Reporters Without Orders

In this week’s episode of Reporters Without Orders, host Snigdha is joined by Newslaundry correspondents Ayush Tiwari, Prateek Goyal, Chahak Gupta and Basant Kumar. While Prateek clears the air about the entire Maharashtra madness, Chehek talks in detail about the JNU protests and the situation that persists. This and a lot more, as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and somethings that absolutely shouldn’t have. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode of Reporters Without Orders, host Snigdha is joined by Newslaundry correspondents Ayush Tiwari and Basant Kumar. Also joining the podcast is Mid-day's Gaurav Sarkar. They discuss at length the post-election drama in Maharashtra, electoral bonds, media's coverage of JNU protests, the EU Disinfo Lab’s report on fake local media outlets serving Indian interests and some very most bizarre news. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Reporters Without Orders, host Snigdha is joined by Omar Rashid, Uttar Pradesh Correspondent for The Hindu and Newslaundry reporters Basant Kumar and Ayush Tiwari to talk about the politics of Ayodhya and the drama in Maharashtra among other things.The podcast begins with the usual bits of bizarre news stories. The discussion quickly moves to Ayodhya with Omar who shares his experience of reporting from Uttar Pradesh for the last seven years. He goes on to narrate the reaction of both Hindus and Muslims of Ayodhya to the Supreme Court verdict. Ayush, who is just back from Ayodhya describes in detail what he calls "the market of TV news." Basant has some insightful observations about mainstream media's coverage of the Ayodhya matter. Apart from Ayodhya, the trio also discuss the unfolding drama in Maharashtra, Arnab Goswami's awkward episode with Baba Ramdev on Republic Bharat and the government's response to air pollution in Delhi.For this and more, tune in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode of Reporters without Orders, host Snigdha Sharma is joined by Newslaundry correspondents Basant Kumar and Veena Nair to talk about important, and bizarre, news stories of the week, and media activism in India. Basant talks about the Haryana Assembly election, “Kingmaker” Dushyant Chautala, and the erosion in the support of the once formidable Indian National Lok Dal. Veena analyses the political drama in Maharashtra, where the Shiv Sena is insisting that the BJP agree to rotating the chief ministership between the two allies.They also discuss US President Donald Trump’s cryptic message – “something very big has happened” – to announce the death of the ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and his description of the involved in the operation as “a beautiful, strong dog who came back”. As to the bizarre news of the week, the panel mention the headline of The Washington Post's obituary of al-Baghdadi – “An austere religious scholar at the helm of Islamic State” – and the hashtag trend #wapodeathnotice where Twitter users began writing obituary notices for infamous historical characters such as Adolf Hitler. The India media’s coverage of Hindutva leader Kamlesh Tiwari’s murder, the failure of a section of the Kerala media to abide by journalistic ethics in the Allen Stanley case, and media activism in India are other topics of discussions in this episode.For this and more, tune in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Snigdha Sharma and Newslaundry correspondents Ayush Tiwari and Basant Kumar are joined by Siddharth Singh, an energy, mobility and climate policy expert and author of the book The Great Smog of India for this episode of Reporters Without Orders.The panel extensively discusses the persistent matter of air pollution. Snigdha thinks the issue does not get its fair share of coverage by the Indian media. Siddharth talks about his book and what led him to write it. He explains how India’s use of outdated technology and fossil fuels, together with its geographical conditions, compound the problem of pollution. He bemoans the lack of a consolidated approach in dealing with the issue. In this context, the panel talks about China’s Blue Sky Initiative and the immediate need of making climate a political issue.The panel discuss the important news stories of the week. Speaking about his visit to Haryana to cover the elections, Ayush explains how ground issues were absent from both the campaign and media’s coverage. In the same vein, Basant says he is disappointed with the media’s coverage of the Ayodhya dispute. