Staying true to our core value of being “a mission, not an industry”, TNIE, throughout 2020, published reports that broke new grounds, revealed unknown facts, informed readers and forced the powers that be to rethink their stance. Our reports also inspired other media outlets to follow up.
Here are a few of TNIE’s reports that made an impact, those that correctly predicted political outcomes and, in the process, became the talk of the state as well as the country.
Sabarimala: Govt U-turn
On December 3, TNIE reported how the portal launched by the Travancore Devaswom Board in association with the Kerala Police said that “females and other gender (transgender) aged below 50 and above 65 won’t be allowed darshan” at Sabarimala temple. The report, ‘Kerala restores Sabarimala curbs for women’, exposed the govt’s hollow stand that it would allow women of all ages entry into the hill shrine.
Impact
Soon after the report was published, the government removed the clause that restricted women aged
below 50 from entering Sabarimala temple.
The trial court goof-up
At a time when the actor abduction case, in which actor Dileep is one of the accused, was slowly fading from public memory, the TNIE report of November 2 brought the media and people’s attention back to the high-profile case. Titled ‘Trial court ignored Manju Warrier’s major disclosure, state govt tells HC’, the report detailed how the state government told the High Court in a petition that the Additional Special Sessions Judge, who was conducting the trial of the case, did not record a major disclosure of actor Manju Warrier, one of the prime witnesses in the case and Dileep’s ex-wife.
Impact
The report became the focus of discussion, with all media outlets, led by TV channels, discussing the government’s petition throughout the day.
What caused the crash?
TNIE’s exhaustive report on the Kozhikode plane crash, titled ‘Did plane land at speed higher than normal?’ and published on August 10, talked about what may have led to the Air India Express plane crash on August 7, which claimed 19 lives.
Impact
The report was much discussed. The final analysis of the cause of the accident was almost identical to what TNIE claimed — that the flight approached the runway at a speed higher than what is ideal for a safe touchdown, and that it touched down on the runway beyond the threshold mark, making it a risky landing.
When tall claims got debunked
In yet another achievement, TNIE became the first media outlet to break the news on the Kerala government’s plan to implement reverse quarantine for expediting the process of flattening the curve of
new Covid-19 cases. Titled ‘Kerala opts for reverse quarantine to flatten Covid-19 curve’, the report also familiarised people with the concept of reverse quarantine, the practice of detaching the most vulnerable section (elderly and the sick) from the general public to prevent spread.
Impact
Besides informing people about the new concept, the report exposed the state government’s claim that a huge number of beds had been arranged in all districts to take care of Covid-19 patients.
Predicting Pala
The day Jose K Mani announced that his party, the KC(M), was leaving UDF to join LDF, TNIE broke the exclusive story on the clinching factor that influenced Jose’s decision. The TNIE report ‘Promised Pala, Jose to join LDF, quit RS seat’ revealed that CM Pinarayi Vijayan himself brokered the deal to offer the Pala assembly seat to the Jose faction, currently held by LDF ally NCP.
Impact
The developments in the last two months reveal that Pala seat will indeed go to the Jose faction, thereby confirming TNIE’s report.
Parents ‘fee’l the pinch
The TNIE report on June 16, titled ‘Proposal of fee regulatory mechanism for unaided schools remains on paper’, reported how unaided CBSE and ICSE schools hiked the fees as high as 65% despite the Covid pandemic. It also highlighted the lack of a proper fee regulatory mechanism for private schools.
IMPACT
The report prompted the General Education Department to launch an investigation into the fleecing by private schools. The High Court also took the issue up and pulled up CBSE for its inability to check overcharging by schools. It also ordered the state government to intervene.
Exposing a Flawed probe
The three-part series by TNIE on the Palathayi child abuse case looked deep into the controversial case and exposed the various flaws in the police investigation. The September 11 report, ‘Abuse certain. Cops sift maze of girl’s versions to nail real perpetrator’, exposed the lapses in the probe and how the police deliberately avoided invoking Pocso charges against the accused.
IMPACT
The Kerala HC ordered the formation of a new probe team after the victim’s family moved the court saying that they did not have faith in the investigation team that was handling the inquiry at the time.
TNIE report goes international
On April 22, TNIE reported the story of Dhouha Hafsi, a 34-year-old Tunisian, who came to Kerala to practise yoga but got stuck here when Covid-19 struck. The report, ‘How to help countrymen in crisis: Tunisia envoy’s lessons for diplomats’, detailed how she was helped by the Tunisian embassy in India after she formed a WhatsApp group in March. The embassy also came to the aid of 35 Tunisians stuck in India, including four in Kerala, thanks to the group.
IMPACT
The report became a global hit. It was re-published by Le Diplomate (The Diplomat) in French and by Al Chourouk, an Arabic newspaper in Tunisia.
More power to them
The TNIE report of March 8 described the hardships faced by Jilumol Mariet, who was born without hands, in obtaining a driving licence. She also could not get her vehicle registered. Titled ‘Born without hands, she beats odds to learn driving’, the report became a hot topic of discussion on the rights of the differently-abled.
IMPACT
On November 1, the Kerala HC directed the Motor Vehicles Dept to register the car in Jilumol’s name. After she pursued legal route, the HC allowed her to register the car in her name without any changes. This development too was published as an exclusive report by TNIE.