Moderated by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s director Mitali Mukherjee, the panel comprised Nic Newman, senior research associate at the institute; Sannuta Raghu, journalism fellow at the institute and head of the AI Lab at Scroll; Ritvvij Parrikh, head of AI product at Times Internet; and Akash Banerjee, founder and host of The Deshbhakt. 

According to the report, 55 percent of Indian users now consume news on YouTube, and 44 percent share news via social, messaging or email often via WhatsApp. Akash says there’s a clear indication towards television “taking a bit of a beating” while social media sees a “steady uptick”. 

“You’ve got to be real and raw,” he says, and explains how consumption patterns are moving towards “snackable, biteable content”, where a shorter format is “much, much more prevalent than the longer format”. 

Ritvvij talks about the challenges in using large language models that can sometimes “miss the news peg” of a story and therefore the need to deal with “detecting hallucinations”. He adds, “Trust in news is eroding and not just because of bad actors, but also because of opaque algorithms.”

Sannuta breaks down how AI can help news organisations “stay relevant” in some ways, converting text articles into videos that can be shared on Instagram. “The idea was…there are over 600 million smartphone users in India with access to cheap internet,” she says. She also explains the logistics of dealing with producing news in different languages in a country as diverse as India. 

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On the high stakes in the elections, the prominent Muslim politician says that rights and liberties, “bodily autonomy,” policies like student debt cancellation, and the progress made us over the years will “under threat” if Trump comes to power. 

Speaking about Kamala Harris’s candidacy, Omar says Gaza is a “huge blindspot” of the Biden government. “I have called on the president to impose an arms emargo… I do believe US laws and international laws are being violated. There is an ongoing genocide.”

On the challenges facing Kamala Harris, Omar says “most people don’t know who the Vice President is”.  She also talks about Harris’s policies, challenges, and the consequences of the media’s “lost journalistic ethos”.  

Watch our mini-series on the US polls

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Following the recent delimitation process, the region has a total of 90 electoral seats – 43 in Jammu and 47 in Kashmir. the voting in three phases, with the final phase set to cover 40 seats simultaneously.

At Jammu University, we spoke to the students about their key issues, the region’s politics, and campus life. For most of them, employment, development and reservation were the main poll issues and not the abrogation of Article 370.

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In this episode of Another Election Show, the conversations shed light on the influence of the various political parties in Jammu and the people’s views on the abrogation of Article 370 and statehood. 

On Article 370, Kandhari said, “People have voted in large numbers in the valley, which shows that democracy is taking its place here.” The journalists also delved into the BJP’s election strategy and the other parties’ initiatives to win electoral support.  

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जमात-ए-इस्लामी ने अतीत में अलगाववाद की बात की है और अब वह भारतीय संविधान के तहत चुनाव लड़ रही है. ऐसे में हथियारों के बल पर आजादी से जम्हूरियत के रास्ते राजनीति का यह सफर कैसे हुआ? और कश्मीरी आवाम को वह अब क्या कहकर अपने पक्ष में जुटाते हैं? इन्हीं सब मुद्दों पर हमने तलत मजीद से बात की. 

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Muktadir Rashid, a journalist in Bangladesh who has been reporting on the clashes from the ground, speaks to Newslaundry about the challenges to reporting in such circumstances, the incident in which he was shot at, how two journalists were killed, and the struggle for media in Bangladesh to be independent.

Rashid also discusses the triggers behind the protests, and how it’s become one of the biggest challenges Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has faced in her two-decade tenure. 

Tune in.

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Arman Ali, executive director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, spoke to Newslaundry about why putting the blame on people with disability is a harmful narrative and would result in pushing back people of disability by decades.

Ali also spoke about a case he recently filed against prominent cricketers for allegedly mocking people of disability and the need to include disability in mainstream conversations.

Tune in.

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Bajrangi, who was arrested by the Haryana police last year and subsequently granted bail, told Newslaundry that he is set to lead the yatra. He has also been urging people to participate in the yatra in huge numbers. 

Tune in.

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The three of them prepared for the exam at the coaching centre of Guru Rehman, alias Motiur Rehman Khan in Patna, after they were refused training by several coaching centres. Rehman, who is also popular as “Daroga Guru” in Bihar, spoke to Newslaundry about the many challenges faced by his transgender students and breaking stereotypes.

Tune in.

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In a conversation with Newslaundry, Athialy alleged that the government has “double standards” for civil society groups and India Inc. “Consider that a company had some erroneous filings. This doesn’t mean that tomorrow the company will shut down.”

Tune in.

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In a conversation with Newslaundry, the Congress leader spoke about the changes in parliamentary proceedings, INDIA bloc’s strategy for the next five years, Rahul Gandhi’s stance on media, and the NEET controversy. 

Tune in.

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In a conversation with Newslaundry, he spoke about his decision to contest the elections, his political agenda, and the role played by youth in the country’s politics.

Tune in.

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But the Faizabad constituency, which comprises Ayodhya, was won by Samajwadi Party’s veteran leader Awadhesh Prasad. The Dalit leader defeated two-time BJP MP Lallu Singh with a margin of 54,000 votes. In a setback to the saffron party, the SP won a total of 37 Lok Sabha seats in UP. 

In this conversation with Newslaundry, Prasad spoke about his victory in Ayodhya, the “real Ram bhakts”, BJP’s politics vs Samajwadi Party’s PDA, and the problems of the people of Ayodhya.

Tune in.

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In this conversation with Newslaundry, Ram spoke about why he rode a tractor to the parliament, Modi government, INDIA bloc “halting Modi’s dictatorship”, laws that need to be revoked, and the Left front’s dwindling electoral fortunes and dismal influence in Rajasthan. 

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On his political trajectory, Azad said, “Society keeps changing from time to time. At one time, I was with Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. After him, I was with the Congress under the leadership of Babu Jagjivan Ram. Then Kashiram ji, and then with behanji for a long time… Behanji is our leader and we have always received her blessings.”

Tune in.

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The grand old party has a stronger grassroot presence and nuanced pitch, while the BJP’s approach in the region is decentralised, with “voices from the ground being heard” from each constituency. The electoral pitch, however, is focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.        

In Bengaluru, Manisha Pande and Pooja Prasanna speak to author Sugata Srinivasaraju, senior journalist Maya Sharma and BJP spokesperson Surabhi Hodigere on the politics of north and south, the strategies of the two prominent national parties, and the BJP’s accommodative politics in the south.

Tune in.

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We particularly gauge the mood in the Haridwar Lok Sabha constituency, which earlier recorded volatile political scenarios, and has mostly been held by the BJP. In the current polls, BJP’s former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Congress’s ex-CM Harish Rawat’s son Virendra Rawat are in the fray in Haridwar. 

Also contesting are Umesh Kumar, a journalist-turned-politician standing as an independent candidate, and BSP’s Jalil Ahmed Qasmi. Notably, the constituency has significant Muslim and Dalit voters.

Atul is also joined by senior journalist Jai Singh Rawat, Baramasa editor Rahul Kotiyal, and senior journalist Pradeep Sati. 

From the Uniform Civil Code to unemployment, Ram Mandir, migration for jobs, and the infamous Ankita Bhandari murder case that rocked the state – what are the major issues plaguing Haridwar and Uttarakhand? 

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Rampur – a bastion of the now-jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan – is one of the 102 seats to go to polls in the first phase of the elections beginning on April 19. The constituency with 52 percent Muslim vote share, and 48 percent vote share of Hindus and others, has been a stronghold of the Congress, and then Azam Khan.    

But after Khan’s conviction in four cases in October 2022, is the constituency again charting its own course? In the 2022 by-elections, the BJP’s Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi won the seat. Is he looking at a repeat win?   

Meanwhile, the SP has fielded Mohibullah Nadvi, imam of a Delhi-based mosque, who has been unable to appeal to Khan’s supporters. The Bahujan Samaj Party’s candidate is Zeeshan Khan. Will it divide the Muslim votes? 

Newslaundry spoke to the students of Rampur’s Raza PG College and advocate Junaidur Rahman about the undercurrents ahead of the polls, the local politics, and issues that matter the most.  

How’s the table turning in Rampur? Tune in.

