As endless loops of verbal conflicts play out on TV screens, you might have noticed a few essential ingredients of a TRP-grabbing formula: a communal frame, a bigoted anchor, a Hindutva proponent, an irritable maulana, plenty of snide remarks and whataboutery.
Increasingly relying on tailspin debates for revenue, India’s TV news channels continue to project obscure maulanas as Muslim intellectuals, representatives and religious leaders. But who are they, how do they make their living, why do they go on TV? Newslaundry met a few of them.
