Hello Newslaundy Team,

I am Kanishk Rao, residing in Delhi and I have just Completed my undergrad in Business Management form Delhi University and will be hopefully pursuing an MBA next year onward.

First of all congratulations on the Ram Nath Goenka Award and I hope the award truly sends out the message that independent can survive without ads and keeps the citizenry informed . I,along with some of my friends truly appreciate the great work you guys are doing and I think you should not just aim to reach 4000 subscribers but rather a 100,000,because just like paid media wields influence through the size of its audience ,I think the same is applicable for independent media as well. 

I listen to your podcast regularly and find it both insightful and funny, which prevents it from getting boring. 

I would also like to know from you that even though  Newslaundry operates as an independent organisation, which gives it the leverage to carry risky stories, but like other media outlets, it also faces the threat of defamation. 

I ask this in the light of the ongoing debate on whether defamation should be made a civil offence rather than a criminal one, because the status quo seems to heavily favor the powerful and wealthy. 

And am I the only one who thinks that its time for India to have its own NYT vs. Sullivan, if independent news is to truly flourish.?

I would also like to know your views on how do you at newslaundry factor the threat of defamation with regard to your decisions to carry and investigate a rather risky story especially involving private business houses.

And  I would also like to know your views on the courts judgment which was heavily criticized by several constitutional experts for its view of keeping a public official accountable to the electorate at a higher pedestal than a private citizen, which absolutely goes against the fundamental nature of democracy. 

This might be a little disappointing, but I am not a subscriber and I do plan to become one in the coming months for sure.  

Regards,
Kanishk Rao

Hello team, 

I’m a regular listener of Newslaundry Hafta and a subscriber. I’m not usually much for Abhinandan’s liberal (which is not the same as being a leftist) perspectives on freedom issues, I find myself in agreement with him on most personality (or cult, to his and my own fault) discussions. In that regard, I’m writing this apropos to your panel discussion and Anand Ranganathan’s view on Castro and Che. 

Before this week’s Hafta I had also read Anand’s obituary of Fidel Castro and couldn’t help but chuckle remembering the obituary he wrote of Bal Thackeray in 2012. For a fascist Thackeray (in Anand’s own words), he had the choicest of words exonerating his populist calls for violence by vehemently dismissing his “crimes” for not being proven in a court of law, but does not extend the same courtesy to Fidel Castro. Why? I find it hard to believe that he’s not indeed more hostile to communists, as Manisha claimed, simply because he hasn’t been able to defend the opposite. In order to prove my point, I’d extend Manisha’s Modi comparison by simply asking him if there is ANY world leader, living or dead, who he’d be willing to write an amiable obituary for? Obama? Amongst other things, for reneging on his Guantanamo Bay promises, where torture and suicides are everyday stories? Lee Kuan Yew, for his ineffectiveness dealing with 1964 race riots which led to many deaths? Ronald Reagan? Whose rule, incidentally, coincided with Fidel Castro’s in Cuba, and under whose rule tens of thousands of LGBT people suffered and died from AIDS because Reagan took no measure to combat the AIDS crises in USA and believed AIDS was a punishment brought down by God upon the gay community?

If communism inevitably leads to dictatorship, then a bourgeois democracy also inevitably leads to exploitation of millions by crony capitalists. And we don’t have to accept either ideology blindly.    

Best regards, 
Saahil Ognawala

Hi NL Hafta team,

I am Prateek, an engineering student by compulsion, news junkie by choice. Listening news, debates and related podcasts is my idea of entertainment so I have been following Newslaundry since its inception. Like other listeners, I would like you to resume your old ‘Dhobi Ghat’ and ‘Cleaners’, if possible. You haven’t even produced any new episodes of ‘I agree with you’ recently which I consider really a great concept of interviewing.

I was compelled to write this mail because Mr. Shekhri made me cringe so hard by his defence of Che and Castro in recent podcast. I just couldn’t take it. I don’t think, he realises that his analogy of belief and firm conviction also applies on Osama Bin Laden and those suicide bombers. It’s an ancient thought process which believes divinity and self-righteousness of one’s conscience & its conventions. Mr. Gandhi also used to believe in it and Mr. Ambedkar refuted it very beautifully. Conscience & convictions are largely shaped by social conditioning so there is nothing special about it by itself. Mr. Shekhri’s defence of Saint Teresa also made me uncomfortable. And his repeated mentions of historical ‘Bharat Yatra’ to claim expertise on any issue in hand is so irritating, Really? Please someone stop him from doing that. Saying all that, Mr. Shekhri is still star of Hafta and Panjabian di shaan.. burrah. 

About rest of the Hafta Team, Madhu ma’am needs no introduction. She is a legend but lately she has stopped giving fuck that’s why she sometimes come off bit rude and unprofessional but I like her this way. Ms. Sen is great addition to show, she keeps it classy. Her views are bit predictable. On social issues, she sounds like a white liberal (no judgement, just an observation). Mr. Scientist Ranga uncle is unpredictable one. Ranga uncle provides much needed intellectual diversity in panel and sometimes takes shit from other panelists for that. He lacks nuances something but makes it up by being innovative. On issue of religion, he seems like Hindu apologists who compensate it by being Ambedkar Bhakt. Though his criticism or I should say trolling, of Islam is very genuine. Ms. Pande is one with real ground work so her views don’t have much jargon. She is also very politically correct which makes it difficult to form an opinion on her.

I have few doubts on your marketing model but Newslaundry feels more like a moral statement than business so I would skip that. Keep doing great work. 

Regards,
Prateek