THE FALL OF FOURTH PILLAR The media has the power to manipulate, influence and even shape society. Every day, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, we consume a lot of media, and every decision we make can be largely traced back to it. There is a web of data and news that can shock us, inspire us or invoke feelings of despair and hopelessness. Our opinions, views and beliefs are all influenced to an unimaginable degree by the media. With increasing polarisation, it becomes crucial to examine the country's sources of information since the media doesn't simply cover what people care about, it tells us what to care about. When media houses function not as a pillar of society and democracy but as profit-centric businesses, their accountability is no longer to their readers but to their stakeholders. In this atmosphere, where news organisations compete for higher TRPs and the favour of corporations and political parties for funding, partisanship is higher than ever. They tend to focus on influencing, creating opinions and sensationalising stories that sell instead of delivering unbiased information. The general public has given into ‘confirmation biases' and sought out information that agrees with the beliefs we have already formed while considering contradictions as false. In some cases,this has also led to harassment and threats to journalists who present an alternative view, leading to India's rank of 142nd in the RSF Press Freedom Report. Direct ownership and advertisements pose some of the greatest threats to the free and independent press. An RTI inquiry revealed that the government has spent over Rs 890 crore advertising in Hindi and over Rs 719 crore in English newspapers over the last five years. The media houses' financial dependency on state advertisements makes them unable to question the government effectively. Investments from large corporations or individuals with strong political affiliations result in biased, fabricated propaganda being peddled off as news. This limits the media from being able to freely report as seen when a former CNN-IBN employee claimed to be told to tone down coverage of AAP and the investigation of Ambani and policymakers regarding alleged corruption. Keeping in mind the media's power to mould and even manufacture public opinion, it is necessary for it to reflect the diversity of society. A report by Oxfam India and Newslaundry uncovered the utter lack of representation in newsrooms. Out of 121 leadership positions across the country's most popular newspapers and channels, 106 are occupied by journalists from the upper castes and none by thosebelonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Even in articles regarding caste issues, a majority of the writers are upper caste individuals. The under-representation of different socio-economic groups means that their perspective is being left out. How can the media hope to cover the issues of people when it doesn't even truly represent the people? In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift, with more and more people turning to online media platforms and independent journalism for news. Since many of these derive their income from crowdfunding or viewership, it lessens the issue of media ownership. However, there are rising concerns over the credibility of the smaller news organisations and the sustainability of a user-based business model in times of economic hardship. We, as viewers, need to be more aware of what we read and watch to differentiate between fact and fiction. It is the media's job to examine the world, but it is our job to examine the media.