Online cheers, print jeers: Kerala Assembly health debate reveals post-truth media

Thiruvananthapuram: When the Health Minister defended the state government’s efforts to curb Amoebic Meningoencephalitis in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, the opposition was left too stunned to even mumble a response. Her reply, crystal clear and fortified with data, was such a knockout punch that the UDF had no option but to swallow defeat. To at least put on a show for the public and pretend that they still had a voice in the Assembly, they resorted to their time- tested trick: staging a walkout.

The minister had answers, point by point, to every query. And then, the unthinkable happened. Even a leading online media outlet, yes, the one that usually cannot write a sentence without slandering the government, published an article titled, “Brain fever debate: Health minister takes firm stance, Opposition chickens out.” It openly mocked V D Satheeshan and team for their helplessness, pointing out that the so- called opposition front in Kerala had, quite literally, lost its nerve. For once, readers blinked twice, wondering if this opposition-friendly outlet had suddenly discovered honesty. Some even dared to think the unimaginable: maybe the platform had finally come to its senses.

Of course not.

Expecting them to change is like expecting a crocodile to turn vegetarian. The outlet has no plans to abandon its editorial bias or its compulsive need to paint the government black. All it did was briefly adjust its tone in the English online section, for the sake of a few extra clicks, ad revenue, and eyeballs. The illusion of balance vanished the moment readers picked up the printed edition.

There, with the deceptive subheading, “Amoebic Meningoencephalitis: State government denies speculations,” and a screaming headline, “Arogyam Ventilatoril: Prathipaksham” (“Health Department on Ventilator: Opposition”), the publication shamelessly flipped the narrative. Suddenly, the very same Health Ministry was being portrayed as a hopeless, failing department unable to control Amoebic Meningoencephalitis.

Let’s pause and admire the acrobatics. The same media house that just a few hours earlier admitted the opposition had “chickened out” without answers, now produced a heroic storyline in print. According to this version, the walkout was not an act of cowardice but a principled protest triggered by a comment against Shamsudheen.

This, despite the editorial board itself knowing that the Health Minister had thoroughly answered Mannarkkad MLA Shamsudheen’s questions about activities in his constituency. But consistency is clearly not their strong suit. In fact, the print edition went out of its way to burn precious column space,10 cm, no less, just to magnify Shamsudheen’s remarks.

Online, the report had admitted that Shamsudheen got flustered when the minister coolly asked whether he had been absent from his constituency while she rattled off the preventive measures carried out in Mannarkkad, particularly Attappadi. But in print? Magically, that detail vanished. Instead, the story was twisted: Satheeshan nobly requested more time for Shamsudheen to respond, and when that request was denied, the UDF staged its oh- so -dignified walkout.

Meanwhile, the online version had no hesitation in pointing out that Satheesan’s excuse was laughably weak. “Rather than listen, ask incisive questions and offer creative solutions, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan made use of a weak excuse to stage a walkout right in the middle of the minister's speech,” it said bluntly. The online report even added that Kerala is the first state in India to prepare guidelines to curb Amoebic Meningoencephalitis. Naturally, this little achievement of the state government was erased from the print version.

And the cherry on top? The online article clarified that what has increased is the detection of the disease, not the actual number of cases. That, too, was conveniently omitted in print, because why let facts ruin a perfectly good hit job?

For the unsuspecting reader, this two- faced trickery can be disorienting. “Wait… this isn’t what I read online,” they might mutter, flipping between screens and paper. But alas, it’s not confusion, it’s strategy. A carefully orchestrated gimmick to spoon -feed different versions of “truth” to different audiences. And the most impressive thing? The online article, the one praising Veena George and calling out Satheeshan’s drama, is still live. If the editorial board had genuinely wanted to retract or correct it, they could have. But no. Both versions are deliberately allowed to coexist, two faces of the same mask.

It is not a mistake; it is policy. In the English online section, desperate for clicks, they openly admit that Kerala’s efforts are exemplary, first-in-India, and deserving of applause. In the print edition, curated for an older readership, they serve the same tired recipe of doom and gloom, projecting the government as if it were gasping for air. Double standards? No, this isn’t double standards, it’s a circus act honed to perfection over years.

This is a textbook example of media in the post-truth era: driven not by facts, but by manufactured emotions. While the print edition sensationalises the spectacle for maximum outrage, the online arm shifts its attention to the economy of clicks, tailoring narratives for revenue consolidation.