NL Hafta

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So, here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode where we discuss the BJP-PDP breakup, Shujaat Bukhari's murder, the Airtel row and more.You can listen to the full Hafta here (https://bit.ly/2tlmrFf).

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In this week’s Hafta, Rituparna Chatterjee, Consulting Editor, Reader's Digest and India Today magazine, joins Abhinandan Sekhri who was missing from last week's podcast. Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are also on the panel.The fallout between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the People’s Democratic Party, in addition to Arvind Kejriwal’s nine-day-long protest, is discussed in depth by the panel. The Airtel controversy over a customer refusing services from a Muslim customer care executive is also debated upon. The killing of Rising Kashmir editor-in-chief Shujaat Bukhari has left our panel in complete dismay. The suicide of Rohit Vemula is revisited as well.Abhinandan begins the discussion with the murder of Shujaat Bukhari and asks, “Why is this getting so much traction and not other murders?” Raman talks about the incident taking place in a conflicted area like Kashmir. He says, "He is confounded about “what really triggered his killing?”Rituparna quotes Shujaat from his interview in 2006, “You don't know anymore who your enemies are” and talks about the reality of this statement in today’s times. Manisha talks about the tendency of being “labelled as an India sympathiser” if one is a moderate or reports against the militants in Jammu and Kashmir.Rituparna moves on to discuss the BJP pulling out of an “unlikely alliance” with People's Democratic Party. Anand refers to this move as a “standard tool for coming out of any confusion when you are in a coalition”. Abhinandan questions the timing of this decision. Raman states, “Almost the entire youth of Kashmir have been radicalised,” adding, “withdrawing from the PDP has more to do with politics."The “tussle” between the Delhi state government and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has received varied responses from the panel. Abhinandan asks, “What do you make of what happened and where we are?”Anand observes, “I think the AAP was in it for retrieving political capital of a contrarian party...the moral capital which had suffered substantial erosion with its apologies, with giving tickets to people who in public perception were not deserving of Rajya Sabha seats...” He adds, “The AAP also went on an obfuscation because the blocking of ministerial work is an afterthought. It still didn’t address the original allegation of (alleged) violence against the topmost bureaucrat of Delhi.”Rituparna says that the Congress has yet again ‘missed the bus’.  She points out that the coalition drive of the Congress cannot work in Delhi with the AAP because it’s a ‘natural rival’.Raman says, “I found IAS officers -- former and the serving -- all of them were trying to explain that we’re not on a strike.”Abhinandan comments, “AAP’s whole template is to make an event a talking point and then that goes viral...” He adds, “They (AAP) have been unable to create[turn] any event [into a talking point] since they’ve formed the government.”The panel discusses a recent Twitter row that involved Airtel and a customer. The customer denied the services of a particular customer support executive since the Airtel personnel interacting with her was a Muslim. Rituparna says, “Brands need to immediately hire people to handle a crisis of this sort...because the crisis of this sort is only going to increase.”The panel also discusses Rohit Vemula’s mother's case who was allegedly offered money to speak against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and more.

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Rahul Puri and Samar Khan bring you the first podcast since the FIFA World Cup 2018 kick-off. Samar begins with a remark, “It has been a crazy kind of a World Cup. It has been different from the others, it has been a li'l bit of a wake-up time for the big boys?!”Rahul agrees, “I don’t think anybody would’ve even picked the results that happened in the first round of matches. Argentina being held to a draw. Brazil being held to a draw. Germany losing to Mexico being the big shock in the World Cup...”Rahul observes that it has been a World Cup of penalties (fouls). Samar says, “The amount of penalties that have been given -- in a way it’s a good thing...in a way it’s a bad cup.” Rahul says, “It has been a fairly clean World Cup. The referees have been reluctant to hand out cards. We’ve only had one red card. Let’s face it, it was a stone-cold red.”The duo debates the use of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system that has seen differing opinions across the football spectrum. Comparing with the review system in cricket, Samar says, “In cricket, the team can ask for a review. Over here, the VAR is still pretty much in the grey area.” Rahul replies, “I, at the moment, can’t see how the system does anything to help the match.” He says, “The big problem with VAR is that I don’t think anybody quite knows how VAR can be used.” He also questions the use of VAR as the lack in clarity of assessing a situation whether it qualifies for it or not. Samar says, “The people who are monitoring the VAR are supposed to be referees. Now, if they are referees, then they should have the same rights as the on-field referee.”The duo proceeds to examine the performances of various teams and their key players.

