NL Hafta

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NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So, here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode.In this week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan and Christina Thomas Dhanaraj, co-founder of the Dalit History Month collective.The podcast begins with Manisha describing the election week that went by and the BJP’s enormous victory. After a recap of the election results announced on May 23, Abhinandan and Manisha highlight some of the keynotes, including Rahul Gandhi’s loss in Amethi, and Atishi and the Aam Aadmi Party’s loss in Delhi. A letter from a subscriber then sparks a discussion on the idea of affirmative action and its application over generations. Christina says: “No one seems to get the basic point that none of the problems gets solved in one generation. And two, there is something called ‘inter-generational deficit’. We are talking about 2,000-year-old oppression.”Listen to the full Hafta here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/05/25/hafta-225-lok-sabha-election-results-2019-affirmative-action-and-more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

इस हफ़्ते की चर्चा ऐसे वक़्त में आयोजित हुई जब राजनीति के गलियारों से लेकर पान की दुकानों तक संभावित चुनावी परिणामों की ही चर्चा हो रही है. इस बीच साध्वी प्रज्ञा सिंह ठाकुर ने एक विवादित बयान दिया, जिसमें उन्होंने गांधी के हत्यारे नाथूराम गोडसे को देशभक्त बता दिया. ये मामला काफ़ी विवादों में आ गया और यहां तक कि पीएम मोदी को भी इस पर अपनी प्रतिक्रिया देनी पड़ी. पश्चिम बंगाल में इस पूरे हफ़्ते अमित शाह के रोड शो और उसमें हुई हिंसा के बाद बवाल खड़ा हुआ, जब ईश्वरचंद्र विद्यासागर की प्रतिमा गिरा दी गयी. वहां की स्थितियों को देखते हुए चुनाव आयोग ने 1 दिन पहले ही चुनाव प्रचार को रोकने का आदेश दे दिया. इसी क्रम में सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने पश्चिम बंगाल की भारतीय जनता पार्टी की कार्यकर्ता प्रिंयका शर्मा को कंडीशनल बेल दी, जिन्हें ममता बनर्जी की एक फोटोशॉप्ड इमेंज शेयर करने की वजह से गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया था. इसी बीच कांग्रेस के मणिशंकर अय्यर ने मोदी के ऊपर की गयी ‘नीच’ की टिप्पणी को एक लेख के द्वारा जारी रखा, साथ ही सैम पित्रोदा ने 84 सिंख दंगों पर ‘जो हुआ सो हुआ’ बोल कर कांग्रेस की परेशानी भी बढ़ा दी, जिसके बाद राहुल गांधी को इसके लिए सफाई देनी पड़ी. दूसरी ओर नरेंद्र मोदी ने इंडियन एक्सप्रेस में दिये साक्षात्कार में कहा कि मेरी छवि को किसी खान मार्किट की गैंग ने नहीं बनाया, बल्कि 45 साल की तपस्या से मैं यहां पहुंचा हूं. इसलिए इसे कोई खान मार्किट गैंग ख़त्म नहीं कर सकता. इसके अलावा, ईरान-भारत संबंधों, आने वाले मानसून और संभावित सरकार को भी चर्चा के विषयों में शामिल किया गया.चर्चा में इस बार तेज़-तर्रार युवा पत्रकार राहुल कोटियाल और अमित भारद्वाज शामिल हुए. साथ में वरिष्ठ लेखक-पत्रकार अनिल यादव ने चर्चा में शिरकत की. चर्चा का संचालन न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के कार्यकारी संपादक अतुल चौरसिया ने किया.अतुल ने बातचीत शुरू करते हुए सवाल उठाया, साध्वी प्रज्ञा की जो राजनीति है, और जिस तरह की विचारधारा से वह आती हैं, उसमें गांधी और आज़ादी की लड़ाई से जुड़े अन्य नेताओं के प्रति घृणा का भाव दिखता है. जब ऐसा कोई बयान आया हो तो उसमें कोई आश्चर्यचकित होने वाली बात दिखती है?जवाब में अनिल ने कहा- “देखिये, इसमें मुझे कोई आश्चर्यचकित होने वाली बात नहीं दिखती, लेकिन इस बयान के बाद उस बड़ी विडंबना की ओर इशारा मिलता है, जिससे आरएसएस और भारतीय जनता पार्टी को अपने जन्मकाल से ही दो-चार होना पड़ता है. आप अगर देखेंगे तो पायेंगे कि आरएसएस ऐसे मौकों पर अपने आप को एक बड़ी विचित्र स्थिति में पाता है. उसके पास ऐसे बहुत से नायक हैं, जो उसने उधार के लिए हुए हैं और वह उनके बारे में बता भी नहीं सकता और उनको इग्नोर भी नहीं कर सकता. इस मसले के साथ-साथ बाक़ी विषयों पर भी चर्चा के दौरान विस्तार से बातचीत हुई. बाकी विषयों पर पैनल की राय जानने-सुनने के लिए पूरी चर्चा सुनें. 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.

