IIMC DELHI

Can news reporting get any worse?

2007-08-23T01:53:00.000-07:00

We have seen news reporting getting bad and embarrassing in the run for 'breaking news' on TV channels but never visualised that it can get as bad as this!

The news in reference is the coverage about an unsolicited guest - snake -in a senior MLA's house in Karnataka. A live story of 15 minutes on a Kannada channel!

The MLA's daughter saw a snake creeping in to their house and immediately called the DCP, Bangalore to arrest the sneaker. The snake catchers, ordered by the police chief, arrived at the venue with in fifteen minutes and successfully nabbed the terrorist snake. The News reader in the studio was lucky enough to get a live reaction from the MLA's daughter on the 'successful operation'. The viewers sighed in relief when the reporter on live coverage concluded with the 'all ended well' note with inputs from the family members.

But that was not all. There was more to come, from the news desk. A quick look into the archive and there was an increase in the instances of snakes sneaking into politicians residences, of late. This piece of information was sufficient to stretch the breaking news capsule with analytical inputs, definitely an edge over the other channels, in case anybody else had got the exclusive news.

A friend from Puttur was stunned to see this bulletin. He was already in a state of shock because of the response from one of the daily newspapers about his feature story on farmers' plight, the same day. He was asked to cut it short to 500 words as it was no more a prominent issue. And he was treated to the breaking news of the sneaker snake when he was still trying to find answer to the question what constitutes prominence for news media?

Marathon live coverage of the rescue operations to save a boy from the
abandoned bore well tube, from the same TV channel months ago, had raised questions about media responsibilities in reporting crisis and disasters.

The hype created by this coverage had led to premature announcement of
relief to the family of the child by the government, which in turn led to mass protest by the villagers and onlookers at the site of the rescue operations, who had gathered in thousands, thanks to the live coverage! The mob was sufficiently instigated to protest against the CM for not visiting the site, thanks again to reporter's observation on the serious lapse on the part of the CM.

TV viewers still remember the visuals of the poor street dogs declared as 'man eaters' and the fear it had created about the 'most trusted animal friend'. There is no difference of opinion about the fact that street dog menace has become an issue. But that does not mean all street dogs are man eaters, argued common people.

A young friend sitting next to me hints that the next breaking news on the channel - live coverage of rape!

Can news coverage get any more disgusting?

THANX to
Sathya S.

Bangalore
18 August, 07

Indian News Television Awards

2007-07-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

TV18 Group & NDTV win top honours at Indian News Television Awards; Prannoy
Roy gets Lifetime Achievement
Below is a detailed list of the winners:
S.No Category Winner Nominee Programme Channel
1 Best TV News Reporter - Hindi Upendra Rai Star News
2 Best TV News Reporter - English Shaili Chopra Power Lunch, Profit
At Night, Business Primetime NDTV Profit
3 Best TV News Anchor - Hindi Vinod Dua - NDTV India
4 Best TV News Anchor - English Barkha Dutt We the people &
Special NDTV 24x7
5 Best Promo Campaign By a News Channel Match Ke Mujrim - Star
News
6 Best Promo for any News show Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri Kaun
Banega Mukhyamantri Promo Star News
7 Best Promo for a News Channel CNBC AWAAZ Awaaz baby Film
Promo - India Speaks Business CNBC AWAAZ
8 Best Sports News Presenter - Hindi Darain Shahidi - IBN
7
9 Best Sports News Presenter - English Meha Bharadwaj Master
Selector CNN-IBN
10 Best Sports Reporting by a channel - Hindi Wah ! Cricket Wah
! Cricket Star News
11 Best Sports Reporting by a channel - English Rudraneil Sengupta -
Fifa world cup 06 Fifa world cup 06 CNN-IBN
12 Best Sports News Show - Hindi Jeeto India Jeeto Jeeto India
Jeeto NDTV India
13 Best Sports News Show - English The Game The Game
Times Now
14 Best Auto Show-Hindi Top Speed Top Speed Star News
15 Best Auto Show - English Auto Show Auto Show
CNBC-TV18
16 Best Business News Show - Hindi Dhan Daulat Dhan Daulat Aaj
Tak
17 Best Business News Show - English Axe The Tax Axe The
Tax(Citizen Journalist Special) CNN-IBN
18 Best Business Talk Show - Hindi Hum Honge Kamayaab Hum
Honge Kamayaab CNBC AWAAZ
19 Best Business Talk Show - English Young Turks Young Turks
CNBC-TV18
20 Best Business News Anchor - Hindi Pranjal Sharma Dhan Daulat
Aaj Tak
21 Best Business News Anchor - English Udayan Mukherjee -
CNBC-TV18
22 Best Investigative Reporting- Hindi Khabro Ki Khabar
Khabro Ki Khabar NDTV India
23 Best Investigative Reporting- English I am M K Subba I am M K
Subba CNN-IBN
24 Best Daily Newscast- Hindi Badi Khabar Badi Khabar Zee
News
25 Best Daily Newscast- English India At 9 India At 9
CNN-IBN
26 Best News Documentary Programme-Limited episodes-Hindi Special
Report Special Report NDTV India
27 Best News Documentary Programme-Limited episodes-English
Missing In Action Missing In Action CNN-IBN
28 Best Current Affairs Show (Home & International)- Hindi Khabron Ki
Khabar Khabron Ki Khabar NDTV India
29 Best Current Affairs Show (Home & International)- English
Nandigram : The Land Bleeds Nandigram : The Land Bleeds NDTV 24x7
30 Best Crime Show- Hindi Pardafash Pardafash CNBC AWAAZ
31 Best Crime Show- English Action City Action City
Times Now
32 Talk Show on a News Channel- Hindi Hum Log Hum Log NDTV India
33 Talk Show on a News Channel- English We The People -
Homosexuality Spl We The People - Homosexuality Spl NDTV 24x7
34 Best Lifestyle & Fashion News Show- English High Life High
Life Times Now
35 Best Lifestyle & Fashion News Show- Hindi Raat Baaki Raat
Baaki NDTV India
36 Best Entertainment News Show-English India Questions Amitabh
Bachchan India Questions Amitabh Bachchan NDTV 24x7
37 Best Entertainment News Show-Hindi Jai Jawan With Preity Zinta
Jai Jawan With Preity Zinta NDTV India
38 Lifetime Dr Prannoy Roy - -
39 Newsmaker Rajdeep Sardesai - -
40 Best English News channe; CNN-IBN - -
41 Best Hindi News Channel NDTV India
42 Best Business News Channel CNBC-TV

