Hi Newslaundry,

Subscriber from almost 3+ years, enjoy your work and podcasts. 

Appreciate the new reports from the ground and fine podcast in the form of Reporters Without Orders, and I hope to see more this election season.

1. Why is  NL Charcha is restricted to less than one hour ? The last episode was 45 minutes! I believe there is an audience who listens to both podcasts and doesn’t mind having the same topics discussed. Please at least keep it at 75 minutes.

2. In the last episode, I didn’t get Madhuji’s point on the New Yorker ground report. Was the report so good it showed India in a bad state? But isn’t it true and Indias journalism (mostly TV) should have continued reporting and don’t do the balance game, which made these cow lynchings common occurrences and acceptable?

3. As election season approaches, some Muslim candidates are already making news headlines regarding the voting date in Ramzan. It’s a non-issue for Muslims as worldly life doesn’t stop during Ramzan month, and these politicians only make these statements to be a “safe-escape” if they lose the elections. So the AIMPL board member on Times Now is only doing a disservice, as these people never utter a word on important issues such as lynching, but this is a tool for news channels’ TRP. Note: even the official AIMPL Twitter hasn’t commented on the election dates.

4. There will be many such ridiculous issues this election season. Please be watchful of “dark” media and critique on who’s creating it. What is the purpose? These should be the questions as this plays well among the BJP base.

5. Regarding the article Abhinandan mentioned on Rwanda, here’s a better analysis done in 2014. I hope this makes it to the portal. It’s done by @brumbyoz whose article on A Ranga was published on Newslaundry.

6. Suggesting a new episode on NPR: Throughline.

Hope you keep doing good work. 

Thanks,

Sheik Ahmed 

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Dear Abhinandan and NL team,

Greetings from a long time subscriber.

I’ve been a big fan of the Newslaundry podcasts since 2016. It started with Hafta, followed by AAA (Awful and Awesome) and Reporters Without Orders. 

I’m writing this letter for two primary reasons: 

– To appreciate the great work you guys do in your podcasts

– To share feedback on the NL website, specifically the landing page

On the subject of podcasts, I think you and the team do a fantastic job given your team’s size. I regularly follow NPR podcasts (NPR Politics, Planet Money, Indicator, Hidden Brain, etc.) and I think the production quality of NL podcasts is comparable. 

When it comes to Hafta, I really value the diversity of opinions that are brought in every week. I know that it must be hard to get journalists from outside to participate regularly, and therefore I appreciate the hard work that you and the team put into making this happen. Additionally, I think Anand Vardhan is someone who is critical to the non-partisan message in Hafta and should, therefore, be included regularly. As the only Right-winger on the team, he does a brilliant job of standing up for his views, even when the entire team is on the opposite side of the spectrum. I do love the episodes that feature Hartosh and Anand—it’s like the clash of the Titans.

On a side note, Manu Joseph must thank you. I only heard of him after his appearance on Hafta, and I ended up buying a few of his books and reading up on his articles because I liked the way he framed his arguments and thoughts on the Hafta podcast.

A special shoutout to Kartik, Anil and all the unsung heroes in the production team who work tirelessly to ensure that the quality of the podcasts exceed expectations. Great job guys!

Coming to the website: Abhinandan, this needs serious work. I know you are going to say that the team is understaffed at the moment to execute changes or fixes, but I think a few simple tweaks are possible to set things right. 

The website’s landing page today has a very cluttered appearance; the layout really needs work. Everything is placed without any structure, and it seems like too much information all at once. For example, you guys have an image for almost every article on the landing page, and this is quite distracting at times. Some images are photographs, some are cartoons, and some are graphics—there is no consistency here! 

This layout makes it is tough to stay on the landing page for long to browse through articles. For a news website, I think it is critical that people stay on as long as possible, especially if they are going to become future subscribers.

The fix is quite simple as you already have the team ready. “The Cauvery Chronicles II” article is beautiful visually, with an almost serene layout. It embraces whitespace and uses colours to its advantage. Whoever was responsible for this article’s design must be employed to redesign your landing page. 

Interestingly, there is no link to the “Cauvery Chronicles II” article on your landing page. I had to go to the article link in the Sena podcast to find it. Considering the brilliance and importance of this article, the article should be promoted right at the top.

Newslaundry is still my favourite source for news, and I thank you and the team for creating this service.

Sincerely,

Binoy Lewis