NL Hafta

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?” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s podcast, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Anand Vardhan and Manisha Pande. Also joining them is political journalist and author of Politics of Jugaad: The Coalition Handbook, Saba Naqvi.The discussion kicks off with Saba’s new book. Saba also briefly describes the farmers' coalitions and the constant splitting of party members from the Congress that kept it at an unstable position in UP. “Most of us who follow politics seem to believe the change happened with Mandal and Mandir…[however] The history of this [coalitions]… goes back to the late sixties,” she says.Abhinandan asks Anand whether coalitions can form a “stable government”. He also asks him about Bihar politics. “Coalitions depend on the reciprocity of interest,” responds Anand, and further mentions that politicians must embody reciprocal interests in case situations for a coalition arise. He also mentions that the only benefit with “stable governments” is that the policies for different stakeholders are kept constant and that these stakeholders know what to expect from the Budget.Anand also talks about the “dramatic stage in Lalu’s family”—sibling rivalry between brothers Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. Saba seeks Anand’s opinion on Kanhaiya Kumar contesting from Begusarai. He thinks Kanhaiya Kumar has a chance and remarks: “Anyone who comes from Bihar in his twenties is a careerist.” He also mentions the demographic factors, political history of Begusarai and determinants of other contestants like Giriraj Singh and Tanveer Hasan.Further, Abhinandan asks Saba about the election campaign in UP. She responds: “there is no one campaign …the demographics are changing seat by seat." She lists a few unexpected elements that have happened like the SP and BSP coalition, Priyanka Gandhi’s arrival, Muzaffarnagar’s muslim vote turn-out and the likes.The panel discusses the spread of propaganda through popular culture like Eros Now’s series Modi: Journey of a Common Man and Omung Kumar’s movie, PM Narendra Modi. Manisha says: “EC’s model code of conduct applies to the Government that it cannot use Doordarshan to propagate Narendra Modi’s speeches,” as that uses taxpayer’s money. However in the case of such movies, “…These are private citizens who can launch a movie whenever they want to.”“The role of propaganda or any form of political communication can be of a force multiplier…it cannot win you elections,” remarks Anand. He believes that the consumptions of news and the influence it exerts on the voting decisions of people is not directly correlated. Saba, however, disagrees. “There is too much data to the contrary to show that television slants and propaganda influence voters,” says Abhinandan.With reference to Congress’ manifesto on AFSPA, Manisha tells us that it reads: “they will remove immunity for enforced disappearance, sexual violence and torture,” and the panel believes it to be “absolutely reasonable”. Anand mentions that the manifestos are majorly for electoral significance and academic value, however, with the proliferation of media there has been many discussions on the issues that gives various undertones to it.Other topics broadly discussed in this podcast include NaMo TV, Vivek Oberoi’s appearance in news interviews, a few election speeches made by different politicians, references made to various historical events in the politics of UP and Bihar, Mayawati’s affidavit and many passing anecdotes given by our NL gang. Listen up! 