HEADLINES DATED 1ST JAN 2025

2007-07-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

1. President Sonia Gandhi and prime minister Priyanka Gandhi receive
Italian prime minister Rahul Gandhi.

2. Dhoom 17 ready for release.

3. I will play next world cup - Sachin Tendulkar

4. Salman, Vivek and Abhishek attend Aishwarya's 3rd marriage.

5. Mein tau aabhi jawan hu - Dev Anand.

6. Petrol Rs.999/lt.

7. Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi completed 2,50,000 episodes & Baa has
completed 400yrs.

8. Coach Ganguly resigns, as India went out of world cup in 1st round
after losing to Korea .

9. N.Siddhu will launch his own TV channal where he can speak for a whole
day.

10. Riots in the Parliament as the newly elected MP MALLIKA SHERAWAT
enters the assembly.

indian journalist shuld learn from Mika

2007-07-10T06:17:00.000-07:00

If you r a journalist, you have responsblity to do something newsworthy. A journalist refuses three times to lead with the Paris Hilton story while her co-anchors act like rude, demeaning, sexist jerks.
Mika Brzezinski, you've got a new fan. you are new news star. A lighter and paper shredder helped make Mika Brzezinski the symbol of television journalism's guilt trip about Paris Hilton.

Brzezinski used both to destroy a script calling for her to read about Hilton's release from jail on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program recently. Part serious, part an act, it has become an Internet sensation. More than 2 million people have watched a clip of the incident, about 10 times the number who watched it live on TV.

"Among journalists it touched a nerve because I think we're tired of pretending this is important," she said. "We also know that, deep down inside, our viewers know that we don't believe this is news. They can't. They can't think we're that dumb."

Brzezinski, who left CBS News last year, has been working as a news-reader and on-air foil for Joe Scarborough on the show MSNBC is trying out to replace Don Imus in the morning.

"Among journalists it touched a nerve because I think we're tired of pretending this is important," she said. "We also know that, deep down inside, our viewers know that we don't believe this is news. They can't. They can't think we're that dumb."

Brzezinski, who left CBS News last year, has been working as a news-reader and on-air foil for Joe Scarborough on the show MSNBC is trying out to replace Don Imus in the morning.

"Among journalists it touched a nerve because I think we're tired of pretending this is important," she said. "We also know that, deep down inside, our viewers know that we don't believe this is news. They can't. They can't think we're that dumb."

Brzezinski, who left CBS News last year, has been working as a news-reader and on-air foil for Joe Scarborough on the show MSNBC is trying out to replace Don Imus in the morning.

"Among journalists it touched a nerve because I think we're tired of pretending this is important," she said. "We also know that, deep down inside, our viewers know that we don't believe this is news. They can't. They can't think we're that dumb."

Media barons and press freedoms

2007-03-08T22:04:00.000-08:00

How relevant is the argument of a threat to freedom of the press in cases where the financial interests of a media baron could ostensibly conflict with that of the public? The question resurfaced recently in Andhra Pradesh over the Eenadu-Margadarsi controversy, writes B P Sanjay.

7 March 2007 - The tussle between the Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and media baron Ramoji Rao has been in the news for a while. The Eenadu group which owns a very successful Telugu newspaper celebrated for its innovative pullouts and local editions, twelve television channels, film production company and a film city, also runs a chit fund and financing company. It is also known for its anti-Congress stance.

The crux of the antipathy is the editorial stance on the CM by the newspaper and the chief minister's so called attempts to arm-twist Rao by probing his other business interests, the Margadarsi financiers. By a Government Order (GO) in December 2006, a committee headed by N Rangachary had been asked to ascertain "whether M/s. Margadarsi Financiers, carrying on business in Hyderabad and who have raised huge moneys from the members of the public by way of deposits are acting in any manner prejudicial to the interests of the depositors and whether they are likely to return the deposits collected from the public." This order was challenged by the company and the A.P. High Court had refused to stay the proceedings initiated by the A.P. government. The government proceeded to "seize" documents from the Margadarsi office recently and the Rangchary committee reported that depositors could expect about 49 paisa only for their rupee. All this was duly covered in the media. Ramoji Rao also issued a strongly worded rebuttal to the Rangachari committee report.

A related development was the filing of the Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court by Ramoji Rao with two senior journalists N Ram and Kuldip Nayyar who impleaded themselves in the petition. A threat to Freedom of the Press was invoked in the context of various actions by the state government, in probing the activities of the chit fund company. The affidavit filed before the Supreme Court goes on to suggest: "The freedom of press and the right to free speech enshrined in the Constitution are in grave danger and¡are part of the attempts of the State Government to silence Eenadu."

The editors guild had earlier issued a warning to the A.P. government that an attempt to search the offices of the media baron tantamount to an attack on the press. These developments, apart from motivations and agenda on either side have once again framed press freedom. The Hindu in an editorial (on December 23, 2006) that was faithfully carried by the Eenadu the next day described the situation in A.P. as reflecting a "Dangerous Intolerance" towards press criticism and invoked Nehruvian principles of press freedom.

Perhaps press freedom advocates find it difficult to understand the relationship between the business aspects of a media company, its political affiliation and the content of the media that is apparently intended to serve the public interest. But the truism that a free press has been defended in the past to mask among other aspects, the attacks on related business enterprises of a media company, has been reinforced in the current developments in Andhra Pradesh.

