The Wire
The Wire‘s staff shares its favourite videos from the year.
From fiery interviews, informative talk shows to ground reports, here’s a snapshot of The Wire’s digital storytelling from 2018. The video picks from the year include coverage of the Rafale deal, media freedom, police encounters, communalism, political battles, state elections, the farm crisis and more.
Our team’s top videos picks from the year cover farmer suicide, the Lingayat vs Veerashaiva debate, a 360-degree view of a government hospital and more.
At the start of a new year, our staff from the English, Hindu and Urdu editions look back and share their pick of The Wire’s video journalism in 2018.
1. Dheeraj Mishra, reporter, The Wire Hindi
Watch | I am the Greatest of All Urdu Poets
Many stories have been done on Asrar Jamayee, a brilliant Urdu poet who was once declared dead but is still very much alive, but Faiyaz Wajeeh’s video tells the old story in a brand new way. Hina Fathima’s filming and Yasmeen Rashidi’s voice-over add to the quality of the story-telling.
The video reveals the pain of a poet left helpless by an accident, and highlights how neither our society nor our government cared to help him. It raises an important question: Why does our nation forgets its artists and writers?
2. Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Senior Editor
Watch | The Original ‘Anti-Nationals’: Subramanian Swamy and Today’s Sangh
I liked Raghu Karnad’s video for two reasons: One, the quality of research and timely intervention in a high-decibel, lopsided debate. Especially for millennial audiences, the references to our contemporary history will help them formulate their own ideas on nationalism and the issues of our times.
Two, it’s rare that the audio-visual medium dives into such nuanced intellectual debates. Not only it did do complete justice to it, but Raghu’s animated, engaging presentation was icing on the cake.
3. Kabir Agarwal, agriculture and political economy
Watch | Representation of LGBTQ+ Culture in Urdu Literature
My pick is Yasmeen Rashidi’s fantastic video story on the representation of LGBTQ+ culture in Urdu literature. It lends a new perspective to the discourse around Section 377, and sheds light on the existence of homosexual relationships in a society considered ultra-conservative. It also showed us how vividly these relationships have been described in Urdu literature.
4. Pawanjot Kaur, Multimedia Producer
Watch | 360 Of The Week: Inside A Government Hospital In Delhi
This 360 video by Anoo Bhuyan uses an interactive multimedia tool to tell a powerful story. If you watch it on a head-mounted Google VR set, you will really understand how claustrophobic a government hospital in Delhi can get. Patients queue from 4 am in the morning, and a security guard is deployed inside the hospital to manage crowds. The 360 camera was put to its best use to tell a story like this one.
5. Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor
हम भी भारत, एपिसोड 33: 2 अप्रैल के भारत बंद के बाद हुई हिंसा पर मेरठ से ग्राउंड रिपोर्ट
This is my pick for two reasons: Arfa Khanum Sherwani is a great reporter when she is in the field, and this story – police violence against Dalits during the Bharat Bandh in Meerut – is a great glimpse into the ground reality of Uttar Pradesh.
6. Brijesh Singh, Editor, The Wire Hindi
Watch | The Farm Widow: Pieces of a Life Left Behind by a Farmer Suicide
Farmer suicides is an issue that is widely talked about, but the survival of the family after a farmer’s death is an issue less reported on. Farm widows rarely win the media’s attention, but this ground report by Kabir Agarwal and Moniza Hafizee captures their plight poignantly.
7. Yasmeen Rashidi, The Wire Urdu
जानिए | एलजीबीटीक्यू+ समुदाय का अब तक का संघर्ष और भविष्य की चुनौतियां
This video by Srishti Srivastava on LGBTQ+ rights should be a must-watch because talks about fundamental rights and how they are not often out of reach for people simply because of their identity. This is particularly important because despite getting legal recognition, LGBTQ+ people are not treated equally in our society.
8. Sidharth Bhatia, Founding Editor
Watch | Pakoda-Wallahs Respond to Modi’s Statement on Employment
The prime minister made a statement that even selling pakodas counts as a job. Well, how cushy or profitable is this ‘job’? The Wire spoke to actual pakoda-sellers on the cold streets of Delhi in January 2018 and they made it clear it was no job for their children.
9. Akhil Kumar
, labour
Watch | Gauri Lankesh’s Views on the Lingayat vs Veerashaiva Debate
This was the most hotly debated identity issue in the Karnataka elections, and I loved this video for its production quality: great graphics and a fluid script. The fact that it is based on an article by Gauri Lankesh for The Wire – her final piece in English before her assassination – made it all the more special.
