Crackdown on NewsClick signals erosion of democratic values

Published : Oct 17, 2023 22:11 IST - 13 MINS READ On October 3, at around 6:30 am, there was a knock at the door of a 27-year-old reporter’s home in north Delhi. When he confirmed it, the reporter told Frontline that the ASI then said: “Aren’t you ashamed of working for China?”” The reporter, who joined NewsClick barely two years ago, was one among 40-plus journalists—staff, former employees, and freelance contributors—associated with NewsClick who were questioned and whose electronic devices, diaries, and books were confiscated in a massive crackdown across 30 locations in the NCR that morning. “In New Delhi, corporate filings show, Mr. Singham’s network financed a news site, NewsClick, that sprinkled its coverage with Chinese government talking points,” the report stated. “Only those who don’t know China’s history would find this video objectionable,” said a senior journalist who works as a consultant with NewsClick. Continuing the Great Game that the British played in South Asia is an outmoded view of international relations and does not match the current global realities.” “I was looking for programmes where the show took the CCP position on border talks in India, Ladakh, Galwan, etc., but found nothing,” tweeted Tenzing Lamsang, editor of The Bhutanese, quipping: “Even if Chinese money did come in, it was probably CCP’s worst return on investment.” Critical of crony capitalism NewsClick’s reportage and commentaries are invariably critical of crony capitalism, and it is known to punch above its weight on important issues of public interest that no longer get space in mainstream media.