In our days, Seshan was in charge. So we had to be careful. Now?
Doordarshan’s imaandaar reporting on UP Election |newslaundry 15th Jan 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgLfDfVB12o
Focused on Uttar Pradesh and what people there think of the Yogi government and BJP’s performance. Unsurprisingly, it is all praises for Modi’s grand vision and Yogi’s great governance. Some of the people praising the BJP though turned out to be people affiliated with BJP and RSS, and of course, DD decided to not tell this to its audience. We also look at #AkhileshYadav’s compliment-giving spree on #News18, #AajTak and #RepublicTV.
This week’s episode is based on a Newslaundry report by Ashwine Singh & Basant Kumar. See their text report: Doordarshan election special on UP: How BJP affiliates were passed off as ‘common citizens’
Doordarshan called them local residents who just happened to be praising the government.
By Basant Kumar & Ashwine Kumar Singh https://www.newslaundry.com/2022/01/11/doordarshan-election-special-on-up-how-bjp-affiliates-were-passed-off-as-common-citizens 11 Jan, 2022 half-hour programme on Doordarshan called Kya Bole UP. Its hoardings have sprung up outside Prasar Bharati’s headquarters at Mandi House in Delhi, featuring Parashar, information on the show’s airtime, and, curiously, ads for the Adityanath government.
But why would hoardings about a programme on the UP election specifically feature ads for the state government? What about the other political parties? When asked, Parashar told Newslaundry, “It’s the marketing team’s job. I’ll give you their number. You talk to them.” She never sent the number, nor did she subsequently take out calls.
(Update: Days after this report was published in Newslaundry Hindi, the hoardings were removed from outside the Doordarshan office.)
features conversations with “common citizens”, like business owners and local residents, on what they think about the BJP’s schemes and programmes in the state.
Except they’re not really “common citizens” at all – they’re members of the BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the Vishva Hindu Parishad, or are associated with the BJP in one way or another.