What Cobrapost Expose tells us about the media? Aniruddha Bahal in conversation with Mohan Guruswamy Moderated by Manoj Mitta
Cobrapost, an investigative journalism website and TV production house, sting operation revealedtop honchos of some newspapers and TV houses agreeing to run propaganda journalism in return for money.
Some big names are caught in a hidden camera of an undercover reporter discussing ways of money movement through channels abroad and voicing their readiness to peddle Hindutva agenda that can potentially influence voters.
The sting involved managers of media houses like TOI, India Today, HT, Zee News, Network 18, Star India, ABP News, Jagaran Group, Radio One, Suvarna News, Red FM, Lokmat, ABN Andhra Jyothy, TV5, Dinamalar, Big FM, K News, India Voice, The New Indian Express, MVTV and Open magazine. All those accused in the sting have denied and dismissed its contents as false.
Come and find out the real story behind the sting operation from the horses mouth.
About the speakers: Aniruddha Bahal (born c. 1967) Born in Allahabad, is the founder and editor-in-chief of Cobrapost, an Indian news website and television production house. Previously, he has worked for India Today, Outlook, Down to Earth and Financial Express among other publications. He also co-founded Tehelka. While at Tehelka, Bahal conceived and carried out an undercover investigative operation which caught members of Indian Cricket Team accepting bribes to throw matches on camera. It resulted in a series of articles on match fixing in Indian Cricket, which were eventually published as a book - Fallen Heroes. Bahal is also known for his part in Operation West End, another undercover investigative operation.
Dr Mohan Guruswamy had his undergraduate education in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry at Nizam College, Hyderabad, India. He has post-graduate qualifications in Public Policy, International Affairs and Management. He is an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. With an interesting career path that included teaching, senior management, journalism and in government as the Advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, he now heads the Centre for Policy Alternatives, New Delhi. Dr Mohan Guruswamy is widely travelled in India and abroad, and is the author of several books on policy issues.
Manoj Mitta is a Delhi-based journalist tracking legal, human rights and social justice issues. Over three decades, he worked in leading print publications: the Times of India, Indian Express and India Today. He wrote books on the two most egregious instances of communal violence in the country. In 2007, he co-authored When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath. And in the run-up to the 2014 general election, he came out with The Fiction of Fact-Finding: Modi and Godhra. He is currently working on a book on judicial and legislative battles over caste and untouchability.
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