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We also discuss issues of corruption, malnutrition and politics of ‘freebies’ in Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, Congress has put up an aggressive campaign under Kamal Nath. Will they finally come to power in the state?

Watch.

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इस दौरान छात्र-छात्राओं से विभिन्ना पार्टियों द्वारा ‘मुफ्त में सुविधाएं और सेवाएं दी जाने की घोषणाओं समेत चुनावी वादों पर खुलकर चर्चा की. 

कभी ना पूरे हो पाने वाले पार्टियों के चुनावी वादों, लोकतंत्र में बदलाव, बढ़ती बेरोजगारी आदि मुद्दों के के अलावा पिछले पांच वर्षों में शिवराज सिंह की उपलब्धियों पर भी युवाओं की राय जानी. साथ ही आरक्षण और जाति के मुद्दे पर भी उनसे बात की. 

बातचीत के दौरान महिला सुरक्षा का मुद्दा भी प्रमुख रहा. हमारी टीम ने ये भी जानने की कोशिश की कि आखिर आरक्षण का आज के समय में युवाओं खासकर विद्यार्थियों के जीवन में क्या महत्व है और महिला सशक्तिकरण संबंधी सरकारी योजनाओं को छात्राएं किस नजरिए से देखती हैं. 

इन सब सवालों के जवाब जानने के लिए देखिए ये पूरी बातचीत.

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We reach the Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya campus in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur, where questions on education, corruption, the Mahadev app scam case, as well as the track record of the Bhupesh Baghel government come up during our conversation with students.

Students tell us what they think about the promises made by political parties for farmers. A section of them also raise the issue of safety of women.

Watch.

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The price of paddy has reportedly emerged as the biggest poll issue in the current elections in Chhattisgarh. In its manifesto, the BJP has promised to purchase paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal. Meanwhile, the Congress has promised to increase the rate from Rs 2,600 to Rs 3,000 per quintal. The other big poll issues are farmers’ loan waiver, Chhattisgarhi identity, and the alleged Mahadev App scam, which the Enforcement Directorate has reportedly linked to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Will these issues influence voters’ decisions?  

Listen.

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विपक्षी गठबंधन ‘इंडिया’ के सत्ता में आने के एक सवाल पर मनोज झा कहते हैं, “यदि हमारी पार्टी की सरकार बनती है तो भाजपा को भी आज़ादी मिलेगी. मोदीजी के नेतृत्व में भाजपा की सांस भी फूल रही है. भाजपा को भी आज़ादी की ज़रूरत है.” 

गठबंधन के नाम को निशाना बनाए जाने और भारत बनाम इंडिया की बहस पर वे कहते हैं, “मीडिया संस्थान कितनी मेहनत करके डॉट लगाकर गठबंधन का नाम लिखते हैं लेकिन पाठक उसे इंडिया ही पढ़ते हैं. हमें ये पता था कि इंडिया नाम रखेंगे तो भाजपा भारत के नाम पर विवाद खड़ा करेगी. इसीलिए हमारी पार्टी ने पहले दिन टैगलाइन निर्धारित की थी- ‘जुड़ेगा भारत, जीतेगा इंडिया.’ भाजपा और कुछ मीडिया संस्थान जिस तरह से हताश हैं, ऐसा न हो कि वो कहने लगें कि सभी नाम खारिज करके देश का नाम जम्बूद्वीप होना चाहिए.”

जी ट्वेंटी शिखर सम्मेलन को लेकर झा कहते हैं, “किसी भी देश में ऐसा नहीं हुआ है कि कर्फ्यू और सन्नाटे वाले माहौल में जश्न मनाया गया हो. इसमें लोकतंत्र की खुश्बू नहीं आती है, बल्कि राजतंत्र की बदबू आती है.”

इसके अलावा मनोज ने केंद्र सरकार द्वारा 18-23 सितंबर तक बुलाए गए संसद के विशेष सत्र, एक देश, एक चुनाव, पीएम नरेंद्र मोदी के कार्यकाल के दौरान सरकारी संस्थाओं में आए बदलाव और मीडिया के सत्ताधारी पार्टी की तरफ झुकाव आदि विषयों पर बेबाकी से अपनी राय रखी. 

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अपनी इस किताब में सिंह ने मूसेवाला की हत्या से जुड़े अनेक पहलुओं पर रोशनी डाली है. किताब में वह सिद्दू मूसेवाला और उनके आसपास के लोगों के साथ-साथ, उनकी हत्या से जुड़े किरदारों की पृष्ठभूमि, इस अप्रत्याशित घटना को अंजाम देने वाले आरोपियों और अपराध के ताने-बाने को भी पाठकों के सामने रखते हैं. सिंह ने एक अनुभवी क्राइम रिपोर्टर की नजर से इस पूरे मामले को परखा और पाठकों के सामने एक निष्पक्ष कथानक रखा है.

सुनिए पूरी बातचीत. 

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यहां के गांवों में घूमते हुए लोगों के अंदर अमेरिका जाने की बेचैनी का अंदाजा आसानी से लगाया जा सकता है. हमें अपनी पड़ताल के दौरान कुछ लोग तो ऐसे भी मिले हैं जो दर्जनों बार अमेरिका जाने की कोशिश कर चुके हैं. हालांकि, वे असफल रहे और अभी भी उनकी ये कोशिश जारी है. हमने पाया कि कैसे लोगों को देश से बाहर भेजने का एक पूरा तंत्र काम करता है. इस तंत्र में दलाल से लेकर एयरपोर्ट तक की भूमिका होती है.  

इसके अलावा, देश से बाहर पढ़ने जाने के लिए छात्र इंटरनेशनल इंग्लिश लैंग्वेज टेस्टिंग सिस्टम (आईईएलटीएस) का टेस्ट देते हैं. गुजरात के शहरों में जगह-जगह आपको आईईएलटीएस की तैयारी को लेकर होर्डिंग्स और दफ्तर नजर आ जाएंगे. आईईएलटीएस भी अवैध रूप से अमेरिका जाने का माध्यम बन गया है. यह सिलसिला कब शुरू हुआ? क्या वजह है कि लोग जान दांव पर लगाकर भी अमेरिका जाना चाहते हैं और कौन आदमी इसमें क्या भूमिका निभाता है? इसकी एक-एक कड़ी कैसे जुड़ती है यह जानने के लिए ग्राउंड से लौटे हमारे रिपोर्टर बंसत कुमार से डिस्कॉर्ड के जरिए जानिए. 

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Now, in this conversation with Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri on February 9, they talked about the shortcomings of pharmaceutical regulations in India. Prashant quoted a former drug controller, who said, “If I had to apply American standards of quality to the Indian industry, I’ll have to shut down more than half the plants.”

This lack of regulatory accountability and non-compliance with scientific methodology can have serious consequences for consumers. Dinesh and Prashant explained other pressing concerns facing healthcare in India – rising drug failures, a surge in fixed-dose combinations, and the lack of regulatory structures for ayurvedic medicines.

Watch.

Venue partner: The Quorum, Gurgaon

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Newslaundry editors Atul Chaurasia and Manisha Pande and reporters Ayush Tiwari, Basant Kumar and Shivnarayan Rajpurohit analyse the results.

Listen.

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The team also discusses latest entrant AAP and its potential vote bank, how this is an election where the state will choose its main opposition party, and why the Congress’s campaign is so low-key.

Listen.

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On law and order, students born in 2002 believe that they have seen a peaceful state compared to their parents’ experience, while others feel strict action is needed against illicit liquor and drug trade in the state. The quality of education and lack of adequate skilling at the postgraduate level remain a key concern. Students also say that it’s not enough for the governing party to tom-tom PM Modi’s face and there is a lack of a strong CM candidate in Gujarat.

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#gujaratassemblyelection पर यह न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री का पहला #morningshow है. इस एपिसोड में हमारे साथ लेखक-व्यंग्यकार उर्वीश कोठारी और द हिंदू के सीनियर असिस्टेंट एडिटर महेश लांगा शामिल हुए.

इस एपिसोड में भारतीय जनता पार्टी के 27 साल के शासनकाल पर चर्चा हुई. आखिर ऐसा क्या है जिसके दम पर गुजरात में भाजपा लगातार चुनाव जीत रही है? साथ में मुख्य विपक्षी दल कांग्रेस का चुनावी मैदान में न दिखना और #aamaadmiparty के प्रचार-प्रसार पर बात हुई.

