 Hello and let's talk about the issues around Indian journalism, raised by the death of Tarun Sosodhya on Monday. 37-year-old journalist with a Dhanik Bhaskar jumped to his death from the fourth floor of the All-Indian Institute of Medical Sciences. He was recovering from COVID-19 and had undergone surgery for a brain tumor earlier this year. He was also reportedly suffering from depression. His family members say that he was experiencing pressure on the work front, though his employer has denied any allegations of harassment. There were also some concerns regarding some of its WhatsApp messages over the past few days, with many journalists calling for a probe into whether there was some foul play involved. An inquiry has been ordered into the suicide. While details of the case are yet to emerge, one thing is very clear. Indian journalism is facing a crisis. This specific case demonstrates one of the aspects of this crisis, that is the precarity and pressure experienced by journalists. Many of whom strive every day to bring to us the truths that would otherwise never be told. In the aftermath of COVID-19, there have been dismissals, cutting of salaries and extensions of work hours for journalists. Journalist associations have organized against it, but they have limited scope considering the nature of the industry. We talked to journalist Basha Singh on these issues. Thank you Basha for joining us. So we heard the news of the tragic death of Tarun Sosodhya and he died by suicide, of course. And there's been a lot of speculation going about it. There's been some good reporting also which has pointed out the structural issues that actually are behind the death as well. So could you first start by telling us a bit about the context in which this has happened and also what his family say? Yeah, basically thanks Prashant. And it's very important that in the national capital, when this kind of a tragic incident has happened, as you know that Tarun Sosodhya, he was 37 years old, very young journalist, very energetic journalist and he had a brain tumor surgery also this year in February. And then again he started reporting back and we have seen very important reports he has done. He was working in a national daily, Danik Bhaskar and through his reports he was able to bring out that these are the real numbers of the COVID death because the government was claiming little less and he investigated and he brought that no the real number from the mortuary to the cremation grounds. He moved and he brought that data and then the government was forced to accept that more deaths are happening. So I'm just bringing this that he was a very enthusiastic journalist. He was and he was continuously in his report, he was saying that if you get a corona, you should not be depressed, there are chances to recover, blah blah all the peace. So one tragic incident this happened at a very prestigious Ames Hospital in Delhi where from the 4th floor on the 6th of July he jumped and Ames administration said that it's a suicide, police also said it's a suicide. The family has a deep concerns and the friends have a deep concerns because continuously he was writing that he is under pressure and he's not been treated well and many things of that sort which anyhow we cannot verify and which we cannot go but there is suspicion from the community, journalistic community. So one thing is this but the important point which this death relates to is to the condition in which Indian journalists are working. Right now when we are talking Prasanth, you know that more than 1000 journalists lost their jobs just in two months, just in two months. And these are the journalists who we can put on the report who when the editions of the Times of India, the HDB, the Hindu Tribune or many newspapers and for the news channels we don't know also that how many is the India today group also we know that many journalists have been asked to put their resignation. So this is also a very threatening condition for a journalist that officially they are not removed. They are asked that you resign so that we can give you your rest of the money and at least you can find some other job. And there are journalists Union also who went to the court saying that all these resignations and these termination of the jobs should be intervened into and the government and the judiciary should intervene and should at least safeguard the journalists. Right here in this case also there are many people who are coming out and saying that he was threatened, he was under pressure, deep pressure of the job because we know that in this group also many journalists were asked to put up their resignation. So the broader perspective is that during this period of Corona when the whole media was just coming out with very all the news when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was saying that nobody should lose the job, the migrant workers should be protected. And he was saying that the people who are the owners or the employers should protect the job, they should pay them the same media who was publishing and giving the news about it. They were the first one to have a brutal attack on the journalists like this, their salaries. And we know many of our friends who are very reluctant to come out because in this media, once you come out against your owners, your employer, your institute, it's almost impossible throughout your life to get any kind of a job in the media. So this is a very grim situation within the media. What they are reporting is something different but what the Indian journalist is facing. We have seen in Delhi many senior journalists and journalists who are associated with very important organizations. They were coming out, they were putting their post in the social media when they got Corona positive that we are not able to get the treatment, nobody is there to help them, nobody is even ready, the institute is not ready to even get them tested, the Zee group, the way they behave with their employees. So this shows this incident, this tragic incident, the tragic death and tragic suicide of Tarun Sosodia links the whole thing that right now the Indian journalist is under huge pressure, there's a huge depression, there's a threat to his job, to the life. So I think this is the broader scene and the broader issues which we need to focus. And I think that those who are in power in important positions in the media, they should raise these issues and come out with some kind of a relief for a journalist who is anyhow taking a risk to report. Right now nobody is ready to report, no institution, everybody is saying you work from home. But if you are a reporter, if you're not going to the field, then how you are going to report, all the reporting is becoming on the secondary data. So I think this is a very important juncture where the Indian media is standing. Right. And this is happening in some senses, even as there is a larger assault on media which is speaking truth to power itself from the central