Dear NL team,

I have been listening to Hafta for the past six to seven years. Hearing you guys every weekend makes me feel a part of the NL family.

It was so hilarious to hear and as well as not hear Abhinandan in Hafta 334. We all know Abhinandan's love for football and his utter disdain for cricket. Like any fan boy, Abhinandan wanted to know the mahol of Euro 2020 with Jammi. Just as the conversation went on, Jammi takes a deviation and enthusiastically says he has booked a ticket for a cricket match at Manchester. That's when the sucker punch landed on Abhinandan's gut and the scream was heard by NL subscribers across the Milky Way. Abhinandan's silence at that moment was priceless. Hafta regular subscribers would know the exact feelings Abhinandan would have gone through at that moment.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

Regards,

Swaroop Reddy

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Hi,

This is going to be a dark, to-the-point mail.

I wanted to ask the panel's views on the release on bail of the activists Devangana and Natasha, which I felt was a big change from the usual verdicts. UAPA and other such laws have been abused extensively. The new IT rules and censorship give the ruling party almost complete control of every form of media. The judiciary is patchy with its judgements as there appears to be no standards being followed. Internet shutdowns are at a maximum, data is being fudged or withheld in smarter ways.

Based on this trend, we are following closely in Russia and China's footsteps. The only assault left will probably be on free and fair elections, especially after the recent loss. Also, in general, the ineptitude in the execution of every damn policy, from demonetisation to vaccines, is appalling. Including everything being played just for PR with no regard for citizens.

Thoughts in this gradual descent into inept Trumpian autocracy and absolute tyranny?

As always, keep up the great work!!

Thanks,

Ayush Ayyangar

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Hi NL,

Congratulations, team, for your unique work. Hope NL is not in debt.

If independent news media were to reach a wider audience, then like-minded online portals have to collaborate, share and maybe merge. Each one has its uniqueness, aims and egos (positive). But a little compromise helps keep the news sanctity/democracy/constitution alive. The Wire, News Minute and Newslaundry, at least in my understanding, will make a good combo.

You should request subscribers to share and promote NL posters with its achievements, history, team members' experience, etc.

NL Hafta can be two parts audio: (1) weekly news, and (2) email letters.

When will NL app be ready?

Please cover major states regularly. Curious about Jayashree's role in NL. Does she cover Tamil Nadu? It's high time, Tamil Nadu needs a Tamil version of Newslaundry. At least TV Newsance, to begin with. Bold-minded journalists can initiate, come together, and maybe launch NL Tamil version.

Regards,

Deebhan

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Hi NL team. I'm back with a six month extension, and hope to write frequently.

While surfing our website, I stumbled upon NL Comics. It was fabulous, to say the very least. I enjoyed every bit of Kashmir ki Kahani and the one on the Naxal movement. Nuanced, humorous and well-balanced portrayal of such serious issues was very refreshing.

It would be good to see the comics deal with other serious aspects of our post independence history.

As 10 years have passed since Shammi Narang's TV News ki Kahani, and TV news has gone from bad to worse, we have significant material for a sequel.

As a tribute for her daily grind and weekly Newsance, we can have our in-house superstar and TV news veteran, Manisha, starring in the sequel.

Subby

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Hello NL team,

Hi. My name is Jaimin Virpura (pronounced "Jay-min"...exasperated sighing towards Abhinandan). This is my second time writing to you guys and I have a question and suggestion.

Question: In Hafta 334, you guys talked about the problem of scaling of a subscription-based model. I agree with your views but I wanted you guys to see this from subscribers' perspective. Meaning that in future, if subscription-based models do dominate, how can one subscribe to so many news platforms? Wouldn't it be too heavy on one's pocket? Do you anticipate this kind of issue and is there any solution to it?

Suggestion: I suggested in my previous mail that you add a feature to your website and hopefully your app for writing to you directly with a predefined character length. Unfortunately, it got overlooked then. This can also have the option to attach images and links.

I suggested to add feature to your website and hopefully to your app for writing to you directly with predefined character length in my previous email but unfortunately it got overlooked then. This can also have option to attach images or links.

Lastly, keep up the good work and, if possible, bring Faye for a discussion. I love the work Manisha and Meghnad do, especially in Newsance. And cheers to Atul Sir's Tippani.

Sincerely,

Jaimin Virpura

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Hello Hafta team,

Short correction for Abhinandan. For someone who does not consider cricket a sport (which is fair, I agree), he made a cardinal mistake of calling Allwyn Kalicharan of Guyana (West Indies national team) a player of South Africa. That is factually misplaced. He even led rebel tours defying the international diktat of boycotting South Africa, played cricket with them, and spent the rest of his career playing in the South African domestic circuit.

It is okay to make mistakes. I am just correcting for the sake of the audience. And I know Abhinandan would be large-hearted enough to own it :)

Have a good week ahead!

Warm regards,

Keyshav Mor

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Dear NL team,

I am a recent subscriber to Newslaundry and have been listening to Hafta for quite some time. I had a question for the Hafta panel: Earlier, when the panel spoke about the bombings in Gaza, there was support for the one-state solution. In East Jerusalem, far-right Israelis have been attacking Israeli Arabs and chanting anti Arab slogans. With increasing anger of the Palestinians and more people joining and providing funds to a radical organisation like Hamas, which calls for the destruction of Israel and a new pro-settler far-right prime minister in Israel, does the panel think that a one-state solution can still be a viable solution for the conflict amid such polarisation?