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On this #MorningShow, Atul and Manisha are joined by Ashwini Sharma, former bureau chief of Indian Express and currently with Outlook and Rajeev Khanna, associate editor with Citizen. They discuss BJP’s manifesto promises and compare them with what Congress is offering. They talk about factionalism within #BJP and Prime Minister #NarendraModi’s micromanagement. They also discuss Modi’s speech and why it connects with his audience. Is climate change an issue in #HimachalPradeshelection?

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मोरबी में लोगों के दिलों में क्या है, वह किसे वाट करना चाहते हैं, उनके मुद्दे क्या हैं, क्या मोरबी पुल हादसे के बाद वहां कोई बदलाव आया है. ऐसे सभी सवालों के जवाब जानने के लिए हमारा यह पूरा मॉर्निंग शो देखिए.

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“Because you weren’t personal, because you weren’t bitter, your pieces had a life of its own,” he says about portraying the common man’s anger in the ad. He also talks about how cartoonist RK Laxman inspired him, why never using a smartphone makes him a better storyteller, and how advertising has changed over the decades.

Watch or Listen to the entire podcast on newslaundry.com

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The panel discussion titled “Negotiations with Security Laws” was moderated by Vakasha Sachdev, lawyer and editorial lead of Logically. She was joined by Hartosh Singh Bal, journalist and political editor of the Caravan, and Vrinda Grover, human rights lawyer and activist.

The panel discussed the sedition law and why it needs a moratorium, how the National Security Act is misused, and why India needs law to protect against communal and targeted violence. 

“Doing the job of journalism is more difficult today than it has ever been at any point of time in our history,” Hartosh said. “The laws are secondary to the political atmosphere that exists.”

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The panel discussion “Court Stories” was moderated by Abhinandan Sekhri, founder of Newslaundry. He was joined by lawyers Rebecca John and Sonam Gupta, and Alt News cofounder Pratik Sinha. 

The panel discussed how press freedom in India is impacted by the misuse of laws, how journalists are at the receiving end of threats on social media, and the legal strategies available to tackle these issues. Rebecca remembered how when she started out as a lawyer, she was told “lawyers and journalists would never be touched because they have the potential to hit back”. 

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On whether we might ever see an end to harassment in the workplace, Meenakshi says, “As long as there are genders, it won’t.” They also talk about the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial and the gender justice movement in India.

Watch or listen to the full podcast on newslaundry.com

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The panel discussion “Lessons from the Emergency” was moderated by independent journalist Neha Dixit. She was joined by journalist and author Kalpana Sharma and senior advocate Chandra Uday Singh. 

Kalpana explained how orders at the time “were more or less against publications and not individual journalists”. The discussion spanned how the Emergency played out, its repercussions, and the role of journalism throughout. 

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Talking about his sting operation of actors Shakti Kapoor and Aman Verma, he says, “It was necessary to highlight the inappropriate acts young girls in Bollywood were forced to do.” Suhaib and Kunal also discuss the ethical boundaries of Suhaib’s storytelling, his departure from Indian TV, and how television news has evolved over the years.

Watch or listen to the full podcast on newslaundry.com by being a paid subscriber.

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“Channel V was the cool guy around,” Shashanka says, “and saying ‘ye dekh, ye dekh’ from around the world.”

They talk about what made the channel relatable to urban Indian youth, organisational challenges in an age of analog, and how fun it was to create homegrown content that wasn’t an imitation of the west. Shashanka describes the process of creating popular Channel V characters like Lola Kutty and Simpu Singh, and his transition from the small screen to the big screen.

Listen or watch the full episode by being a subscriber on newslaundry.com

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A turning point was the 1975 Allahabad High Court judgement that convicted Gandhi of electoral malpractices. “It was the beginning of a different Indira,” Raghu says.

He also talks about covering the JP movement, photographing Bhindranwale before Operation Blue Star, and how journalism has changed over the years.

Listen to the full podcast by subscribing to newslaundry.com.

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Kappan, a journalist from Kerala, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police while he was on his way to report on the brutal gangrape of a teenage Dalit girl by four upper caste men in Hathras nearly two years ago. Kappan was slapped with charges under the sedition law and the anti-terror law UAPA. The journalist was granted bail by the Supreme Court on September 9, but his lawyers couldn’t find residents of Uttar Pradesh who could stand as his surety, as required by the conditions of his bail. Until, that is, Verma came forward. 

She speaks with Tanishka Sodhi about her decision to help Kappan, the consequences for dissent in this country, and her life’s journey. “In today's dark times, this much help is what every citizen has a claim of. I wouldn't have been able to face myself if I didn’t extend this small help," she says.

There’s an climate of fear in the country right now, she says, because of which it is difficult for people to speak up and speak out. 

Verma, 79, has spent a lifetime fighting caste, gender and religious hatred, and she talks about what keeps her going.

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A veteran TV journalist, Barkha quit NDTV in 2017 and launched her own independent media organisation, Mojo Story. 

Her new book, To Hell and Back: Humans of Covid, recounts countless stories of grief, grimness, and goodwill that she encountered over two years of traveling across the country to report on the pandemic.

In this interview with Manisha Pande, Barkha speaks about personal experience, from reporting the Covid story to becoming it when she lost her father to the virus in April 2021. She describes harrowing cases where medical workers were attacked, why she refused to report on the 2021 assembly elections, and the divisive role played by Big Media during the pandemic.

Given the decline of TV news, she firmly says she would not advise a young journalist to join the broadcast industry today.

On billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani’s takeover of NDTV, Barkha says most of the news channel’s senior management didn't know until much later about another billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s loan to NDTV, which would prove crucial to Adani's takeover. This should compel us to talk about the revenue model of TV news, she argues, which is dependent on big businesses and governments, and what that means for the editorial integrity of a news organisation. 

The conversation also spans the Radia tapes scandal, access journalism, the 2002 Gujarat carnage coverage, work-life balance, and the question of media regulation.

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Listen to the full podcast by being a subscriber on newslaundry.com.

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They also discuss public investment in industries, income inequality, and how private industry can push public industry to do better.

Listen to the full podcast here.

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In episode 1, Kunal revisits 1990s India with documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan. Anand takes us back to his time shooting Ram Ke Naam, which explored the sociopolitical climate leading up to the Babri Masjid demolition. Hindu fundamentalism drummed up wide support for the demolition, he says, adding specifically about BJP grandee LK Advani’s mobilisation campaign, “Wherever the rath yatra went, people were being killed.” 

They also discuss how patriarchy and caste played into the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Listen!

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Most recently, we published a series of reports as part of two Sena projects – The Yogi Who Has It All and Bulldozing a New Imagine in MP. 

The first is a look at Ramdev’s journey from a schoolboy in a small Haryana village to a yoga guru helming a Rs 10,000-crore business empire, and the second delves into the demolition of mostly Muslim homes and shops in Madhya Prades by Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s BJP government.  

In this Session with Sena, Basant and Newslaundry managing editor Raman Kirpal talk about the reporting with those who contributed to these projects.

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Now, in this interview with Chitranshu Tewari, Sophie explains how she had offered to testify before India’s parliamentary standing committee on information, and why she shared documentation on her work on India with local journalists and media houses.

Sophie says Facebook chose not to take action on “inauthentic networks” linked to Vinod Sonkar, a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh. “Facebook rules favour whoever is in power,” she says. “IT cells drown out the voice of the common man.”

Sophie also describes the inherent “conflict” in the role played by Facebook’s public policy teams. 

Watch.

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They took subscribers through their experiences of meeting voters with various political ideologies, the campaigns that stood apart, the issues that mattered, and how parties fared across the spectrum.

Listen.

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Atul Chaurasia, Manisha Pande and Meghnad S are on the election trail and will be traveling through Goa, UP, Uttarakhand and Punjab. Power our election coverage by contributing to our #NLSena project: https://newslaundry.com/sena?ref=social

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This morning, the headlines bring the grim news that there have been 20 Covid deaths in Goa within a day﹘many of those who succumbed to the virus were unvaccinated. Meanwhile, the Congress has issued an ad that makes lack of high-speed internet in Goa an election issue.