Eenadu's own well-known slant

Since Eenadu's launch in 1974 its editorial stance towards the Congress has not been friendly. Prior to its support to TDP (formed in 1982) the newspaper was aligned with the communists largely dominated by the Kamma community in coastal Andhra. The internal emergency declared during the Congress regime was another anti-Congress rallying point for Ramoji Rao. The paper's campaign for prohibition in the State opposed the Congress clique that then controlled the liquor business. And although the campaign did result in a prohibition policy, when this was subsequently lifted by the TDP, there was no similar critical reaction from the newspaper". The importance given to Telugu Desam and its leader in Eenadu is not lost on anyone.

Academicians who monitor the Telugu daily press do agree that the editorial stance of the Eenadu group is anti-Congress. Dr Satyaprakash, a communications faculty in the Hyderabad Central University sums up the Eenadu-Congress issue as follows: "Its critical reporting about the Congress since it unseated the TDP in the last election is more than evident and can be perceived by the lay reader as well. Since the Congress MP, Undavall Arun Kumar from Rajamundhry raised the issue of Margadarsi financiers, allegations and counter allegations have continued about the newspaper targeting the Congress and the Chief Minister using his state power to muzzle the paper by trying to destabilize the financial institutions of Ramoji Rao. Since the issue has been raised, Eenadu continues to feature stories and treats stories related to Margadarsi in a predictable manner. Other Telugu dailies do not miss to introduce the freedom of the press angle in their stories as they have a stake in the issue as well."

Coverage of the current controversy

The coverage of the raids conducted on the premises of the chit fund company by the state government was predictable. With the Deccan Chronicle carrying a front page story on the committee report pertaining to the chit fund company and the same story being tucked to an inside page by The Hindu, the alignment was evident. With N Ram, editor in chief of The Hindu impleading in the special leave petition filed in the Supreme Court by Ramoji Rao, the business association was transparent. It may be pointed out that The Hindu and Eenadu have a marketing alliance to leverage their combined readership base. "To enable our large circle of advertisers and clients to achieve their communication objectives for this market with immediate ease and efficiency, two leading media vehicles - The Hindu and Eenadu have come together to offer AP on a platter." This combined offer began in 2001.

The coverage in The Hindu was not necessarily in conformity with its claim of applying pure editorial values. The Rangachari report was relegated to the inside pages, as noted earlier, and the front page anchored a story on the furor over the searches of the chit fund company. Further almost an entire page barring the ad space was devoted to the story that included the gag order against the media (the backdrop to this story was evident), Ramoji Rao's response with his photograph and Jayalalithaa' s description of the raid as undemocratic. The Bharatiya Janata Party's response and Chandrababu Naidu meeting the governor were also given importance, along with defense of the ruling party that the raids, etc. was not in any way tantamount to an attack on the freedom of the press.

Additional coverage in the Deccan Chronicle focused on official action and justification in the inside pages, and included references to the protests against the raids spearheaded by the Telugu Desam party in particular.

There is another aspect, in addition to political alignments. There have been headlined media stories in the past highlighting the misdeeds of other chit fund companies and financial institutions. Alarmist reactions by the depositors have also been featured. Call it media power, the alarmist perspective is missing in this case. The episode is being treated as the hyper-critical attitude of the media baron towards the present state government. According to Ramoji Rao's SLP, the government's response of muzzling the media was intended at "financially destabilizing the media enterprise from running the daily Eenadu and 12 television channels."

The view of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court while refusing to stay the inquiry taken up by the state government into alleged irregularities of the Margadarsi group made a few observations that are valid in the context of media and editors' reaction to the raids. When Ramoji's counsel attributed malafide intentions to the chief minister, chief justice K G Balakrishnan commented according to the Deccan Chronicle, "Financial institutions are always in trouble. Why can't the government intervene?" At another point during the hearing, Justice Ravindran observed: "When the Chief Minister commits a mistake you pointed it out. Similarly, when you did wrong, the State government has acted. Your client (Mr. Ramoji Rao) is wearing two hats. One as a newspaper owner and the other as a proprietor of chit fund company." The intervener applications filed by N Ram and Kuldip Nayyar evoked a different reaction from the apex court. "It has nothing to do with the freedom of press. It is only a financial business."

The relationship between Freedom of the Press and the capitalist order is problematic especially in the context of the economics of media industry where both cross-media and vertical integration practices prevail. In cases where the interests of the media baron could ostensibly conflict with that of the public and their resources how relevant is the threat to freedom of the press argument? This is an important question as the public's right to know is enshrined in the RTI Act and media claims to be a champion of probing all matters that concern the public. By extension it cannot shirk from its primary role merely because the story refers to the same group.

See in the light of the raids on the chit fund company, the media's claim to transcend conflict of interest dynamics and posit a public interest dimension is once again under scrutiny. But when political and business interests converge to operate media enterprises, the pretense of public interest is exposed. The fragility of public discourse on matters that concern them is also evident. The poor public's right to know is always added as a defense to fight what apparently is the right or wrong practices of a company that is owned by a media baron.

The issue itself may die on a symbiotic note. The attitude of the media in this case although polarized depending on whose side you want to be is reflective of the enormous business stakes involved, the ethical dimension of corporate affairs reporting, including the financial and other interests of the media owners. The Supreme Court at least by drawing the sharp line between financial interests and press freedom has been explicit in highlighting this issue. ¨’

B P Sanjay
7 Mar 2007

B P Sanjay is a Professor of Communication, Hyderabad Central University, Hyderabad.

Saints turn radio jockey in Bihar

2007-02-17T03:28:00.000-08:00

People across the country tune in to FM radios to catch popular music. But in a remote corner of Bihar, people have become ardent listeners to spiritual teachings, broadcast not from radio station, but a poverty-stricken saint community that vows to enlighten the society.

In Bhagalpur, Bihar, Sant Gyanmukh Ashhram through its makeshift FM station broadcasts programs on spirituality and even spearheads an anti-dowry campaign.

“The holy men here broadcast good programmes. They tell us about good deeds and positive thoughts,” says Pappu, a local villager who begins his day by listening to this local FM channel.