Really love the work of Newslaundry, keep it up!

Warm regards,

Aryan Ghosh

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Hi team,

I found this wonderful video on Scoopwhoop last year about demonic possessions. Hats off to Manisha Pande on the coverage and research. But sadly it seems to have been removed from all platforms. Any help on how can I access it? I remember it being a multiple video series.

Regards

Yogesh Negi

***

Hello NL team,

First of all a little note of appreciation for the great work you have been doing.

I am from Kerala but grew up outside Kerala and India. I have noticed that outside Kerala people very often consider Kerala as very literate state, with a healthy male-female ratio, where women are empowered and financially independent. But the recent reports of domestic violence and dowry related death get me wondering. Even if these were women could easily get out of the relationship and live independently, they choose to stay or “resolve” the conflict. Is it really only because of societal pressure?

I’ve seen earning female members of the family just hand over their salary to the male members, no questions asked, and on the other hand, the male members handing over the salary to the female home makers who then manage all the families expenses and make day to day financial decisions with all the freedom. There is more to being (or feeling) empowered than mere literacy and financial independence.

Of course, the number of cases reported in Kerala may stem from that fact even of late, people tend to report crimes ( violence against women and others). In general, people do not think twice before going to the police for help in Kerala, but I may be biased here from my small circle of vision.

I can’t just imagine if these women who have a way out still choose to stay, what about those who have no support system or even a job.

I sincerely hope the “millennials” take a stand and bring about some change within the “society”. But then again, the recent cases are very young couples, which is also very shocking to me! People will talk about it for a while and move on. When it comes to their turn, will again offer it ask for dowry! I can not imagine someone who was your classmate had such regressive belief.

I would like to stay optimistic and hopefully the current generation watches and learn!

Thanks for the splendid work again and for keeping news free!!

Cheers

Aishwarya Alex

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Hi NL team,

I would like to remain anonymous.

I am, of course, a subscriber. Like your work though lately, I have been disappointed with the quality of Hafta, especially when you guys are discussing vaccines, more particularly Covaxin.

Last Hafta, a subscriber raised a valid point (at least in my view) about your views on Covaxin in comparison with Covishield. I was appalled by Abhinandan's response, he dismissed the point by saying you can't compare a vaccine made by America with one made by or in Somalia. He said that it is unfair but so be it!

I have taken Covaxin so, of course, I want the data to be released and published but I am not going to agree that the vaccines made in the West are superior to the ones made in India. This is especially when it comes to the use of Covishield on the population under the age of 45. Several European countries and Australia have banned the AstraZeneca vaccine on people below the age of 60 (in some countries, the age bar is 50) due to fear of clotting. The UK NHS website recommends people under the age of 40 to use alternative vaccines which are available. It would have been great if you guys had done your research on this and asked your guest about it.

The government should in fact be questioned on whether they are tracking the adverse effects of both Covishield and Covaxin on the younger population and I had hoped that you would have done some independent research into the vaccines and the concerns surrounding the use of vaccines, instead of just painting it is as vaccine hesitancy!

Another point that I would like to talk about, but that may be a separate email later (this one has probably crossed the word limit), is Abhinandan's love for America and its institutions. He should look at European countries and not the independence and strength of their institutions (Norway repeatedly beats the US in the freedom of expression index, the US was ranked 44 in the 2020 world press freedom index) and their justice system is way better than America!. But like, I said that is for another mail :-)

Love!

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Dear Newslaundry Hafta team,

My name is Srinath, I really appreciate your work, I sometimes feel that criticism you get is not fair. I would like to recommend all the people who are critical of your work to watch the show The Wire. I highly recommend Season 3 but just don't jump to it and watch it from the beginning. The series shares light on a newspaper called Baltimore Sun which is trying to survive financially. The management, which had acquired the newspaper recently, tries to push for stories that are more sensational. When they push for such stories, the management stops worrying about the actual facts of the stories. This is done simply to increase their viewership.

I highly recommend watching the show, there is a lot more to it than just a section on the newspaper. It addresses in many ways the structural failure of the crippling city, Baltimore. Where actions of the police, the justice system, the newspapers and the school system fail to address the systemic problem. The systemic failure is caused because most people try to seek personal gain and do not try to fix the issues. Although the show is not easy to understand, simply because of the Baltimore lingo, it is a great watch. It introduces us to the nuances of public administration and the newspaper business. It is so difficult to change the system in one swoop. I have to say that your subscriber-based model is very important to make the required small changes in our country

Srinath

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Beloved NL team,

I have been as busy as the library card of Narendra Modi and so I have the time to write to you. Couple of Haftas ago, there was a discussion on the disproportionate amount of hatred directed towards Mayawati and a lot of the time from the so-called liberal folks.

One such incident happened when Manisha was invited to IVM podcast hosted by Cyrus Broacha. Broacha said, "In spite of his best efforts Kunal [partner in crime on The Week That Wasn't on CNN-IBN] could not quite look as ugly as Mayawati." I found it very grating when I heard it. To my surprise and maybe because she was distracted, Manisha did not take push back. We should make a concerted effort to call out such stupidity which is a sense of humour failure in today's day and age.

Broacha is past his prime and likes to call himself a liberal but lacks the balls to utter anything useful against Mota Bhai or Modi but finds his humour in the most despicable form when poking fun at Mayawati. In this, he shows the typical behavior of a bully.

Liberals like Broacha paved the way for prime ministers like Modi to a certain extent.

Best always,

Nitesh

Elated subscriber