We also tell you all about Goa’s couple candidates. If all 10 of them win, 25 percent of the Assembly will be husband-wife duos. Also, a rundown on candidates with the highest number of criminal cases. BJP’s pitch to fight crime in UP has turned queer in Goa.

Catch this and more, everyday on Newslaundry.

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Welcome to the second episode of the Morning Show, where we take you through the major newspaper headlines as Atul, Manisha and Meghnad travel to states set for the 2022 Assembly elections.

In this episode, we have Gomantak group editor Raju Naik on board. He tells us about the mediascape in Goa and how a political party may be offering bribes to editors. Naik explains that most Goan newspapers are owned by mining companies and dependent on government advertising.

Full disclosure: Gomantak is owned by NCP’s Pawar family.

Watch the video here

Catch this and more, everyday on Newslaundry.

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We have a new show up! Atul, Manisha and Meghnad are on the election trail and will be traveling through Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.

Today, they are in Panjim and take you through the newspapers in the Morning Show. Which political party has the most ads? What's making headlines in the front pages? Who are political cartoons taking potshots at?

Watch the video here.

Catch this and more, every morning on Newslaundry.

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Sandhya Raju George is a lawyer who was on the panel of advocates representing the nuns in the case. In this conversation with Newslaundry’s Nidhi Suresh, she talks about the acquittal and judgement, and sexual harassment laws in India.

The conversation also spans judicial treatment of sexual assault survivors and the process of judicial trials in India. Tune in. 

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In this interview with Chitranshu Tewari, Vanita explains the relationship between how broadcast media makes media and what the audience gets to see, the business economics of ad-funded media, and the lack of government foresight in seeing media as an industry.

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In this interview with Chitranshu Tewari, Sophie describes the suspicious patterns of behaviour she observed in 2019 with respect to India. On the company’s reluctance to act on matters involving fake accounts in India, she points at “political pressure and the general lack of motivation of the company to police its own system”.

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Kabir opens up about his unconventional upbringing and his journey of finding true companionship. He talks about his experiences in cinema in different countries, about the time he persuaded the manager of All India Radio to land himself an interview with the Beatles and a lot more.

To watch the full unedited interview, subscribe to newslaundry.com.

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Natasha and Devangana are both students at Jawaharlal Nehru University and members of Pinjra Tod, a women’s collective. In this interview with Nidhi Suresh, they talk about their experience in prison, state repression, and Pinjra Tod’s participation in the citizenship law protests.

“Through this regime over the last four to five years, we have been seeing an increasing repression by this government through the use of various laws, whether it is sedition or UAPA,” Devangana says. “It was quite shocking to be booked under a stringent law like the UAPA which is an attack on the student community and its rising voices, and equally an attack on the Muslim community.”

Natasha says, “One of the things we have learnt through our journey at Pinjra Tod is women’s freedom cannot be achieved in isolation. This struggle for freedom is not in isolation from other struggles.” She describes the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens as an attempt by the government to “change the nature of this country, the nature of this state, the nature of the constitution itself”.

They also talk about the sense of community among people in similar circumstances to their own.

Listen.

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Bhasin talks about the time and effort he spent researching the book, and how most government documents and records about the 1962 war are classified. “Since independence,” he says, “nothing has been thrown open though it is against the archival rules which suggest that these records should be made available after 25 years.”

But in 2014, he says, “a very big collection of Nehru papers, earlier in private hands, became available and was passed on to official hands, and I was able to get permission to check those papers. And it was a treasure trove.”

He also talks about the McMahon line, drawn by the British to separate India and China, and says China was not consulted on it and, therefore, never accepted it.

Listen.

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To discuss Kobad’s life through the prism of his book Fractured Freedom: A Prison Memoir, three schoolmates whose lives took dramatically varying paths were brought together by Roli Pulse, the digital arm of Roli Books, in partnership with Newslaundry. 

Kobad, Ishaat Hussain and Gautam Vohra, who were together in Doon School’s class of 1963, talk about their childhood and friendship. They also talk about the evolution of Kobad, who has dedicated his life working for the marginalised and spent a decade in various prisons. The discussion is moderated by Abhinandan Sekhri of Newslaundry.

“I have been to six or seven prisons and the way cases were opening up initially, one after the other, I felt I wouldn’t even get out,” says Kobad. “But I was in general writing in prison for the mainstream, for anything that disturbed me.”

Ishaat believes that whatever Kobad has done was right and "very few of us can really turn around and say and do that with any great conviction".

Narrating the journey of the dramatic years when he was in contact with Kobad, Gautam says, "If I could de-class myself and live with the poor, something I feel I had the guts for, that was something I could sense was not in me but was in Kobad.”

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इस वेबिनार में मेहमान के तौर पर आईआईटी दिल्ली की एसोसिएट प्रोफेसर और लेखक रीतिका खेड़ा, गांव कनेक्शन के एसोसिएट एडिटर अरविन्द शुक्ला, स्वतंत्र पत्रकार पुष्यमित्र, पीपल आर्काइव ऑफ़ रूरल इंडियन से जुड़ीं पत्रकार मेधा काले और भारती इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ़ पब्लिक पॉलिसी में कम्युनिकेशन प्रमुख दीप्ती सोनी ने हिस्सा लिया. इस वेबिनार का संचालन न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के कार्यकारी संपादक अतुल चौरसिया ने कियादीप्ति शुरुआत में इंडिया डाटा पोर्टल के बारे में बताते हुए कहती हैं, “यह पोर्टल हर किसी के लिए खुला है, जिसे खासतौर से पत्रकारों की मदद के लिए बनाया गया है. इसके साथ ही शोधकर्ता और छात्र आदि के लिए भी यह पोर्टल बनाया गया है. पोर्टल पर मौजूद जानकारी  भारत के 28 राज्यों और आठ केंद्र-शासित प्रदेशों के बारे में है, जो कि छह भाषाओं में उपलब्ध है. वहीं एग्रीकल्चर सेंसेस, सॉइल, रेन फॉल जैसे 40 अलग-अलग डाटा सेट इस वक्त पोर्टल पर मौजूद हैं. इन जानकारी को 45 से भी जायदा ग्राफ़िक्स या चित्र के रूप में उपयोग किया जा सकता है.

सत्र में आगे अतुल आकंड़ों की बात करते हुए रीतिका खेड़ा से सवाल करते हुए कहते हैं "क्या सच में इस तरह के आकड़ों से ग्रामीण अर्थव्यवस्था पर हमारी मीडिया को सूचना सम्पन्न और उसकी रिपोर्टिंग को प्रभावशाली बनाने में मदद कर सकती है"?इस पर रीतिका कहती हैं "ये सवाल बहुत अहम है जो मुद्दे की जड़ तक जाता है. अगर देखा जाए तो पत्रकारों की पकड़ मुद्दे पर नहीं है. ऐसे में डाटा को जल्दबाजी में इस्तेमाल किया जाता है. उदाहरण के तौर पर प्रजेंटेशन में बताया गया है कि कैसे मनरेगा में कितनों की मांग थी और कितने लोगों को काम मिला. यह सब सरकारी खेल है जो एमआईएस के डाटा में होता है और यह कब अपलोड किया जाएगा उसका किसी को पता नहीं. 

इस विषय पर अतुल कहते हैं हम लम्बे समय से देख रहे हैं कि ग्रामीण पत्रकारिता, कभी पत्रकारिता में एक बीट हुआ करता थी और कृषि पत्रकारिता मुख्यधारा की पत्रकारिता से गायब हो गई है. मौजूदा समय में दूसरा पी साईनाथ जैसा नाम खोजना मुश्किल है. इससे दिखता है कि जो पत्रकारिता कभी ग्रामीण अर्थव्यवस्था की हुआ करती थी, वो लगातार खत्म हुई है.

मीडिया में कृषि पत्रकारिता की खत्म होती अहमियत पर अतुल, मेधा से पूछते है "ये जो दिक्कत है, कि पत्रकार और मीडिया हाउस कृषि  बीट को एहमियत नहीं दे रहे हैं. क्या लगता है हमें इस पर फिर से ध्यान देना चाहिए. जिससे कृषि बीट को फिर से मजबूत किया जा सके?

