NL Hafta

This episode of Reporters Without Orders features Cherry Agarwal and Newslaundry's Head of Research Ayush Tiwari. Prateek Goyal, Newslaundry's special correspondent from Maharashtra, joins in later to report on police protection being given to Abhishek Mishra in Kamal Nath’s Madhya Pradesh. The conversation covers the hooch tragedy, Arnab Goswami vs Shashi Tharoor case, and more. Ayush and Cherry talk about the hooch tragedy in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, expressing shock at the politicising of such tragedies. Cherry asks why the government isn't clamping down on the entire business of hooch. Ayush says, "There is a whole shadow market for these things ... It is common knowledge that the main government, the security forces—they benefit from this shadow market. It is a quid pro quo among the people who produce this kind of liquor.” Cherry moves on to Shashi Tharoor’s charges against Arnab Goswami. She remarks: “If you are filing an FIR against a journalist for accessing documents which are not in the public domain, it sets a dangerous precedent.” Prateek Goyal joins in to report on the police protection being given to "fake news guru" Abhishek Mishra in Congress-led MP. He says, “This boy is not a high profile person. He used to do propaganda videos on YouTube and he still does that for the Congress. It is unusual that the entire state government is mobilised for his protection now, for a person who so blatantly generates fake news.” For all this and more, listen up!