Saikat Datta Profile picture
Aug 23, 2019 12 tweets 4 min read Read on X
A #thread on the media reporting on Kashmir, that we tried to cover in Asia Times last week. We made an interesting discovery, particularly about the BBC and its reporting in Soutj Asia.
We have seen how sharply divided the reporting in India and abroad has been. While many Indian media houses have been criticised (rightly so, in my opinion) about becoming govt mouthpieces, not enough has been examined about the role of the "foreign media" like the BBC
And this is what we found. When it comes to terror attacks, the BBC has a dual approach. If the attack is in the UK, then their reporting clearly labels it as a "terror attack".
Eg A report on compensation-related issues after a "terror attack"

bbc.com/news/uk-492512…
But when it comes to reporting terror attacks in India, terrorists become "gunmen" and/or "armed groups/militants" etc.

Example, a report after the #Pulwama attack on Feb, 2019

Note the absence of terrorism or terror.
bbc.com/news/world-asi…
Similarly, the terror attacks/bombings in Sri Lanka earlier this year also had the words "terror" and "terrorism" missing

bbc.com/news/world-asi…
As part of our journalism process, we sent a detailed questionnaire to the BBC along with these embedded link seeking their comment.

They declined to respond to these specific questions and only have a boiler plate response that didn't address any of our queries.
When we sent a reminder that none of our specific queries have been responded to, they said that

"We have nothing more to add to our statement."

This surprised us, because as a media organisation, this is how governments/corporates always fob off uncomfortable queries.
This raises questions about the quality of reporting and the use of semantics selectively. One standard for the UK and another for South Asia.

Surprising, because the BBC has a large Indian staff who report in various languages in India.
In our questionnaire to the BBC we also asked them questions on how they view the instrument of accession signed by Maharaja Hari Singh and how it is viewed in the BBC's editorial standards and how it reflects their reporting.

They didn't respond.
Here are two more examples of using the word "terror" when they report on attacks in the UK

Example # 1
bbc.com/news/uk-politi…

Example # 2
bbc.com/news/uk-393639…
But see what the BBC'S editorial guidelines have to say about the use of "terror" or "terrorism"

bbc.com/editorialguide…

And yet, they freely use these terms (as shown in the tweet above) when reporting similar attacks in the UK
However, our reporting didn't find any such discrimination in other international media organisations like NYT, Guardian, WashPo etc

They are quite consistent with usage as well as semantics.

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More from @saikatd

Feb 7, 2022
For readers in India, a critical story breaking from @tomer_ganon of the @calcalist in Israel. Turns our #Pegasus was also used by Israeli Police to target not only activists and journalists, but also CEOs and politicians. #thread #surveillance
Here is an English report published in the @haaretzcom that details the @calcalist story for readers in India. Some of the names on the list will stun you.
haaretz.com/israel-news/ca…
According to the Israeli media report, even the son of former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu became an unwilling target as his phone was infected. The phone was occasionally being used by the PM's wife. Imagine the level of security breach.
Read 12 tweets
Jun 2, 2021
Very important order from the Supreme Court and definitely worth reading. Will tweet some excerpts for about the issues raised. As usual, Justice Chandrachud and his colleagues on the Bench have brought in a lot of clarity #Thread #COVID19 #vaccination
images.assettype.com/barandbench/20…
The SC settles that #vaccination is a central government responsibility: "Thus, the management of the pandemic, control of the spread of COVID-19, vaccination policy and pricing, are the responsibility of the Central Government," which must work with State Govts 2/n
The quota of 25% to States, the SC says, "is extremely disproportionate and not in touch with societal realities". So the "quota available to the private hospitals must be reduced" 3/n
Read 22 tweets
May 5, 2021
For citizens in #Gurugram #Gurgaon, @DC_Gurugram has launched a @WhatsApp chatbot for its citizens. We worked with them to ensure citizens have an additional platform to seek help.
Weblink: wa.me/919643277788?t…

Please save the Phone number 👇🏼👇🏼 #thread Image
This is a service *Only* for District #Gurugram. Please don't use it for testing. It will only overload the system.

This is an effort to reach patients at home and help them. As the Bot stabilises in a few days, we will add more services to it.
The Bot was a race against time. We hope it will help people and help the administration to reach them and taken care of them.
As it becomes better, we will try and roll it out to more districts
Stay safe. #Gurugram Image
Read 4 tweets
Sep 24, 2020
Following the "revelation" of #WhatsApp chats of Bollywood actors, a short #thread on the #tech, #encryption #surveillance and #law. How did the police access the chats and what it means for privacy. 1/n
Messaging apps like #WhatsApp and @signalapp offer end-to-end #encryption. Incidentally, the protocol for both was designed by one of my favourite engineers and genius @moxie and his group.
Two key things to remember about accessing data -- is the data at rest (on your device) or in transit (when you hit the send message). If it's in transit, then e-to-e encryption makes its difficult to intercept. Only 10 agencies in India are notified to do this interception
Read 13 tweets
Jun 26, 2020
The #chineseincursions into India and the #Covid_19 pandemic threat -- are two major back-to-back intelligence failures -- collection & analysis -- for India. My column for @DeccanChronicle
deccanchronicle.com/opinion/column…
The failure of intelligence is a political failure. No government wants to reform Indian intelligence for current and future threats
deccanchronicle.com/opinion/column…
Reform after reform in intelligence is reactive and half-baked. RN Kao attempted one after the 1962 war with China. That experiment has also failed
deccanchronicle.com/opinion/column…
Read 4 tweets
Jun 18, 2020
Why did the plethora of Indian security agencies miss the massive Chinese build up? Turns out, it hadn't. But there were many Kargil-type failures in assessing Chinese intentions. My piece
deccanchronicle.com/opinion/column…
The ITBP and the army has elaborate patrolling protocols that are jointly planned by MoD and MHA. They carry GPS and collect waypoints as they patrol. Why did they miss out on the Chinese build up? Or did they?
deccanchronicle.com/opinion/column…
XXIV Corps Commander, a former DGMI, was warned about Chinese moves to change status quo? Why did he miss reading the reason leaves in his op area?
deccanchronicle.com/opinion/column…
Read 4 tweets

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