Though the channel doesn’t have a license, it has become immensely popular among the locals. “They sing about the evils of dowry system. Everybody listens to the programmes with joy. We learn a lot,” says Yogendra Prasad, villager.

The ashram authorities say they are trying to enlighten the locals. “Our elected representatives look for a chance to take advantage of people. We educate people about their rights and duties to protect them from harm,” said Yogesh Gyan Swarup, Saint.

With this local initiative, the ashram plans to catch up with big-time saints like Asha Ram Bapu. And for the locals, it’s good music to the ears.

Pulitzer Center seeks to shed light on under-reported issues

2007-01-11T01:20:00.000-08:00

English speaking print and broadcast journalists interested in drawing attention to issues of global importance, particularly under-reported issues, can apply for a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to cover their travel expenses.
The Pulitzer Center, an independent division of the World Security Institute (WSI), was established in 2006. Sponsored by the Pulitzer family, the main goal of the center is to raise the standard of reporting on global affairs.
Grants are usually awarded in the region of US$3,000 but proposals up to a maximum of US$20,000 will be considered.
Interested applicants should prepare a short project proposal in 250 words or less and include a plan for how they intend to distribute the final report within the mainstream media.
Project proposals should be submitted with a budget estimate, a C.V., three professional references and three samples of recent work.
Applications are accepted throughout the year.
For more information or to send proposals, email info@pulitzercenter .org, or visit http://www.pulitzer center.org

Shame on THEM

2006-07-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

The government has instructed Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block 12 websites. The order has come in the wake of the Mumbai bomb blasts, and these websites are perceived to be anti-India. Unfortunately, one of these is blogger or blogspot.com, a Google affiliated site which hosts millions of blogs worldwide.
This is totally ridicolous.They cant stop bombings and killing of hundreds of innocent ppl,c mumbai train blasts. And by banning blogs , they are trying to curb terrorism?
Shame on THEM

Fake Awards & Special Journalists of our times!

2006-07-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

When we talk of journalism, journalistic activism, media's socialresponsibility and accountability, let's never forget about thejournalism awards which are being given anually in the name of manyrenowned journalists, sponsored by big press lords like The IndianExpress and by the Indian government's agencies like publicationdivision and others. These awards are in the sense of utmostimportance as they try to create role models in our society for theupcoming journalists who aspire to get these awards in the future.This topic will prove to be a bone of contention between many, as Ithink. It will create a large number of foes infact rather thanfriends, but this cannot be avoided to be mentioned in the publicdomain. Last week, a prestigious journalism award was given in theFICCI auditorium. We all know that the award which is being given inthe name of deceased journalist Udayan Sharma is of great value notonly in terms of the amount, it attracts almost all the media peoplein Delhi every year in its function. So I was also there as I was lastyear in Teenmurti Bhawan. I with most of my journalist friends wasexpecting good names to come out this year for these awards, butshockingly we all were taken aback when the names got announced. Let'sassume that I don't take the names, but then the readers will alreadyget to know the names, so no point in avoiding them.The first award for journalism and photography was given to the Sikarreporter of Rajasthan Patrika and its photographer. To cut short, justtell you that Rajasthan Patrika group had donated Rs. One Lakh to theUdayan Sharma Foundation recently. It's very easy to connect these twoincidents. Now the special awards for journalism were given to two ofmy aquaintances...first to Sanjay Verma of Navbharat Times and theother to Archana Rajhans of Janmat TV. (Sanjay Verma is there asAssistant Editor for a long time but Archana has joined Janmatrecently as a Copy Editor and this is her first job. She has recentlycompleted her diploma in journalism from Guru Jambeshwar University,Hissar by correspondence.) Sanjay was awarded because he had done astory on the Googles's website Google Earth. This was not a veryoriginal report as many of us know about this website from a longtime, just to write about it and pose it as a danger to nationalsecurity does not invite an award of this stature.Archana was givenaward for her coverstory in Jansatta...I don't know which one. She hasdone some coverstories on Khabar Laharia, role of women in villagepanchayats and community radio. To cut short, the community radiomatter was copied from an academic book, village panchayat matter wastaken from Charkha and rest...you can easily guess if you know herGodfather in Delhi media...Mr. Prasoon Latant of Jansatta.To remind our readers, Mr. Prasoon Latant got the same award lastyear...this was justified as he has done lot of grassroot writing inthe last ten years or more and he deserved it. But then, how comeArchana Rajhans fit into the criterion? The same question for SanjayVerma who regularly writes Pustak Parichay in Navbharat Times andarticles by the name Sanjay Verma "Uday" in different dailies bycopying from internet and translating them. Is this journalism? HasArchana visited any of the village panchayats, has she done reportingat grassroot level? Then, what are her credentials? Just because thesetwo send their applications for the award...the jury consisting ofsenior editors like Madhusoodan Anand of NBT, Ramkripal Singh of AajTak (previously NBT) and Mr. Rahul Dev (related to Janmat) is not aneasy one to have a ride on. Then did they inquire about thecredentials of these journalists?Let me tell you something more interesting. A few days ago, acoverstory appeared in the Jansatta Ravivari about the strengtheningvillage panchayats bylined Vimal Gupt. Vimal Ji is the wife of ShriRajkishor, our revered writer...confucious of Hindi literature as oncequoted by Anamika in one of her reviews in Jansatta on Rajkishor'spoetry "Paap Ke Din". This was a planted story, according to thesources from Jansatta just to snatch an award by Rajkishor on hiswife's name. The award was in five figures given by the Indian SocialInstitute. Now, have you seen today's Jansatta? There is a coverstoryon the role of women in the village panchayats bylined Prasoon Latant.Sources revealed that this story was also planted just for the sake ofgrabbing the same award, bur Prasoon ji missed by a whisker. The lastdate of publishing the story was July 15th but unfortunately it gotpublished on the 16th i.e. today. I think he will use this story forthe award next year.The whole equation of getting published by strategically copying andplanting the story does not end here only. One of my freelancerfriends had done a column in the last issue of India Today named"Srijan Samwad" on Asgar Wazahat. Why? He had an interview on 14thi.e. day before yesterday in Jamia for M.Phil. He is expecting to getselected. Many of these creatures are continously in search of gettingbenefits from their planted stories and I know them, but I think thesenames will suffice. The rest you people know about the Alok Mehtacase. He was called in Shruti program of NSD to read excerpts from hisnew novel...after some days Devendra Raj Ankur got a column in OutlookHindi. You can easily trace this type of Give And Take instances inthe Delhi media circle, no one speaks about these things and workingin media becomes a tragedy.We never have any personal grudge on these types of issues, butshouldn't they be revealed in the public arena? And if our seniors areinvolved in these heinous crimes, what will be the fate of the socalled fourth estate in our country? This is true that awards do notdecide the journalistic and writing capabilities of a person, but atleast they are a recognisation of good work being done in the media.Has someone wondered why Ramnath Goenka award always goes to thereporters of Express group and NDTV? Why Kanchana Smriti Award wentto the reporter of Jansatta Pratibha Shukla? People who know thecredentials and capabilities of Pratibha can explain better. We arenot here to point at the incapabilities of someone, just to raisethese questions.If you are of the same opinion as we, then we expect that you willraise these questions wherever you are and expose the connections ofthe journalists, stories and awards so that the real spirit does notget marginalised in this largest democracy of the world.

