Reporters Without Orders Ep 188: Media on Aryan Khan-Lakhimpur, fallout of attack on Muslim bangle seller

This week, host Akanksha Kumar is joined by journalist Tabeenah Anjum and Newslaundry’s Diksha Munjal.

Diksha talks about her report on how the media gave the recent Mumbai “drug bust”, which involved Aryan Khan, way more coverage than the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri. “Clearly it was very sensational for the mainstream media to cover the drug bust as they deployed all their resources to that story, instead of focusing on Lakhimpur,” she says.

She also points out how sections of the media used vocabulary to delegitimise the farmers’ protest, saying, “All of them were trying to play visuals that would put farmers in a bad light.”

The discussion shifts to Tabeenah’s report for Article14 on the Muslim bangle seller who was attacked in Indore in August. Months later, he’s in jail and Tabeenah explains the impact of the incident on the livelihoods of his family and other Muslim bangle sellers. “They are very reluctant to go out,” she says. “They are scared.”

This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have.

Tune in.

Recommendations

Akanksha

The Last Bungalow by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

Diksha

Lakhimpur Kheri: Interview with Raman Kashyap’s father

Tabeenah

Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy by Christophe Jaffrelot

Produced by Jude Weston and Tehreem Roshan, edited by Samarendra K Dash.

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