NL Hafta

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.

ग़ालिब का एक शेर है- “हम वहां से हैं जहां से हमको भी/ कुछ हमारी ख़बर नहीं आती”. मौजूदा वक़्त में देश ऐसे ही दौर से गुज़र रहा है. पंजाबी के कवि ‘पाश’ के शब्दों में कहें तो एक हद तक यह वह दौर भी है, जब बिना ज़मीर होना ज़िंदगी की शर्त बन गयी है. ठीक उसी वक़्त यह बात जोर-शोर से कही जा रही है कि सारे सवालों में सबसे ऊपर है देश और देश की सुरक्षा का सवाल तो इसके ठीक समानांतर एक विडंबना भी है कि हमें देश की इस तथाकथित सुरक्षा से खतरा है.इस हफ़्ते की चर्चा ऐसे वक़्त में आयोजित हुई जब इस तरह की तमाम चर्चाओं के बीच देश के प्रधानमंत्री ‘पूर्णतः अराजनैतिक साक्षात्कार’ देने के बाद लोकसभा चुनावों में ‘पूर्ण बहुमत’ हासिल करने के अभियान में लगे हुये थे. इसी कड़ी में बनारस की सड़कों पर जनता ने ख़ुद को फ़कीर कहने वाले प्रधानमंत्री का शक्ति-प्रदर्शन देखा. चुनावी सरगर्मियों के बीच नेताओं के बयान पूरे परिदृश्य को सनसनीख़ेज बना रहे थे. यह वह समय भी था, जब देश-विदेश से कुछ दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण ख़बरें आयीं तो कुछ ख़बरें ऐसी भी रहीं जिनसे डगमगाते भरोसे को तनिक बल मिला.इस हफ़्ते की चर्चा में भारत के मुख्य न्यायाधीश रंजन गोगोई पर उनकी एक महिला कर्मचारी द्वारा लगाया गया यौन-उत्पीड़न का आरोप और न्यायपालिका के दायरे में इस संबंध में हुई उठा-पटक, 2002 के गुजरात दंगे की पीड़िता बिलकीस बानो के बलात्कार मामले में सुप्रीम कोर्ट का मुआवजे का निर्णय व उसके निहितार्थ, देश का चुनावी परिदृश्य और श्रीलंका में हुई आतंकवादी घटना को चर्चा के विषय के तौर पर लिया गया.चर्चा में इस बार न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के स्तंभकार आनंद वर्द्धन ने शिरकत की. साथ ही चर्चा में लेखक-पत्रकार अनिल यादव भी शामिल हुये. चर्चा का संचालन न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के कार्यकारी संपादक अतुल चौरसिया ने किया.इस तरह मामले की संक्षिप्त रूपरेखा प्रस्तुत करते हुए अतुल ने सवाल किया कि सुप्रीम कोर्ट द्वारा ख़ुद सवालों के घेरे में आने के बाद अपनायी गयी प्रक्रिया व जस्टिस रंजन गोगोई द्वारा उठाये गये क़दम को आप कैसे देखते हैं?जवाब देते हुए अनिल कहते हैं- “यह मामला सामने आया तो लोगों ने पहला सवाल यह करना शुरू किया कि ऐसे मामलों में कानूनी स्थिति क्या है क्योंकि आरोप चीफ़ जस्टिस ऑफ़ इंडिया पर लगे थे. किसी का स्कॉलर होना, कानून का जानकार होना एक अलग बात है लेकिन इस वजह से यह नहीं मान लेना चाहिए कि जो बहुत बड़ा स्कॉलर है या जानकार है, वह अपनी यौन विकृतियों व यौन इच्छाओं से भी विवेकपूर्ण ढंग से निपट पायेगा. आनन-फानन में जस्टिस रंजन गोगोई ने एक समिति बनायी और समिति की कार्यवाही से बहुत ख़राब संदेश गया. जस्टिस गोगोई के इस कहने को देखें- ‘यह सुप्रीम कोर्ट को और मुझे निशाने पर लेने की कोशिश है, मुझे ख़रीद पाने में नाकाम रहे तो यह रास्ता अपनाया गया’- तो हमारे यहां यही होता रहा है. आरोपी यह कहता रहा है कि आप मुझसे कैसे यह उम्मीद कर रहे हैं कि मैं इस तरह का काम करूंगा, मुझे विरोधियों द्वारा साजिश के तहत फंसाया जा रहा है. तो यह जो तर्क रंजन गोगोई दे रहे हैं यह कोई नया तर्क नहीं है.”अतुल आगे कहते हैं कि हमारे समाज का यह सामूहिक चरित्र रहा है कि वह इस तरह के किसी मामले में फ़ौरी तौर पर पीड़िता के आरोपों को खारिज़ कर देता है. मामले को संजीदगी से देखने-सुनने का कोई ख़ास चलन हमारे यहां नहीं है. जस्टिस रंजन गोगोई द्वारा अपने पक्ष में बयान दिये जाने व पीड़िता को ही कटघरे में खड़ा कर देने से भी इस बात की तरफ़ ही संकेत मिलता है कि सबसे पहले चरित्र हनन उसी का होता है जो पीड़िता है. तयशुदा नियम-प्रक्रिया की तरफ़ ध्यान दिये बिना जस्टिस गोगोई द्वारा भी ऐसा ही किये जाने को आप कैसे देखते हैं?जवाब देते हुये आनंद कहते हैं- “इसमें एक पुनर्विचार उच्चतम न्यायालय के ढांचे के संबंध में होना चाहिए. जो मुख्य न्यायाधीश होता है वह न केवल न्यायिक मामलों का प्रमुख होता है बल्कि न्यायालय के साथ-साथ वह इसकी प्रशासनिक इकाई का भी मुखिया होता है. गोगोई उस प्रशासनिक इकाई की भी अध्यक्षता कर रहे हैं. यह जो फ़ौरी तौर पर तीन जजों की बेंच बनाकर मामला खारिज़ कर दिया गया यह जस्टिस गोगोई ने प्रशासनिक अध्यक्ष के तौर पर किया. शायद इसमें ‘सेपरेशन ऑफ़ पॉवर’ की सख्त जरूरत है. और इस पर विचार होना चाहिए कि क्या जुडीशियल पॉवर के साथ-साथ एडमिनिस्ट्रेटिव पॉवर भी मुख्य न्यायाधीश को दिया जाय?”