Yogi Adityanath and the media: A survival game

Governments have discovered that advertisement largesse is a more effective way to incentivise media cooperation than punitive measures such as withholding ads and jailing journalists.

Only a week ago, Yogi Adityanath’s Chief Ministership appeared precarious amid speculations that misgovernance in UP may cost him his job. However his recent blitzkrieg of the media suggests that he may have saved his seat. Full front-page newspaper advertisements claim that he has always been “two steps ahead of the pandemic”.

The “Teeka jeet ka” (The jab of victory) media campaign is expected to have multiple favourable outcomes for Adityanath. It may, at least he hopes, restore his credibility as a leader who is irreplaceable, in the run-up to the UP assembly polls. It ensures that media space will