Manisha Pande Profile picture
Sep 6, 2020 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
I have been thoroughly intrigued by the online vilification of #RheaChakraborty — the memes, the posters, the #JusticeForSSR fan pages calling for her arrest. Who are these guys?

@NidhiSuresh_ speaks to 3 such men who are united in their hate for Rhea.
newslaundry.com/inside-the-onl…
Dheeraj hadn’t been a big fan of Rajput; what drew him was the fact that Rajput, like himself, was also from Bihar and managed to make it big in Bollywood.

He is one of the administrators of a Facebook group called “Justice for Sushant Singh Rajput”.
He's convinced that SSR was murdered and Rhea should be blamed: “Agar Salman [Khan] ki girlfriend ya wife aur Salman ke beech scene hua, toh kiska chalega? Salman ka hi chalega. Aur jabki yahan par Sushant aur Rhea ke sath jo scene hua, usme kiska chala tha? Rhea ka chala tha.”
Surjeet Singh Rathore came into the limelight when he appeared on Arnab Goswami’s primetime show: “I am a Rajput. I am a member of the Karni Sena. Sushant was also a Rajput, it’s my right to be involved."
In his post-Republic days, Rathore spends his time answering “calls from all across the country, mostly from my supporters and from TV channels”. He has a girlfriend but he quickly said, “Woh Rhea jaisi nahi hai.” She is not like Rhea.
Then there's Saahil Chaudhary who took to his YouTube channel on August 27, minutes after Rhea gave her first interview to Aaj Tak. Chaudhary folded his hands and addressed his two lakh followers: “Somebody please hammer Rajdeep Sardesai’s head.”
Chaudhary has never met SSR though he claimed so in his video. His frustrations at not being able to “make it big” in Bollywood were evident. “Out of lakhs of people, one got a chance and he became a star, but then you killed him?” he said. “What the fuck? You murdered him?”
Much of what these men have said, we've heard on news channels. And many conspiracy theories on social media from men like these, have made it to news.

So, who is the trigger: the public, or the news?
.@free_thinker says news has now entered the realm of gossip, which is rooted in “mudslinging and rumour-mongering”. “Gossip is addictive. I don’t know what to bust in this bizarre case..."

This pretty sums up my own frustration as a media watcher with this case.

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More from @MnshaP

Jun 2, 2021
"We aren’t reporting against the government but in favour of the public."

Wondering about @DainikBhaskar's 'uncharacteristic' coverage? @AshwineSingh & @tweets_prateekg spoke to editors & reporters to understand some of the newsroom thinking behind it.
newslaundry.com/2021/06/01/we-…
The shift to aggressive reporting can be attributed to scale of devastation/mishandling. Reporters & editors clearly see that "readers want the truth to be told". Others offered a branding explanation: “Our managing director says Bhaskar must always stand with public opinion."
Another thing to note is Bhaskar's entry into digital: “Bhaskar has injected a new zeal in its digital team in Uttar Pradesh. Our newspaper is not published in Uttar Pradesh, and this is an attempt to establish it via the digital route."
Read 6 tweets
May 4, 2021
There are plenty of journalists in India working for Indian orgs who are reporting on the pandemic bravely/meticulously. Noida-based studio ≠ 'domestic' media. In fact, Rana Ayyub hasn't reported on the pandemic but is repeatedly called on as a talkinghead in international media
Even a pro-BJP channel like Aaj Tak does have reporters on the ground getting us important updates from the ground. It's another matter that anchors like Anjana et al are not using their material to question the government on primetime.
Rana Ayyub has become the go-to person of lazy international media panels for everything from farmers protest to the pandemic, often pedalling half-baked exaggerations without putting in the rigour of reporting that many other Indian journalists do.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 27, 2021
"Our job is also to give voice to people who don’t have it. And at a lot of these crematoriums people are coming up to us and expressing their grief and anger.”

Indian & foreign press is reporting from crematoriums because THAT IS where the story is.
newslaundry.com/2021/04/27/why…
As deaths from Covid surged in New York last year, Reuters, Washington Post, CNN, New York Times, BBC, Telegraph showed drone footage of caskets being buried in mass graves. There were similar reports from graveyards in Brazil, Italy and the UK.

India isn’t being singled out.
“This is the truth. We are documenting the truth and bearing witness to it,” said a reporter for a British media organisation. “It is very easy to lament the coverage and blame the messenger and far more difficult to ask for accountability. But nobody is making things up...”
Read 7 tweets
Apr 21, 2021
Big win for @newslaundry against an extremely brainless attempt at harassing @tweets_prateekg for doing his job. The story in question was about layoffs in Sakal Times & they took umbrage to us using their logo for a story that is ABOUT the group.
newslaundry.com/2021/04/21/no-…
It would have been a “completely different matter” if the articles used Sakal’s trademark to “portray” Newslaundry as the Sakal Media Group, the court pointed out, but instead, “there was no suggestion that the said news portal itself was that of Sakal”.
Read 4 tweets
Mar 20, 2021
"RSS can be slow, but we need to act fast as the time is running out for us.”

In Amta constituency of Howrah, BJP has fielded one of its vocal critics — Hindu Samhati president for whom the RSS is too centrist. Report on the organisation & its men.
newslaundry.com/2021/03/20/str…
The Hindu Samhati is home for pracharaks who have left the RSS fold. The organisation now attracts men who have formerly worked with mainstream political parties. Like Banti Khan who was born and brought up in 'Congress' culture. Image
“I attended Tapan Ghosh’s meeting of Hindu Samhati and really liked it,” Khan said. “My eyes opened up to how Muslims have captured our land, how Congress distorted history, and I joined the Samhita and now work with the BJP.”
Read 7 tweets
Jan 26, 2021
.@ndtv is now showing a split-screen with visuals from farmer's protest. Rest of the channels remain on the DD feed.
NDTV's coverage is quite strange to watch. There's live commentary from the R-Day parade occupying most of the screen with visuals from ANI on what seems like tear gas gone off at the protest site. I am sure they have reporters on ground to cut live to?
What's the point of private news networks if everyone *has to* show the state broadcaster. People who want to see the parade can go to DD. Private news networks should be able to show reports along with R-Day parade. Especially when there's lathicharge happening in Delhi!
Read 10 tweets

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