इस पर मेधा कहती हैं 'जब हम डाटा देखते हैं कि मनरेगा में इतने सारे जॉब धारक हैं लेकिन कितनों को जॉब कार्ड मिला है और कितनों को मना कर दिया गया इसका डाटा हमारी रिपोर्ट से गायब है. पहले जब पत्रकार ग्रामीण स्तर पर काम करते थे, तब वह गांव के लोगों की समस्याओं को समझते थे और जानते थे और उनकी वहीं जानकारी उस समय डाटा का स्वरूप ले लेता था, लेकिन आज के समय में यह गायब हैं क्योंकि कोई भी गांव आधारित पत्रकारिता नहीं है.

इस वेबिनार में रोजगार और पत्रकरिता को लेकर जो बात निकलकर सामने आई उसमें निश्चित तौर पर इंडिया डाटा पोर्टल या इस तरह के आकड़े उपलब्ध कराने वाले प्लेटफॉर्म पत्रकरिता को बड़ा सपोर्ट कर सकते हैं तथा रिपोटिंग को बहुत मजबूत कर सकते हैं. इससे भी जो ज़रूरी खास बात है वो ये है कि मुख्य धारा की पत्रकारिता को ग्रामीण पत्रकारिता की अर्थव्यवस्था के इलाके पर ध्यान दें, इसमें निवेश करें और इसे मुख्य धारा की पत्रकारिता का हिस्सा समझें. क्योंकि ये भी इसी देश के लोग और देश का हिस्सा हैं. इनसे  देश की नीतियां, जीडीपी और भी बहुत कुछ तय होता है.

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The second webinar, titled “A data-led approach to India’s agri-economy”, was organised on September 25.

Moderated by Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, the panelists were Ajay Vir Jakhar, chairman of the Bharat Krishak Samaj; Parth MN, principal correspondent with IndiaSpend; Aparna Karthikeyan, author and independent journalist; and Nidhi Jamwal, environmental editor and head of the English desk of Gaon Connection.

Listen!

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We have something that might excite you. Newslaundry presents a new podcast: NL vs NL. 

Let's make debates great again!

In this episode of NL vs NL, Newslaundry subscribers Atif Adam and Aprajita Singh debate whether the development of artificial intelligence will end up benefiting or harming humanity?

Atif argues it will help, Aprajita disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Aprajita on e-mail and Atif on Twitter.

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In this interview with Shubh Soni, Max discusses the impending American presidential election, especially in the context of foreign policy, and the influence wielded over it by the news media.

Watch the full video on newslaundry.com

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Over a year on, Abdullah speaks with Abhinandan Sekhri about the situation in Kashmir, and where he and his party, the National Conference, stand in the new scheme of things.

Watch the full video on newslaundry.com

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ऐसी शख्सियत के साथ इंटरव्यू एक सपने के सच होने जैसा था. जाहिर है यह इंटरव्यू उनकी टेलीविज़न के सामने वाली शख्सियत के अलावा उसके इतर पहलुओं की भी पड़ताल करता है. मसलन उनकी पत्नी द्वारा उन पर लिखी गई किताब, उनके बेटे बिलाल मकसूद का मशहूर म्यूज़िक बैंड, हिंदुस्तानी संगीत की महान शख्सियतों के साथ उनका रिश्ता आदि.

पूरा इंटरव्यू देखने के लिए क्लिक करे: http://bit.ly/NLInterviewAnwarMaqsood

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The first webinar, titled “Indian Economy and Covid: Insights from Data” and organised on August 28, was moderated by Meghnad S, associate editor at Newslaundry. 

The panelists were Paojel Chaoba of the Frontier; Mitali Mukherjee of the Wire; Sukirat, Punjabi writer and columnist; Prerna Mukharya, founder of Outline India; Ashwini Chhatre, executive director of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy.

Mukherjee describes the Indian economy as being in a “state of mess” now. Though “economic slowdown” seems to be a vague idea, she says, its impact will be personal for the majority of the people. She points out that the pandemic has caused job losses and salary cuts and limited work opportunities for new entrants into the job market. Further, the service sector, one of the Indian economy’s stronger performers, has been the worst hit. MSMEs have also been disproportionately affected. 

Talking about the coronavirus situation in Manipur, where he is based, Chaoba points out the people there are living relatively normal lives. This is mainly because they rely on agriculture as the primary source of income. Moreover, since the people of Manipur are used to having limited access to education and healthcare facilities, their daily lives haven’t been affected as much by the pandemic as those in other places. 

Surkirat says more than the pandemic, the nationwide lockdown imposed in March to contain it did the most damage in his home state of Punjab. There had been only one Covid-19 death in Punjab until then, he adds, but the lockdown led to unnecessary panic, which, among other disastrous consequences, has brought the newspaper industry to the brink of collapse. 

Mukharya cites an ILO report estimating that the pandemic could push “400 million Indians into object poverty”. A major reason for this is migrants being forced to return to their villages from cities due to the lack of work. There are limited job opportunities for them in rural India and so they face unemployment. She notes that four out of 10 women have become unemployed since March. The virus disproportionately affects women since they work in sectors like education and domestic labour, which are the worst impacted by Covid-19.  

Lamenting the inaccessibility and unreliability of government data, Chhatre underlines the need for private organisations to enter the data collection space. If data is digitised and made more accessible, he says, it will be harder to manipulate. The India Data Portal is one such endeavour.

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On the reasons prompting his resignation from Republic TV on 5th August, Sodhi recounts how the organisation has no concept of exit interviews. The company is least concerned about the reasons surrounding anyone’s resignation from the organisation which is why he made it a point to write a separate note outlining his reasons aside from his resignation letter that he sent almost a month later. He says that while there were several reasons for his leaving, the fact that the staff was treated terribly was one of the most prominent reasons. He also cites instances where for a story he was made to compromise his ethics and resort to tactics like protesting with placards outside party offices. With regards to the Sunanda Pushkar case, he recalls how one of his colleagues was under so much pressure for an exclusive story that he suffered a heart attack while in office. Similar events surrounded another resignation from a reporter who was unable to get Rhea Chakroborty’s interview for the channel. 

On the subject of his time at Republic TV, Sodhi recalls how the channel while campaigning against nepotism also actively supported it. An interview that had previously been granted to Mr. Sodhi was reassigned to a close crony of Arnab Goswami which is what triggered his resignation. He also recalls how reporters were constantly asked to focus on a particular angle while reporting their stories which was centred around bashing a particular political party. 

With respect to the reporters mandate at Republic, Sodhi says that while he was never explicitly asked to not do a story on the BJP, the manner in which the stories were given prominence via the Mumbai desk made the bias very obvious. Since he headed the Jammu office for Republic, Sodhi recalls how while reporting about Mufti or Abdullah the channel would always focus on the one comment in their speeches that could be utilised to call them anti national and focussed all their energy on that.

Watch.

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In this conversation with Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Suraj says the response to his book has been “interesting”. He didn’t expect people to be this interested in caste issues, especially in India, he says, where people tend to consume mostly cheap thrillers and don’t invest too much in such thoughtful subjects.

Suraj says he tried to overcome some of his own insecurities in his book by including personal vignettes on growing up in a Dalit community. He also reveals that his hesitance in sharing his personal angst is strongly tied to feeling that he was “exploiting” his own story, because of the way narratives are built around Dalit identities in India.

Watch the full interview: http://bit.ly/NLInterviewSurajYengde

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She speaks with Abhinandan Sekhri of Newslaundry to talk about her experiences driving across India to cover the coronavirus crisis and the resultant migrant exodus.

She also talks about the challenges of donning the hats of journalist and entrepreneur at the same time, her fallouts with promoters and whether small independent news operations can match the impact of the legacy media.

Talking about her coverage of the migrant crisis, Barkha recalls that she had not planned to embark on a journey that would eventually take over a hundred days, covering thousands of miles. But the lack of Big Media attention or government intervention made her realise that she needed to give it full attention. “That end of the first week is when I realised that I can't sit inside my office, inside my house and tell the story. I didn't know the scale of what I was going to witness when I set forth, but I gave myself a week in the capital observing this, observing the invisibility of the story," she adds.

She recounts some of the stories that impacted and stayed with her, how her team managed to travel and find places to stay in a pandemic while the country was on lockdown, and how it felt being in a PPE for a few hours.

