Reporters Without Orders

This week on Reporters Without Orders, Cherry Agarwal sits down with Newslaundry Hindi reporter Basant Kumar and Newslaundry Desk writer Gaurav Sarkar.The podcast kicks off with the panel discussing the heavy rains that lashed Mumbai. Speaking about the government's response, Gaurav said, "I don't think there is a lot that they can do because Mumbai has reached its saturation point." But do Cherry and Basant agree?Meanwhile, Basant points out that the water crisis in Maharashtra has received limited reportage.The panel also discusses the Chandni Chowk incident. Commending Delhi Police, Basant says, "We should praise the police for keeping the situation as calm as it is."The discussion moves on to the alleged firing of one of Canada's top cartoonists, Michael de Adder. The cartoonist's contract was terminated by a publishing company in New Brunswick after a cartoon he did on US President Donald Trump went viral on social media.The panel also talks about actor Zaira Wasim’s Bollywood exit. Was it religious indoctrination or an individual's choice. For this and more, listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, on Reporters Without Orders, Cherry Agarwal is joined by Newslaundry correspondent Ayush Tiwari, desk writer Gaurav Sarkar and Newscentral 24x7's Abhinav Prakash.The podcast kicks off with Abhinav talking about the rising death toll in Bihar's Muzaffarpur due to encephalitis. He says that the death toll is now above 100 and the Opposition has not been questioning the government regarding this due to the elections. “People are coming in every hour and no parent is hopeful that their child will survive once they come in,'' says Abhinav. The panel also discusses the media's coverage of encephalitis-related deaths in Gorakhpur last year.The panel also discusses the doctors' strike in West Bengal. Gaurav and Ayush talk about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's response to the strike, the pan-India nature of the protest and how it impacted services throughout the country.Moving on to a bit of international news, Ayush talks about the death of an Indian girl in a desert near the United States-Mexico border. He also talks about the crisis in Sudan and what gave rise to the conflict in the first place. Ayush explains the recent developments and the power dynamics between Russia, China, and the US. Gaurav talks about fake Instagram pages that have exploited the crisis to gain followers.The panel also talks about cricket and the India-Pakistan World Cup match. They discuss how the reaction of Pakistani fans was much more measured after losing the match. Gaurav also discusses the post-match hungama and Shoaib Akhtar’s reaction on YouTube bashing the Pakistan cricket team.For all this and a lot more, tune in now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, on Reporters Without Orders, Cherry Agarwal sits down with Newslaundry correspondent Ayush Tiwari and Tarun Cherukuri of Indus Action to talk about the draft National Education Policy, Aligarh murder case, Akshaya Patra controversy and more.The episode kicks off with Ayush talking about his experience in Aligarh, a district where a two-and-a-half-year-old was murdered. Ayush talks about the issue's portrayal on social media and how the presence of a “vicious” mob was giving communal undertones to the whole issue. Ayush also weighs in on whether it is right to badger a grieving family into giving a media bite, and talks about how the media's coverage of the case spiked after the initial days. Moving on, the panel talks about the media's coverage of the education sector. Tarun says it is the media's responsibility to inform the society in a “discerning and tactful manner”. He also talks about the need to regulate information in the “post-truth and post-news era”.Tarun also talks about the draft National Education Policy (NEP). He talks about how the report is “ambitious”, but expresses his reservations about it being “translatable"—both administratively and financially. Ayush asks him about the improvements that is needed in the education system. Tarun talks about how the efficacy of a policy is “lost in translation” between “an aspirational policy and the National Curriculum Framework”. Similarly, speaking about the draft NEP, he says, while it looks great on paper, it remains to be seen how the ministries are able to integrate the plan. He appreciates the fact that the draft NEP talks about developing “core aspects” such as “social and emotional wellbeing” rather than being ambitious with the curriculum. The panel also discusses how the three-language issue was unwarranted.Next, the panel discusses the “arbitrary arrests” of social media comments. Ayush speaks about “thought policing” that is emanating from the top brass of the government, while Tarun talks about the responsibility of law enforcers. He adds that a law is as good as the people who can wield it.For all this and a lot more, tune in now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Reporters Without Orders, host Cherry Agarwal is joined by the usual gang, Newslaundry's Ayush Tiwari and Gaurav Sarkar. Before getting down to business, Cherry decides to make the guys play a quick game of rapid fire where they must quickly respond with the first thing that comes to mind when certain words are thrown at them. Gaurav and Ayush react to a volley of interesting words including Modi, blockchain, dogs, Lays, Himachal and more.Getting back to the podcast, Cherry asks what news pieces they spotted which were under-reported or over-reported. Gaurav points out the news of Ajit Doval being reappointed as the National Security Adviser for five years with a cabinet position. While he thinks it’s an important piece, it “didn’t deserve to eat up the Monday news cycle”. He thinks the report on the ostentatious expenditure made by parties during the elections was under-reported.Ayush thinks that the news of the Congress expelling Kerala politician AP Abdullakutty for praising Modi was under-reported. He remarks that this news “shows a trend of how bitter things are”. He also thinks there's too much coverage of individual incidents in the ongoing tiff