government. So that's one aspect. But to flag two issues you raise, one is the fact that there is of course a complete, the structural sort of issues that are happening in journalism where issues of pay, issues of service, issues of terms of employment, all of these happen in a very contractual basis. There is no, there's not much scope for unionization and or there is not much evidence of it on the ground. And also what happens is that, so there is no real way for journalists often to unite and say, take a stand when the employer takes decisions like this. And on the other hand, there's also the problem which you see many times before also that when journalists are sent out, there is not enough equipment given to them in terms of protection. So they're kind of sent out to bring stories which give glory to the organization, but their health is at risk. So on both these grounds, specifically action does need to be taken. Yeah. And at the same time, Prashant, what you mentioned, that if you report, you report the truth. The way the state is coming is so dangerous because they are FIRs. Today, this is a long time journalist, a senior editor. I was very young when I met her and I was so inspired by her work, the way she was reporting in Manipur. And from yesterday, we are so much worried that the way the FIR, because she just posted on the Facebook, what has happened, the way that it was, there was an attack on non tribals who were playing basketball. So Patricia, you see that these are the incidents which rarely come to the national media. The way it has happened to Vino Dua, the Siddharth and to the scroll. So one side, this has increased. And as you rightly said, that there's nobody, no structure is there who is going to address about any institute or any set up, where if a journalist is attacked, a journalist is laid off on the WhatsApp group, on the mail, just that we don't need your services, where he or she is going to get the justice, where they are going to raise their voice. So right now, we all are on the contract labor. Broadly, the whole media is right now running on a contract labor thing. So there's no security for your job. There's no security for your life. And because you want to report, so it's okay that you report. And we have seen, I was without loop, we have seen many cases where one story, you will be having a defamation case, and then you will be running up and down. And after some time, the Institute will say, okay, it's your individual matter, we are going to settle off. So these are things are there. So I think this is the situation at the ground and Turin's Sysodia's tragic death raises an alarm as an alarming position, where a person who is continuously writing that how to fight with the corona, how to deal with and with such a young kids, he has the youngest daughter is two months old. So and he commits the suicide. So that shows that how much a person is isolated gets isolated in these kinds of conditions. So this is a very dangerous situation, which towards which we are leading. Thank you, Basha. So much for talking to us. Thanks. Our next segment has to do with the rising COVID-19 cases in the US, with over 3 million cases in close to 134,000 deaths. The US is the most affected country in the world. The response to this disease has been bungled from the start, both by the Donald Trump administration and state governments. The US is now seeing another surge with states like Texas, California and Florida, among the worst affected. We talked to Dr. Hani Sarag, a Texas based doctor and a member of the People's Health movement on the steps that need to be taken from people's health perspective. What would be the essential steps that need to be taken? Of course, the United States is not a moralistic structure that are many levels of government. But in terms of very basic steps right now, what would be some of the things you would suggest? Well, there are, I think there are two big categories here. One, during the pandemic, we need kind of social solidarity, we need kind of unity, and we need kind of leaderships from activists to, to promote the public health values before profits and struggle against these measures from governments to stop. We need to slow down the spread till we have a vaccine or a treatment. And here it comes the second stage. Hopefully we will have a vaccine or a vaccine. Let's say not, not, not, not a treatment. Not a completely curative treatment. But most likely we're going to have a vaccine at some point, maybe available early next, next year. So who's going to exist? And this is a big, the very big question as, as, as well. So the, the member states of WTO refused a very legitimate suggestion from Costa Rica to have a public patent on any curative medicine or vaccines for COVID-19. And this was refused. So the refusal means no, we're still putting it in the market place. And this is this is quite scary, because we may find us in a situation that those who can afford paying for the vaccine will exit. And actually this happened, this is happening right now, when Gilead had their treatment. It's a price here, the price per course here in the US is $4,200. And I know that it's not much cheaper in other countries. So this means that it will be affordable by the elites. And this is a treatment. If this applied to a vaccine, I hope that it will never happen. But still, I think it's not going to be an easy thing. And it needs a lot of struggle, a lot of unity, a lot of very high voice from health activists to stop that. And also, it will need some measures from progressive governments, if there are to use flexibilities of trips to have compulsory licenses. If this happened, if they have the capacity to produce it, because that we have like five, five companies in the whole world that they have capacity for mega mass production. So this means it's going to be more like when applies somehow. After COVID, I hope that things will not return back to where they are. When people can be outside and can be together again. I think this needs activists, not not only health activists, but in general, politically active people to continue struggling for different worlds. Absolutely. We, we knew the COVID-19 exposed it naked. So we know exactly what capitalism means, what neoliberalism means. It's very clear right now. And COVID-19 was all what we have right now, including the climate change, including the natural disasters, the increase in magnitude and so on. This is not the last. So we need to prepare ourselves as people in this world, to be able to deal with this differently, and to put people's alive, health and livelihoods and so on in front of profits. This is a long term struggle. But I think it's, it's it's needed more than ever right now. Thank you so much, Dr. Hanif for talking to us. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. That's all we have in this episode. Let's talk to you back tomorrow with major news developments from the country. Until then, keep watching NewsClick.