Hafta X South Central: Highs & lows of media in 2025, influencers in news, Arnab’s ‘turnaround’

Dec 27, 2025

01:42:40

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Episode notes

For this special year-ender episode, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri and Manisha Pande and The News Minute’s Dhanya Rajendran and Pooja Prasanna are joined by columnist and media critic Santosh Desai.

The conversation begins with a wrap of the Indian media ecosystem this year. Santosh says, “Institutions are struggling to retain credibility and resist pressure.” Dhanya argues that mainstream media exerts significant influence over people, but on social media, the results vary.

Discussing the state of the media more specifically in Karnataka, Pooja notes that although it's “heavily compromised”, it can still be seen as a “lesser evil” compared to the Hindi and English media.

Manisha argues that, in terms of news consumption, the internet can be very ruthless – in contrast to legacy media, which does not have to face the crash and burn. She cites the example of Beer Biceps, whose rapid rise and fall illustrate this ruthlessness.

Some influencers, Dhanya says, have also realised that “credibility comes with consistency”. On the economic front, Abhinandan explains, “It is the lethargy of legacy media that is reflected in their belief about how business is done – in large spaces and studios. Hence, sustainability and viewership become two completely different things.”

The panel also discusses advertisements that make them nostalgic. Dhanya says, “Now, we pay to remove ads. I cannot remember the last time I watched an ad.” Meanwhile, Abhinandan notes, “The death of ads is the death of jingles, which in turn traces to the death of radio.”

While discussing Arnab Goswami's recent shows that questioned the central government, Pooja remarks, “This man can damage the country by stooping so low, but all it takes for him to be viewed as a crusader is the targeting of a soft issue as a larger strategy.”

This and a lot more. Tune in!

Letters to NL Hafta and South Central: ‘Pointless’ Nikhil Kamath article, love for Dhanya and improving AQI

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Timecodes

00:00:00 - Introductions & announcements

00:02:16 - Headlines

00:07:30 - Brands vs individuals: Understanding news models