PLZ wait 3-4 days

2006-03-18T07:25:00.000-08:00

I m out of station , i shall publishd previous yr question in my blog u may see there after 3-4 days.

Admission Notice 2006-2007

2006-03-18T07:24:00.000-08:00

Admission Notice 2006-2007

An Internationally-known centre for training and research in Mass Communication, IIMC is an autonomous body funded by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India.
Applications are invited for the admission in the following Courses:
1. Post-graduate Diploma Course in Journalism (English), New Delhi & Dhenkanal branch (Orissa)
2. Post-graduate Diploma Course in Journalism (Hindi), New Delhi
3. Post-graduate Diploma Course in Radio & Television Journalism, New Delhi
4. Post-graduate Diploma Course in Advertising and Public Relations, New Delhi
5. Post-graduate Diploma Course in Journalism (Oriya) Dhenkanal branch (Orissa)
DURATION : August 2006 to April 2007
ELIGIBILITY : Bachelor's degree in any discipline. Those who have appeared/appearing final degree examination are also eligible to apply.
DATE OF BIRTH : 1.8.1981 or later (for SCs/STs 1.8.1976 or later).
NO. OF SEATS : 40 each in Course No. 1&2 and 30 in Course No. 3. and 45 in Course No. 4 and 15 in Course No. 5. Llimited number of seats available for NRIs/NRIs sponsored.
RESERVATION OF SEATS : As per Government of India Orders.
MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION AND EXAMINATION : Hindi and/or English and Course No. 5 in Oriya.
HOSTEL: Delhi: Limited seats only for outstation girl candidates .
Dhenkanal: Excellent facilities for both boys and girls.
FEE : Courses No.1 & 2 Rs. 23,000 each, Course No. 3 Rs. 52,000, Course No. 4. Rs. 33,000 and Course No. 5 Rs. 14,000.
ENTRANCE EXAMINATION : 20 May, 2006 at the centres mentioned in the prospectus.
INTERVIEW : First week of July, 2006
Course 1, 2, 3 & 4--in New Delhi
For Course 5 --in Dhenkanal (Orissa)
APPLICATIONS :
1. Application forms can be purchased in person or by Post.
Application forms and prospectus can be obtained on payment of Rs.350/- through a demand draft only, drawn on any scheduled bank payable at New Delhi from IIMC New Delhi or Dhenkanal branch (Orissa). Request for application forms should be accompanied with Demand Draft & a self-addressed stamped (Rs. 25) envelope (27!17 cm). Completed application forms along with Demand Draft for Rs 350/- for General Category and Rs. 200/- for SC/ST/Physically Handicapped Category drawn in favour of IIMC, New Delhi as entrance examination fee should reach on or before April 15, 2006.
2. For on-line Application process
The application form can be filled online at www.iimc.nic.in.Each application form must be accompanied by a Demand Draft for Rs. 700/- for General & Rs. 550/- for SC/ST/Physically handicapped categories drawn in favour of Registrar, IIMC New Delhi. Application forms filled online will be accepted only after receipt of the requisite examination fee by post/ in person. Last date for receipt of application forms & DD is April 15, 2006.
3. Important :
The sale of application forms will commence at IIMC New Delhi and Dhenkanal branch from 8 March 2006. Application form/entrance examination for course No. 1, 2 is common. There are separate application forms/ entrance examinations for course No.3, 4 & 5. Candidates who wish to apply for all Courses Viz Journalism (course 1 & 2), Radio & TV Journalism (course No. 3) Advertising and Public Relations (course No. 4) and Journalism (Course No. 5) will have to fill separate application forms.
Last date for issue of application forms inperson/post is April 7, 2006. Completed application forms with DD should reach to Registrar, IIMC, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110067 on or before April 15, 2006.
For Information Contact : 011-26184073, 2 6171352 (New Delhi)/06762-226194, 226196 (Dhenkanal branch)
Fax : 011-26107462, 26166532 (New Delhi)/06762-226195, 226197 (Dhenkanal branch)
website : www.iimc.nic.in

There is no need for world space* RED* MIRCHICITY ( EK BIHARI SAB PAR BHARI)

2006-03-08T03:52:00.000-08:00

It may well be the only village FM radio station on the Asian sub-continent. It is certainly illegal.
The transmission equipment, costing just over $1, may be the cheapest in the world.
But the local people definitely love it.
On a balmy morning in India's northern state of Bihar, young Raghav Mahato gets ready to fire up his home-grown FM radio station.
Thousands of villagers, living in a 20km (12 miles) radius of Raghav's small repair shop and radio station in Mansoorpur village in Vaishali district, tune their $5 radio sets to catch their favourite station.
After the crackle of static, a young, confident voice floats up the radio waves.
"Good morning! Welcome to Raghav FM Mansoorpur 1! Now listen to your favourite songs," announces anchor and friend Sambhu into a sellotape-plastered microphone surrounded by racks of local music tapes.
For the next 12 hours, Raghav Mahato's outback FM radio station plays films songs and broadcasts public interest messages on HIV and polio, and even snappy local news, including alerts on missing children and the opening of local shops.
Raghav and his friend run the indigenous radio station out of Raghav's thatched-roof Priya Electronics Shop.
Ingenious
The place is a cramped $4-a-month rented shack stacked with music tapes and rusty electrical appliances which doubles up as Raghav's radio station and repair shop.

