Ep 25: #HapurLynching, Jharkhand gangrape, Congress and the media

This week Reporters Without Orders is celebrating its 25th episode. Our host Cherry Agarwal is joined by in-house reporter Amit Bhardwaj and Campus Politik editor Sumedha Pal, along with Sidhartha Dutta, Principal Correspondent, Indo-Asian News Service.The media coverage of Hapur lynching case is debated by the panel. Amit feels the “story developed slowly” but “got enough coverage”. He referred to the incident as “one of the slow-burn stories” that gain momentum in the media over a period of time. Cherry asks, “Why do you think this got coverage only after it developed to a certain stage?”Sidhartha talks about the incident being referred to as a case of road rage even though the evidence suggested otherwise. He adds, "I find it really alarming." Amit, following the meeting with the victim’s family, mentions the “the kind of horror they had gone through” and also shares other details of the incident. Sidhartha confesses, “Maybe so much of detail, I wouldn't have known had you not told me,” in support of his argument that the incident was not covered enough.Turning the conversation to another aspect of media criticism, Cherry asks, “We make comparisons to other events…do you think these comparisons are fair?” To which, Sumedha adds, “Such questions need a lot of self-reflection."Meanwhile, Amit impresses upon the prioritisation of stories in terms of media coverage. He says, “It depends upon news development on that particular day."As an agency reporter covering All India Congress Committee, Siddharth talks about Congress party’s relationship with the media. Sidhartha says, “It is imperative for reporters to always get the reaction of a principal Opposition party." Meaning to say that Congress' "position as the principal Opposition” is a probable reason for the party getting wider media coverage.Sumedha speaks about her report on sexual harassment allegations levelled against the NSUI national president by a former female party worker. She says, “Often stories of sexual harassment either end up becoming sensationalised or they are reduced to nothing." Amit says, “I am not drawing any conclusion about Fairoz Khan’s case”. He also mentions about the complexities of the case and the need for a thorough inspection into allegations. He also talks about media's possible reaction “had it been any ABVP member, from even a district member of the committee…Social media narrative would have been made by left-liberals,” he adds.For a third consecutive week, Amit says, stories from Jharkhand has been under-reported by the Big Media. For more details, listen up!

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