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The truth about twits, tweets & sponsored trips

I have been active on twitter only over the past year and have been amazed at how much attention the trolls give me.

The truth about twits, tweets & sponsored trips


Saba Naqvi

The Guardian recently researched into 70 million comments left on its website over the last decade. They found that of the 10 regular writers who got the most abuse, eight were women, four of whom were non white. One of the women was Muslim, and one Jewish. The two men on the most abused/trolled list were both black.

Let’s therefore conclude there is misogyny and prejudice against women across the world and it’s a double whammy of the individual is identified as being a minority. I have been active on twitter only over the past year and have been amazed at how much attention the trolls give me. There are three parody twitter accounts of me with names such as saba naqli. 

I am neither an editor nor a recognized news anchor to be placed in lists such as #sickular or #presstitute with famous household names like Rajdeep Sardesai who recently closed down his twitter account. It’s obviously happening because I am a woman with a Muslim name who dares to speak and write on politics and issues of identity in India.

Ever since the Augusta Westland scandal ran its successful second season in India, the side plot (unproven) about media having been given payments has spawned hashtag # Augusta Patrakars. I find it both amusing and annoying to find my name on #Augusta Patrakar, that is flexible list that keeps changing. The purpose of the right wing trolls is obviously to slander and abuse journalists seen to be secular and critical of the BJP. 

The trolls are either unemployed people with loads of time on their hands or this is paid work. Consider the first such Augusta missive that was posted on my facebook page. It was a visual of 10 individuals holding a machine gun and several faces were photoshopped on it, including off course Rajdeep and Barkha Dutt. Six of the individuals were women, mostly TV hosts. I was startled to find myself included in # Augusta Patrakars. 

More would follow on twitter: a vote began on which of the patrakars was more corrupt, (someone voted that I could be the “least corrupt”), others threatened and said “see you in Tihar jail”. In my case “Jehadi” corruption and b**** was repeatedly added. Was I disturbed, spending sleepless nights over the defamatory trolling?  I don’t like it but it does not shake my world. It’s all now par for the course on social media. During the recent Bharat Mata debate too, loads of abuse had been hurled my way. My skin gets thicker by the day.   

Yet there are friends and well wishers who get disturbed on my behalf. A seasoned Mumbai based woman journalist whom I admire, recently called and advised against replying to the trolls. Have your say and don’t react to what follows, she said. I have taken her advice. So why do I stay on twitter? It’s now a useful tool to publicize my own articles and a quick way to pick up news and views. Lots of interesting pieces are also now circulated on social media as opposed to conventional media. Moreover, today’s politicians from Narendra Modi to Arvind Kejriwal put out their views through tweets, so stories are also breaking on this platform. Besides, more than anything else I refuse to be intimidated by hate-mongers. 

The so called Augusta Patrakars matter however flags the issue of junkets and hospitality accepted by media. Personally, I have never gone on a junket but have been out of India on fellowships and invitations to speak besides being nominated by my former publication to go on a few prime ministerial trips. Many media houses do however accept corporate sponsored junkets and nominate journalists to take part in events sponsored by the auto industry, defense industry and so on.

 Many of the journalists who go write one piece on their return, the price for a foreign trip. Most of them do not start taking kickbacks and even if were so inclined, are not important enough to effect policy in any sector. I am sure there are some rotten apples but I can vouch for many scribes for whom it’s just a trip. At times, I’m told these trips are educational as business journalists get a first hand feel of how a particular industry or factory operates.  

 We can question the accepted practice in the media of accepting hospitality from anyone, but just the act of going on a sponsored trip does not make a journalist corrupt. Personally, no one ever offered me such trips as I am unlikely to accept a corporate sponsored trip. But that’s me and my personal code. I remember a colleague once going for a trip to France sponsored by the nuclear industry and I asked if media should be accepting that sort of invite. 

At the same time I would defend my perfectly innocent colleagues who have gone on trips that their publications sent them for. Yes, if some journalists are taking sums of money from a defence agent, that’s corruption and should be called out. 

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