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So, here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode.In this week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Manisha Pande, and investigative journalist Josy Joseph.The podcast kicks off with Joseph talking about the ₹1,000-crore civil defamation suit that Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways filed against him after the release of his book, A Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India. The book, he says, is a product of 15 years of investigation into government records available in the public domain. In response to Abhinandan’s question about what he thought of the coverage of the Jet Airways crisis, he says, “I think the Jet Airways collapse and Naresh Goyal to me in many ways capture the crisis of Indian democracy...the crisis that we see when you have the Prime Minister of the country on a daily basis assaulting the basic constitutional commitment to scientific temperament.” He also believes that our country is not an imperfect democracy, rather a "democracy in crisis".The panel also discusses Narendra Modi’s interview with The Indian Express. Manisha says, “[It is] one of his best interviews that I have read...you really get a sense of this guy and he has so much disdain for the media, every answer is a potshot at the media...in that one interview you really get an insight into how much he hates the media.” Madhu also speaks of Modi's "shenpa" and why he needs to get over it”.You can listen to the full Hafta here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/05/17/nl-hafta-224-priyanka-sharma-the-khan-market-gang-mani-shankar-aiyar-and-more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this new segment, the NL Hafta panel devotes some time to going through emails from subscribers and non-subscribers, triggering interesting debates and providing them with valuable feedback.This week's #HaftaLetters saw a variety of issues brought to the forefront, such as the Left and Right in Indian politics, especially in the context of journalism. One letter even suggested that “Right-wing journalism is an oxymoron”. Topics ranged from the burqa ban to elitism in journalism. Specifically, centrism was brought up more than once, provoking a detailed discussion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

n this week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, and journalist and author Sandeep Bhushan.The podcast starts off with a peek into the complex and ever-changing realm of Indian journalism through the lens of Sandeep’s book, The Indian Newsroom: Studios, Stars and The Unmaking of Reporters. Abhinandan agrees partly with its central analysis regarding the undercurrents of the profession and says, “This entire liberal cabal is a reality in media, I don’t think there’s any doubt about it and the metrics of what was an achiever or what was a good reporter were ... someone who can sit with me over dinner and discuss wine rather than be able to crack a story, so social comfort took primacy over any kind of achievement”. The panel discusses issues of diversity in the newsrooms. Though it's come a long way today, everyone agrees that you can't ignore the fact that English news channels are still dominantly comprised of the upper class when compared to Hindi channels.Sandeep says the reality of journalism is that it's based on “brand as power and the power of access, both rolled into one”. He highlights the uncomfortably intimate influence growing between reporters and management. “Technically there’s no problem with it [the hands-on involvement of the management], but in a media organisation, I believe it has to be run differently. It cannot be run in the way other organisations are run wherein there’s Reliance, where Mr Ambani feels that his children should take over. It cannot run like that.” Madhu adds, “Their culture is well-entrenched enough for journalists who work there to know that it will be market-driven and it's not going to be journalism.”The panel moves on to PM Narendra Modi's "interview spree". Will it impact Modi's image if he takes people into his confidence during interviews regarding his failings on issues such as unemployment? “I think we are talking of an ideal situation and politics is not an ideal place … this is how political discourse should happen but it doesn’t,” says Raman. He believes that the strategy of providing the people with a false consciousness of nationalism as a distraction plays in Modi’s favour. Sandeep says this strategy of willful ignorance is beneficial