between BJP supporters and Mamata Banerjee. The panel agrees that the level of political debate needs to improve.Ayush brings up the Congress's decision to not send spokespersons to news debates for a month. He discusses the possible motivations behind this “temporary non-engagement”. While the Congress seems to be fielding the narrative that they feel victimised by the media, there is speculation that this is a “cover story” and that the party is actually in a “maze of confusion” and will return when they can “reconfigure their views” on issues. Gaurav disagrees with the Congress's decision, saying, "You cannot back out of a game just because you lost.” Ayush agrees. Cherry asks the pair whether they would attend a debate if they knew it was rigged. Ayush replies: “As an individual, I wouldn’t. But as a party that claims to be the oldest in the subcontinent, I would.”The panel moves on to discussing the ongoing cricket world cup. They discuss the episode on corruption in cricket on the Patriot Act by Hasan Minhaj and Minhaj's assertions. At the end of a long discussion, Gaurav, seemingly exasperated, opposes the “political scrutiny” that threatens to ruin the sport for the listeners. Ayush retorts: “Sleepwalk your romance off a cliff.”This and a lot more. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Reporters without Orders, Gaurav Sarkar takes over as host. He's joined by Newslaundry's Ayush Tiwari and Basant Kumar, as well as Jane Borges and Anamika Gharat, who are both reporters with Mid Day in Mumbai. The panel discusses the Budgam incident, where a Mi-17 helicopter was shot down by the Indian Air Force in a case of friendly fire on February 27, leading to the death of all six airmen on board as well as a civilian on the ground. Gaurav asks why this information was revealed only after the conclusion of the general election. While Ayush recounts other instances of friendly fire and the resultant deaths caused, Basant calls this a sort of "cover-up", saying if the information was revealed in real time, it might have adversely affected the election results for the governing party.The conversation moves to a story that Jane and Anamika reported from the village of Khopivali in Maharashtra, which faces severe water scarcity for a major part of the year. Community members here exclusively marry members only from outside the community, a tradition that is causing the village’s male residents to be stuck in a state of “forever bachelorhood” since no women from other villages want to get married and settle in Khopivali. “This is also a women empowerment issue,” Jane points out. Anamika explains how she discovered the story in the first place, and discusses how things played out in the political spectrum too.The panel also discusses the growing violence towards Muslims ever since the results of the 2019 general election were announced and “the curious case of Rahul Gandhi’s resignation”.For this and more, listen in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Reporters Without Orders, host Cherry Agarwal speaks to Newslaundry’s Ayush Tiwari, Gaurav Sarkar and Basant Kumar about the exit polls and why they should be taken with a pinch of salt. They also discuss water scarcity, PM Modi's visit to Kedarnath, and more. Discussing Pragya Thakur calling Nathuram Godse a "deshbhakt", Ayush says the novelty of the scandal is what "really touched a nerve". The panel finds itself divided on whether the issue deserved the over-reporting it received, or whether it was a statement that should not have received any attention.Moving on to PM Modi's Kedarnath visit, Basant argues that it was over-reported and received a lot of unnecessary attention. He says it should have been considered a "dharm yatra", but the mainstream media turned it into a grand event. On the issue of water scarcity, the panel discusses how it should have been an electoral issue. “People are being forced to go and break the gates of dams,” says Cherry, arguing it should have been an important part of political dialogue in drought-ridden states.Talking about Kashmir’s representation in the news, Gaurav states: “Geographical boundaries are trumped by a certain section of people interested in particular things.” He also talks about his experience in the Supreme Court while covering MJ Akbar’s defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani.For all this and more, tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Reporters Without Orders, host Cherry Agarwal speaks to Newslaundry correspondents Ayush Tiwari and Prateek Goel about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Delhi, the electoral climate in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and more. Ayush also speaks about his report on Atishi’s pamphlet. The panel discusses Modi’s interview with News Nation, a report on cyclone Fani and how Dalits in Puri were turned away from cyclone shelters. They also talk about Prateek’s ground report from Madhya Pradesh: #MadhyaPradesh: In this village, caste determines the distance you travel to fetch water.Prateek, while answering Cherry’s question on loan waivers in Madhya Pradesh, talks about how farmers in the state are unhappy with the Congress government as they've failed to deliver on their poll promise. Prateek also talks about how the regional media didn’t cover important issues in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. For all this and more, listen in Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Reporters Without Orders, host Cherry Agarwal sits down with Newslaundry correspondent Ayush Tiwari, Desk Writer Gaurav Sarkar and Quint's Senior Correspondent Aishwarya Iyer to talk about the #Yeti, the Utsav Bains hearing, Elections 2019 and more.Aishwarya and Ayush were covering elections in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh respectively. They were gauging support for parties and how people in these places are forming their electoral opinions.Apart from elections, the panel also talks about the Yeti sighting and its news value. The Indian Army had tweeted out a photo of a trail of footprints in the Himalayan snow, claiming to have found footprints of the mythical creature. The