Hi,

I agree with the email with respect to the death number. There are a lot of deaths happening due to secondary infections. This could be because Tocilizumab is used for treatment. If more than two doses are used, it can switch off your immune system leading to death due to septic shock or secondary infection.

My brother is a doctor with BMC. I can assure you that the data from Maharashtra is very reliable and trustworthy with respect to Covid. But they too do not consider deaths due to secondary infections as death related to Covid.

Regards,

AT

***

Hi NL team,

I finally decided to subscribe after listening to the free Hafta episodes and becoming convinced that you have an intelligent and critical panel. A special shoutout to Raman Sir, Jayashree and Mehraj. I would like to push back against this opinion among some subscribers that Mehraj is an Islam apologist or that he brings up the caste or profit angle dogmatically. Indian media would benefit greatly from more articulate minds like him.

I would be interested in a segment where the panelists give their thoughts on theoretical topics in media and culture such as Gramscian hegemony, Adorno’s cultural industry, Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model, Althusser’s ISA, Zizekian critique of ideology etc. Since most media houses and personalities are either nefarious actors or blissfully ignorant of their own bias, I believe such conceptual tools are indispensable in cutting through the toxic miasma of contemporary discourse.

Cheers,

Abhinav Dasiga

***

Hello Newslaunderers,

You guys rock! Continue doing the Manisha (read: awesome) work you do. I would like to nominate the following song for the Hafta end credits. Please play it if you like it.

Thanks.

***

Hi guys,

Subscriber from the UK and love everything about NL. Absolutely love what Manisha and Nidhi are doing from the Northeast and the Southwest.

Just to clarify: the UK did not get the AstraZeneca vaccine because it was developed in the UK. The joint committee on vaccination in the UK decided to invest in 100 million doses of AZ and 60 million doses of Pfizer during development. They decided to take a chance just like the US did and that's why the UK has loads of doses and has vaccinated over half its population.

Keep up the great work!

Vinod Kumar

***

Dear NL team,

Recently, Prashant Kishor admitted that all the parties in West Bengal have indulged in minority appeasement. What are your views on this?

Secondly, people question the caste system freely but they hesitate to criticise Sharia. I found it extremely disturbing when Mehraj defended Jaziya saying it is purely administrative while Muslims paid zakat. Hindus paid land taxes also and discriminating for their pilgrimage is terrible.

Lockdown has definitely enlightened me on a lot of aspects as I had the time to reflect and read, and NL Hafta has also been one of my inputs. But it has taken a toll on my mental health to see the stupidity around and the sheer ignorance and racist and casteist attitudes of my relatives who claim themselves as Brahmins now. I stopped identifying myself as one. Any tips for a peaceful existence?

Regards,

Anil Kumar

***

Hi NL team,

I do agree with your assertion that litigation, legal notices, etc are part of reporting with journalistic integrity. However, I do also believe the legalities can be made public because:

1. It will be public anyway as part of court documents.

2. It will provide a tangible result for NL Legal Fund contributors to see the work their money achieved.

3. It will provide a "pitch" for would-be contributors to review ongoing challenges and decide if they want to contribute as many wouldn't want to simply give money to a "rainy day fund".

4. Provides good transparency. When I do contribute, I'd be more interested in the NL Legal Fund and NL Sena expenses as these are essentially incidentals unique to each case, rather than NL's bottom lines and employee salaries.

I also would like to remark on something I see more often these days, people think that disagreeing with a person's ideology, beliefs or stance is a personal affront. It is NOT and people need to realise that. Kudos to Abhinandan for providing examples and citations for his disagreement with Shekhar Gupta.

Special shoutout to Anand on his excellent analytical pieces. I love reading them!

Thanks and all my love,

Abhishek

***

Dear NL,

This is an appreciation letter for the election coverage of the current assembly elections. I really appreciate your detailed coverage and raising the issues that are not covered at all. I liked Nidhi's story on the Wayanad assembly segment about the tribals and the interview with E Sreedharan.

Just yesterday I watched a video of a Left-leaning website. According to the video, it's hard to find poverty in Kerala and it is the ideal state where institutions work.

The work of journalists is to ask questions to the government, be it BJP or the Left, to present facts without any ideological biases, to raise the issues of neglected sections of society.

I hope in future when you have millions of subscribers, you will have resources to cover the issues of each state and major city. I try my best to convince people to subscribe to Newslaundry.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Anshul Choubey

***

Hi!

I started listening to your free podcast last year. I lost my job during the pandemic last year so couldn't subscribe.

I got my first month's salary yesterday. So here I am. Will write more soon.

But for now thank you, dil se, for last year's free content.

New subscriber!

Jaspreet Kaur Sohal