There is a peculiar kind of irony in watching a man who built a career warning about the media’s manipulation of public opinion become, in his own right, a master of distortion. Leo Brent Bozell III, the United States ambassador to South Africa, made his name in the conservative world as a watchdog, co-authoring with Tim Graham the 2004 book Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media. In it, he accused the American press of bending the news to serve a left-wing agenda and of manipulating the national conversation from behind a veneer of objectivity. He…

In Chitradurga, Deputy Commissioner S Ramya sat down with representatives of recognised political parties at her office for what turned out to be a crucial meeting on the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. The atmosphere was serious but not hostile. Ramya had come with a clear message: the electoral roll is the foundation of democracy, and no one should be allowed to weaken it. She warned that anyone found submitting applications with false information, or violating election rules in any way, would face stringent legal action. This was not a casual caution. It was a firm promise that the…