Hafta letters: Google and data, legacy of CJI Chandrachud, Punjab in 1980s

Hi NL team,

Although your model is solely supported by subscribers and without advertisements, I am curious as to what tools you use to reach a larger audience to increase your subscriptions. I am aware of the social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram and similar apps), but how do the consumers grow ? It looks like your audience (via interaction on such platforms) is playing a pivotal role to increase your audience.  

I was struck by such a question when I noticed Jonny Harris was supported by a similar news organisation (supported by subscribers), named Ground News on some YouTube videos. Thus, I wonder – would you advertise NL on similar channels and platforms to grow your user base? The only irony is that you would become advertisers, albeit in a limited way :).   

Given the years of data you have gathered on your audience demographic and additional data, you can smartly figure out where to use your advertisement fund.

Sandeep Banik

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Big fan of the podcast. With all the Kaneda stuff going on, all I can think of is this:

https://youtu.be/bOR38552MJA?feature=shared&t=9

Keep up your great work :)

Jishnu

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Hi NL team, the brief analysis or commentary on the life or rather public persona of Ratan Tata from the panel was very interesting. Especially when Manisha said he was too privileged to be desperate in life really struck me. I think when one has lived a pretty secure life growing up, perhaps with all the attention and a sense of security, they  could seek less fame or interest in the race than otherwise. I have been reading and listening a lot to Alain de Botton. I’d recommend his work to anyone that is interested to spend a little time understanding the people around them and even themselves better. 

Anyway, I wanted to request whether you can consider doing a Let’s Talk About on Ratan Tata or simply the legacy of the Tata group. It would be an amazing listen. Thanks!

Arthi

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Regarding the person who didn’t want to give data to Google, he could use yt-dl and a media player to not use YouTube. I don’t expect NL to focus on this given the disorders required. Peertube is something you could look into for a self hosted alternative. Vimeo is also another service but IIRC it’s very expensive.

Jagan

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Hi, in the podcast, Sreenivasan Jain mentioned that Israel is one of the most schizophrenic places he’s ever been, where one side is conflict, the other side you have democracy and a party and daily life is going on as it is.

I feel India is also the same, where we see homelessness everywhere at every signal, caste violence, rapes, and our lives go on just as normal. Your thoughts?

Rohit

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Hi,

I am VV, the rant is relevant to Hafta 506.

Regarding the relevance of covering international topics over internal topics within India.

My opinion is that the world as we all know is very much inter-connected and will get more so connected rapidly, so we cannot afford to be ignorant of what is happening around us, as that knowledge is a learning opportunity for us.

I believe that there will be a significant number of subscribers who agree with me on this. I already introduced a couple of international subscribers to Newslaundry, who appreciate the work and are looking forward to reports by Newslaundry on their home elections.

So thank you for your great work, keep going in the direction of your vision.

VV

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Firstly, I want to express that I have nothing but admiration for Manisha and the incredible work she has been doing, but I’m genuinely curious about this. I was listening to her interview on The Swaddle, where she discussed the nature of genocide.

I have a question for the entire panel. Do you believe the Gujarat “riots” constituted a genocide? If so, would you accept an award from Narendra Modi, given the substantial evidence implicating him?

Peter Cat Recording Company

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When the State acts against its own population to discipline them, its violence often blurs the line between the innocent and the targeted. Punjab police killed and disappeared thousands of Sikh youth in the 1980s and ‘90s and I challenge you, for your own benefit, to find one detailed investigative report on it to know how brutal it was and how many of those in authority (Punjab Police, INC, etc) were brought to justice. 

Do a quick Google search of Jaswant Singh Khalra. He uncovered at least 25,000 illegal killings through cremation records, only to “disappear” himself. This is the commonality between Kashmir and Punjab. Send your reporters to the villages in Punjab and ask them not leading questions about Khalistan support but if they know of friends, families or acquaintances who were the victims of police brutality. Many have given up hope, and it’s no surprise that a generation feels no allegiance to a State that not only ignored Punjab but continues to occupy Kashmir today.

Jugraj Singh

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Hey,

I am happy that both my letters were read in the same episode. Regarding the misreading of “casteism is over” statement, it goes: 

“In the constitutional regime, there is no caste system and the country has moved into a casteless society except for the deeming provision under the constitution for the limited purposes of affording reservation to the depressed class of persons, downtrodden or belonging to SC/ST/OBC.”

This isn’t true because of the SC/ST Act of 1989.

Another judge has said India never had a caste system but just a varna system (skill-based). Genetic data shows a rigid endogamy-based caste system existed in India 2,000 to 3,000 years ago.

This isn’t about my right to be critical, which is meaningless when the SC judge has made a judgement like this. Each of the judges has its bad parts which I can’t fit into the word limit. The judgement intends to reestablish the caste system by bringing homogeneity within each caste instead of the nation as a whole. 

Vishnu

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Hello NL team, just watched the reportage from the US, and was a little disappointed. While the efforts of the team and Mr Jain are much appreciated, it came off as a watered down, stale version of “Jordan Klepper fingers the pulse”. I would request you to focus the reporting on the following:

(1) Key issues in various regions like the Midwest, border states, coasts, northern borders, etc

(2) Indian lobby groups in the election

(3) Indian migrants in the US, both legal and Dunky, and American narrative around them

(4) The Indian diaspora and the religious and caste dynamics in them, specifically the issues of anti-caste discrimination laws brought in by Seattle and California and the opposition to them by Hindu-interest groups

As always, love the work you do and wishing you much more success.

Anonymous

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As the tenure of CJI Chandrachud is coming to a close (which happens to be the longest CJI tenure since Justice SH Kapadia’s in 2012) it’s interesting to look back at his legacy. 

While the CJI himself repeatedly emphasised that “bail is rule”, he failed to establish this as a norm across the judiciary. In several lectures, he spoke of a progressive judiciary but there was no effort to challenge “Jim Crow” like love jihad laws in various states. Nor was any contempt action taken against the central government when they essentially bypassed the verdict on bureaucratic control in Delhi by using an ordinance. The cognisance of bulldozen justice came way too late and no effort was made towards pushing states to implement the Prakash Singh case recommendations despite growing instances of encounter killings.

While there were few remarkable instances in his tenure, a lot (in my opinion) was left to be desired. His recent remark about divine intervention in the Ayodhya verdict is just even more disappointing.

Vatsal

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Hey team,

I was hesitant to say that your Gaza Ch1 video isn't accessible to me because I don’t use YT for quite some time either, but because I thought I am the only one who doesn’t use it, I didn’t bother mailing. But while Manisha read a mail this week which had similar concerns, I thought let’s get writing.

I don’t know if there’s a solution but I’d say that I’d prefer a podcast over video anyday. Maybe keep subscriber funded stuff available in both forms?

Shivam

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