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, Manisha Pande, and lawyer Gautam Bhatia.The podcast kicks off with Gautam talking about his latest book, The Transformative Constitution: A Radical Biography in Nine Acts. It draws on pre-Independence legal and political history and is an analysis of the oppressive forces apart from the State. In his book, he argues that the Constitution was intended to transform not only the political identity of Indians but also the social relationships on which legal and political structures rest.Abhinandan proceeds with a comparative interpretation of the attitude of Americans and Indians toward their respective constitutions. Gautam responds: “They [Americans] actually treat is like a religious text which is way more than India … The Constitution [in India] comes with an in-built flexibility, adaptability to change … Ours is pretty supple, flexible and keeps changing.” Raman and Madhu question the status of secularism and socialism, respectively, in the Constitution. Gautam says: “The Constitution supports the socialist government, it doesn’t mandate one.”Manisha and Abhinandan move on to Arnab Goswami’s interview with PM Narendra Modi. In the context of professional dignity, Raman describes the 1996 Indian Express reportage on "political pimps", while Manisha talks about the importance of objectivity in journalism.The discussion moves on to ad revenue after Abhinandan reads a mail from a subscriber. “The more broad-based your revenue streams, the less compromised you are. And, nothing can be as broad-based as subscriber model” says Abhinandan. Madhu remarks, “People should be better informed and aware that all the advertising they see from governments and departments is our [taxpayers'] money”. The panel compares content and perspectives in newsrooms in the United States and India.Discussing Mission Shakti, Madhu describes what she calls the “remarkable discomfiture” with which Modi made his announcement. “When you rehearse something too many times it becomes trite,” she adds. The panel then moves on to the group of filmmakers appealing against voting for the BJP. Abhinandan asks if film actors and artists should take positions in political narratives. Madhu says: "You want to be normal and give your political opinion on any issue but are you willing to pay the price of having your life being turned upside down?” Gautam says, “You could make statements without being partisans about it.”The discussion shifts to the credibility of news sources in reference to recent reports by Reuters and Caravan. Abhinandan says: "Whether a story is complete or not is always a judgement call, there is no one determinant that will seal the deal … in different stories there will be different determinants that will legitimise the story.” The panel also discusses Vijay Mallya recent statements after the Jet Airways bailout, cessation dialogues in Kashmir and Sikkim, Rahul Gandhi's announcement of the NYAY scheme—and a whole lot more! Listen up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s podcast, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan and Manisha Pande. Joining them over the phone is The News Minute's deputy news editor, Ragamalika Karthikeyan, to talk about the Pollachi case.The podcast begins with Ragamalika detailing the Pollachi sexual abuse and extortion case. The four men accused “seem to be doing it as a racket”, she says. She also mentions the controversy with the AIADMK since an FIR is registered against AIADMK functionary A Nagaraj over the assault of a victim’s brother. Manisha says she agrees with the Madras High Court's observations on Delhi media's lack of priority in covering the case, but Abhinandan says he's conflicted. He says: “This is a problem not just related to Chennai or Kerala … It is more true of the Northeast … If judges start commenting on everything then it just dilutes the impact when they something that is truly about justice rather than a social observation.” Ragamalika indicates the importance of giving incidents national coverage in order to formulate appropriate and more nuanced laws on sexual violence.Abhinandan talks about how newspapers in Assam went on a three-day boycott of all state government news, ads and photographs in protest against its alleged apathy. Anand mentions how India still imports newsprint which makes it quite expensive. Though local papers buy cheaper versions, it's not a sustainable model. “State governments control a lot of things through government ads,” he says.The discussion moves on to journalist Sunetra Choudhury’s exclusive on the UK’s efforts to extradite Nirav Modi and India’s absence of a response. While Anand examines the validity of Sunetra’s