I just did it out of curiosity and increased its area of transmission every year
Raghav MahatoHe may not be literate, but Raghav's ingenuous FM station has made him more popular than local politicians.
Raghav's love affair with the radio began in 1997 when he started out as a mechanic in a local repair shop. When the shop owner left the area, Raghav, son of a cancer-ridden farm worker, took over the shack with his friend.
Sometime in 2003, Raghav, who by now had learned much about radio mechanics, thought up the idea of launching an FM station.
It was a perfect idea. In impoverished Bihar state, where many areas lack power supplies, the cheap battery-powered transistor remains the most popular source of entertainment.
"It took a long time to come up with the idea and make the kit which could transmit my programmes at a fixed radio frequency. The kit cost me 50 rupees (just over $1)," says Raghav.
The transmission kit is fitted on to an antenna attached to a bamboo pole on a neighbouring three-storey hospital.
A long wire connects the contraption to a creaky, old homemade stereo cassette player in Raghav's radio shack. Three other rusty, locally made battery-powered tape recorders are connected to it with colourful wires and a cordless microphone.

The radio station is a repair shop and studio rolled into oneThe shack has some 200 tapes of local Bhojpuri, Bollywood and devotional songs which Raghav plays for his listeners.
Raghav's station is truly a labour of love - he does not earn anything from it. His electronic repair shop work brings him some two thousand rupees ($45) a month.
The young man, who continues to live in a shack with his family, doesn't know that running a FM station requires a government licence.
"I don't know about this. I just began this out of curiosity and expanded its area of transmission every year," he says.
Local hero
So when some people told him sometime ago that his station was illegal, he actually shut it down. But local villagers thronged his shack and persuaded him to resume services again.
It hardly matters for the locals that Raghav FM Mansoorpur 1 does not have a government license - they just love it.

Raghav makes his living from repairing electronic goods"Women listen to my station more than men," he says. "Though Bollywood and local Bhojpuri songs are staple diet, I air devotional songs at dawn and dusk for women and old people."
Since there's no phone-in facility, people send their requests for songs through couriers carrying handwritten messages and phone calls to a neighbouring public telephone office.
Raghav's fame as the 'promoter' of a radio station has spread far and wide in Bihar.
People have written to him, wanting work at his station, and evinced interest in buying his 'technology'.
"But I will never share the secret of my technology with anyone. This is my creation. How can I share it with somebody who might misuse it?" he asks.
"With more powerful and advanced chips and equipment I can make a kit which could be transmitted up to 100km or even more."
A government radio engineer in Bihar's capital, Patna, says it is possible to use a homemade kit to run a FM radio station.

The station is a rage with listeners in the area"All it needs is an antenna and transmitting equipment. But such stations offer no security. Anyone can invade and encroach such locally made transmitters," says HK Sinha of India's state-run broadcaster All India Radio (AIR).
But people in Mansoorpur are in awe of Raghav's radio station and say it gives their village an identity.
"The boy has intense potential, but he is very poor. If the government lends him some support, he would go far," says Sanjay Kumar, an ardent fan of his station.
But for the moment Raghav FM Mansoorpur 1 rocks on the local airwaves, bring joy into the lives of the locals.

r u feeling bore??? go to mast blog

2006-03-01T02:37:00.000-08:00

i m looking so many iimc aspirant land in my blog. so i think, it will better for them,they watch regularly news and after they feel bore and want to abuse the news and news channel. they can look http://www.warfornews.blogspot.com/ ( The All Seeing Spy presents The War for News). and send ur comment to allseeingspy@yahoo.com . a final analysis of three indian english news channel (* CNN-IBN, NDTV & TIMES NOW ). it looks some one who is working in gud position is bloging. so u can spent some time regularly. its a gud blog.

Do you believe

2006-01-10T02:09:00.000-08:00

Do you believe in love at first sight???
I absolutely believe in it. today i hav fallen in love with someone.
I think we don't know each other,nothing had ever happened between us.
But i would like to ask her, if she can remember - one time meet, talk on phone.
but I know the answer.No, she don't remember.
But every beginning is only a continuation.