Part Two of our team’s top picks from the year includes investigations on Aadhaar and caste atrocities, a series on Bengal’s political violence, and perspective on #MeToo.
As 2018 comes to a close, The Wire‘s staff shares its favourite articles and videos from the year. Read Part One here and Part Three here.
1. Nehmat Kaur, Editor of LiveWire
What Does a Guy Have to Do to Find a Flat? Be Married
We started LiveWire hoping we’d get to publish pieces that were personal and widely resonant at the same time. This essay, which deals with the trials of being young, unmarried and independent in India, did just that. Jithin Emmanuel Jacob gave voice to a shockingly common experience that highlights some of the most pervasive social biases that shape our lives. And he did it with some humour.
2. Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor
A Chronicle of the Crime Fiction That is Adityanath’s Encounter Raj
Fake encounters have been a part of unstated official policy in many states for a long time, but Yogi Adityanath has now openly given sanction to his policemen in Uttar Pradesh. Neha Dixit’s piece highlights the dangers of this policy through careful reporting of several actual incidents.
3. Anoo Bhuyan, Health reporter
In Chhattisgarh, Public Funds for Health Insurance Are Being Diverted to the Private Sector
The government’s announcement of the “world’s largest healthcare scheme” this February was so well spun and so glitzy in its promotion that for weeks, the public couldn’t grasp that it was nothing but a big old health insurance scheme.
This piece on how health insurance has worked out in Chhattisgarh came at the right time to respond to the government’s vociferous marketing. The article by Sulakshna Nandi, Deepika Joshi and Sangeeta Sahu is an insightful one, as the authors are academics and activists – clued in to the scene on the ground, and able to couple that with rigorous analysis.
4. Raghu Karnad, Chief of Bureau
The Story of Dust, Through Space and Time
Dust is inescapable in Delhi – in the air, also in conversation. But it’s good to step back from our crises, on occasion, and take in a larger perspective. And there’s no perspective larger than the one our science editor, Vasudevan Mukunth, brings to dust in this essay – carrying us further and further out into a cosmos where dust is still inescapable, but increasingly mysterious, and finally majestic.
5. Monobina Gupta, Managing Editor
Bengal: Genealogies of Violence (a series)
Delving into history, this nine-part series by a range of scholars tries to understand the legacy of political violence in Bengal. The essays shine a light on Bengal’s turbulent past, informing the present everyday violence – a unique feature of Bengal’s social and political life.
6. Avi Krish Bedi, News producer
Tamil Nadu Resists New Law Despite Increase in Caste-Related Murders
With unembellished and raw reporting on caste-related atrocities in Tamil Nadu, this article’s visual evocations are heart-rending. What also stood out was Kavitha Muralidharan’s breadth of engagement with different perspectives.
7. Karnika Kohli, Social Media Editor
Why I Believe Tanushree Dutta and Dr Christine Blasey Ford
This essay by Nehmat Kaur is very close to my heart because it perfectly captures what the #MeToo movement was like for women – for those who shared their stories, for those who had to relive their trauma listening to others’ experiences, and also for those who couldn’t find the strength to name and shame their predators but still stood by their sisters and said #IBelieveHer.
Here’s to strong women – May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.
8. Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar, Deputy Editor
How Did the EC Link 300 Million Voter IDs to Aadhaar In Just a Few Months?
Anuj Srivas’s article stood out for me this year, revealing what has always been known but not described so lucidly – that successive governments have been keen on using Aadhaar not only for the delivery of services, but also for excluding people from them, and increasing surveillance.
In this case, the Election Commission resorted to linking Aadhaar data with voter IDs without legal mandate. It tried to use it to make electoral rolls “100% error free”. This “purification” initiative was stopped by the Supreme Court. By then the EC had already collected the Aadhaar numbers of over 300 million voters.
Part One of our team’s top picks from the year includes expert comment on China and Sabarimala, reporting on rhinos and crony capitalists, and two great videos.
As 2018 comes to a close, The Wire‘s staff shares its favourite articles and videos from the year. Read Part Two here and Part Three here.