to him since it helps him steer clear of the vulnerabilities associated with providing explanations for failed policies.The discussion steers towards the various events surrounding the Supreme Court. Referring to the handling of the sexual harassment allegations against CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Manisha says, “How the Supreme Court has acted is really ridiculous. What is an in-house committee? You [are supposed to] set up a Visakha committee, it's sexual harassment at the workplace.” Discussing fake news tweeted by politicians' Twitter handles, Abhinandan points out that one “cannot tackle fake news … when the political establishment’s main tool for information is fake news because they will not make laws to take that on”.The panel also discusses the nurturing of "stars" as brand-building exercises in journalism, survival tactics employed by anti-Modi supporters in the face of a hostile fan base, and much more.Tune 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 and Desk Writer Gaurav Sarkar to talk about the protests against clean chit to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, courtroom drama during the deposition of former Union Minister MJ Akbar, Rahul Gandhi’s public meeting in Delhi, Election Commission's social media team in Bhopal and more.Gaurav was covering the protest against the clean chit to Gogoi, while Ayush attended Congress president Rahul Gandhi's public meeting in New Delhi.Gaurav talks about how courtroom proceedings (in the MJ Akbar defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani) turned into a boxing ring. He also talks about enthusiastic support from the audience in the gallery for Ramani.Ayush speaks of his experience of attending a Rahul Gandhi election meeting. Cherry and Ayush talk about the atmosphere of the meeting, the loyalty of supporters and how ideology plays a driving force for the supporters of both parties. Ayush talks about his report from Bhopal on how the election commission's social media cell in Bhopal is keeping an eye on online campaigning of political parties in the state.For all this and more, listen in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan, and author Chetan Bhagat.The podcast kicks off with a deep dive into Bhagat’s book, India Positive: New Essays and Selected Column. The author explains that the title of his book is inspired by the idea of positivity. He believes that although there are several issues affecting the country, sitting for hours on Twitter and complaining about them will not make them go away. He says, “At the end of the day there are certain structural problems with India which are not necessarily Congress- or BJP-driven and we need to fix them and that’s positive to me.”When Abinandan questions Bhagat about putting a disproportionate amount of onus on the ordinary Indian to be self-employed in his book, he responds by saying, “I am not shifting the onus away from policymakers…[I’m] trying to protect the guy [ordinary Indian] …because you can’t keep fighting. Activism isn’t a very profitable trade for an individual.” He continues to say that the world is changing fast and the skill sets required are also going to change dramatically, merely defending a leader of a particular party on Twitter won’t conjure up an offer letter. The panel also talks about the dangers of the ‘messiah complex’.The panel also discusses the BJP's rise to power. Abhinandan says, “Bigotry was an acceptable price to pay for economic prosperity. For me, it's not but for a lot of people, it was.” Anand says, “When India became independent there was a subterranean domain of communalism which was not getting a politically-organised outlet. The historical processes are such that…any identity kind of politics finds an outlet…there is a kind of inevitability and it’s a kind of political catharsis for a lot of suppressed religious problems in the country.”The panel also talks about the Indian media's role in South Asia. Manisha talks about it in terms of the content produced and observes that the fundamental issues that plague journalism in India are “mediocrity of thought and group think”. She adds that there is a “complete disregard for readers and news consumers”. Raman talks about the increased dependence of media on government advertisements and says, “When they [media] are heavily dependent on the government the news automatically gets softer on them and this has happened at a very rapid pace of late.”For 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 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.