A Down To Earth reporter refused a windfall to not do this story

2005-12-28T06:55:00.000-08:00

It's not every day that an innocuous email from a geophysicist leads you to a prime ministerial residence that is big time real estate. And we aren't talking 7 Race Course Road. I had to check out the villages of Prini and Jagatsukh near Manali, Himachal Pradesh, which had complaints against a proposed 192-megawatt hydro power project costing Rs 992 crore on the Allain and Duhangan rivers. Its proponent: the lng Bhilwara group, better known for the 'Mayur' brand of textiles, and a Norwegian concern. The project's environmental impact assessment (eia) report was flawed, reportedly.
It was one of those stories one wasn't quite sure of. I had phoned up a known academic, who had been an independent observer appointed by the International Finance Corporation (ifc), an arm of the World Bank which has a 10 per cent stake in the project. He'd told me the environmental and social impact assessment (esia), done to meet the ifc guidelines, was faulty and based on data from 1993-94.
He'd mentioned the project now incorporated the critique of ifc . I had also called up a social activist, who follows such cases avidly. He'd told me the project had violated eia norms by not holding a public hearing. I finished my assignments in Pathankot and got on to a rickety bus to Manali. I got my first 'quote' while still on it. A man from Prini was on board."The project is a blessing and has created employment in the area," he said. After a while, he quietly noted that his brother was a project contractor. On reaching Manali, I called a person who, the geophysicist had told me, was opposed to the project. "I was a key member of the movement against the project. But they are my employers now," he told me. He gave me a name and phone number of a person who was part of the protest. Ditto. After going through a chain of hesitant ex-protestors now employed by the project proponents, I managed to speak to one person who was willing to talk openly.
Dinesh Sharma, 34, the pandit of Jagatsukh, returned to his village after graduation in Delhi, and also runs a local environmental ngo. "The project was proposed in 1993. But we found out only in 2003, after it had been cleared," he complained. He took me to meet others. Among them was Sanjeev Sharma, who said: "When we asked project officials, we discovered to our disbelief that along with all government clearances, the project proponents had no-objection-certificates (nocs) from the sarpanchs (heads of village panchayat) of both Jagatsukh and Prini." Vidya Prakash Bharadwaj of Jasgatsukh elaborated: "When we approached the local political leaders and government officials, protesting this secrecy, they branded us as anti-national."
Pannalal, 76, laid out the villagers' objections: "After boulders fell on village women from the construction site, we got angry. We insisted the full reports of the project and its environment and social impact be made available in Hindi. We demanded a public hearing. Who will tell us how the diversion of Duhangan river will affect irrigation of paddy fields downstream?"
It was then that Dinesh Sharma and other residents of the two villages wrote an email to ifc. The villagers commended the role of ifc, which pulled up the Allain Duhangan Hydro Power Limited ( adhpl) for violation of esia norms — this was the corporation's first investment in India. Ashok Joshi, project director of adhpl, later told me: "We had everything cleared until we entered into an agreement with ifc."
Later, I got a phone call from an adhpl employee — no point naming him. A meeting was arranged for 'site-seeing'. While ferreting personal information from me, he tried to dissuade me from doing the story. I got broad hints of a job offer: liaison officer with a monthly salary of Rs 40,000 and a Tata Indica car. He showed me a house where I could settle — after getting married. "Then came the sweet assurance: "We know your editor very well."
I proceeded to Prini, where I wasn't allowed to speak to the sarpanch who had given the project the noc in 1997. Her father-in-law Karamchand headed the protest against the project. Then things changed: "We were fooled by some activists. But we don't want to go against national interests now." Prini, it later became apparent, was by and large supportive of adhpl — the village of 700, where former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has a summer abode, has several instant lakhpatis. Land prices are up from Rs 7,000 per bigha to Rs 1,25,000 per bigha. Jindu Ram was paid Rs 1.2 crore for his land that went into the project. He parks his brand new Hyundai Sonata in Manali. Village roads aren't fit for the luxury car. Then came the most startling revelation: the geophysicist who'd written to us had become a adhpl consultant.

NEWS GOES CRAZY

2005-12-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

High Drama Hindi news channels have transformed news by making it hysterical. They are broadcasting events that used to be considered unworthy of reporting, and they are covering them in ways that are dramatic and comical but very honestly Indian. Meenakshi Sinha reports the old-fashioned way.Without a mike

You don’t have to be famous and dead anymore to be on TV for hours. Being plain ridiculous will do. Like Gajraj from Barauli village who claimed that he met Yamraj, the traditionally deepthroated god of death. Gajraj not only remembered having Coke and popcorn on his way to meeting Yamraj, but also recalled seeing the god seated on a buffalo and flaunting a big moustache. “There was too much light against a white backdrop where he sat,” he narrated on national television. Gajraj even remembered Yamraj’s enquiry committee suddenly realising that they had got the wrong man. In fact, he clearly recollected how Yamraj reprimanded his attendant, “Ullu ke pathey, yeh kisko utha layey ho.” Thus Gajraj returned to Earth and thus he lived to tell this tale on Aaj Tak — Sabze Tez. A panel discussion followed in the studio where expertsand a psychiatrist discussed death, previous birth and other related matters.
That Gajraj’s story was carried for over two hours on national television is only another pointer to the way language news channels have altered the definition of news, and in the process, transformed their own fortunes. These channels are almost always showing that curious thing called, ‘exclusive’. It must be their high journalistic standards that prevent them from calling their weather reports, ‘breaking news’. In their quest for maximum viewership, language news channels may appear shrill and hilariously dramatic but it has to be said that they have contributed the first real innovation in Indian cable. Somewhere along their evolution, they stopped pretending that news is a transaction between one serious man and another. They left the geriatrics of Indian politics that not many really cared about, and scoured the streets of middle India to find entertaining stories that best reflected the realities of this country.

