Hafta letters: Election commission, legacy media and VVPAT

My question is related to Hafta #469. On the organised nature of Ram mandir decor in public spaces, Shardool brushed it off, claiming that I don’t “understand” India. I thought his answer had more to do with his own mandir-time-tribulations than the uniformity of the decor, and Raman sir did respond to my specific question. Was very glad to see this exact issue being explored and reported on by Sreenivasan Jain in NL/TNM’s Myth vs Reality. This is what I love about NL’s reportage – so glad to be a supporter!

Q: I thought that TNM’s story about VVPAT ‘malfunction’ from Kerala had an alarmist tone. Despite important details such as the ‘extra’ slip  reportedly marked “not to be counted”, the story gave voice to unsubstantiated, theoretical questions about the VVPAT’s integrity. In my view, NL reports typically have impeccable balance, gravity and tone. I want to take the NL Editors’ views on whether they too would have taken the same approach in reporting on this incident.

Ujwal 

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Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the work you do. Enjoying your coverage of elections and great to see your entertaining questions being raised for the ECI.

In this regard, in Hafta 481, while talking about the German court discarding EVMs over trust issues, Anand took refuge in how common citizens don’t even understand how digital economy/transactions work but that cannot be grounds to discarding digital payments. This argument is flawed because voting is our democratic right. Unless the ECI provides alternatives to EVMs for those who don’t trust them, the way there’s alternatives to digital payments, that argument doesn’t hold.

Again, thanks and all the very best for the election coverage.

Dheeraj DK 

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Dear Niku,

Just out of curiosity, I want to know what will happen to legacy media if the BJP loses Lok Sabha 2024? Will they continue spreading the BJP’s propaganda? Will they try to please the party that has won? Will the new government also start using them?

PS: Please don’t say that you will retire after 55, I want you to live till 107 and keep working in Newslaundry till at least 103.

Kapil 

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Greetings Abhinandan and team,

I wanted to address the recent request from a college to cease sending them Newslaundry newsletter due to fears of potential reprisal. It’s disheartening to witness such timidity, which brings to mind a poignant scene from the film “Scent of a Woman”, where Al Pacino’s character delivers a line that resonates deeply with Abhinandan’s sentiments: “There are prosthetics for broken limbs, but there is no prosthetic for a broken soul.”

The reluctance to engage with uncomfortable truths reflects a profound weakness of spirit. I’ve included the link to the scene from the movie for your reference. 

Let’s continue our commitment to fearless journalism despite the challenges we encounter. Love the line “Mere kharch pe aazad hain khabrein”.

Nitesh 

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Hi NL team, I watched Sreenivasan Jain’s interview with Priyanka Gandhi. I have also been following Mr Gandhi’s speeches on YouTube. Maybe I am only imagining it but there seems to be a certain maturity and frank political savviness in both their speeches and campaigns. Above all, there is a sense of humility that you don’t find with Saheb and his coterie. There was this really nice moment where Ms Gandhi apologised to Sreenivasan after interrupting him. I know none of this will translate to votes but it is refreshing to see an alternative beginning to emerge. Maybe there is hope for 2029. Keep up the great work.

Ganesh Kumar 

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Hi NL team,

I was quite confused in my early 20s by the likes of digital news platforms such as Inshorts, and the apps of mainstream media outlets...I would keep wondering how this news was relevant? That’s when I found Hafta, and it has been my weekend ritual for the last four years. I take great comfort in it. Thank you!

I had also become a regular listener of Daily Dose, but it’s been discontinued. I know that Abhinandan and the rest realise that a bigger market for podcast news needs to be tapped into. I think that the best way to do that is to promote all examples in the medium. So can you please frequently suggest some daily news podcasts that you like, and include more Indian/Indian news podcasts in your Hafta recommendations? Maybe you’re doing it already and I’m missing it.

Much love,

Always wishing you the best (and funding you :-D ),

Faizan Ansari 

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Hi team, I have been a long-time listener from my college days and recently became a subscriber (disruptor). In the last episode, I had expected a bit more detailed discussion on Arvind Kejriwal’s bail and his ongoing case as well as possible impact on the Delhi Lok Sabha elections. In fact, I would request you to do a Lets Talk About episode on AAP, just like you did on the BJP. The AAP phenomenon in Delhi has been fascinating over the years and I am sure people of my age would be interested in understanding it more. Also,  I wanted to know, do I get the NL stickers along with my subscription? Or do I have to buy them separately? Please let me know.

Happy to finally be able to pay to keep news free.

Vatsal 

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I’d like to appreciate y’all for the wonderful work. This letter is mostly in response to Hafta 485. Just some thoughts from me, but before that, shout out to Manisha and Dhanya.

Political ads: Panellists agreed that the ads are not as effective. But I was surprised no one brought up the “Abki baar Modi Sarkar” ads from the 2014 campaign. Would you consider those to be effective ads?

- Manisha said it’s not just the media but the marketing that makes the BJP strong. But can we differentiate between the two? Ravish frequently argues that the media’s role in underplaying whatever opposition does and building a narrative of “Modi vs Who” from top-down also affects other forms of media and not just legacy media. Your thoughts?

- Now, Nepal has switched to a mixed system election with two votes, one for a representative and another for a party. It is a simple extension to the FPTP. One impact I see from the change is that post-poll alliances get more incentivised than pre-poll. Your thoughts on such a system in India?

Bipin 

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This is to Abhinandan. You had said on Hafta: “Anyone under the impression that Mr Modi will go peacefully even if he loses an election is living in a dream. If the BJP ever loses at the centre, they will burn the country to the ground rather than relinquish power.” The way Modi is showing his real face (all his hippocratic speeches), does this show that the time has come for your words to come true? I feel so.

Deepak 

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I have really enjoyed reading the election funding stories done over the past few months by NL and others. The quid pro quo as well as hafta vasooli by the government in power was very evident in these stories. But who is missing from the list is even more surprising than who is on it. Any random person on the street can also tell that this regime has curried enormous favours to the Adani group, a name that is mostly missing from all the electoral funding talk. Has any media house asked the Adani group or the BJP whether there is any funding that goes from one to the other? Is there a special way Adani group funds political parties or is the funding by Adani too much of a taboo topic to touch for any media house?

Mohit Singh 

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Hey folks,

I wanted to thank everyone (especially Jayashree) for the weekly reading recommendations.

Few months back, she recommended the Mistborn novels that were a lovely rabbit hole and I ended up reading everything Brandon Sanderson has written. It seems like the will of many will be similar :).

Also, thank you for the amazing, independent journalism. I’ve enjoyed both Hafta/Charcha for the last few years and the recent election coverage.

PS: One tiny feedback, please don’t add a disruptor subscription for NL Sena contributions. It downgraded my subscription and the podcast RSS feeds stopped working. I fixed it by buying the joint TNM subscription via m@ravdeep.com

Ravdeep 

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Just curious, if Atul Dev, who wrote that long piece in The Guardian, reached out to you and wanted Newslaundry to publish the piece about Amit Shah on the NL website, would you publish it?

Rinzin 

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I was appalled to find out that India is sending weapons to Israel to carry out the genocide in Gaza (the one that was recently intercepted in Spain) and it having zero coverage of any sort. Has our country fallen this much morally that this is what we have to resort to?

Have we always had this poor a stand when it comes to this conflict, or have Indians become so apathetic that nothing matters to us anymore?

Anonymous