There is something surreal about watching on screen what one is living through. I came away disturbed, despairing, more pensive and thoughtful. And less hopeful.

While We Watched (2022) is a commentary on the worrying state of news media and journalism in India, the steady takeover of news reporting by propaganda and partisan newscasting, the propping up of a cult of personality and the shrinking space for critical thinking and reflective dialogue.

The documentary casts an unsparing eye on the perils of pursuing fact-based sober journalism in the face of an unrelenting onslaught of incendiary presentation of events (real and distorted), dog-whistling, and reflexive praise of the governing regime by certain media channels and their anchors.

We get a peek at the media newsroom, the battle for eyeballs and perceptions, the struggles in approaching journalism as a calling rather than just a job, and the times one is called upon to re-anchor oneself in the face of doubt, confusion and a sense of creeping futility as the edifice of a truth-telling institution comes apart bit by bit.

We have a story of a man of simplicity, resilience and a deep commitment trying to stay in the fray and continue to espouse the ideals of democracy, fair contestation, truth-seeking, dignity and decency, even when met with ridicule and threats, when colleagues fall by the wayside and infrastructure crumbles. The nation, its politics and the over-heated climate of hate, divisiveness, name-calling, demonising of the ‘other’ and jingoism forms an unflattering backdrop.

After Jawan (2023) and its mind-numbing, action-packed, fleeting treatment of contemporary issues, this documentary was a harsh dose of reality.

I watched the documentary on YouTube. I am not sure if it is a legal upload. I have my doubts too about how long it will survive on this platform.

Do watch—no matter what your political leanings are. It would be worthwhile for all of us to ask, ‘What is at stake? What is our stake?’.