“Media was actually campaigning for the ruling party,” said Yogendra Yadav, a political activist and a veteran election analyst, adding, “They are a blot on our democracy.”
Mr. Modi and the mainstream media underestimated just how much of the information space had moved outside the bubble they had created, analysts said. As the mainstream outlets have lost credibility, a parallel system of online news reporters with a more independent outlook has grown.
In fact, much of the election was playing out on the internet. Opposition figures found online spaces to be vital outlets for airing criticism of Mr. Modi, who they say has made India less democratic and more unequal.
“The centrist journalism is missing, and it is a loss for this country,” said Saurabh Shukla, a co-founder of The Red Mike, a YouTube channel.
Mr. Shukla, an award-winning reporter who left his job at a news station to start his YouTube channel with another journalist, said there was a clear contrast between what was being shown on TV news and what he and many other journalists saw on the ground.
