Asia | Banyan

A prominent Indian independent news site destroys its own credibility

The Wire’s own-goal holds lessons for opposition forces everywhere

ONE CONSTANT throughout the original nine seasons of “The X-Files”, a globally syndicated American television show about a pair of FBI special agents assigned to weird cases, is a poster in the background. Mounted on a wall in the agents’ dingy basement office, it shows a grainy picture of a flying saucer and is emblazoned with a slogan in large sans-serif letters: “I WANT TO BELIEVE”. This sentiment ultimately (two-decade-old spoiler alert!) helps the agents uncover a massive conspiracy involving the government and a technologically superior society capable of magical feats (in this case, space aliens).

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Trust no one”

Will Iran’s women win?

From the October 29th 2022 edition

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