report, Abhinandan emphasises the need for extensive reports on Nirav Modi across media as it affects informed citizenry.The panel discusses the Meghalaya High Court’s sentence—which was stayed by the Supreme Court today—to Shillong Times editor Patricia Mukhim and publisher Shoba Chaudhuri. Manisha says, “We still have the thing called scandalising the court which exists in India, which you can be hauled up for just shocking the court.”Abhinandan goes on to discuss Chandrashekhar Azad who has announced he will contest against PM Modi from Varanasi. Anand says that there are no foregrounds to assume either’s victory. On the Election Commission’s announcement to monitor political content across social media, the panel jokes about the primitive understanding of technology by most EC officials.This and a whole lot more, so listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

बीता हफ़्ता बहुत सारी घटनाओं का साक्षी रहा है. इस हफ़्ते की चर्चा तब आयोजित हुई, जबकि चुनावी सरगर्मियां चरम पर थीं और पहले चरण के चुनाव में हफ़्ते भर से भी कम वक़्त रह गया था. इस हफ़्ते की चर्चा में ‘टाइम मैगज़ीन’ द्वारा पेशे का जोख़िम उठा रहे पत्रकारों की सूची में इस बार हिंदुस्तान की स्वतंत्र पत्रकार राना अयूब का नाम दर्ज़ करने व पेशे में पत्रकारों के लिए लगातार बने हुए खतरों, देशभर में महिलाओं के लिए रोजगार की संभावनाओं पर विस्तार से बात करती ऑक्सफेम इंडिया की रिपोर्ट, राहुल गांधी द्वारा पहली दफ़ा दो जगहों से लोकसभा चुनाव लड़ने, कांग्रेस पार्टी के चुनावी घोषणापत्र व आदर्श आचार संहिता के उल्लंघन की घटनाओं पर चर्चा के क्रम में ही प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी की बायोपिक, जिसमें अभिनेता विवेक ओबेरॉय उनका किरदार निभा रहे, पर चर्चा की गयी.चर्चा में इस बार वरिष्ठ पत्रकार हृदयेश जोशी ने शिरकत की. साथ ही लेखक-पत्रकार अनिल यादव व न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के स्तंभकार आनंद वर्धन भी चर्चा में शामिल हुए. चर्चा का संचालन न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के कार्यकारी संपादक अतुल चौरसिया ने किया.कांग्रेस पार्टी के चुनावी घोषणापत्र से चर्चा की शुरुआत करते हुए अतुल ने कहा कि कांग्रेस के चुनावी घोषणापत्र में शिक्षा व कृषि के क्षेत्र के लिए किए गये वायदों, अलग से कृषि बजट जारी करने व ‘न्याय’ योजना जिसमें देश में ग़रीबी रेखा के नीचे जीवन-यापन कर रहे पांच करोड़ परिवारों को 6000 रुपये की मासिक आर्थिक मदद की बात कही गयी है. अतुल ने इसी में अपनी बात जोड़ते हुए कहा कि इन सबको ध्यान में रखते हुए अगर चुनावी घोषणापत्र पर गौर करें तो इसमें समाजवादी रुझान की झलक मिलती है, साथ ही इसमें उस लीक से थोड़ा हटकर चलने का प्रयास भी देखने को मिलता है, जिसका निर्माण ऐसे समय में हुआ जब बाज़ारवाद ने अर्थव्यवस्था को अपनी पकड़ में ले लिया है, इस संबंध में आपकी क्या राय है?जवाब देते हुए हृदयेश जोशी ने कहा- “आपने सोशलिस्ट शब्द का इस्तेमाल किया. यहां मूल बात समझने की ये है कि शुरुआत से ही पार्टियों का और ख़ास तौर पर कांग्रेस पार्टी का ये अनुभव रहा है कि जब-जब वो अपनी इस सोशलिस्ट लाइन से हटी है, उसका जनाधार बुरी तरह खिसका है. अगर आप कुछ वक़्त पहले अर्थशास्त्री ज्यां द्रेज़ के इंडियन एक्सप्रेस में छपे लेख ‘रैश यू टर्न, हाफ-बेक्ड प्लान्स’ पर गौर करें तो उनका कहना है कि ये जो कैज़ुअल एप्रोच है, चाहे वो प्रधानमंत्री मोदी का ही रहा हो जबकि वो दक्षिणपंथी पार्टी के नेता हैं और खुलेआम पूंजीवादी रुझान में बातें करते हैं, उनका भी किसानों को 6000 रुपये देना सोशलिस्ट स्कीम ही कही जायेगी. लेकिन यह एक तरह का एड-हॉक एप्रोच है कि जब आपको लगे कि लोगों को ख़ुश करने की ज़रूरत है और कुछ ऐसा कर दिया जाये. साल 2004 में कांग्रेस की जब सरकारी बनी, तो मनरेगा जैसी योजनाएं चलाने के बाद अगले चुनाव में उनका जनाधार बढ़ा था, मुझे लगता है कांग्रेस उसी लाइन पर लौटने का प्रयास कर रही है.”जाति-धर्म, संप्रदाय या देश व देशभक्ति के नाम पर किए जा रहे ध्रुवीकरण व हर सवाल के ऊपर आख़िरी ट्रंप-कार्ड की तरह राष्ट्र को रख देने के दौर में कांग्रेस का चुनावी घोषणापत्र कहता है कि सत्ता में आने पर पार्टी आफ्सपा को डाइलूट करेगी, उसके प्रावधानों में कमी लायेगी, साथ ही राजद्रोह के कानून को ख़त्म करेगी. इन्हीं बातों का ज़िक्र करते हुए अतुल ने सवाल किया कि ऐसे वक़्त में कांग्रेस के इस कदम को किस तरह देखना चाहिए? क्या यह साहसी कदम है? या कांग्रेस ने एक तरह से रिस्क लिया है?जवाब देते हुए अनिल ने कहा- “मुझे जो पहली चीज़ लगी, वो ये कि कांग्रेस ने यह कदम हताशा में उठाया है. मुझे ऐसा लगता है कि पिछले पांच सालों के दौरान सेडीशन के मामले हुए हैं, आफ्सपा के भी हुए हैं तो इन सारे मुद्दों पर कांग्रेस की अगर कोई स्पष्ट नीति होती तो वो इन पर बात करती हुई दिखाई देती. मुझे लगता है राहुल गांधी को लग रहा है कि यह डू ऑर डाई का मामला है.”