Asked why she has changed several organisations over the past few years, Barkha explains that she quit NDTV over the issue of editorial integrity and Tiranga TV because the employees hadn’t been paid their salaries.

Barkha and Abhinandan also discuss the future of journalism, the new economic models Indian media are experimenting with, and why she would opt for the "Guardian mode" if she could.

Watch the full interview:

https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/08/25/nl-interview-barkha-dutt-on-covering-migrant-crisis-the-media-economy-and-falling-out-with-promoters

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In this episode of NL vs NL, Newslaundry’s Basant Kumar and Lipi Vats debate whether India is a secular country or not.

Basant thinks it is, Lipi disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Basant and Lipi on Twitter.

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Apoorvanand speaks with Chahak Gupta about his interrogation, his ideological leanings and his position on violence.

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In this episode of NL vs NL, Manisha Pande and Newslaundry subscriber Aishwarya Mahesh debate whether workplaces should provide sick leave to their employees who might be battling mental health issues.

Manisha thinks they should, Aishwarya disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Manisha and Aishwarya.

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To discuss these themes, Roli Pulse, the digital arm of Roli Books, in association with Newslaundry, brought together comedians Vir Das and Aditi Mittal, and Newslaundry co-founder Abhinandan Sekhri, in the sixth and final episode of this specially curated video series on the media landscape.

On whether social media has made acceptable certain things that were once unacceptable, Aditi says, “Social media has enabled people to coagulate around things that are socially unacceptable — things that are bigoted, racist, sexist...And so people know now that if I say something ridiculous, I will get an invitation to Bigg Boss. And for a whole lot of people, that is a valid route to infamy.”

As consumers of social media, Aditi adds, “we are the monsters that we are fighting. When we hate-share stuff or cringe-watch stuff, we’re adding to it.”

Vir says, “If [something] is offensive, does that mean it should not exist, or does it mean it needs to be modified? Is it the only thing that’s offensive?” He also points out that what is defined as offensive changes “every five years or four years or three years or two years..."

Listen.

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In this episode of NL vs NL, Meghnad S and Newslaundry subscriber Abhishek Bagga debate on whether safetyism contradicts liberal values. 

Meghnad thinks it does, Abhishek disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Meghnad.

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In this interview with Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Venugopal explains how the family was allowed a 20-minute long video call with Varavara by Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital, where he was shifted for treatment. Varavara appeared both physically and psychologically unwell during the call. 

Regarding his uncle’s involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case, Venugopal points out how the Elgar Parishad event, which preceded the violence in December 2017, had been organised by retired Justices BG Kolse-Patil and PB Sawant, who have already stated that they were the “main organisers and sole funders”. Varavara had never even visited Pune until the Pune police came to take him to jail in November 2018, Venugopal says.

Varavara’s bail plea will be heard by courts today. The family is requesting bail on three major grounds: his age, health, and vulnerability to Covid. The plea was filed before he tested positive for the virus. 

Watch. 

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In this interview with Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Vivek kicks off by explaining how Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi have become the “poster boys” of the NPA mess in India, even though there’s an entire list of defaulters in the Parliament which hasn’t been spotlighted.

To watch the full unedited interview, subscribe to Newslaundry.com

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In this conversation with Newslaundry’s Mehraj D Lone, Ziya begins by explaining the roots of the Jamaat, which is arguably India’s largest Muslim organisation. Its members were not intellectuals, he says, but poor, illiterate peasants who were barely able to recite a few verses from the Quran.

Describing the Jamaat’s spiritual and ritualistic aspects, he says, “They never encourage youngsters, or senior members who come to them, to under the Quran.” In the context of his own experience with the organisation, Ziya says it rejected his proposal to distribute the meaning of the Quran in English, Hindi and Urdu, since the Jamaat focuses on reading the Quran to learn about the afterlife, he says, not to understand it.

Will the recent backlash and allegations of “spreading Covid” change the Jamaat’s refusal to take a political stand? They live in a “social, political vacuum,” Ziya replies. “I don’t think they will change with Covid. They did not speak in 1992, they did not speak in 2002, they didn’t speak up in 2013. There is no likelihood that the Tablighi Jamaat will undergo any major change post Covid in 2020.”

Watch.

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In this episode of NL vs NL, Newslaundry subscribers Dhruv Thakkar and Yash debate on whether traditional currency should be replaced by cryptocurrency. 

Yash thinks it should be, Dhruv disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Dhruv and Yash

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Nitin Pai is the director of the Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy. In the episode of NL Conversations, he speaks with Meghnad S about policy, ideology and technology.

Talking about “liberal nationalism”, he believes it can only exist in India, for elsewhere people will argue that it’s not possible to be “liberal” and “nationalist” at the same time. “Indian nationalism can work on a global scale because it does not insist on a single language, race and religion.”

Nitin also discusses various ideologies and whether they make sense in today’s world. He complains that “we have become a society with no compassion” but maintains that the society is still “capable of looking after its weak”.

Talking about India’s education system, he argued that it is important to think critically in today’s age of technology and complains that “the test system has killed education in this country.”

Tune in!

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In this episode of NL vs NL, Chahak Gupta and Newslaundry subscriber Agastya Sreenivasan debate the uncomfortable question: is reservation desirable?

Chahak says they are, Agastya disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Agastya and Chahak.

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In the latest episode of NL Conversations, Newslaundry’s Chitranshu Tewari speaks to Gautam Mishra, joining in from Melbourne. Gautam is the founder and chief executive officer of Inkl, a bundle news subscription platform that unlocks coverage from premium publishers like the New York Times and the Economist with a monthly subscription of just Rs 250. 

Talking about the upsurge in demand for bundle news subscriptions, Gautam speaks at length about the longevity and breadth of news in 2020. “Twenty years ago if you were from Delhi, it was fine for you to mostly concentrate on news from Delhi, but today you cannot do that,” he points out.

He adds: “If you want to know what’s happening with Brexit, you would want to know it from the Brits. If you want to understand what’s happening in Hong Kong, you actually need to get it from the South China Morning Post.”

Defending Facebook and Twitter on being unable to police “fake news”, Gautam says, “Facebook and Twitter are open networks and anytime you have an open network, that, by definition...means anybody can publish anything.” He says the Australian Competition Commission’s decision to make big tech pay directly to the publishers is “completely ridiculous and nonsense”. “When somebody has cancer, you can’t just cure it by giving a band-aid,” he says.

Tune in!

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To discuss the finer points of this question, Roli Pulse, the digital arm of Roli Books, in association with Newslaundry, brought together Sattvik Mishra, CEO of ScoopWhoop; Pragya Tiwari, journalist and policy consultant; Andre Borges, content creator at Pocket Aces; and Abhinandan Sekhri, co-founder of Newslaundry. 

“I think news has largely been dictated by a bunch of editors who sit in a room and decide what news should look like,” Sattvik says, and emphasises the importance of presentation and diversity in making something go viral. 

Pragya says, “There is a massive disconnect between the people who are thinking about marketing and people who are thinking about editorial.”

Andre chips in, “Content creation and journalism, for me, don’t have to be two different things.”

Abhinandan responds, “I don’t see how a commercial proposition can be made on that because then there is no incentive to spend on ground reportage where traffic is your only metric.”

Listen.

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Jha sits down with Abhinandan Sekhri to talk about his politics, what is ailing the Congress, and, of course, his sacking.

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Swara speaks with Meghnad S about nepotism in Bollywood, the audience’s role in creating and sustaining the film industry’s star system, and the rise of streaming platforms. She also speaks about her “activism” while describing herself as “an armchair activist”.

To watch the full unedited interview, subscribe to Newslaundry.com

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In this episode of NL vs NL, Shubh Soni and Newslaundry subscriber Dhiraj Bhandari debate whether countries should be allowed to claim territory in space.

Dhiraj thinks they should, Shubh disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Dhiraj and Shubh.

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In this edition of Session with Sena, Hameeda, along with Newslaundry’s Chitranshu Tewari, talks about the story with the subscribers who made it possible with their contributions. This Sena story was supported by over 50 of our readers, including Sangeeta Thotakura, Shreekant Gupta, Zameer Ansari, Sree Harsha R, Vidhu Saxena, Dhiraj Kumar, and other NL Sena members.