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This episode of Reporters Without Orders begins with a farewell to Nidhi, our Kashmir correspondent. We are sad to see her go but wish her the best for her future endeavours.

Also on the panel, we have Cherry, Amit, Rohin and Sumedha. The discussion kicks off with Jammu and Kashmir's former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's press conference in the aftermath of Bharatiya Janata Party’s withdrawal of support.

Nidhi, who was at the press conference, commenting on the nature of the relationship between the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP, says, “From day one, it has been a tough marriage. Especially, in the last few months, there have been mounting disagreements between the two parties, especially post-Kathua and the ceasefire, and Shujaat Bukhari’s killing. I spoke to one of the senior members of the PDP, and they basically said that it is not shocking.” 

Speaking of her own experiences in the aftermath of Bukhari’s murder, Nidhi says, “...today, I was going to Pulwama to cover another incident and three to four taxi drivers cancelled on me. Locals were unwilling to come with me because they don’t want to be seen with an Indian journalist.” She adds, “Other journalists have also been warned not be seen with a non-local out in the field because now you never know who is watching.”

Assuming that the ‘Plot to Kill Prime Minister’ news story would be over, Sumedha watched TV news. She says, “What caught my eye was that there were these promos talking about this big exposé, telling you who the masterminds are. So I thought, I should definitely look for what the exposé has to bring to me.”  She adds, “Unfortunately, even after an hour, I couldn’t find what the exposé was trying to establish. It was a hollow exposé, and a lot of noise for nothing.”

Rohin shares the story of a medical student who left a shocking note before committing suicide. The victim was unable to pay high fees and was allegedly subjected to harassment on behalf of the college administration. He says, “The reason is that when the fees were raised, she had approached Jabalpur High Court, after which the college administration started harassing her on a personal level.” He adds, “Because she was a middle-class person and she couldn’t pay that kind of fees, she wrote a letter to her parents saying she didn’t want to trouble them, which is why she committed suicide. This is nowhere to be found in mainstream media.”

Amit talks about Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to revoke his dharna. Voicing his opinions on Kejriwal’s supposed obstructionist behaviour, Amit says, “When the IAS officers are saying that there is no strike in Delhi, they are partially correct, because the AAP is saying the IAS officers are on ‘partial’ strike. All these officers are coming to work, they are reporting to the secretariat, but they are

Amit asks, “Is there any sentiment amongst the locals that this whole idea of using violence to achieve your ultimate goal that is Azadi is useless...Even the voices like Shujaat Bukhari are being allegedly murdered by these gangs.”

Cherry speaks about a report in The Hoot which revealed that the main accused in the murder of journalist Sudip Datta Bhaumik has allegedly threatened the prime witness in the case. Cherry also speaks about a plethora of hashtags floating around the BJP-PDP break up. She observes, “As soon as the news broke that the BJP was withdrawing its support from the PDP, hashtags like #BJPdumpsPDP or #BJPdisownsPDP were being circulated but #BJPabandonsKashmir was given a miss."

Listen up!

This episode of Reporters Without Orders begins with a farewell to Nidhi, our Kashmir correspondent. We are sad to see her go but wish her the best for her future endeavours.

Also on the panel, we have Cherry, Amit, Rohin and Sumedha. The discussion kicks off with Jammu and Kashmir's former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's press conference in the aftermath of Bharatiya Janata Party’s withdrawal of support.

Nidhi, who was at the press conference, commenting on the nature of the relationship between the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP, says, “From day one, it has been a tough marriage. Especially, in the last few months, there have been mounting disagreements between the two parties, especially post-Kathua and the ceasefire, and Shujaat Bukhari’s killing. I spoke to one of the senior members of the PDP, and they basically said that it is not shocking.” 

Speaking of her own experiences in the aftermath of Bukhari’s murder, Nidhi says, “...today, I was going to Pulwama to cover another incident and three to four taxi drivers cancelled on me. Locals were unwilling to come with me because they don’t want to be seen with an Indian journalist.” She adds, “Other journalists have also been warned not be seen with a non-local out in the field because now you never know who is watching.”

Assuming that the ‘Plot to Kill Prime Minister’ news story would be over, Sumedha watched TV news. She says, “What caught my eye was that there were these promos talking about this big exposé, telling you who the masterminds are. So I thought, I should definitely look for what the exposé has to bring to me.”  She adds, “Unfortunately, even after an hour, I couldn’t find what the exposé was trying to establish. It was a hollow exposé, and a lot of noise for nothing.”

