Kashmir: Tortured politics, fractured media

On The Listening Post this week: covering political unrest amid violent outbreaks & polarised media narratives in Kashmir. Plus, the fight to report on Sudan’s forgotten war.

Kashmir: Tortured politics, fractured media 

Indian-administered Kashmir is seeing the worst outbreak of violence in six years. Media divisions are rife in this story – not just between Indian and Pakistani media, but between Kashmiri local media and self-appointed nationalist Indian media. This is a political battle that has lasted nearly 70 years and the media narratives are more fractured than ever.

Talking us through the story are: Peerzada Ashiq, Kashmir Correspondent, The Hindu; Syeda Afshana, Media Academic, University of Kashmir; Hilal Mir, Editor, Kashmir Reader; Sudhir Chaudhary, Editor in Chief, Zee News.

On our radar:

• More than 30 online media outlets in Bangladesh have been suspended by the government, plus three journalists were arrested following allegations of spreading false rumours of the death of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed-Joy.
• One of the world’s largest media companies – Facebook – has announced it too is joining the fight against ad-blocking software.
• Personal details, including passport information, telephone numbers and email addresses of more than 5,000 Ukrainian and international journalists covering the Ukrainian story, have been made public by a pro-Kiev website.

The fight to cover Sudan’s forgotten war 

The conflict in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains has been described as the “worst atrocity you’ve never heard of”. Since 2011, the government in Khartoum has been at war with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North and the conflict is taking a heavy toll on the civilian population in a near news blackout. But a fightback is under way with a team of local reporters determined to get their story out. The Listening Post’s Nic Muirhead investigates. 

Contributors: Joseph Nyetu, Reporter, Ayin; Abdalla Rezig, Journalist, Al Mighar Alsyase; Hajooj Kuka, Independent filmmaker; Hussain Hamdi, Government Official; Maowad Rasheed –  Editor, Sudan Vision.