PC interviews Barkha

IN Media Watch Briefs | 15/01/2016

In a reversal of roles, UPA heavyweight P Chidambaram interviewed Barkha Dutt at the Mumbai launch of her book ``This Unquiet Land''. The interviewer was sharp; the interviewee not always so. When Chidambaram blamed the media and NGOs for thwarting govt. efforts to strengthen anti-terror measures, Barkha was quick to retort: What then is leadership all about? But when the former home minister questioned her about her ``sympathy'' for Naxalites and her prescription for development as the answer to Maoists, all she could say was ``I'm no Arundhati Roy.'' He then went on to describe Maoists as ``a violent group that keeps women as sex slaves and uses children'' which she did not challenge either. Unfortunately, the audience had no role to play in this sweet exchange!

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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.