NL Hafta

This episode of Reporters Without Orders features our host Cherry Agarwal along with Prateek Goyal, Gaurav Sarkar, and our guests, Rajeev Sharma, senior journalist from Amritsar, and Ranjeet Jadhav, a reporter from Mid-Day. The discussion kicks off with Rajeev recounting the Amritsar train accident which left 61 people dead and several others injured. Rajeev shares details about what happened, local media's coverage of the accident, among other things. Gaurav speaks about his recent article on allegations of tax evasion and money laundering that have surfaced against former TV 18 promoter and current owner of The Quint, Raghav Bahl. Bahl allegedly made ₹114 crore out of an investment of ₹3.03 crore made in a penny stock company called PMC Fincorp. Speaking about challenges he faced while reporting on the story, Gaurav says, “Crunching the numbers would be the biggest challenge and trusting the source as well." Prateek then speaks about his report where he has documented a disabled woman’s three-year ordeal at the hands of the Army. A deaf and mute woman was allegedly repeatedly raped and harassed by four Army jawans between 2015 and 2017 at Military Hospital, Kirkee, in Pune. “The Army says that it comes under the civil case, which needs an FIR and the police say that in order to prepare the FIR, they need the permission from the Army to do the enquiry," Prateek says speaking about the lack of action in the case. The panel also discussed media reports about ‘man-eater’ tigress Avni. Speaking about media's reportage on wildlife and environment, Ranjeet says, “In India, there is no reporting that is done by different news organisations on such issues on a regular basis, which results in minimal awareness on the same." He adds, “Sadly when something sensational like continuous human kill comes up, they cover it.” For other reports, discussion on media's coverage of different issues and more, listen up!