Incendiary report

IN Media Watch Briefs | 17/06/2016

This ET story is extraordinary. It amounts to undiluted airing of the BJP's communal accusations. When a reporter tracks a BJP fact-finding team to Kairana, the town that is in the news for the alleged exodus of Hindus and the story is accompanied by a video, should she then file a report without talking to anyone else to balance what the BJP team claims to have found? The team spews venom, and all of it goes unchallenged and is published. There is only a quote at the end by the UP CM, saying the BJP is in the habit of raking up such issues before the polls. The Hindu on the contrary did a more balanced report which talked to the BJP team but also to the state administration about the BJP's findings and reported what they had to say.

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Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.

Let the games begin

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.