Rohin shares the story of a medical student who left a shocking note before committing suicide. The victim was unable to pay high fees and was allegedly subjected to harassment on behalf of the college administration. He says, “The reason is that when the fees were raised, she had approached Jabalpur High Court, after which the college administration started harassing her on a personal level.” He adds, “Because she was a middle-class person and she couldn’t pay that kind of fees, she wrote a letter to her parents saying she didn’t want to trouble them, which is why she committed suicide. This is nowhere to be found in mainstream media.”

Amit talks about Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to revoke his dharna. Voicing his opinions on Kejriwal’s supposed obstructionist behaviour, Amit says, “When the IAS officers are saying that there is no strike in Delhi, they are partially correct, because the AAP is saying the IAS officers are on ‘partial’ strike. All these officers are coming to work, they are reporting to the secretariat, but they are

Amit asks, “Is there any sentiment amongst the locals that this whole idea of using violence to achieve your ultimate goal that is Azadi is useless...Even the voices like Shujaat Bukhari are being allegedly murdered by these gangs.”

Cherry speaks about a report in The Hoot which revealed that the main accused in the murder of journalist Sudip Datta Bhaumik has allegedly threatened the prime witness in the case. Cherry also speaks about a plethora of hashtags floating around the BJP-PDP break up. She observes, “As soon as the news broke that the BJP was withdrawing its support from the PDP, hashtags like #BJPdumpsPDP or #BJPdisownsPDP were being circulated but #BJPabandonsKashmir was given a miss."

Listen up!

"What is the role of the media? The role of the media is to make money for its owners. Its function is to inform people...and give them news," says journalist Palagummi Sainath in a conversation with Newslaundry.On June 16, People's Archive of Rural India's founder-editor Sainath delivered the 1st Neelabh Mishra Memorial Lecture on how corporatisation of the media harms Indian democracy. Newslaundry spoke to Sainath about media ownership, freedom of the press, priorities of Indian newsrooms, among several other issues related to the Indian media landscape.Speaking on the corporatisation of media, Sainath says, "[In] corporate-owned media, journalism and journalists can never be free. He also added that whatever freedom there was, even in that set-up, has been swiftly shrinking. "There are very fine journalists...but the space they have to function has shrunk quite rapidly." Quoting American journalist AJ Liebling, Sainath says, "Freedom of the press is meant for those who own one." He adds that when it comes to freedom of the press, one will have to dismantle corporate monopoly.But Sainath warns that the answer to corporate monopoly isn't state monopoly. "We've to think of various new forms -- collectives, cooperatives, individual initiatives, a lot of these...," he adds, before speaking about some of the threats posed by corporate ownership of the media. "Corporate ownership destroys diversity, it stifles smaller but important voices. It destroys journalist's freedom by converting the job market of a journalist into contracts, where earlier they have very solid, tenured [jobs]," Sainath says. Later, speaking about the Working Journalists Act, Sainath adds, "The Working journalist Act in itself, it was a very fine Act. It has been nakedly violated."Speaking about the dangers posed by corporate media ownership, Sainath says that corporate ownership enforces self-censorship. "You stop saying things, you stop doing things...because you want to keep your job. You've got your family to support. These are real problems for our ordinary journalists in the real world," Sainath says, adding, "And then you also start recruiting a generation that is groomed and socialised in your economic philosophy -- that sees everything through the eyes of their owners. Then you don't even have to threaten or bully...because there are questions of shared values. Corporate ownership [also] destroys diversity, it stifles smaller but important voices."Speaking about the recent spate of journalistic killings, Sainath adds, "I don't want to rank victimhood, for me each one of these was a gigantic tragedy...but we deny legitimacy to the small-town journalist. That is what would be a correct way of putting it," he says.

