Reporters Without Orders

This episode is hosted by Akanksha Kumar, who is joined by Ashwine Kumar Singh of Newslaundry, and Ayan Sharma, a freelance journalist based in Assam.Ayan is currently covering the Assam election for Newslaundry. Talking about his recent reports from the ground, he argues that the BJP wave doesn’t seem to be as strong as in the last election. “That doesn’t mean the BJP doesn’t have an advantage,” he adds. Ayan also talks about the politics of recurrent floods in the state and its ethnic diversity, and how that affects election outcomes.Ashwine was recently in Indore’s Tarpatti Bhagal area, where health workers out for Covid screening had been attacked in April last year. The violence, he recounts, was instigated by fake Whatsapp rumours.“Messages were spread with rumours that these health workers were going to take the local Muslims to the hospital and butcher them and make them infertile,” Ashwine says. So when they went into Tarpatti Bhagal, they were attacked. The reaction to the Covid outbreak at the Tablighi Jamaat’s headquarters in Delhi’s Nizamuddin played a role as well, he adds. Read his report.This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Basant Kumar is joined by Newslaundry’s Ayush Tiwari and BBC’s Jugal Purohit.Commenting on how Narendra Modi arrived at the decision to impose a national lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic, Jugals refers to a recent report by BBC that tried to find an answer to this question. “Neither the National Disaster Management Authority nor the prime minister conducted and chaired meetings with any concerned departments before declaring lockdown. Additionally, there was no evidence found that specialist bodies and institutions were taken advice from before declaring lockdown,” BBC found. He also talks about the difficulties the news organisation faced in getting information under the RTI Act.Talking about his recent report related to the Delhi carnage, Ayush shares that “a documentary, backed by a political party, cannot be accurate and unbiased". The documentary in conversation is Delhi Riots: A Tale of Burn and Blame, directed by Kamlesh K Mishra. BJP leader Kapil Mishra had publicised the documentary by tweeting the details of its screening. “The line of argument of the documentary is pro-government and pro-police, with no variety of opinion and dissenting opinion,” Ayush adds. The panel also talk about the misinformation regarding the carnage being spread on social media and news channels. A recent TV Newsance episode about a misleading ad of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna published in Hindi and Bengali newspapers, was coordinated by Basant. “A local journalist had covered this story but it was not allowed to be published as the media house had some BJP influence. So they shared the details with me.” The panel also discuss the article by Newslaundry on the misleading ad.This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Ayush Tiwari is joined by Newslaundry’s Supriti David and Basant Kumar.The conversation begins with the reporters sharing bizarre news stories of the week, from a customer asking for refund on receiving only 12 masks when she had ordered a dozen, to fact-checking India Today’s fact-check of Gajendra Chauhan’s tweet.Supriti then talks about her report on a temple in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, which had been demolished in January only to be rebuilt not long after. Supriti explains how the temple has become the focus of a political saga involving AAP and the BJP. "This temple seemed rather exceptional than others that were there," says Ayush. How is the Modi government’s promise of doubling farmer incomes by 2022 going? "Narendra Singh Tomar has been asked for data on farmer incomes several times in the Lok Sabha, but he has never given an accurate answer," Basant says, referring to the union agriculture minister, while discussing his story about how the National Statistics Office hasn’t released its report on farmer incomes since 2013.Ayush and Basant also discuss the story of Sajid Khan, a rickshaw puller who was shot during the communal carnage in northeast Delhi last year only to be arrested by the police in his own FIR. This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Nidhi Suresh is joined by Newslaundry’s Ayush Tiwari and Akanksha Kumar.The conversation starts with Nidhi asking how Ayush feels about going back to reporting on the Delhi carnage of last year and also asks both if they think that doing the same thing over and over again and being exposed to this sort of violence desensitises them or equips them handle it with more empathy? Ayush and Akanksha agree, “It equips you better to handle the emotional outbursts no matter what story you’re working and also you go with a better approach,” says AkankshaThe discussion moves on to Akankha’s report on hundreds of aspirants in Uttar Pradesh yet to get appointment letters in spite of clearing their village development officer exam a year ago. Akanksha explains how she got a lead to the story, explains the hiring process and gives more insight to the situation. Nidhi also asks whether the aspirants thought of #ModiRozgarDo as a reflection of a successful social media movement or a disappointment.In June 2020, the Narendra Modi government reached out to “prominent persons from the media field” to help identify strategies to effectively communicate “10 big narratives of the government”. Ayush talks about his report and tells us what the initiative is, who were involved, what were the discussions and the aim of such an initiative.  Ayush said, “They were not willing to come on record and speak on what was going on. If you’ve not done it then why do you need to stay anonymous. Just remove that skirt of anonymity and come out in public and say.”This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Akanksha Kumar is joined by freelance journalist Srishti Jaswal and Newslaundry’s Nidhi Suresh.The conversation starts with a report by Srishti and Shreegireesh Jalihal on a Hindu vigilante group, which calls itself the “Hindu IT Cell”, and its network of cyber volunteers. Srishti was targeted by the group last July over a tweet, and she explains how it operates. “This targeting in turn activates and hosts a very toxic wave of trolling,” she says.The panel then talks about the death of Ambreesh Sharma in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras. Ambreesh was killed by a man who had been arrested for sexually harassing Ambreesh’s daughter. Nidhi, who reported on the case this week, says: “I feel the story here is the fact that there was a father willing to stand up for his girls, willing to not be threatened and revoke a case of sexual assault on his daughter. And the price he paid for that was literally his life.” This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Basant Kumar is joined by Newslaundry’s Ayush Tewari and Supriti David.The conversation starts with Ayush and Basant’s report on Dainik Jagran running a disingenuous PR campaign for the UP government’s farm policies. Ayush