Reporters Without Orders Ep 37: #PranayMurderCase, media & caste, Telangana assembly elections, & more

This week’s Reporters Without Orders features our host Cherry Agarwal, along with Rohin Verma, Gaurav Sarkar and Mithun MK, senior reporter with The Newsminute.

The conversation begins with Mithun telling the panel about the horrific murder of a Dalit man, Pranay Perumalla, that took place in Telangana. The 24-year-old was killed in front of his pregnant wife. Mithun tells the panel that it is 19th case of inter-caste marriage-related honor killing in Telangana since the state came into being. The panel also discusses national as well as local media’s coverage of the same.

The recent murder of 43-year-old Kedar Singh Jindan, Dalit RTI activist, is also discussed. The panel also discusses media’s coverage of other caste-related issues. Does the media shy away from covering caste atrocities when victims are Dalits?

The panel also talks about how newsroom composition influences media coverage. Mithun believes that the hiring policy of media houses should have affirmative action but Gaurav is not completely convinced.

Rohin discusses media’s coverage of manual scavenging and the recent spate of sewer-related deaths. This, in addition to a discussion on upcoming Assembly elections in Telangana, the need for right-leaning newsrooms, need for sensitivity in reporting and more. Listen up!

Recommendations

Rohin
Adrishya Bharat by Bhasha Singh

Mithun

Cuckold

Cherry

The Burning Forest by Nandini Sundar

This podcast has been produced by Parikshit Sanyal, recorded by Anil and audio editing was done by Samrendra k Dash.

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