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This episode of Reporters Without Orders begins with a farewell to Nidhi, our Kashmir correspondent. We are sad to see her go but wish her the best for her future endeavours.Also on the panel, we have Cherry, Amit, Rohin and Sumedha. The discussion kicks off with Jammu and Kashmir's former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's press conference in the aftermath of Bharatiya Janata Party’s withdrawal of support.Nidhi, who was at the press conference, commenting on the nature of the relationship between the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP, says, “From day one, it has been a tough marriage. Especially, in the last few months, there have been mounting disagreements between the two parties, especially post-Kathua and the ceasefire, and Shujaat Bukhari’s killing. I spoke to one of the senior members of the PDP, and they basically said that it is not shocking.” Speaking of her own experiences in the aftermath of Bukhari’s murder, Nidhi says, “...today, I was going to Pulwama to cover another incident and three to four taxi drivers cancelled on me. Locals were unwilling to come with me because they don’t want to be seen with an Indian journalist.” She adds, “Other journalists have also been warned not be seen with a non-local out in the field because now you never know who is watching.”Assuming that the ‘Plot to Kill Prime Minister’ news story would be over, Sumedha watched TV news. She says, “What caught my eye was that there were these promos talking about this big exposé, telling you who the masterminds are. So I thought, I should definitely look for what the exposé has to bring to me.”  She adds, “Unfortunately, even after an hour, I couldn’t find what the exposé was trying to establish. It was a hollow exposé, and a lot of noise for nothing.”Rohin shares the story of a medical student who left a shocking note before committing suicide. The victim was unable to pay high fees and was allegedly subjected to harassment on behalf of the college administration. He says, “The reason is that when the fees were raised, she had approached Jabalpur High Court, after which the college administration started harassing her on a personal level.” He adds, “Because she was a middle-class person and she couldn’t pay that kind of fees, she wrote a letter to her parents saying she didn’t want to trouble them, which is why she committed suicide. This is nowhere to be found in mainstream media.”Amit talks about Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to revoke his dharna. Voicing his opinions on Kejriwal’s supposed obstructionist behaviour, Amit says, “When the IAS officers are saying that there is no strike in Delhi, they are partially correct, because the AAP is saying the IAS officers are on ‘partial’ strike. All these officers are coming to work, they are reporting to the secretariat, but they are Amit asks, “Is there any sentiment amongst the locals that this whole idea of using violence to achieve your ultimate goal that is Azadi is useless...Even the voices like Shujaat Bukhari are being allegedly murdered by these gangs.”Cherry speaks about a report in The Hoot which revealed that the main accused in the murder of journalist Sudip Datta Bhaumik has allegedly threatened the prime witness in the case. Cherry also speaks about a plethora of hashtags floating around the BJP-PDP break up. She observes, “As soon as the news broke that the BJP was withdrawing its support from the PDP, hashtags like #BJPdumpsPDP or #BJPdisownsPDP were being circulated but #BJPabandonsKashmir was given a miss."Listen up!

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On this podcast, Abhinandan and Rajyasree discuss celebrities, controversies, review the promo of Gold starring Akshay Kumar and Netflix's Lust Stories.

Rajyasree felt that Atul Kochhar’s reaction to Quantico was extreme, to put it mildly. She also comments, “He’s a bit of a fool also because he’s sitting in Dubai, an Islamic country and you’re trash talking Muslims without thinking that there’ll be some repercussions.” Abhinandan adds, “Not only is he a bigot, he's also an idiot!”

Rajyasree recaps the whole episode of Virat Kohli’s video post of his girlfriend Anushka Sharma rebuking a person for littering the road.  As an experienced A/V professional, Abhinandan says, “Even when you consume video you must always question when you see a video what happened exactly fifteen seconds before this and what happened fifteen seconds after this.” He proceeds to explain his point by recreating a hypothetical dialogue. He concludes, “In this whole episode, no one comes out looking good. So next time, you have to do a good deed, do it and shut up.”

Rajyasree talks about The Graham Norton Show episode in which Rihanna was light-heartedly called a ‘wine glass thief’. The episode quickly became a meal for media houses in India who ran it with horrible headlines, and the duo discusses the merit of the media coverage.  

Abhinandan describes the promo release of the film Gold. The duo finds the promo utterly bad.

They talk about the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in which Robbie Williams who performed, showed his ‘middle-finger’ on air.

Expressing dissatisfaction on his short appearance, Rajyasree says, “I thought it was blah...He just sang four songs and he left.”

Rajyasree also talks about how Robbie Williams once fit one of the ‘Spice Girls’ - his then-girlfriend in a suitcase to evade media.

Speaking of the World Cup anthem, Abhinandan says, “It’s a shit World Cup song.”

They discuss the new Netflix film-series, Lust Stories. Abhinandan says, “Either the directors did not get the brief, that this is lust stories or they made four films on whatever the fuck you want and then Netflix said let's club them together and call them Lust Stories.” He adds, “Putting in a random sex scene in an otherwise complicated relationship kind of defining film does not become a lust story. If you’re calling something Lust Stories you should explore lust.”  He proceeds to enumerate his observations on the film and delivers a rant on Karan Johar.

Rajyasree speaks about the fact that after 32 years of operation, Pixar Animation Productions has finally released a short film directed by a woman.

On this podcast, Abhinandan and Rajyasree discuss celebrities, controversies, review the promo of Gold starring Akshay Kumar and Netflix's Lust Stories.

