Newslaundry is known to harbour a deep-seated hatred for Republic TV for the latter’s editorial point of view which differs from theirs. Individuals associated with the media portal have run campaigns to stop brands from advertising their content on Republic TV and Arnab Goswami has been the object of much of their hatred.
Now, it appears, Newslaundry has gone one step further and attempted to use the statements by a Pakistani ‘intellectual’ to attack Arnab Goswami and Republic TV. A text sent by one of their employees to the said Pakistani citizen has been accessed by Opindia.
The employee of Newslaundry got in touch with Pakistani journalist Aarzu Kazmi and asked her as to why she appears on the channel. Kazmi is one of the Pakistani journalists and ‘experts’ who are regularly invited to Indian news channels to put forth the Pakistani side on a particular matter.
The Newslaundry employee told Kazmi, “Hi, I am Kapil from India, I am a reporter in Newslaundry. Actually, I am doing a story that Indian Anchors like Arnab Goswami, they call you guys to Indian shows and spread hatred or just bash on you like anything without any purpose.” He then proceeded to ask, “So I just want to know, do they pay you for that? and why do you even come when you know he will bash you off without any purpose? I mean what makes you come on these shows? Can you please answer these questions for me?”
As can be seen, the questions are extremely leading and there is no proper way to answer these questions. Moreover, the questions were asked to confirm their own biases rather than gain some understanding into the phenomenon. Furthermore, the questions were set up in a way so as to solicit a statement that could be used against Arnab Goswami and Republic TV.
It is to be kept in mind that several journalists, members of the army and security establishment and other ‘intellectuals’ regularly feature in Indian television debates to discuss their country’s point of view, which is often one that differs from India’s starkly. While ethically, several citizens are against the invitation extended to Pakistani intellectuals on Indian news debates, their opposition mainly stems from the fact that they do not want Pakistanis to get a platform in India to air their mostly hateful views on Indians and Hindus.
However, as evident from the message sent by the Newslaundry employee to the Pakistani journalist, Newslaundry’s contention seems to be quite different. While several viewers principally do not want Pakistani panelists to be invited because they do not want their vile hatred to find an audience in India, Newslaundry seems to be more bothered about the “hate” that the Pakistani panelists receive at the hands of Arnab Goswami.
For Newslaundry, it is Arnab that spreads hate and not Pakistan. For Newslaundry, it is Arnab that “bashes Pakistanis up” and that too, per Newslaundry, for no reason. Perhaps, for the Left propaganda website, the fact that Pakistan exports terror to India on a regular basis and attempts to undermine India and spread discord is not reason enough. For Newslaundry, Arnab is far more dangerous than Pakistan because for them, terrorism is a lesser evil than differing views.
It is also pertinent to note that Newslaundry is known to peddle propaganda and indulge in questionable journalistic practices. Not too long ago, they tried to pressurise a Zee News journalist infected by the Coronavirus to do a hitjob on Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary. They also attempted to whitewash an attack on a Temple during the Delhi riots even when their own reporting on the matter disproved their claim and consistnt with their efforts, they also defended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain, accused of inciting the Delhi Riots and involvement in the murder of IB Constable Ankit Sharma.
Note: After the publication of this article, Kapil Kajal’s (reporter in question) employer, Hemant Gairola (Editor, 101reporters.com) contacted us and said that Kapil used NewsLaundry’s association all by himself and NewsLaundry didn’t ask him to do so. Now, there is no way to prove NL didn’t commission this article. Still, knowing pretty well that NewsLaundry has a bad habit of twisting and misrepresenting the statements they take to do an article, we are putting this update in the spirit of journalistic ethics.
