A republic in crisis: Holding a mirror up to power https://theleaflet.in/a-republic-in-crisis-holding-a-mirror-up-to-power/
A review of ‘The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis’ by Prakala Prabhakar, Speaking Tiger Books (2023)
Joe Athialy·June 12, 2023
One of the criticism of UPA government is its complicity in turning the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) more draconian in 2008 and 2012, allowing the Modi government to unleash it on people who were perceived to be political threats to their grand narrative of sab changa si (everything is fine; known in bhakt-speak as Amrit Kaal), and making it even more draconian in 2019.
In the Prime Minister’s Independence-Day speeches from 2014 to 2022, and the speeches of the RSS chief; in the unemployment and inequality statistics that the government supresses; in the partisan role of investigative agencies and the income tax department; in the new BJP’s ‘tiraskar’ or clear rejection of India’s Muslims as citizens and voters; in the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic—in these and many more developments, Parakala Prabhakar finds unmistakable evidence of religious majoritarianism, a creeping authoritarianism and serious economic mismanagement. And he shows us why silence and complacency are no longer an option for any citizen invested in the future of our Republic.
https://www.newslaundry.com/2022/05/18/star-reporter-with-no-income-what-pawan-jaiswals-death-tells-us-about-the-state-of-rural-reporters ‘Star reporter with no income’: What Pawan Jaiswal’s death tells us about the state of rural reporters yTanishka Sodhi18 May, 2022
Journalism doesn’t pay their bills, they have little or no institutional support and rely on commissions from ‘finding ads’ for papers.
The death of a journalist is barely a blip in the news cycle. Over 600 journalists have died of Covid in the last two years, and thousands more die every year of other causes.
But journalists like Pawan form the backbone of journalism, gathering news for big studios and publications in metropolitan cities. They receive little credit or money, their roles reduced to terms like “stringers” – an army of underpaid, and even unpaid, news gatherers who are vital to the news business.
Blackmailer and extortionist: The sordid side of being a stringer in India https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/02/14/blackmailer-and-extortionist-the-sordid-side-of-being-a-stringer-in-india
Often poorly paid or forced to get ad revenue for their media houses, some stringers resort to unethical, even criminal, ways to make money.
By Manish Chandra Mishra 14 Feb, 2020 It’s a sordid story often repeated. Neeraj Soni was formerly the bureau chief of a daily based in Madhya Pradesh. He claimed the newspaper’s management would routinely set his editorial team targets to bring in advertising revenue. In turn, Soni said, he would ask his stringers to get “incriminating stories” about local businessmen or government servants, then “blackmail” them into buying ads in the newspaper in return for not running the stories. If the money exceeded the target, it would be distributed among the stringers since the company had no budget to pay them.
Stringers are expected to pay deposits for the mic ID, and this amount varies between cities and channels. A reputed TV channel can charge up to Rs 1 lakh in big cities, and marginally less in smaller towns. A block-level stringer has to pay around Rs 10,000 for a mic ID, the amount goes up to Rs 25,000 for a district-level stringer.
While TV channels mark this deposit as “security money”, it is non-refundable.
पत्रकार को धमकाया,अब नौकरी गई!स्मृति ईरानी का खौफ़ देखिए https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9qvz1YtGek
Reactions
Ramesh Soni 2014 से पहले पत्रकार से सत्ता डरती थी.. अब पत्रकार को भी सत्ता से डर लगने लगा है.
Myopedia stringer, part-time or freelance journalist, videographer, or photographer typically assigned by a news organization to cover areas that are considered less newsworthy or that are deemed peripheral to the news organization's coverage area.
sagar bhosale हमे तो ऐसे सांसद पे गर्व होना चाहिए एक पत्रकार के सवाल का जवाब देने के बजाय कितने प्यार से पत्रकार को धमका रही है.... ले लो अच्छे दिन...
s.bikram mangat No, Mr Abhisar Sharma...we as awakened human beings have another option too, and that is "Saying wrong to wrong and right to right!"
Smriti Irani ko gussa kyun aya: The story behind the minister’s outburst, and the aftermath https://www.newslaundry.com/2023/06/10/smriti-irani-ko-gussa-kyun-aya-the-story-behind-the-ministers-outburst-and-the-aftermath Pratyush Deep& Avdhesh Kumar10 Jun, 2023
Irani was annoyed at being asked for a byte in Amethi yesterday.
“This is when Yadav said, ‘Aap Salon pe bole thi, abhi aap Amethi ke Jagdishpur Vidhan Sabha skhetra me hai toh yha bhi do sabd bol dijiye’,” the journalist said. (You had spoken in Salon and now that you are in Amethi's Jagdishpur Vidhan Sabha constituency, say a few words here too.)
The video showed Irani getting irked, while the journalist was off-screen.
“Salon constituency comes under my Lok Sabha constituency…Don't insult it,” the minister said.
When pressed further for a quote, she said, “I am urging you with love. If you further insult the people, I will call the owner of your paper and tell them no journalist has the right to insult the people.”