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Reporters Without Orders, host Snigdha Sharma and Newslaundry correspondents Meghnad S and Basant Kumar decode the PMC Bank crisis, the “real issues” in the upcoming Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plogging on the Mamallapuram beach on October 12. They start off by discussing the news that rightfully made news. Meghnad explains how cooperative banks function: “Cooperative banks, in general, are a scam.” Basant notes the sacking of 25,000 Home Guards in Uttar Pradesh, arguing that it should not have happened. “Instead of giving jobs, they’re snatching them away,” Basant complains of the government.What didn’t make news this week but should have? A party for journalists at I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar’s Delhi home which was paid for by the taxpayer, says Meghnad. Basant points to the “invisibility of real issues” in the Maharashtra and Haryana polls, adding, “Nationalism, Ayodhya and Article 370 are the only three issues being raised.” Snigdha shares the news of tea garden workers in Darjeeling going on strike after they were refused their bonuses.This week’s selection of bizarre news includes the same “exclusive interview” of Home Minister Amit Shah on different TV news channels and a funeral prank in Ireland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Reporters Without Orders, host Ayush Tiwari and Newslaundry correspondents Meghnad S and Basant Kumar discuss the shastra puja “Hindu spin” to the delivery of the first Rafale fighter aircraft, the incendiary speech by a CRPF constable and its controversial broadcast by India Today, and the morbid murders that shook a small Kerala town. Speaking about the viral speech of the CRPF constable at a debate competition organised by the National Human Rights Commission late last month, Basant says he heard the speeches of other debaters in which they emphasised how the Army has committed human rights violations in the past. They offered many examples of areas where the Army has tackled terrorism and Naxalism without human rights violations.On the information deficit regarding the status of mental health in India, Meghnad says, “Unless you have data or, as Basant says, an adequate number of mental health professionals to handle cases, it’s just absolutely worthless to even expect anything really.”What made news this week that shouldn’t have was the exaggeration of Hardik Pandya’s birthday tweet for Zaheer Khan, among others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Reporters Without Orders, Snigdha Sharma hosts Newslaundry correspondent Ayush Tiwari and Bibek Bhattacharya, deputy editor at Mint Lounge. They discuss whether the climate strike protests around the world could prove effective in changing government policy, the Uttar Pradesh government’s inquiry clearing Kafeel Khan of wrongdoing in the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy, among other subjects.Bibek notes the role of class and privilege in protests and movements. “There is an inability to bridge the gap between concerned urban citizenry and people who live outside of our radar, in forests etc who are way poorer.” Ayush points out how the media was quick to make Kafeel Khan into a villain after the tragedy but has been largely quiet about the report clearing him. Sharing their “bizarre news of the week”, Bibek talks about the “funeral” of the Pizol glacier in the Swiss Alps while Ayush mentions a fashion student’s photoshoot amid floodwaters in Patna. Snigdha’s bizarre news was about an animal social media influencer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Reporters Without Orders, Snigdha Sharma hosts Gaurav Sarkar, Ayush Tiwari and Basant Kumar to reflect on the extravaganza that was Narendra Modi’s ‘Howdy, Modi’ rally in Houston, United States, and its wall-to-wall coverage by the Indian media. Why would the media think the rally warranted such fawning coverage? And why were the same channels that had labelled Donald Trump a serial liar singing his praises for sharing Modi’s stage? By the way, a major protest, dubbed “Adios, Modi” was held right outside the stadium where Modi was holding audience, but you could be forgiven for having missed it on primetime TV news -- they barely covered it. No points for guessing why.Among the people who dominated the news this week was the young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. She delivered an impassioned speech at the United Nations Climate Summit, urging world leaders to act to save the planet before it is too late. Sadly, for her advocacy, the teenager became the object of a barrage of hate on social media. So, what does our panel make of her advocacy?Tune in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Reporters Without Orders has Newslaundry correspondents Gaurav Sarkar, Ayush Tiwari and Basant Kumar discussing a range of topics with the host Snigdha Sharma.So, what was on their minds this week? The crisis in Indian journalism, that’s what. The last few months have seen several media outlets shut shop and dozens, if not hundreds, of journalists lose their jobs. That’s only half the story, though. What plagues Indian journalism runs deeper, to its fundamental work. Take for instance an article published by India Today ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday which, as Newslaundry showed, was a textbook example of How Not To Do Journalism.Thanks in no small part to the pearls of wisdom offered by Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, India’s dire economic situation dominated the news this week — until Modi’s birthday came along, that is. Our panel offers an overview of what exactly is wrong with the economy and how it affects the common man.If you dig sports, this episode offers insight into the new season of the UEFA Champions League. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.