Newslaundry Podcast

In this episode of Hafta, the big question that the panel discusses is whether sting journalism is real journalism. BJP by poll losses and the violence that erupted in Shillong is also discussed. Al Jazeera's sting operation on match-fixing in cricket is another issue that engages the panel in a heated debate. The panel also discusses arrests made in connection with Bhima Koregaon violence and the water crisis in Shimla.The panel consists of Abhinandan Sekhri, Madhu Trehan, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan and our guest, NDTV's Sunetra Choudhury.BJP’s evident loss in the by poll is critically considered by the panel, when Abhinandan asks, “Is it something that needs the kind of coverage that it did? Is it any indication of who the people will vote for?” Madhu feels the 2019 elections are going to be the “dirtiest elections”. She suggests not to make much of these by polls and adds, “In politics, things can change on a dime." Sunetra Choudhury talks about the excitement built around the by poll results. She says,