Foreign media accused of prejudiced portrayal of India during BRICS Summit coverage

Foreign media outlets including The New York Times, France24, Al Jazeera, and Deutsche Welle faced criticism for their coverage of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, with accusations of pushing a prejudiced narrative about India through selective imagery.

Analysis of published reports revealed a pattern where major outlets paired BRICS Summit signage and official imagery with photographs of street vendors, bicycle riders, and people resting in public spaces. The New York Times piece on BRICS leaders included a moped rider, while France24's report featured a cyclist passing a BRICS poster. Al Jazeera and other outlets followed similar photographic choices in their coverage.

Critics argue this reflects a decades-long Western tendency to frame India as a poor nation "punching above its weight," perpetuating colonial-era stereotypes of India as a land of snake charmers. The juxtapositional approach, they contend, subordinates substantive reporting on BRICS summit outcomes to imagery emphasizing poverty.