Reporters Without Orders

This week, host Tanishka Sodhi is joined by Newslaundry ’s Sumedha Mittal and Mid-Day’s Neerja Deodhar. Neerja reported on India’s slipping rank in the Academic Freedom Index, placing it behind Sri Lanka and Pakistan. She says this is a result of the growing “culture of surveillance” on professors and faculty members which affects campus integrity. Sumedha reported on how prisoners jailed under th...

This week, host Basant Kumar is joined by Ayush Tiwari from Scroll and independent journalist Srishti Jaswal. Ayush reported on shady land deals in Ayodhya, where a firm linked to the BJP sold ecologically sensitive land to the Adani group. He explains how there have been other “crazy” land deals over the past years. Srishti talks about her report on the BJP’s data collection app, Saral, and what...

This week, host Shivnarayan Rajpurohit is joined by Newslaundry’s Basant Kumar and Avdhesh Kumar along with independent journalists Shweta Desai and Kashif Kakvi. Shweta was in Ayodhya to report on locals’ fear and excitement over the Ram Mandir project. She says they’re happy it’s being built but are worried about the city’s ‘redevelopment’ wrecking their homes and livelihoods. She also explains...

This week, host Sumedha Mittal is joined by Newslaundry ’s Basant Kumar and Shivnarayan Rajpurohit. Basant reported on an ANI senior editor who allegedly “infiltrated” a dozen Indian army internal WhatsApp groups. He talks about how he stumbled upon the story and dug deep into the controversy of journalist Ajit Kumar Dubey entering these groups “by hiding his identity”.  Shivnarayan talks abo...

It’s the last episode of Reporters Without Orders for the year, so we’ve got a special episode featuring an all- Newslaundry panel. Hosts Tanishka Sodhi and Basant Kumar are joined by Avdhesh Kumar, Pratyush Deep, Sumedha Mittal and Prateek Goyal to pick through their reportage in 2023 and discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what impact they had. The panellists share behind-the-scenes experience...

This week, host Basant Kumar is joined by Avdhesh Kumar from Newslaundry and Ayush Tiwari from Scroll . Ayush reported on the impact of the Ram Mandir construction on Ayodhya’s residents. He says some residents were evicted with poor compensation while others had their homes demolished by authorities. Avdhesh talks about his report on NDTV ’s shrinking digital viewership. Comparing data before and...

This week, host Tanishka Sodhi is joined by Basant Kumar from Newslaundry , and Astha Savyasachi and Tapasya from The Reporters’ Collective . Astha and Tapasya had reported on how the Haryana government turned the state pollution control board “into a body that serves the potential polluters” by including it in the Right to Service Act. They explain how Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar weakened...

It’s 300 episodes of Reporters Without Orders! So it’s a full house this week, with hosts Sumedha Mittal and Basant Kumar being joined by Newslaundry ’s editor-in-chief Raman Kirpal and Newslaundry reporters Prateek Goyal, Shivnarayan Rajpurohit, Pratyush Deep and Avdhesh Kumar. The panel talks about the ups and downs of reporting, the challenges and the opportunities. Raman talks about how the fi...

This week, host Sumedha Mittal is joined by Newslaundry ’s Shivnarayan Rajpurohit and Pratyush Deep. Shiv talks about the experience of reporting from Rajasthan on the assembly elections. He compares strategies used by the BJP and Congress to influence voters, from Gehlot’s welfarism plank to the BJP’s sprawling WhatsApp enterprise.  Pratyush then explains his report on Delhi Chief Secretary...

This week, host Tanishka Sodhi is joined by Sukriti Vats from Land Conflict Watch and E Bhavani from The News Minute . Sukriti talks about her report on land acquisition in Jharkhand for coal mining, and how even 22 years on, many are running from pillar-to-post for land compensation. She discusses that bureaucratic incompetence and a tussle between the centre and the state have resulted in the di...

This week, host Anmol Pritam is joined by Newslaundry ’s Basant Kumar and The Mooknayak ’s Satya Prakash Bharti and Ankit Pachauri. Satya talks about his report on women collecting oil left over in lakhs of lamps lit in Ayodhya by the UP government on Diwali to “make a Guinness World Record”. He says at least over 30,000 litres of oil were left at the site, which many marginalised women were colle...

This week, host Sumedha Mittal is joined by Newslaundry ’s Basant Kumar, Tanishka Sodhi and Anmol Pritam. Basant and Tanishka were reporting on the assembly elections scheduled in Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, respectively. Basant explains what farmers want in the state and their issues with paddy prices. Tanishka says Mizoram is not quite like any other election state, with parties having an intrigui...