इसी सवाल पर अपना नज़रिया रखते हुए आनंद कहते हैं- “मुझे लगता है चुनावी घोषणापत्र अकादमिक रुचि व उपभोग की ही चीज़ें होती हैं, चुनाव प्रचार और रैलियों में क्या बोला जा रहा है, वह अधिक महत्वपूर्ण है.”इसके साथ-साथ बाकी विषयों पर भी चर्चा के दौरान विस्तार से बहस 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 the latest episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by the usual gang of Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Madhu Trehan, and special guest Praveen Donthi, staff writer at The Caravan.The discussion takes off with Praveen discussing his cover story on the rise of ANI news agency during the NDA government's tenure. He emphasises how ANI is considered over any other publication and that it reports the government's version of the truth. He adds: “It (ANI) has a monopoly … the story is: the government allowed it to be a monopoly, discouraging other people.”The discussion moves to Attorney General KK Venugopal's remarks in the Supreme Court, where he accused The Hindu of putting "stolen" documents from the Defence Ministry in the public domain which he said violated the Official Secrets Act. Madhu says, “The Official Secrets Act was written in 1923, the date itself should explain it.” The panel unanimously stands for the freedom to question the government. The panel also discusses the aftermath of the Balakote airstrikes, especially the varying numbers cited as "casualties" by media houses with no official confirmation. Praveen talks about how compromised India's national security beat is, citing his 2013 story on the same issue, and the damage these "source-based" reports do. The panel brings up the story on the "lynched" Pakistani Air Force pilot, which later turned out to be fake. Abhinandan asks, "How can the Opposition be accused of setting narrative … does anyone buy that this narrative is set by the Opposition and those who question Modi?" Manisha responds: “Forget the BJP and Congress, the international media … they are testing India’s claims of major damage, destruction of a terror camp … so all the sceptics are responding to what the government has said from day one."This and much more, so listen up! 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, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Anand Vardhan and Manisha Pande. Also joining them is political journalist and author of Politics of Jugaad: The Coalition Handbook, Saba Naqvi.The discussion kicks off with Saba’s new book. Saba also briefly describes the farmers' coalitions and the constant splitting of party members from the Congress that kept it at an unstable position in UP. “Most of us who follow politics seem to believe the change happened with Mandal and Mandir…[however] The history of this [coalitions]… goes back to the late sixties,” she says.Other topics broadly discussed in this podcast include Bihar politics, NaMo TV, Vivek Oberoi’s appearance in news interviews, a few election speeches made by different politicians, references made to various historical events in the politics of UP and Bihar, Mayawati’s affidavit and so much more. Listen up!Listen to the full Hafta here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/04/05/hafta-218-coalitions-campaigns-afspa-namo-tv-uttar-pradesh-bihar 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 SSC paper leaks, Yogi Adityanath’s rally, the Congress manifesto and the newly launched NaMo TV.Ayush talks about the press conference he attended on the SSC paper leaks conducted by Yogendra Yadav and Kanhaiya Kumar, an SSC aspirant from Bihar. He explains what happened and how the government and authorities were hand-in-glove. He says: “The Chairman of the SSC should be taken into account because this incident has happened under his nose.”Cherry discusses the recently released Congress manifesto which made a slew of promises including some focusing on the media, like the amendment of Press Council of India Act to strengthen self-regulation of the media, and the empowering