1. Kabir Agarwal, agriculture and political economy
Watch | Representation of LGBTQ+ Culture in Urdu Literature
My pick is Yasmeen Rashidi’s fantastic video story on the representation of LGBTQ+ culture in Urdu literature. It lends a new perspective to the discourse around Section 377, and sheds light on the existence of homosexual relationships in a society considered ultra-conservative. It also told us that these relationships have been vividly described in Urdu literature. The icing on the cake is Yasmeen’s masterful narration.
2. Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, Deputy Editor and Northeast
Rethinking the Idea of a Nation Requires New Sensibilities, Not Bookish Knowledge
This story by Avijit Pathak springs out of a consciousness I’ve grown up with. Every day at school, I sang two anthems – the national anthem and the anthem of my home state, Assam, ‘O Mur Apunar Dex’ – with equal gusto.
The daily ritual instilled in me the awareness that both your state and your nation are a part of your identity. You don’t have to discard one identity to embrace the other. This essay is a timely reminder of the diversity that India embraces and creates space for.
3. M.K. Venu, Founding Editor
Over the Past Seven Years, Politically-Connected Sectors Have Tanked at Stock Market
This piece by Noor Mohammad – a wonderful colleague whom we lost last month – reflects the dark underbelly of India’s political economy, where crony capitalists are gaming the system, cornering natural resources and massive bank loans to run their projects. But the over-confidence and excesses of these firms come back to bite them and the stock market punishes them for it. Today they are the biggest wealth destroyers in the stock markets. They have also left a massive hole, of unpaid dues, in the banking system. No wonder a dozen business groups punished by the stock markets owe nearly Rs 7 lakh crore of overdues to banks.
4. Devirupa Mitra, Deputy Editor and foreign affairs
China-US Contention Has Opened Up Space for Other Powers, Including India and Asia’s Three Futures and the Place of India and China in It
I want to share a two-part essay by India’s former national security advisor, Shivshankar Menon, which brilliantly posits the consequences and opportunities of China’s rise for India and the rest of the world.
While international relations in the Trump era are always in flux, China and its rising influence will be a constant, critical factor. To brace for 2019, if there is one – okay, two? – reads that provide a masterful survey of not only global uncertainty, but also an understanding of Beijing’s response to the “shifting sands”, it is these.
5. Vasudevan Mukunth, Science Editor
Was the Death of the Last Male Northern White Rhino the End of a Hoax?
The death of the world’s last male northern white rhino, on March 19, evoked a lot of grief around the world. It was so easy to get caught up in this poignant moment, but Janaki Lenin went behind the curtains to speak to the rhino’s caretakers, scientists familiar with his genetic history and ecologists working in the region.
I liked the resulting article for two reasons. First, it was a remarkable story with a lot happening beneath the surface that wasn’t just easy to miss but which you’re often encouraged to. Second, Janaki demonstrated the full context in which stories of wildlife conservation often reside. For me personally, it was also a great example of how cultural diversity among scientists determines what knowledge we do or don’t have.
6. Pawanjot Kaur, Multimedia Producer
Watch | Encounter – Manipur’s Killer Cop Speaks
I love this video by Vikram Singh and Raghu Karnad, and here’s why: It first lets you understand the killer cop from close quarters and then goes on to describe the larger issue of extra-judicial encounters. The viewer is given the chance to watch both sides of the story. And of course, the production is great.
7. Amrit B.L.S., News Producer
Denying Women Entry to the Sabarimala Temple Amounts to Untouchability
This article stood out because Kalpana Kannabiran makes an excellent legal argument – but without any of the jargon. The analysis applies not just to Sabarimala, but to practices in other religious spaces too.
8.
Shibangi Sina Roy, Social Media Sub-Editor
Modi Govt Has Not Released a Single Rupee for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers
Dheeraj Mishra’s report, based on an RTI application, does a great job of bringing to light the government’s apathy towards the lives of manual scavengers. Caste-based manual scavenging is still claiming dozens of lives every year, and we need to know how much attention the government is paying.
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Sidharth Bhatia
Siddharth Varadarajan
M.K. Venu
Founding Editors, The Wire
Our live coverage of the citizen’s march to parliament against ABVP’s violence in Ramjas college of Delhi University.
On March 4, more than 500 students, teachers, parents and citizens of Delhi marched from Mandi House to the parliament against ABVP’s violence in Ramjas college of Delhi University. They were joined by many prominent leaders who addressed the gathering and expressed their solidarity with the students. Watch our live coverage of the march here.
To know more, click here.