panellists are clearly divided. While Ayush gushes about its history and Gaurav hopes that Yetis exist, Aishwarya and Cherry cannot help but stress on the point that it gained way more attention than it should have. In all the Yeti news, the duo felt a recently-released UN climate report got very little coverage.Utsav Bains had filed an affidavit claiming that he was approached with a “huge bribe” of ₹1.5 crore to frame the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in a false sexual harassment case. Gaurav shares the details of proceedings, the courtroom drama and more.Although there is too much news to discuss, Gaurav points out that Game of Thrones didn't get as much hype as it should have.For all this and more, listen in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s Reporters Without Orders features host Cherry Agarwal with Newslaundry's head of research Ayush Tiwari and desk writer Gaurav Sarkar. The panel talks about the impact Sandeep Bamzai’s tutelage has had on IANS, a petition presented to the Supreme Court seeking permission for Muslim women to offer namaaz in mosques and Maneka Gandhi’s comments on the un-secret nature of secret ballots.Ayush kickstarts the discussion with his own article about how a news agency, IANS, that has off late become "a part of the larger trend of media layoffs" as it suffocates under the corporate ownership of Mr Anil Ambani. He reveals examples of reporters at IANS and establishes a growing pattern alongside other media organizations such as Vice and Buzzfeed. The panel goes on to discuss the intricacies of corporate ownership and the direct influence they exercise on editorial management. Ayush also talks about a Swarajya Magazine report about how the family of a minor Dalit girl who was kidnapped by a man that happened to be Muslim were denied the right to file an FIR by the police since they did not want it to flare up into a ‘Hindu-Muslim’ issue. The panel then went into discussing the implications of ‘pseudo-secularism’ that dominates the Indian narrative today.Gaurav discusses an archaic ritual that Shashi Tharoor made a mockery of himself participating in. The ritual, called ‘Tulabharam’, is one where a person’s “BMI is weighed in phool, phal and gold” and Tharoor fell off the scales having to endure 11 stitches afterwards. The panel delved into the problems associated with the endorsement by politicians of religious traditions such as these and the implications that such engagement had on the sentiments of the voting public. He also brought up a recent plea put before the Supreme Court by a Pune-based couple that sought permission to let women offer prayers in mosques. The discussion questioned the fast-paced nature of the proceedings as well nuances of religion such as the “contest between personal liberty and religion” and the stronghold of the religious orthodoxy.Cherry drives the conversation towards the larger question of the responsibility of the media. She references a specific tweet by Times Now that says, “A political leader has said something communal, listen in” and questions the ethicality of cashing in on hate in the name of journalism. While Ayush agrees that its ‘clickbait’ tone was questionable, it is not the place of the media to dictate whether something, communal or otherwise, should be censored or not. The media should contextualize information, is what the panel agrees on, irrespective of that content that is. Cherry goes on to talk about Maneka Gandhi’s comment on not helping Muslim voters if they didn’t vote for her and lays down the reality of contemporary times wherein the concept of secret ballots is conceptually dead. With the Election Commission now providing politicians with a constituency-wise break up of votes via Form 20, the panel dived deep into the vulnerability of voters today.The panel also brings up the ineffectiveness of the EC and the Supreme Courts backhand comments on its exercise of powers, the trend of the Supreme Court gaining an “inordinate amount of power”, as well as the oft-ignored details of Islam in terms of its various schools of law.This and more, so listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s Reporters Without Orders features host Cherry Agarwal, Head of Research Ayush Tiwari, Desk Writer Gaurav Sarkar and Newslaundry Hindi reporter Basant Kumar. The panel talks the Enforcement Directorate's fourth supplementary chargesheet in the AgustaWestland chopper deal scam, increasing propaganda in daily soaps, the impact of communal violence in Western Uttar Pradesh, Congress' demonetisation sting operation and more.Speaking about the allegations that journalists "toned down" reportage on the AgustaWestland scam, Ayush says: “ Manu Pubby and Shekhar Gupta broke the story on the Augusta Westland scam and if they wouldn’t have done it we wouldn’t have known about it." He also makes a case for why there is a need to look at the full chargesheet, going beyond sections of the document that was leaked to the media. He adds these are baseless allegations and do not make a strong case against the three journalists who were allegedly named.Moving on, Gaurav points out political propaganda is increasingly being embedded in daily soaps such as Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain. He also talks of various such videos doing the rounds on Twitter. He questions the intent of such propaganda and says, “The Model Code of Conduct is in effect, is this (such content) even allowed during this period?”Basant speaks about his ground report from Western UP which focused on understanding the impact of communal violence in the area. He is surprised that many young voters have fallen into a communal trap and are in favour of divisive politics. He says, “Hindus have hatred for Muslims while Muslims are fearful." There's also talk about what UP politics and 2019 general elections.Gaurav talks about a sting operation shown by the Congress and raises questions about its credibility. He feels it's edited and says: “How do you get hard cuts in raw unedited video?”#AugustaWestland #Uttar Pradesh #politics #general elections 2019 #communal politics Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.