of the Press Council of India to fight the menace of fake news and misinformation. Most fake news is amplified by TV news on a daily basis, and Cherry says: “TV newsrooms have whipped up war hysteria, communal mongering ... Be it Ayodhya, Pulwama, Balakot—I mean TV newsrooms go insane.” She also discusses the Congress’s promise of making defamation a civil offence and the removal of the controversial sedition law.Gaurav tells us about Yogi Adityanath’s rally in Bisara village near Greater Noida where the prime accused in the Akhlaq lynching case were present in the front rows, attending the rally. Gaurav quotes one of the accused as saying “we are out on bail and nothing can happen to us”. Ayush adds, “When one of the accused died, he was wrapped in a tricolour.” The panel discusses religion and the caste system in the context of the beef ban, and its impact on people. Cherry also brings up NaMo TV—now renamed Content TV—and how most details about the channel are hidden. "The Election Commission should examine its funding, violation of the Model Code of Conduct, ownership and whether the broadcasting rules are being violated or not,” she says.This and more, so listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap, hosts Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss the latest How To Train Your Dragon, Vice, Us, A Star is Born, The Favourite and much more.The podcast kicks off with Abhinandan and Rajyasree discussing animated movies, particularly the How To Train Your Dragon series. Though Abhinandan liked the earlier parts, the latest offering didn't captivate him. Rajyasree, who's not passionate about animated movies, moves on to the Oscar-nominated movie Vice, a comic-biopic on former US Vice President Dick Cheney. She says the movie captures the nature of politics at the time, Cheney’s relationship with Donal Rumsfeld, and the charismatic interactions and motivations of the wives of prominent political leaders.Abhinandan expresses his dissatisfaction with Jordan Peele’s movie Us (2019) which may also stem from his dislike of horror films in general. He says he predicted the plot minutes into the movie. Rajyasree says she enjoys most of Peele's work. "Everything is a commentary with Jordan Peele.” She recommends Get Out by the same director. Moving on to the movie A Star is Born, Rajyasree says the actors' performances and the movie in general were adequate, but not challenging. Abhinandan remarks that with musicals, there are often two kinds of reviews: those who like the movie too much, and those who didn't. He says: "A Star is Born, like La La Land, had two kinds of reviews. There were the La La Land haters and there were people who said it was just the most amazing film ever. Same thing with A Star is Born.”Rajyasree then gives a brief synopsis of the movie The Favourite, saying she enjoyed watching it and found it funny. Abhinandan seems to lose interest just from its description. Rajyasree then says she found the mini-series A Very English Scandal extremely intriguing and amusing, and a wonderful commentary of the time. "It's very funny because it's British, right?" she says. Abhinandan agrees that British humour is very good.The discussion also spans Akshay Kumar's new advertisement for Suthol and Madhur Jaffrey's music video Nani. Rajyasree and Abhinandan also plan on watching the upcoming movies PM Narendra Modi and The Tashkent Files—notwithstanding their dread.Tune in for more! 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, Manisha Pande, and lawyer Gautam Bhatia. The podcast kicks off with Gautam talking about his latest book, The Transformative Constitution: A Radical Biography in Nine Acts.The discussion moves to Arnab Goswami's interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Discussing Mission Shakti, Madhu describes what she calls the “remarkable discomfiture” with which Modi made his announcement. The conversation also covers Rahul Gandhi's announcement of the NYAY scheme, Vijay Mallya recent statements after the Jet Airways bailout, cessation dialogues in Kashmir and Sikkim, and a whole lot more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.