इसके 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 week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan, and journalist and author Puja Mehra.The podcast kicks off with a deconstruction of Mehra’s book, The Lost Decade (2008-18): How India's Growth Story Devolved into Growth Without a Story. Abhinandan asks Puja why she believed that the decade was indeed lost. In response, she says both Prime Ministers (Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi) were equally responsible for ineffectively dealing with the crisis. She also states that temporary emergency measures were relied upon to compensate for a mammoth crisis that demanded a permanent solution.She adds, “When an economy grows at that rate [8.8 per cent GDP growth] and is hit by a crisis, a shock, to bring it back to that level you need to take some steps. That follow-through was not undertaken.” When Abhinandan asks her if she believed that the Modi government’s economic agenda was cemented in a cultural singularity, she says that the government’s attitude is more symptomatic of a policy inattention than anything else.She describes her book as a documentation of governance in the last ten years that analyses the policies adopted while also discussing the policies that should have been. Talking about its essence, she says, “The whole argument of my book is that our politicians just don’t listen to expert advice and they assume that an economy as large as India, as complex as India, can be driven by policies that are crafted keeping political objectives in mind with complete disregard for underlying economics.” The discussion then moves to sexual harassment allegations levied against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. Madhu makes a compelling case of the escalating hubris of the Supreme Court. She says, “The Indian judiciary, for decades, has avoided any accountability. Every time they are asked for accountability, they behave like [they] are above the law. Well [they’re] not. It’s a democracy.” Puja says she prefers a system governed by rules rather her perception of the credibility of individuals in it so that one’s faith in the system remains uninfluenced by fallible individuals.Sadhvi Pragya’s media portrayal was next on the panel's list. Anand says, “In this age when you have preconceived ideas about political inclinations of a journalist, it becomes very easy to pigeonhole them and say that this will be this kind of interview…in that case it is important that [the journalist] asks controversial questions…but it is not a debate to be settled in an interview.”The panel also discusses the granularity of demonetisation, the significance of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra not contesting from Varanasi and a lot more. Tune in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this edition of NL Interviews, Cherry Agarwal speaks to Govindraj Ethiraj about the importance of data-led stories, the credibility of data and the role of data and evidence in the public discourse. Ethiraj is a television and print journalist, who founded IndiaSpend, a data-driven journalistic platform, as well as a fact-checking website, BOOM.The discussion kicks off with the 2019 General Elections. Ethiraj says, "We've seen a steady increase in the amount of misinformation and fake news being generated. It is only getting sharper, more intensive and more creative as we go along." This is adding to the overall election temperature, he adds.Ethiraj also speaks about how data can be used during the 2019 elections. "There are two kinds of data points, one is to do with elections, candidates, what they have done and what they didn't. While they are insightful, they (such data) are a little late in the day to make electoral decisions," he says. However, he adds, over time, data can be used to empower people and informing electoral decisions.Ethiraj also speaks about why there's a need to focus on data and evidence, how data can be used to tell stories in public interest and how it can improve the public discourse. Can data be used to counter divisive, political rhetoric? Can data be used to enforce better governance and accountability? What are the challenges of making data accessible and appealing to a larger audience? The interview addresses all these questions.Listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.