Hameeda says the Centre went ahead with the project “without talking about it to experts”, and that the project “came as a shock” to them. A subscriber, Dhiraj, asks about reporting during the midst of a pandemic, and whether it made being on the ground more difficult. Hameeda says it was a problem, since it was visually important to “map all the developments” happening with the project.

Subscriber Rupa Banerjee asks about the aftermath of the project. “The aftermath has already happened,” Hameeda says, adding that the Supreme Court had refused to stay the redevelopment plan. “Even though there is a lockdown, I feel there should be some resistance towards the project.”

Tune in.

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In this episode of NL vs NL, Newslaundry subscribers Aditya Relangi and Aishwarya Mahesh debate whether public health should be prioritised over personal privacy.

Aditya thinks it should be, Aishwarya disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Aditya and Aishwarya.

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Pandey sat down with Abhinandan Sekhri to talk about her life, work and literary journey.

“I was responding to the contemporary sociopolitical upheavals in India,” Kritika says when asked about the inspiration for The Great Indian Tee and Snakes, while pointing out the varied receptions it got from her peers in the United States and back home in Jharkhand. 

She talks about the trade-off involved in keeping the local flavour in a story while ensuring that it has a global appeal. 

She stresses the importance of engaging with people holding different points of view while commenting on the “overwoke” people in the US in the context of the current political situation. She narrates her experience attending the Black Lives Matter protests against the murder of George Flyod, and discusses how the protest cultures in India and the US differ. 

Kritika also talks about experiencing gender discrimination, desi families and validation, what’s next for her, and much more. 

Tune in! 

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To this end, Roli Pulse, the digital arm of Roli Books, in association with Newslaundry, organised a webinar with Siddharth Varadarajan, editor of the Wire; Naresh Fernandes, editor of Scroll; Dhanya Rajendran, chief editor of the News Minute; and Abhinandan Sekhri, co-founder of Newslaundry.

They discuss the pressures the Indian media faced in the past and how they are different from what it must deal with today. Intimidation, they agree, has become “more systematic” now, and this can only be countered by institutionally empowering journalists.

They also talk about how institutions such as the judiciary have responded to the intimation of the media, recognise the urgent need to have a united press, and acknowledge that press associations currently are inaccessible to most journalists.

Varadarajan shares his experiences dealing with the pressure put by former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on the Hindu when he was the daily’s editor. Fernandes examines what it means to be a journalist today when even a Facebook post critical of the establishment attracts heat and even institutional interference. Rajendran expresses her concern about the sphere of hate that has been created in the society and that, in turn, has led to public mistrust of journalists who are critical of majoritarianism.

They also discuss the line that we need to draw under "hate speech", and whether criminalisation is the answer to the problems we face because of it.

Listen!

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In this episode of NL vs NL, Shardool Katyayan and Parikshit Sanyal of Newslaundry battle it out over the highly contentious question of whether marijuana should be legalised in India?

Shardool thinks it should be, Parikshit disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Shardool and Parikshit.

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To discuss these questions, Chitranshu Tewari spoke with Lakshmi Chaudhry, the founder of Splainer Media and the co-founder of Firstpost. 

She talks about her journey launching Splainer, how news is an exclusionary space for women on both the publication and the reader side, and why news needs to be conceptualised as an experience to begin with. 

She also talks about the overabundance of news causing "news fatigue", and how the comeback of newsletters is a response to this phenomenon.

Subscribe to Splainer: https://splainer.in/subscribe

Sign up for Stop Press: https://bit.ly/StopPressNewsletter

Tune in.

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To discuss the challenges facing the news media and how they can be dealt with, Newslaundry organised a webinar in partnership with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Abhinandan Sekhri of Newslaundry is joined by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and political communication professor at the University of Oxford; Ritu Kapoor, co-founder of the Quint and a member of the board at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism; Anant Goenka, executive director of the Indian Express; and Avinash Pandey, CEO of the ABP News Network.

Listen!

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In this interview with Snigdha Sharma, Hasina explains the origin of the “impulse model” that uses a multidisciplinary approach to combat human trafficking.

To watch the full unedited interview, subscribe to Newslaundry.com

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To discuss this and much more, Roli Pulse, the digital arm of Roli Books, organised a webinar with three of India’s most prominent news professionals – Barkha Dutt, Faye D’Souza and Abhinandan Sekhri.

D’Souza, the former executive editor of Mirror Now, described the business model of TV news as “point and shoot” journalism where accusations were hurled with little evidence. “A journalist who cares about ethics at this point, facts and fact-checking is an inconvenience.” D’Souza said. “Let’s be honest. Your viewer is no longer your customer. Your advertiser is your customer.”

D’Souza, as also Sekhri, praised the quality of Dutt’s journalism during the coronavirus lockdown. The former NDTV star anchor who now runs Mojo Story has travelled thousands of kilometres to tell the stories of migrant workers who have been walking home after being stranded in alien places by the lockdown, without food or a source of income.

Dutt complained that journalism had become formulaic, with stale studio panel discussions and the “privileging of anchors over reporters”. She said the initial responses to her new project indicated there was “certainly an audience for raw, authentic, content from the ground”.

Listen.

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Razdan argued that the continued popularity of television news showed that it was still popular. “It is not dead, simply because viewership has gone up massively since the pandemic began.” She later added, “There are actually more people watching television today after the pandemic started, many more people.”

In response, Abhinandan pointed to the absence of “news” in the primetime shows aired by some of India’s most popular TV channels. “Even if they get 100 percent of the viewership, I would still say that TV news is dead,” he added. “Because what they are watching is not news.”

Menghani argued that the coverage of the Delhi carnage and the coronavirus pandemic had narrowed the “gap in credibility” between television and digital media. Discussing Barkha Dutt’s coverage of the migrant crisis, Menghani said “one individual singlehandedly changed the narrative, rather set the agenda for most of the news channels. That excludes NDTV because from day one, they have been getting it right.”

They also discussed the business model of TV channels, the lack of pushback from advertisers, the entertainment aspect of TV “news”, and layoffs in the media industry during the pandemic.

Listen!

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To demystify the conflict and explain its strategic and political implications, Mehraj D Lone spoke with Happymon Jacob, one of India’s foremost strategic affairs experts. Jacob teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of International Studies, and writes extensively on India’s strategic and foreign policies, the Kashmir dispute, and disarmament. He is the author of The Line of Control: Travelling with the Indian and Pakistani Armies and Line on Fire: Ceasefire Violations and India–Pakistan Escalation Dynamics. 

In this conversation, held before the faceoff turned violent, Jacob argues that the ongoing conflict is not a usual border transgression. It needs to be seen in the larger geopolitical context of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, potential presence of Chinese soldiers in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, India’s recent declarations about retaking Aksai Chin. 

As to how India should respond, he says its policymakers must realise that “China doesn’t believe in a peaceful rise anymore”. From a military perspective, he adds, “it’s not all that easy for India to dislodge Chinese soldiers from Ladakh” but it has the upper hand along other parts of the Line of Actual Control. 

He also talks about dealing with China economically, diplomatically, and in the maritime space, while looking for avenues of cooperation. 

Jacob also talks about the BJP government’s foreign policy, the abrogation of Article 370 and the introduction of a new domicile policy in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Tune in! 

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To discuss this, Roli Pulse, the digital arm of Roli Books, in association with Newslaundry, organised a webinar with Anant Goenka, executive director of the daily Indian Express, Anant Nath, editor of the Caravan magazine, and Abhinandan Sekhri, co-founder of Newslaundry.

Goenka argued that the “major problem isn’t the lack of money being invested, but some major policy issues, like that of news aggregators in digital media, that we need to delve into and grapple”.

Nath said, “Aggregators like Inshorts make revenue from our content but they also give us customers. And it’s also a nuanced question as to what sort of liability they should be taking.”

Addressing the question of objectivity in journalism, Nath said, “The demise of the local paper has led to the demise of transparency and accountability in local governments.”

Listen.

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In this special episode of NL vs NL, Newslaundry subscribers Jefferson Simon, Dhruv Pandey, Saloni Dangwal, and Umesh Getta debate which ideological system works the best – capitalism, socialism, communism, or libertarianism? 