This week, host Gurmehar Kaur is joined by Newslaundry ’s Shivnarayan Rajpurohit and Dainik Bhaskar’s Vaibhav Palnitkar. Vaibhav talks about his experience and challenges of reporting from ground zero on the Israel-Palestine fighting . He also sheds light on the Humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region. Shivnarayan revisits his reportage from violence-torn Manipur . He delves into the state and...

This week, host Tanishka Sodhi is joined by Newslaundry ’s Sumedha Mittal and Pratyush Deep. Sumedha talks about her report on the Modi government’s crackdown on NGOs by cancelling their FCRA licences. She explains how foreign funds are a lifeline for the sector, and how they’re now struggling.  Pratyush reported on the cash-for-query allegations against TMC MP Mahua Moitra. He breaks down th...

This week, host Gurmehar Kaur is joined by Newslaundry ’s Sumedha Mittal and Shivnarayan Rajpurohit. Sumedha talks about her report on the I-T department revoking the tax exemption status of four NGOs. She explains how there’s an Adani connection to these events too. Shiv reported on the appointment of a retired army official to the Rajasthan Public Service Commission, which sparked resentment amo...

This week, host Basant Kumar is joined by Shreegireesh Jalihal of The Reporters’ Collective and Avdhesh Kumar of Newslaundry. Shreegireesh talks about his latest investigation on the union coal ministry over-riding the environment ministry and its experts to allow mining activities in the country’s densest forest areas. He also delves into the operations of the mining lobby in India.  Avdhesh...

This week, host Sumedha Mittal is joined by Newslaundry ’s Basant Kumar and Pratyush Deep. Both Basant and Pratyush talk about their reports on the recent arrest of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty in connection with a UAPA case lodged in August this year.  They delve into all that led to the arrests, including the early morning police searches at the homes of...

This week, host Basant Kumar is joined by independent journalists Anand Dutta and Kashif Kakvi. Kashif’s report spotlighted the wave of anti-incumbency against Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government in Madhya Pradesh. He explains how the upcoming assembly election in the state is a challenge for the BJP, and especially Chouhan. He also talks about the rumours around the party’s chief minister face. An...

This week, host Tanishka Sodhi is joined by Newslaundry ’s Basant Kumar and The Morning Context’s Ayush Tiwari. Basant explains his report on how some Indian news channels call ‘political analysts’ for their primetime shows, but some of them actually have ties to the BJP. Ayush, meanwhile, reported on the rise of dating coaches in India, fuelled by the Covid pandemic and the limitations of dating...

This week, host Basant Kumar is joined by The Quint ’s Himanshi Dahiya and independent journalist Anand Dutta. Himanshi talks about her report on Mizoram’s struggle to protect women from cervical cancer. She explains how stigma, poor health infrastructure, and religious beliefs have made the situation worse. Anand reported on how 233 caste groups and communities across the country are demanding tr...

This week, host Gurmehar Kaur is joined by Newslaundry ’s Avdhesh Kumar and Pratyush Deep. Avdhesh reported that the poorest in the national capital have been rendered more vulnerable as a direct impact of the Modi government’s beautification drive ahead of the G-20 Summit. He delved into the many slum demolition drives and evictions that have left people with nowhere to go. Several communities li...

This week, host Tanishka Sodhi is joined by Newslaundry ’s Shivnarayan Rajpurohit, The News Minute journalist Prajwal Bhat and The Frontier Manipur’s executive editor Paojel Chaoba. The panel discussed the ongoing conflict in Manipur, its underlying causes, the perspective divide and the lack of accountability for the tragedy. Shivnarayan reported on the mass transfers of government officials in t...

This week, host Basant Kumar is joined by The Reporters’ Collective journalist Shreegireesh Jalihal. Shreegireesh had reported how an NRI businessman, linked to the BJP, had sent a proposal to the Niti Aayog to corporatise the agriculture sector – paving the way to the farm laws that were repealed after wide-spread protests. He divulged his findings regarding the making of the controversial laws a...

This week, host Gurmehar Kaur is joined by Newslaundry ’s Shivnarayan Rajpurohit and Sumedha Mittal. Shivnarayan reported on the ongoing conflict in Manipur from ground zero. He delved into the deepening divide between the Kukis and the Meiteis that has seeped into all aspects of life, from land to administration. He said this divide and the internet shutdown in the northeastern state is gravely i...

This week, host Basant Kumar is joined by Newslaundry ’s Anmol Pritam. Anmol reported on the recent communal violence in Haryana, which began during a religious procession at Nuh and spilled over to Gurugram, leaving six people dead. In Gurugram, several commercial properties were burnt down, a mosque was vandalised and over 200 Muslim families were forced to leave their home amid threats. He spok...