The podcast where we discuss the news of the week.
In this episode of Newslaundry Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Madhu Trehan and Mehraj D Lone are joined by Diksha Madhok, Editor and Director of Platform, Quartz India. They discuss the recently concluded Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, the release of the National Crime Records Bureau data, the spate of protests across the globe, and other issues.
On the missing data on lynchings and religious killings in the NCRB data, Abhinandan says, âI am not entirely of the view that these have been left out because of malicious intent. I do genuinely believe itâs too subjective.â However, Manisha argues, âI think for the police collating lynching data should be easy.â
Apart from the assembly elections, the panel also discusses the Block Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Mehraj says, âThe way these have been represented in the media is misleading because these are indirect elections as people donât vote, only panchs and sarpanchs vote in them.â
They also discuss the exit polls ahead of the results of the Assembly elections. Madhu argues that the way TV news channels present their exit polls is ânon-journalisticâ. âNobody cares whether you got it right or wrong,â she adds.
Speaking about the protests in Hong Kong, Lebanon, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Madhu says, âNo matter what hardships people are going through in India, our people have a spirit that is generally a fighting, joyous spirit.âÂ
Abhinandanâs remark that âwe Indians are aggressiveâ sparks a debate with Mehraj responding, âIsnât that a bit of a generalization? If you see, there are small stories, small acts of kindness everywhere.â Diksha points out that Indians are overworked and stressed which probably manifests as aggressiveness sometimes.
Tune in, thereâs much more.
Hafta Letters: On the quality of journalism and the âfairer sexâ
References Â
Recommendations
MadhuÂ
Mehraj
Manisha
Diksha
Abhinandan
Produced by Kartik Nijhawan, edited by Samarendra K Dash and recorded by Anil Kumar.