Panaji, 4 September 2026: So do you know which is the Goa government’s favourite watch dog? In other words, which media house in Goa gets the biggest volume of Pedigree biscuits from the Department of Information and Publicity?

 

 

The easiest way to identify the Goa government’s favourite media house is to just follow the money. The advertising money, to be precise.

And what a trail it is.

Government advertising figures for 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026 till date show that the Goa government spent ₹34.18 crore on newspapers, television channels, web portals and radio. One recipient, however, seems to have discovered that the advertising pie can occasionally resemble a generous slice of cake.

M/s Mirchi Republic Media Production, classified as radio in the government statements, received ₹13.05 crore across the four periods. That is roughly 38 per cent of the entire ₹34.18 crore.

In other words, nearly four out of every ten rupees in the dataset went to a single recipient.

The annual figures show allocations of about ₹3.90 crore in 2023-24, ₹2.29 crore in 2024-25, ₹4 crore in 2025-26 and ₹2.86 crore in 2026 till date.

Print: Gomantak leads

Among newspapers, the contest is considerably closer.

Gomantak emerges as the largest cumulative recipient with approximately ₹1.78 crore. It is followed by Lokmat at ₹1.69 crore, The Times of India at ₹1.63 crore, Tarun Bharat at ₹1.60 crore, Bhaangar Bhuin at ₹1.52 crore, Goan Varta at ₹1.46 crore and Navhind Times at ₹1.41 crore.

The Goan Everyday received about ₹1.02 crore, Pudhari ₹89.50 lakh and Herald ₹66.64 lakh.

Newspapers collectively received approximately ₹15.84 crore, or nearly 46 per cent of the total advertising expenditure.

There are also sizeable year-on-year variations. Gomantak, for instance, went from about ₹26.39 lakh in 2023-24 to ₹52.74 lakh, then ₹69.10 lakh before receiving another ₹30.06 lakh in 2026 till date.

Such fluctuations may have perfectly legitimate explanations. Which is precisely why the criteria should not be a state secret.

Television throws up another curiosity

Prudent narrowly leads the television category with approximately ₹89.04 lakh, followed by RDX at ₹87.92 lakh. Prime TV received ₹74.23 lakh, Goa 365 ₹55.91 lakh and Goa PlusNews Channel ₹38.41 lakh.

But the annual figures are considerably more interesting.

Prudent received just ₹82,600 in 2023-24 before jumping to ₹75.33 lakh in 2024-25. It then fell to ₹11.82 lakh and ₹1.06 lakh in the subsequent periods.

RDX moved almost in the opposite direction, from ₹6.14 lakh in 2023-24 to ₹9.01 lakh, then ₹16.13 lakh and finally a striking ₹56.64 lakh in 2026 till date.

Was this because of specific campaigns? Reach? Viewership? Rates? Audience demographics? Or something else entirely?

The public deserves to know.

Digital: one enormous jump

Among web portals, Goa New Hub is the clear leader with approximately ₹1.18 crore.

The annual trajectory is particularly striking: ₹10 lakh in 2023-24, ₹8.26 lakh in 2024-25, ₹5 lakh in 2025-26 and then ₹94.40 lakh in 2026 till date.

Goan Reporter, by comparison, received approximately ₹37.45 lakh across the four periods.

Again, there may be an entirely rational explanation. Perhaps there was a major campaign. Perhaps the portal’s measurable reach justified it. Perhaps the government has a formula.

If so, publishing the formula would be remarkably helpful.

The real issue is not who got what

Government advertising is legitimate. Governments have to communicate welfare schemes, recruitment notices, tenders, health advisories and public information. Media organisations also need advertising revenue to survive.

The problem begins when nobody can clearly explain how public money is allocated.

Is it circulation for newspapers? Independently measured viewership for television? Unique visitors and engagement for digital platforms? Frequency and reach for radio? Are government-approved rates followed? Are allocations campaign-wise and department-wise?

And, most importantly, does editorial conduct play absolutely no role?

Because this is where the tired but persistent “Godi Media” debate acquires a more uncomfortable dimension.

Receiving government advertising does not make a media organisation “Godi Media”. That would be lazy reasoning. The concern arises when dependence on government advertising becomes significant enough for a newsroom to wonder whether particularly aggressive journalism could have financial consequences.

No minister needs to make a phone call. No editor needs to receive an explicit warning. If a newsroom merely believes that asking uncomfortable questions could jeopardise the next advertisement, self-censorship can do the rest.

That is why transparency in government advertising is ultimately a press-freedom issue.

Public money demands public answers

The four periods show expenditure of approximately ₹7.55 crore in 2023-24, ₹9.51 crore in 2024-25, ₹9.42 crore in 2025-26 and ₹7.70 crore in 2026 till date.

That is ₹34.18 crore of public money.

The government should therefore publish, preferably in one easily accessible place, the media-wise and campaign-wise amounts, departments involved, applicable rates and the measurable criteria used to select each platform.

Such disclosure would not merely protect taxpayers. It would protect the media houses too.

If the allocations are entirely objective, transparent data would make allegations of political patronage considerably harder to sustain.

The figures identify the biggest recipients. They do not establish that any of them has compromised editorial independence. That judgment has to come from the journalism itself.

Does a media organisation question the government with the same enthusiasm with which it questions the Opposition? Does it investigate ministers and officials? Does it pursue uncomfortable stories? Does its aggression remain intact when the subject is the establishment providing a substantial share of its advertising?

Those are questions readers and viewers must answer.

Because the real question raised by this ₹34.18-crore advertising trail is not simply: Who is the Goa government’s favourite media house?

It is whether every media house receiving government money can still look the government in the eye and ask the questions the government would rather not answer.

That, ultimately, is the test of the Fourth Pillar.