Our soldiers won the war for us – but politics and the media have undone their good work

Avay Shukla Going beyond the nit picking about the number of “assets” lost by India and Pakistan, it is now clear that we have inflicted significant losses on the latter. In doing so our defence forces have also demonstrated the technological and air power to enforce the Prime Minister’s stated resolve to extract a heavy… Read More Our soldiers won the war for us – but politics and the media have undone their good work

Spinning the Yogi

Vanguard and fringe Mukul Kesavan The zombification of right-wing publicists in contemporary India is a small but significant part of our intellectual history. When the Bharatiya Janata Party’s turn at the top comes to an end and the bruised republic shuffles back to the centre, historians of this political moment will explain why Right-leaning commentators… Read More Spinning the Yogi

The US left Vietnam 50 years ago today. The media hasn’t learned its lesson

The myth that news coverage turned Americans against the war persists. In fact, it was largely complicit in perpetuating the conflict Norman Solomon The last helicopter liftoff from the roof of the American embassy in Saigon on 30 April 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam war. Fifty years later, mythology about US media coverage of… Read More The US left Vietnam 50 years ago today. The media hasn’t learned its lesson

The incredible tale of Anna Politkovskaya has taught me one thing: I could never be that brave

She faced endless opposition and threats to her life. This has become a reality for far too many journalists Maxine Peake A woman places flowers in front of a portrait of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Moscow, 2009. Photograph: Pavel Golovkin/AP What drives someone to become a journalist? A good journalist, someone whose keyboard is a tool for exposing… Read More The incredible tale of Anna Politkovskaya has taught me one thing: I could never be that brave

Google is an online advertising monopoly, judge rules

By Brian Fung and Clare Duffy, CNN Google has illegally built “monopoly power” with its web advertising business, a federal judge in Virginia has ruled, siding with the Justice Department in a landmark case against the tech giant that could reshape the basic economics of running a modern website. The ruling that Google violated antitrust law marks the US government’s… Read More Google is an online advertising monopoly, judge rules

How the attacks on Kunal Kamra undermine the freedoms of all Indians

The last decade in India has been marred by the institutionalisation of arbitrary power. Raghu Kesavan Kunal Kamra is an unlikely hero. He stands slightly hunched over, mic loosely held in one hand, the other occasionally pressed into service to express disbelief but often stuffed into a trouser pocket. His most recent special, Naya Bharat, reprises the… Read More How the attacks on Kunal Kamra undermine the freedoms of all Indians

यह कैसा भारत है जिसमें कुणाल ने माफ़ी मांगने से इंकार कर दिया

Ravish Kumar Official आप जो भीड़ देखते हैं वो कुछ उदंड लोगों की भीड़ नहीं है, बल्कि वह उस राजनीतिक दल का हिस्सा है जिसकी सरकार है। उसके समर्थन में गोदी मीडिया है, पुलिस है, सरकार है। ऐसी भीड़ ने हिंसा की कितनी ही घटना को अंजाम दिया लेकिन उसका कुछ नहीं हुआ। उस भीड़… Read More यह कैसा भारत है जिसमें कुणाल ने माफ़ी मांगने से इंकार कर दिया

Israel Kills Journalist Hossam Shabat, Known for His Reports From North Gaza

By Sharon Zhang / Truthout Israeli forces killed two Palestinian journalists in Gaza on Monday in separate strikes, bringing the total number of Palestinian journalists killed to at least 208 since October 7, 2023, according to a count by Gaza officials. Hossam Shabat, a journalist for the Al Jazeera Mubasher channel, is pictured. @AnasAlSharif0 via X Mohammad Mansour, a… Read More Israel Kills Journalist Hossam Shabat, Known for His Reports From North Gaza

A comedian told a joke about a politician. Now he’s under police investigation

NB: Actually the political hoodlums are bigger jokers than Kunal Kamra. Now they have secured a much wider audience for his jokes. Most of their muscle lies between their ears. Kunal Kamra Comedy Special By Rhea Mogul and Esha Mitra, CNN A prominent Indian comedian is standing by his right to make jokes after an… Read More A comedian told a joke about a politician. Now he’s under police investigation

Juan Cole: Cyberpunk Nation

The opening weeks of the second Trump administration have produced daily headlines that read — no, this is not hyperbole! — like science fiction. The spectacle of a South African tech billionaire and his cronies staging a twenty-first-century cybercoup with the acquiescence of an aging lunatic of a president beggars belief. Elon Musk has given… Read More Juan Cole: Cyberpunk Nation