Cyclone Biparjoy is set to make landfall near Jakhau port in Kutch today. Around 74,000 people residing along coastal areas have been evacuated, 69 trains have been cancelled, and thousands of trucks remain stranded as ports are shut.
Alongside government preparations, newsrooms are also assembling teams to report on the impending natural disaster. Reporting on natural calamities isn’t an easy job, as we’ve pointed out before, and there’s a lot on the line for journalists who put themselves in danger to get the news.
Then there’s Republic Bharat. Anchor Sweta Tripathi might have been reporting on Cyclone Biparjoy from the relative calm of her studio, but why let that fact get in the way of histrionics?
Sweta from @Republic_Bharat reporting live from Dwarka, Gujarat. Hope she's safe. #CycloneBiparjoyUpdate pic.twitter.com/rolXX5Pz4b
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) June 14, 2023
Marching across the studio with an umbrella, swaying to a mythical breeze, Tripathi said, “We have now reached Gujarat’s Dwarka and it’s difficult even to remain standing here. With the storm that is coming at a speed of 150 km/hr. It is difficult to even stand or speak here.”
She also urged viewers to “imagine what will happen if Biparjoy comes here”. Again, let us remind you that she’s standing in a studio. But you might be familiar with Tripathi’s body of work – she once embarked on a car chase involving actor Deepika Padukone. She was promoted to anchor soon after this scintillating reportage.
The same journalist, in her TV news coverage of Sushant Singh Rajpat’s suicide, obliterated all ethical norms of journalism and harassed the watchman and other staffers at Primrose Building, where Rhea Chakraborty lived. Newslaundry reported on the media circus outside Chakraborty's house and the tirades of Tripathi.
Even beyond her, Republic has a history of odd behaviour during times of crisis. Two months into the Ukraine-Russia war, its anchor Shazia Nisar added her own twist – literally – to reporting. Read about it here.
What drives Republic TV’s coverage? Arnab Goswami's inflated sense of self-importance, ‘nepotism’ and political partisanship. Read our report on what goes inside the Republic of Goswami.
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