Govt employing influencers: Death knell for professional news media?

Bharat Bhushan With an eye on the general elections, the government’s communication policy has diversified from TV and print media to include social media influencers. Individuals with large followings on social media will get government funding to promote the government’s leadership and programmes either directly or through advertisements. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology… Read More Govt employing influencers: Death knell for professional news media?

The Dark Side of AI: Manipulating Reality / Ensuring Re-sponsible Use Of AI

Streamed live on 5 Jul 2023 #artificialintelligence#chatgpt#darksideofaiDive into the world of artificial intelligence and discover the good, the bad, and the ugly. Explore the disturbing trend of deepfakes, where AI is used to manipulate vide-os & pictures, blurring the line between fact and fiction. What is deepfake technology and how is it evolving, how can… Read More The Dark Side of AI: Manipulating Reality / Ensuring Re-sponsible Use Of AI

Twitter was locked in a chaotic doom loop. Now it’s on the verge of collapse

Siva Vaidhyanathan If you use Twitter, the service that not so long ago was the best way to take in breaking news and find audiences for serious conversations, you may have found it substantially less useful in the past year. Over this past weekend you found it almost unusable. On Saturday, everything melted down. Thousands of… Read More Twitter was locked in a chaotic doom loop. Now it’s on the verge of collapse

‘Resistance is possible’: Ravish Kumar, the broadcaster risking his life to tell the truth about India​ today

The eminent journalist’s fearless reporting on India under Narendra Modi cost him his job and freedom. Now broadcasting to millions on YouTube, he is the subject of a new documentary Tim Adams Ravish Kumar was born near the same Indian city – Motihari in Bihar – as George Orwell. In his early years as a TV journalist… Read More ‘Resistance is possible’: Ravish Kumar, the broadcaster risking his life to tell the truth about India​ today

Not George Soros agent, I am a practising Hindu woman against Hindu nationalism

My Jewish husband and I are being used as cannon fodder in BJP’s attempts to distract from Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Manipur. But there’s another reason I am being targeted. Sunita Viswanath On 28 June, I woke up to the news that my name was plastered across the Indian press. Many media outlets including Hindustan Times, Zee… Read More Not George Soros agent, I am a practising Hindu woman against Hindu nationalism

History and revolution in Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle

the spectacle is the guardian of sleep: Guy Debord Tom Bunyard The Society of the Spectacle was written, as Guy Debord once put it, ‘with the deliberate intention of doing harm to spectacular society.’ Following the book’s publication in 1967, he and the Situationist International (SI) declared that it sought ‘nothing other than to overthrow… Read More History and revolution in Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle

White House condemns harassment of journalist who questioned PM Modi

Last week, the Wall Street Journal’s Sabrina Siddiqui faced trolling after she asked Narendra Modi about discrimination against minorities in India. The White House on Monday said the online harassment of journalist Sabrina Siddiqui, who asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi a question at a press conference last week, was completely unacceptable. On June 23, Modi had taken… Read More White House condemns harassment of journalist who questioned PM Modi

I literally cannot say Imran Khan’s name on Pakistani TV – this madness has to end

Hamid Mir I am not a big fan of Imran Khan. I have long criticised Pakistan’s former prime minister, but now it is becoming difficult to do so. There is a de facto ban on referring to him in the media, meaning we are no longer allowed to mention his name or show his picture. Pakistani… Read More I literally cannot say Imran Khan’s name on Pakistani TV – this madness has to end