Newslaundry Podcast

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

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 tal

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 t

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 B

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

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 s

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 a

राज्यसभा सांसद और लालू प्रसाद यादव की बेटी मीसा भारती एक बार फिर से पाटलीपुत्र लोकसभा सीट से किस्मत आजमा रही हैं. पिछली बार उन्हें पाटलीपुत्र सीट से उनकी ही पार्टी छोड़ गये रामकृपाल यादव ने भाजपा का साथ पकड़ कर पटखनी दी थी. लालू यादव इस बार चुनावी परिदृश्य से ओझल हैं, पार्टी में उत्तराधिकार का मसला जब-तब सिर उठाता है, चुनाव के बाद की परिस्थितियों में क्या राजद राहुल गांधी को प्रधानमंत्री स्वीकार करेगा और क्या कन्हैया कुमार की पार्टी सीपीआई को गठबंधन से बाहर रखकर आरजेडी ने गलती की है? इन तमाम सवालों पर मीसा भारती के जवाब जानने के लिए सुनें यह पॉडकास्ट. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

बीते हफ़्ते राष्ट्रीय व अंतर्राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर घटित हुई घटनाओं ने कई मायनों में नयी बहस को जन्म दिया. चर्चा में इस हफ़्ते उन्हीं में से तीन बेहद ज़रूरी विषयों- जेट एयरवेज़ की उड़ानें बंद होने व हज़ारों की तादाद में लोगों के बेरोज़गार होने, विकीलीक्स के संस्थापक जूलियन असांज की इक्वाडोर के लंदन स्थित दूतावास से गिरफ़्तारी और भाजपा द्वारा तमाम आतंकवादी गतिविधियों में सह-अभियुक्त रही साध्वी प्रज्ञा सिंह ठाकुर को 2019 के लोकसभा चुनावों में भोपाल से टिकट दिये जाने पर विस्तार से बातचीत की गयी.चर्चा में इस बार ‘प्रभात ख़बर-दिल्ली’ के ब्यूरो चीफ़ प्रकाश के रे ने शिरकत की. साथ ही चर्चा में लेखक-पत्रकार अनिल यादव भी शामिल हुए. चर्चा का संचालन न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के कार्यकारी संपादक अतुल चौरसिया ने किया.भारतीय जनता पार्टी द्वारा साध्वी प्रज्ञा सिंह ठाकुर को भोपाल से टिकट दिये जाने के बाद एक बार फिर देश में उग्र हिंदुत्व की राजनीति ने जोर पकड़ लिया है. साध्वी प्रज्ञा सिंह ने 2019 के लोकसभा चुनावों को धर्मयुद्ध करार दिया है. साध्वी प्रज्ञा सिंह ठाकुर के बयानों के बाद अब धार्मिक भावनाओं के आधार की जाने वाली राजनीति तेज़ हो गयी है, जिसमें दे

In this week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Anand Vardhan, Manisha Pande, and author Kishwar Desai. The podcast starts off with a discussion on Desai’s latest book, Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real Story, and why she believed that this was a book that needed to be written. She says that writing the book became “a journey of discovery” for her as she uncovered unknown facts of the incident like the “sadistic tortures that were inflicted on the people of Amritsar”, especially in its build-up and aftermath. The panel also discusses the importance of an apology, as opposed to regret, from Britain now. Anand observes that although “national psyches have this need for reconciliation with historical memory”, after the decades that have passed, “even if it [an apology] comes, it would not serve that instrumental purpose.”Abhinandan shifts the conversation towards the arrest of Julian Assange and the panel debates if his work qualifies as ethical journalistic enterprise or if it is an ins

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 t

बीता हफ़्ता तमाम तरह की घटनाओं का गवाह रहा. इस बार की चर्चा जब आयोजित की गयी, उस वक़्त देश के कुछ हिस्सों में साल 2014 के बाद तनाव, द्वंद्व, संघर्ष, भ्रम व मायूसी के 5 सालों से हताश-निराश अवाम एक बार फ़िर उम्मीदों से बेतरह लैश होकर पहले चरण के मतदान में अपने मताधिकार का प्रयोग कर रही थी. चर्चा में इस हफ़्ते सुप्रीम कोर्ट द्वारा राफेल मामले में प्रशांत भूषण, यशवंत सिन्हा और अरुण शौरी द्वारा दायर पुनर्विचार याचिका पर सुनवाई करते हुए दिये गये  फैसले, चुनाव के धड़कते माहौल में सीमा पार से आती ख़बर जिसमें इमरान ख़ान ने प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी व उनकी पार्टी द्वारा बहुमत हासिल करने पर भारत-पाकिस्तान संबंधों में गर्माहट आने की उम्मीद जतायी, बस्तर में नकुलनार इलाके में हुआ नक्सली हमला जिसमें बीजेपी के विधायक व 5 सीआरपीएफ जवानों समेत कुल छः लोगों की मृत्यु हो गयी और भाजपा के वरिष्ठ नेता लालकृष्ण आडवाणी के ब्लॉग अपडेट व भाजपा के चुनावी घोषणापत्र पर चर्चा की गयी.इस हफ़्ते की चर्चा में वरिष्ठ पत्रकार हृदयेश जोशी ने शिरकत की. साथ ही लेखक-पत्रकार अनिल यादव भी चर्चा में शामिल हुए. चर्चा का संचालन न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के कार्यकारी संपादक

In this week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and journalist Sudipto Mondal.The podcast kicks off with Sudipto talking about the book he’s working on which is centred around the 25-year history of the Ambedkar Students' Association. Although the book was originally intended to be about Rohith Vemula, the Dalit PhD student and ASA member who committed suicide in 2015, Sudipto says: "There were four other students who were suspended with him, do they not deserve to be written about? Just because they didn’t kill themselves? That for me became a big question … that made me expand my quest.”Sudipto also talks about the politics of violence used by the ASA, adding that it's "not pro-violent that it attracted the greyhounds and the anti-Naxal police”. He points out that the frames used to categorise Dalits as "thugs" is what constituted the foundation of their fight. He says it's in the granularity of the politics of representation that we can find the essence

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 increasingl

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 stake

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, r

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 cov

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 न

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 Bala

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