Reporters Without Orders Ep 243: UP floods, Bihar drought, data and politics

This week, host Basant Kumar is joined by freelance journalists Neeraj Priyadarshy and Prashant Pandey. 

The conversation begins with Prashant’s report as he details the flood situation in 17 districts of Uttar Pradesh. "For many years, these people won't be able to forget the pain of their destroyed homes,” says Prashant, adding that villages near the Ghagra and Sharda rivers witness such scale of damage every year. 

Neeraj then briefs the panel on his report about the drought-hit districts of Bihar and the difference between the IMD and state agriculture department weather reports. Neeraj tells Basant that skewed data compounds a problem that’s already politicised. 

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

Tune in.

Watch the conversation here:

Timecodes

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:00:58 - UP floods

00:09:02 - Bihar drought

00:51:40 - Recommendations

Recommendations

Neeraj

Pratinidhi kavitayen : Gopal Singh Nepali

Prashant

Rag Darbari

Short Stories by Munshi Premchand

Basant

तीसरी फसल

Produced and recorded by Tehreem Roshan, edited by Saif Ali Ekram.