3 ms·

I do not have much sympathy for her, given my low opinion of English-speaking Indian Media and their faux-elite mannerisms. Certainly some level of Schadenfreud

by screye 6y ago

I do not have much sympathy for her, given my low opinion of English-speaking Indian Media and their faux-elite mannerisms. Certainly some level of Schadenfreude. But, I won't go into that here. This seems more like a targeted public embarrassment operation than an attempt at identity theft. Objectively, Nidhi made a ton of elementary mistakes that would be inexcusable for a journalist. This includes non-technological mistakes such as not contacting the Dean or prospective collaborators who presumably voted to have her on the faculty. There is an immense amount of hubris on display as well. That being said, the scammers were incredibly sophisticated and committed to the ruse. Either ways, this sets a bad precedent. The internet allows for sophisticated scams like never seen before. A public embarrassment in the world of twitter can easily end careers. I hope she finds some quiet in the midst of this public show where she has been made an unwilling jester. She should have handled this in private. Now that it is out on Twitter, trolls will make sure she never forgets what I presume has been incredibly traumatic.

alisonkisk 6y ago
She made it public because she had been doing PR telling people she was a Harvard professor. This "phishing" is suspected to be a cover up for her own fraud getting caught.
- randycupertino 6y ago
  Is there a source on this?
- silentguy 6y ago
  This is pure speculation. Why would she think she could pretend to be Harvard professor and not found out?
  - screye 6y ago
    Much more blatant lies have been told in India, so I would not be surprised in the least. Indian English Journalism is a farce. They are exceptions, but it is an exception proves the rule sort of thing (Old Indian Express, The Print, Caravan)
    - asenna 6y ago
      Not sure why you're smearing Indian English journalists like that. I'm an Indian as well and there are some really slimy journalists / organizations in the media industry (just like there are the obvious ones in the US) - but NDTV or Nidhi is definitely not one of those. She's a pretty well regarded journalist. Is there anything major you think she's done in her career that makes you say that?
      - screye 6y ago
        Well, in some sense, I say that due to Hindi Journalists like Ravish Kumar at NDTV. The Hindi news media is strongly insulated from western media due to language differences. This affords them a certain independence and humility that the English wing seems to lack. Their fates are more directly coupled to India and its concerns. Eloquence and virtue signalling don't matter as much. They NEED to have a better finger on the country's pulse than English media. Lastly, the hindi and regional language press is distributed. There is no geographical power center and there are too many outlets. Thus, it cannot be controlled in entirety. The Indian English news media is consumed by an incredibly small fraction of the population. Nepotism is rampant and tiny cliques determine your fate. While Hindi media affects politics, English media affects global outlook and economics. They wield a disportionate power for their size and this power is lent to them because the West reads these outlets. This made it the one that was most important & possible to control. The Indian English press rose in the era of Congress domination. These select few journalists, all owe their fates and meteoric rise to currying favor with the Gandhis and the bias shows. There is also a strong faux-left bias (Vox esque) but I would not blame them for it if they were transparent about it. Their 30 year track record on the Gandhi Family, Anything Hinduism related and Communists is proof of it. It is no surprise that Narendra Modi had a US visa ban, but terrorists and genociders from India and around the world never were. These people live their lives out of Luthyens Delhi, completely out of touch with India. Their bad takes are never scrutinized, because the West and hyper-urban Indians have no idea what the rest of India looks like. Lastly, there is an offensive level of Elitism and need to associate with the Elites (NYT, WaPo, UN, Diplomats and the Glitterati) that is completely absent from Hindi media. This debacle epitomizes it. Their opinions appear to be handed down from NYT and college campuses. They never bite the hand that feeds them and worst of all, they like to act smart while making lazy commentary. Recently,I have been digging what ThePrint and Caravan magazine have been producing. Both are run on subscription models (yay) and take journalistic values seriously. Even when I disagree with them, I get something useful out of it. TL;DR: Old Indian English Media is like MSNBC, Vox & CNN, but shallower, more elitist and nepotistic.

by screye 6y ago

alisonkisk 6y ago

She made it public because she had been doing PR telling people she was a Harvard professor. This "phishing" is suspected to be a cover up for her own fraud getting caught.

randycupertino 6y ago
Is there a source on this?
silentguy 6y ago
This is pure speculation. Why would she think she could pretend to be Harvard professor and not found out?
- screye 6y ago
  Much more blatant lies have been told in India, so I would not be surprised in the least. Indian English Journalism is a farce. They are exceptions, but it is an exception proves the rule sort of thing (Old Indian Express, The Print, Caravan)
  - asenna 6y ago
    Not sure why you're smearing Indian English journalists like that. I'm an Indian as well and there are some really slimy journalists / organizations in the media industry (just like there are the obvious ones in the US) - but NDTV or Nidhi is definitely not one of those. She's a pretty well regarded journalist. Is there anything major you think she's done in her career that makes you say that?
    - screye 6y ago
      Well, in some sense, I say that due to Hindi Journalists like Ravish Kumar at NDTV. The Hindi news media is strongly insulated from western media due to language differences. This affords them a certain independence and humility that the English wing seems to lack. Their fates are more directly coupled to India and its concerns. Eloquence and virtue signalling don't matter as much. They NEED to have a better finger on the country's pulse than English media. Lastly, the hindi and regional language press is distributed. There is no geographical power center and there are too many outlets. Thus, it cannot be controlled in entirety. The Indian English news media is consumed by an incredibly small fraction of the population. Nepotism is rampant and tiny cliques determine your fate. While Hindi media affects politics, English media affects global outlook and economics. They wield a disportionate power for their size and this power is lent to them because the West reads these outlets. This made it the one that was most important & possible to control. The Indian English press rose in the era of Congress domination. These select few journalists, all owe their fates and meteoric rise to currying favor with the Gandhis and the bias shows. There is also a strong faux-left bias (Vox esque) but I would not blame them for it if they were transparent about it. Their 30 year track record on the Gandhi Family, Anything Hinduism related and Communists is proof of it. It is no surprise that Narendra Modi had a US visa ban, but terrorists and genociders from India and around the world never were. These people live their lives out of Luthyens Delhi, completely out of touch with India. Their bad takes are never scrutinized, because the West and hyper-urban Indians have no idea what the rest of India looks like. Lastly, there is an offensive level of Elitism and need to associate with the Elites (NYT, WaPo, UN, Diplomats and the Glitterati) that is completely absent from Hindi media. This debacle epitomizes it. Their opinions appear to be handed down from NYT and college campuses. They never bite the hand that feeds them and worst of all, they like to act smart while making lazy commentary. Recently,I have been digging what ThePrint and Caravan magazine have been producing. Both are run on subscription models (yay) and take journalistic values seriously. Even when I disagree with them, I get something useful out of it. TL;DR: Old Indian English Media is like MSNBC, Vox & CNN, but shallower, more elitist and nepotistic.