Rajyasree felt that Atul Kochhar’s reaction to Quantico was extreme, to put it mildly. She also comments, “He’s a bit of a fool also because he’s sitting in Dubai, an Islamic country and you’re trash talking Muslims without thinking that there’ll be some repercussions.” Abhinandan adds, “Not only is he a bigot, he's also an idiot!”

Rajyasree recaps the whole episode of Virat Kohli’s video post of his girlfriend Anushka Sharma rebuking a person for littering the road.  As an experienced A/V professional, Abhinandan says, “Even when you consume video you must always question when you see a video what happened exactly fifteen seconds before this and what happened fifteen seconds after this.” He proceeds to explain his point by recreating a hypothetical dialogue. He concludes, “In this whole episode, no one comes out looking good. So next time, you have to do a good deed, do it and shut up.”

Rajyasree talks about The Graham Norton Show episode in which Rihanna was light-heartedly called a ‘wine glass thief’. The episode quickly became a meal for media houses in India who ran it with horrible headlines, and the duo discusses the merit of the media coverage.  

Abhinandan describes the promo release of the film Gold. The duo finds the promo utterly bad.

They talk about the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in which Robbie Williams who performed, showed his ‘middle-finger’ on air.

Expressing dissatisfaction on his short appearance, Rajyasree says, “I thought it was blah...He just sang four songs and he left.”

Rajyasree also talks about how Robbie Williams once fit one of the ‘Spice Girls’ - his then-girlfriend in a suitcase to evade media.

Speaking of the World Cup anthem, Abhinandan says, “It’s a shit World Cup song.”

They discuss the new Netflix film-series, Lust Stories. Abhinandan says, “Either the directors did not get the brief, that this is lust stories or they made four films on whatever the fuck you want and then Netflix said let's club them together and call them Lust Stories.” He adds, “Putting in a random sex scene in an otherwise complicated relationship kind of defining film does not become a lust story. If you’re calling something Lust Stories you should explore lust.”  He proceeds to enumerate his observations on the film and delivers a rant on Karan Johar.

Rajyasree speaks about the fact that after 32 years of operation, Pixar Animation Productions has finally released a short film directed by a woman.

On this podcast, Abhinandan and Rajyasree discuss celebrities, controversies, review the promo of Gold starring Akshay Kumar and Netflix's Lust Stories.Rajyasree felt that Atul Kochhar’s reaction to Quantico was extreme, to put it mildly. She also comments, “He’s a bit of a fool also because he’s sitting in Dubai, an Islamic country and you’re trash talking Muslims without thinking that there’ll be some repercussions.” Abhinandan adds, “Not only is he a bigot, he's also an idiot!”Rajyasree recaps the whole episode of Virat Kohli’s video post of his girlfriend Anushka Sharma rebuking a person for littering the road.  As an experienced A/V professional, Abhinandan says, “Even when you consume video you must always question when you see a video what happened exactly fifteen seconds before this and what happened fifteen seconds after this.” He proceeds to explain his point by recreating a hypothetical dialogue. He concludes, “In this whole episode, no one comes out looking good. So next time, you have to do a good deed, do it and shut up.”Rajyasree talks about The Graham Norton Show episode in which Rihanna was light-heartedly called a ‘wine glass thief’. The episode quickly became a meal for media houses in India who ran it with horrible headlines, and the duo discusses the merit of the media coverage.  Abhinandan describes the promo release of the film Gold. The duo finds the promo utterly bad.They talk about the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in which Robbie Williams who performed, showed his ‘middle-finger’ on air.Expressing dissatisfaction on his short appearance, Rajyasree says, “I thought it was blah...He just sang four songs and he left.”Rajyasree also talks about how Robbie Williams once fit one of the ‘Spice Girls’ - his then-girlfriend in a suitcase to evade media.Speaking of the World Cup anthem, Abhinandan says, “It’s a shit World Cup song.”They discuss the new Netflix film-series, Lust Stories. Abhinandan says, “Either the directors did not get the brief, that this is lust stories or they made four films on whatever the fuck you want and then Netflix said let's club them together and call them Lust Stories.” He adds, “Putting in a random sex scene in an otherwise complicated relationship kind of defining film does not become a lust story. If you’re calling something Lust Stories you should explore lust.”  He proceeds to enumerate his observations on the film and delivers a rant on Karan Johar.Rajyasree speaks about the fact that after 32 years of operation, Pixar Animation Productions has finally released a short film directed by a woman.

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