Jefferson bats for libertarianism, Dhruv for capitalism, Saloni for socialism, and Umesh for communism.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or reach out to Dhruv, Jefferson, Saloni, and Umesh.

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WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW: https://bit.ly/NLInterviewDigvijayaSingh

Digvijaya Singh is a senior Congress leader, Rajya Sabha MP, and the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. In this interview, he sits down with Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri to discuss Jyotiraditya Scindia’s exit from the Congress, recent defections in Madhya Pradesh, his political ambitions, and when he thinks Rahul Gandhi will return as president of the party.

On Scindia’s defection to the BJP, a move that toppled the state government in Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya says, “I am seriously telling you, I never, never expected Jyotiraditya Scindia to defect. In fact, till March 4 or 5, I was in touch with him. But after that, he suddenly switched off his phone.” He reiterates that relations between him, Scindia and Kamal Nath were very cordial.

On being asked about toeing the “soft Hindutva” line during his tenure as Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Digvijaya says he belongs to a religious family and has no qualms in owning up to his religion. “At the same time, my religion, or my ‘sanatan dharma’, is equal respect to all religions,” he adds. “This is what I believe in.” He believes there is some sort of understanding between the communal Hindu and the communal Muslim, and they feed off each other.

The conversation also spans fake news, the future of Indian politics, and where this might head in a post-Covid world.

Watch the full interview on www.newslaundry.com

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In this episode, Meghnad S and Newslaundry subscriber Vaibhav Agarwal debate whether religion is beneficial to society or not.

Meghnad thinks it has, Vaibhav disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or tweet to Vaibhav and  Meghnad.

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Hardik sat down with Abhinandan Sekhri to talk about how he came upon the idea of making a film on the supporting actors who had iconic presence in the 1980s and 1990s but then slipped into oblivion. Hardik also talks about the struggle of finally getting a theatrical release for Kaamyaab, just a week before the coronavirus pandemic forced cinemas to shut down.

To watch the full unedited interview, subscribe to Newslaundry.com

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In this edition of NL Interviews, Bharatbala joins Abhinandan Sekhri to talk about what motivated him to document India during the nation-wide lockdown to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

To watch the full unedited interview, subscribe to Newslaundry.com

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We have something that might excite you. Newslaundry presents a new podcast: NL vs NL. 

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In this episode, Newslaundry subscribers Sahej Rahal and Parminder Kaur fight it out over that very existential question: are we all living in a simulation?

Parminder thinks we are, Sahej disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or tweet to Parminder, Meghnad and Parikshit. Sahej prefers if you contact him on Instagram. 

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Discussing the migrant worker crisis following the lockdown, Anand argues that the government is “incapable of feeling anything for the poor, anything for minorities, anything for people other than their own crony capitalist class.” He adds,“This has been their policy from day one, long before the coronavirus.” 

Anand is particularly impassioned in his criticism of the Babri Masjid judgement, suggesting that the Supreme Court “rewarded the people who demolished the Babri Mosque. When there is still a case going on about the demolition of the mosque, we know who the guilty are because they have said so themselves; they have hardly been reticent about the fact that they demolished the mosque.” He also discusses the historical context of the dispute, referring to a lesser-known pre-independence narrative of the site. 

Defending his conception of Mahatma Gandhi and Balasahab Ambedkar as “liberation theologists”, Anand suggests that recent criticism of Gandhi is ahistorical, especially with regards to the latter’s views on caste. He points out Gandhi’s campaigns against untouchability and his consistent advocacy of inter-caste marriages. He concludes, “Both Ambedkar and Gandhi were so important because both had to go hand in hand. One changing the law and the other changing hearts.”

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In this episode, Newslaundry subscribers Mayukh Roy and Khushee Chauhan debate whether Twitter is good for journalism or not. 

Mayukh thinks it is, Khushee disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why.

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or tweet to Mayukh and Khushee.

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In this interview with Snigdha Sharma, she discusses how the very landscape of the Northeast has shaped her journey as an environmental journalist, how journalists in the region struggle to obtain information, the environment, and the coronavirus pandemic.

“I have seen enough hydropower projects in my life to say rivers die,” Tongam says, discussing the controversy around the Etalin hydel project in the Dibang Valley. She rues how governments see the environment as simply a means of revenue generation.

Tongam recently reported how there has been a spike in wildlife hunting during the lockdown. The report stirred online backlash. Her critics felt she was “shaming the state” and encouraging racism against people from the Northeast. “India has always been very racist towards the people of the Northeast. I know that. Many of us have faced it,” says Tongam. “With regards to the report, social media really took it to a very different level.”

Talking about the increasing government hostility towards journalists who demand accountability, Tongam says, “It is hugely problematic not only for the media, but for us as a country.”

Speaking about the assault on her nine years ago, and the case arising out of it which is ongoing, Tongam says she has lost faith in the police and the judiciary. 

Tune in.

***

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As India grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and its socioeconomic fallout, Baru sits down with Mehraj D Lone to discuss the crisis and how the country can pull out of it. In a wide-ranging conversation, he also talks about his time in government, the Indian state’s capacity to govern, and why the poor and the marginalised have been abandoned in this time of crisis.

Though India’s handling of the pandemic has been “reasonable compared to many other countries”, Baru argues, the “inability of the system as a whole” to address the resultant economic challenges is worrying. India has a “strong leader, weak state” system that is unable to “take care of the health needs of the people, their employment needs, their basic necessities”. 

He decries the delay in preparing for the outbreak, suggesting that losing the “10-12 weeks” from January until late March was “a major policy failure on the part of the government”. “The problem with the Modi government has been an excessive sense of self-confidence that we can manage everything. That confidence isn’t reflected in the capability,” he adds.

Baru criticises the government’s handling of the migrant crisis, describing it as an example of the absence of “dialogue between the Centre and the states” despite the prime minister’s frequent exhortations of “cooperative federalism”. “Each state government is behaving like an island,” he says. “And there is no Centre looking at the migrant issue.” 

On the recent economic package announced by the government, Baru says an increase in fiscal spending, regardless of magnitude, should be welcomed. “But my basic view as far as the economic solution to the crisis is concerned: how do you restore confidence and credibility of policy?” The problem with this government, in my judgment, is that it has lost credibility,” Baru adds. “When Nirmala Sitharaman is speaking, she no longer carries the weight that a finance minister of the government of India has to carry, for a very good reason.”

The conversation also touches upon Indian federalism, the government’s communication strategies, how decision making in the Manmohan Singh government differed from that  in the Modi government, class interests of the ruling establishment, and why India isn’t investing in public health and education.

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In this episode, Abhinandan Sekhri and Newslaundry subscriber Shivangi Chaturvedi fight it out over that unanswerable question: which city is truly cosmopolitan, Mumbai or Delhi?

While Shivangi bats for Mumbai, Abhinandan defends Delhi. 

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why. 

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or tweet to Abhinandan and Shivangi. 

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In this episode of NL Interviews, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri talks to Dr Sudhir Krishnaswamy, the only Indian member of the oversight board. Sudhir is the vice-chancellor of the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, and the co-founder of the Centre for Law and Policy Research.

Sudhir explains Facebook’s moderation process and the role of the oversight board. “Facebook and Instagram have already set up two layers of content moderation, of policy review. They have a technological layer and they have a human moderation layer. Those things will not change,” he says. “It is fair to say those layers will handle the vast majority of cases.” 

He continues: “The range of parties who may be unhappy may be again large, so those users or others who have complaints about Facebook content will have the opportunity to take this up one more level [to the oversight board].”

Abhinandan asks about the cultural difficulties of moderation, and how the oversight board will be able to grapple with such diverse contextual issues. Sudhir says that when the oversight board is unsure of a certain meaning, it will “call on people within those communities of users, or cultural, linguistic or ethnic communities, to understand that meaning before decision-making is carried out”. He concedes that this may delay decision-making. 

Sudhir and Abhinandan also discuss the formation and operation of the oversight board, reconciling local law with Facebook policies, and much more.

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In this episode, Newslaundry subscribers Goonj Mohan and Aishwarya Mahesh battle it out over the age-old question: which is better, tea or coffee?

Goonj bats for tea, Aishwarya is all for coffee.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why.

Write to us at contact@newslaundry.com, or tweet to Aishwarya and Goonj.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.