points out the “questionable relationship between media houses and governments” and describes how impactful these campaigns can be. On the toolkit case and Disha Ravi getting bail, Supriti talks about her report, her experience in court, and the case itself. When Disha got bail, she says, “you could see that she was perhaps smiling, but couldn’t really see it because she had her mask on. She was constantly cracking her knuckles and she looked really, really tired.” She also reads out specific parts from the judgement. Ayush talks about how the media and the establishment are now targeting young female protesters. Supriti says, “I view it as part of this larger trend of how women, incarcerated or not, are always represented in the media...It’s very disturbing and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to change.”The panel also discusses memories of the Delhi riots. This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Ayush Tewari is joined by Newslaundry’s Akanksha Kumar and Anna Priyadarshini.The conversation starts with the reporters sharing the bizarre news stories of the week, from an Indonesian woman claiming a gust of wind made her pregnant to the Indian higher education regulator UGC asking universities to encourage students to write a “cow science” examination.The discussion begins with Anna’s report on the verdict in BJP leader MJ Akbar’s defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani. Akanksha then talks about her experience covering the ongoing farmer protest at Singhu on Delhi’s border. On how the farmers plan to adjust their protest to the approaching summer and their apprehensions about the new agriculture laws, she says, “Another fear they have is that with the entry of private players contract farming may result in some sort of exploitation. Their fears are not completely unfounded, they do have a basis.”Akanksha also talks about her story on Dilbag Singh, a farmer from Pubjab who cycles around the Singhu protest to lift spirits. Ayush then moves to Anna's report investigating Rinku Sharma’s death at Mangolpuri which the Hindu nationalist ecosystem has sought to communalise. Anna shares her experience covering the story and what the people there felt about the reporter’s presence in the area.This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have. Tune in! RecommendationsAkanksha Newslaundry Investigation: Reality of ‘Love Jihad’ in KanpurReturn From ISISAnna To the Harvey Weinsteins of the world by Priya RamaniAyush Reporter: A Memoir by Seymour M. Hersh Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Nidhi Suresh takes over as host and she’s joined by Newslaundry’s Ayush Tiwari.Nidhi asks Ayush about his coverage of the farmer protests at Ghazipur and Singhu. Ayush notes that in Ghazipur, the resentment of sugarcane farmers is “driving them” to protest sites. “The andolan, the movement, has very successfully sucked up all the resentment and turned it into energy to run these protests,” he says.Ayush also talks about his reports from western Uttar Pradesh, the role of the Tikait brothers, and the mahapanchayats organised to discuss the farm laws. Nidhi spotlights the protests in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, saying: “The sort of resentment is coming from the way the law was pushed in as an ordinance, the way they haven’t been heard. This sort of movement is also really asking the government to fix their relationship with the farmers.” She and Ayush also contrast the protests with what it was like to report on the Delhi riots.This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Snigdha Sharma is joined by Newslaundry’s Ayush Tiwari, Basant Kumar, and Nidhi Suresh to discuss the ongoing farmer protests and the events that unfolded after the tractor rally on January 26. Basant describes the absurdity of the police barricading Singhu border. “What can be more bizarre than being there, and feeling as if we’re standing at India’s international border with so many BSP and CRPF officers guarding it?” he asks. “Tall, newly-constructed cement walls and ghastly nails affixed on the road..." Nidhi explains how the police have barred journalists from entering the protest site. She then talks about a help desk set up by a lawyers’ collective under the Samyukt Kisan Morcha that tracks protesters who have gone missing since Republic Day. “It’s a really big task,” she points out, “because it’s such a large protest.”  Nidhi also talks about how a lawyer was reportedly told by the police to file an RTI to get a copy of an FIR filed in the context of the protest. “As per law, you are supposed to be handed the FIR copy,” she says. “And if you are a lawyer, you have to get it.” The panel also discusses the attacks on journalists, the citizens’ march in support of the farmers, the internet shutdown at protest sites, and how the government is using Covid as a “double standard”. All this and a lot more as they talk about what made news this week, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have.Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Snigdha Sharma is joined by Newslaundry  correspondents, Nidhi Suresh and Basant Kumar, along with producer Aditya Varrier to discuss their experiences while reporting from the farmers’ tractor rally on Republic Day.  Nidhi, Basant, and Aditya begin with a chronological lowdown of how events unfolded on January 26. Nidhi describes the confusion on the ground succinctly when she says, “ We were receiving news on social media that tear gas shelling has started but protestors on ground were still appealing  to the larger group to maintain peace.” Having been to the protest over five times, Aditya talks about the changing geography of the protest sites over time, and new developments such as markets and museums.Basant, meanwhile, highlights the ineptitude of the Delhi police saying, “Police preparedness on the Delhi borders was marked by just a few barricades.” He also describes the events that led to the first direct violent interaction between the police and the protestors. He witnessed the clashes unfold first-hand as tractors rammed into barricades.He also shares his account of the violence at the Red fort where journalists were attacked and police and protestors were injured. While doing so Basant reaffirms that Indian flag was not insulted in any way whatsoever. For Nidhi the change in the nature of the tractor rally was simple but unpredictable as she navigated through it. She expresses how, given the size of the rally, it was unfair to expect protestors to have consensus on all aspects of the protest. However, the panel agreed that while the  violence was condemnable, it cannot be a metric to delegitimise the demands of the farmers. The panel also discusses the circumstances and consequences of the death of a protestor at Delhi’s ITO, the lack of responsibility amongst stakeholders, and the future of the farmer protest. All this and a lot more as they talk about what made news this week, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have.  Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.