Republic TV’s Shazia Nisar has become a topic of public ridicule after several videos of her on-air entertainment presented as journalism from Ukraine left netizens confused. Arnab Goswami’s colleague, who travelled to Ukraine to allegedly report on the Russian military invasion, ended up inventing a new kind of war reporting by yelling, jumping and furious back-and-forth and side-to-side crouching
Nisar, who’s an anchor for Republic Bharat TV channel, was seen yelling at her audience while furiously galloping back and forth in one video. Nisar’s unusual style made her audience almost forget the topic of her rant as attention was immediately shifted to her visual shenanigans.
In another video, she was seen walking sideways in a crouching position as military helicopters flew across the TV screen through special effects.
Nisar’s videos have now gone viral, raising questions on the standard of Indian TV journalism. NDTV’s Ravish Kumar took to Facebook to take a dig at Nisar. Similar reactions followed on Twitter with journalist Sucheta Dalal mistaking Nisar’s videos as spoofs. “Someone please enlighten me… is this a spoof? Comedy channel? What is the source? Seeing it all over,” she asked.
But when Twitter users reminded her that the person in the video was from Republic Bharat, Dalal wrote, “Seriously? It was a serious question when I asked if this is fiction. Don’t watch TV news anymore. I am finally informed and depressed- even war is a bloody drama or circus!”
Seriously? It was a serious question when I asked if this is fiction. Don’t watch TV news anymore. I am finally informed and depressed- even war is a bloody drama or circus! https://t.co/LoSPogDcBj
— Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) April 19, 2022
BV Srinivas of the Indian Youth Congress tweeted the video by asking, “What name would be given to this revolutionary journalism from the Modi era.”
मोदी युग की इस क्रांतिकारी पत्रकारिता
को आखिर क्या नाम दिया जाए..?? pic.twitter.com/ijS6C4lnB4— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) April 18, 2022
Meanwhile, some Twitter users have created spoofs by adding quirky music to Nisar’s videos from Ukraine. While Nisar may enjoy her new-found stardom through her award-winning (Don’t be surprised if she ends up winning awards for journalistic excellence because anything is possible in India these days) ‘journalism’, this is another moment to declare ‘RIP Indian journalism.’
Watch "Shazia Nisar × Pradeep Bhandari || Republic Bharat || WhistleBlower || Godi Media || Being Honest ||" on YouTube https://t.co/umcahhuRRT
— KAMAKSHYA PRASAD MAHARANA (@KAMAKSH02491212) April 19, 2022
भाऊ? pic.twitter.com/5rD9EVShf1
— आम भारतीय नागरिक?? (@jit70776523) April 18, 2022
— ALL INDIA FILES (@ALLINDIAFILES) April 18, 2022
मुन्नी बदनाम हुई pic.twitter.com/3Kd63Sdcgq
— Ram Pratap Verma (@ram_pratapverma) April 19, 2022