also supported by the Ford Foundation, which has a history of financing anti-social elements in India. A report on The Grayzone observed, “Reporters Without Borders has for years also been criticized for its bias against governments that are targeted by the US and Europe for regime change. RSF has shown a particularly extreme prejudice against Venezuela, portraying oligarch-owned right-wing media outlets and US-funded opposition groups that have actively participated in numerous violent coup attempts against the democratically elected socialist government as hapless victims of an autocratic regime.”
RSF’s dubious press freedom rating of India
In May 2023, RSF released its annual Press Freedom Report, in which it put India at 161st position out of 180 countries. As per RSF, India slipped 11 ranks since 2022. Interestingly, according to RSF, Pakistan’s press freedom index has improved. From 157th rank in 2022, Pakistan has acquired the 150th position in the list. The same goes for Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, which got its rank improved from 156 to 152.
One of the most bizarre points RSF put in its report is about the money the government of India spends on advertisements. RSF claimed the central government is spending more than 130 billion rupees (Rs 13,000 crores) or 5 billion euros a year on ads in the print and online media alone.
OpIndia had filed an RTI seeking information on the ad spent by the central government on different platforms, including print, outdoor advertisements, social media, radio and television. As per the reply sent by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India, the actual figures are nowhere close to what RSF has claimed. According to the reply sent by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the central government spent only Rs 26.44 crore on television ads and only 1.33 crore on social media ads in the financial year 2022-23. Notably, ad spending has decreased significantly since the Modi government came to power in 2014. The maximum amount the government has spent on television ads was Rs 280.77 crores in FY 2016-17.
Throughout its report on India, RSF made several claims that were nowhere close to reality. RSF claimed Reliance Industries Group led by Mukesh Ambani owns more than 70 media outlets. They also pointed out good relations between Ambani and PM Modi. The claim does not stand strong as it is based on a 2019 statement by Mukesh Ambani where he had said Reliance Industries owned 72 television channels, which includes all genres of channels and not just news channels, with around 800 million viewers. This includes News18 branded TV news platforms like CNN Worldwide, CNN-News18, CNBC-TV18, CNN-IBN, CNBC Awaaz and more. Other than news channels, it also includes an entertainment portfolio under Viacom18 Media which is the parent company of 50 channels. All these are entertainment channels and do not have any “media outlets” as mentioned by RSF. Reliance’s Jio platform is also a source of news for its subscribers but that is more of an aggregator rather than owner of the channels or media outlet.
RSF used data from different years to claim 1/3 of Covid-19-related deaths of media personnel were from India. RSF linked a report of Dhaka Tribune from June 2021 that noted 1,500 media persons died of Covid worldwide. Dhaka Tribune used data from Press Emblem Campaign. Then it linked to a document maintained by the Network of Women in Media, India, that noted over 500 media persons died of Covid in India. The number on that document now stands at 626. Using these two data points, RSF in 2021 claimed that 1/3rd (33 per cent) of the deaths of media persons by Covid-19 took place in India. Using this report, RSF said, “Under the guise of combatting Covid-19, the government and its supporters have waged a guerrilla war of lawsuits against media outlets whose coverage of the pandemic contradicted official statements.” RSF did not update itself in terms of data. When we checked, it was found that PEC noted till March 2022 that 1,994 media persons died of Covid-19 and out of those, 284 were from India.
RSF claimed the Indian government misbehaved and unlawfully arrested media persons who covered farmer protests. Interestingly, they mentioned the time when Twitter handles of media persons were suspended for sharing fake news about violence. They included the case of The Wire’s Siddharth Varadarajan was booked for reporting the death of a protester. Not to forget, even after repeated clarification from the Police and the doctor who did an autopsy of the deceased, Varadarajan continued to share fake reports about the death of the protester. It must be noted that The Wire was forced to remove multiple reports related to Tek Fog and Meta as they were based on false evidence. This report of RSF was published in 2021 and appeared in the 2023 ranking.
They also mentioned the arrest of so-called journalist Siddique Kappan who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police for allegedly plans to instigate the public during the Hathras case in 2020. Details revolving around Kappan can be read here. RSF also linked a report where it extended its support to propaganda journalist Rana Ayyub. Notably, Ayyub is known for making false claims on international platforms. She is accused of financial fraud. The case against her is sub-judice. Recently, she downplayed gangster Atiq Ahmed’s crimes at a UNESCO event.
They also linked an old report to claim the situation is “still worrisome” in Kashmir. RSF linked to an article calling for the release of Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah. Notably, he was arrested by NIA for glorifying terrorism. Charges were framed against him in January 2023. He was also accused of Me Too. RSF awarded him for his “courage” in 2020. They also came out in support of Irfan Mehraj, an alleged journalist from Kashmir who was arrested in a terror funding case.
About Ford Foundation and its anti-India activities
Ford Foundation is an American charitable organisation that presents itself as a group engaged in advancing human welfare. In reality, it is a cesspool of intolerant and bigoted left-wing extremists. The group has a storied history of bankrolling the causes championed by left-wing supporters, including that in India.
In 2015 the Government of Gujarat while investigating Teesta Setalvad’s embezzlement case came across funding by Ford Foundation to her entities. It was found that her trust had violated FCRA norms. Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Limited, with which Teesta is associated, received $ 2.9 lakh from Ford Foundation as a grant to “address communalism, caste-based discrimination in India, including media strategies”.
Later, a letter was issued by the Gujarat Police, following which the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) expressed its intention of probing the activities of the Ford Foundation. This probably set off a chain of events, most of which happened in the background and was later revealed by Wikileaks.
As per the leaked emails, Ford Foundation claims that they got embroiled in a controversy over its funding to Sabrang Trusts managed by Teesta Setalvad. The letter titled Ford Foundation in India: Notes to John Podesta dated May 26, 2015, also mentions their funding to Arvind Kejriwal’s NGO before he got into politics as a possible reason for Government’s action.
This was confirmed by none other than one of the leading luminaries of the Indian left-wing firmament, Ms Arundhati Roy. In an interview with Sagarika Ghose, Roy talked about one of the articles that she wrote for The Hindu in which she alleged that NGOs of Kejriwal and Sisodia had received over $400,000 from Ford Foundation in three years of time. Roy claimed that the group of ten people who were the top ‘management’ of the movement had well-funded NGOs. She said that three core members of the team had won Magsaysay Award which is also funded by Ford Foundation.