Englishnews channels are suddenly looking like Nirad C Chaudhary. Their Hindi rivals are running away with huge advertising revenues by airing live stories like those of Gajraj and Kuni Lal from Madhya Pradesh who predicted his own death (wrongly, it transpired). As the time of his foretold death neared, reporters went into a frenzy, cameras zoomed on to a frail man sitting with his hands folded inside a temple. They even got his wife's poignant quote, “inko toh pehle se he malum tha kab jayengey”. When he survived the death he had himself portended, those experts who seem to have a lot of spare time discussed through studio panels, the apparent science behind astrological predictions. A little girl who claimed to recount her past life too was given excellent treatment on prime time. In the name of reality TV, a news channel let an anchor cover her own wedding. She wielded the mike in between her mehndi and other ceremonies. The camera followed her on the customary arrival at the husband’s home, but prudently stopped short of covering the first night. The English-speaking, almost refined types of this country, may raise their eyebrows in disdain at all that is going on in what are called ‘language channels’, but the truth is that it’s when such stories hit the air that the news finds soaring ratings, clearly exposing what the majority actually wants. “If certain programmes affect people by large, I don’t see any reason why we should not air them,” says Raju Santhan, editor, Zee News. Forever gone are the days when news telecast entailed ribbon-cutting by ministers, inaugurating a bridge or a portrait of a political leader followed by insufferable speeches. “Though the format was handed to us by DD, is that news?” questions Uday Shankar, CEO and editor, Star News, who had earlier launched the first 24-hour news channel Aaj Tak five years ago, and made a success out of it. Shankar readily admits that the distinction between entertainment and news is blurring. “Newspapers have the advantage of separate pullouts like the lifestyle, food, travel and entertainment supplements. In TV, it’s a linear progression.” Therefore there’s a method to the madness. Stories of human interest, a celebrity caught in a controversy, sadhus and their unholy escapades, flesh trade in the name of massage parlours, a couple in love and on the run against family pressure are all forms of news which have little or nothing to do with what’s traditionally called, ‘national interest’. But this is the type of news that is broadening the base of news channels. These days, it’s not just grim unhappy fathers who watch news as the heavy dinner is being digested. Now, everybody watches news. Especially women who by far matter more to most of those companies with huge ad budgets. In the past two years, average news viewing share increased to roughly 55 minutes in 24 hours. Television news advertising revenues are over Rs 500 crore a year, and growing. Shankar calls the current state of Hindi news channels experimentation. Many would even say that it is a successful experimentation. But other television journalists who have largely resisted the temptation of bringing the circus into the studio are not so kind in their analyses. Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN, says: “Ultimately credibility of the news channel will be the final calling. A Kunji Lal story or a previous birth episode may get one the TRPs for a few days, but people will eventually flock to channels which showcase credible news.” Sreenivasan Jain, resident editor, NDTV 24x7, Mumbai, says that fierce competition among news channels has produced, “a kind of lawlessness”. He complains that when one channel lowers the bar, “everybody jumps the gun. We have to resist the urge to stoop to the lowest common denominator. But I feel that there are people even in those (Hindi) channels who feel uncomfortable with such stories, because we are all journalists atthe end of the day”. The battle between the artiste and the baniya is as old as the battle between good and evil itself, with exactly the same promise that the war will continue till the end of time. While journalistic standards is a readily granted virtue like morality, though nobody is fully sure what the two are, the compulsion of Hindi news channels to worship drama is easy to understand. The day Star News aired the story of some youth in a Faridabad ashram, it dislodged Aaj Tak as the market leader. The story was about young men and women who were holed up in the ashram against the wishes of their families. Star News went live from the temple gates showing some kind of a guru, his rebellious disciples and their families caught in a war of words. These days, when a bomb explodes or a mob wife is interviewed, news channels bag 18-19% of satellite viewership. According to Shankar, a layman is primarily interested in his routine and not national or regional politics. “Why should we cover Laloo who lied his way through? Besides, how many people’s lives are affected by political news?” The policy for broadcast news is simple — ‘Compelling TV’ is the new phrase coined in newsrooms across channels. The story, packaging or the visuals have to be attentiongrabbing and simply compelling. “The viewer, whether on the channel by appointment or by mere surfing, must be compelled to stop and absorb,” says Siddhartha Gupta, director, Channel 7. In this milieu, it is easy to understand the lure of crime news. Across all channels, crime journalists are becoming the news brahmins of television. At the top of the heap is Sansani, a hysterical crime bulletin anchored appropriately by Shrivardhan Trivedi, a man with theatre background, who gives a daily account of the latest crime from across the country. One may have many opinions about Mr Trivedi, but when he is screaming at the camera, it’s difficult to change the channel. And that, news channels say, is exactly what they want more than the fair play awards.

Female News Anchors in MMS?

2005-11-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

As you sow, so you reap. I was reminded of these age-old words of wisdom when two disgraceful incidents related to television reached my ears. One day, during my recent visit to Central Production Centre of Doordarshan, I got a call from one of my friends in NDTV wanting to share a juicy story.
He whispered, "An MMS carrying 'hot pictures' of three female anchors (from three different news channels) is being circulated in the Delhi's under-market." Ironically, all three girls are Delhi-based and well-known television faces.
Naturally, the MMS has already been viewed by a large number of journalists in the city. These girls are red with embarrassment and one has reportedly even left the city to save face.
The second incident is no less thought provoking. India TV - always on the lookout for slime and sleaze - rehashed an old footage of Govinda meeting Dawood as a breaking news and cried foul the day through.
The story hit the actor-politician Govinda hard and he was found defending his position in media. To stretch the breaking-news further perhaps, India TV contacted Govinda to have his latest take under the garb of taking his version in the form of an interview.
Govinda found this as a good opportunity to hit back when he learnt that the intended interview would be live and the interviewer Rajat Sharma himself.
Soon after the interview started, Govinda countered Rajat with the unimaginably embarrassing personalised counter-questions about his personal credibility and character.
The viewers had a hearty laugh combined with sadistic pleasure. The channel chief had a tough time hiding his sweat.
Both these incidents became the talk of the media circle and TV journalists were stumped, not knowing what to do.
I have not seen even a single word written on this issue so far. Some of them wondered who will write about it and how? And when my friends from various media houses urged me to pen down the same in one of my columns, I reflected on the entire episode.
What concerned me the most was to see the attitude change amongst the mud-throwers when some of them stood drenched publicly. The other side of the no-holds-bar journalism has started unveiling its face.
Media, which was irresponsible enough to reveal the identity of the MMS victim of DPS RK Puram through indirect suggestions and shots, is hiding its face today. I can understand the plight of the female journalists (of which I know one couple very well), and I consider them victims too.
But these incidents, I hope, serve as an eye-opener to all those guardians of morality in the Fourth Estate who think they would not be judged by the parameters of judgment they set for others.
They were proved wrong - thanks to the growing abuse of technology and increasing critical understanding of media's functioning among the media's users. Taking lessons from such mistakes, it seems, the recent Delhi's bomb blast was given quite a sensible coverage this time.
Though Jagran seemed settling its own scores on the tragedy, most of the other channels tried to mind their words. Aaj Tak took the lead in restraining itself from fishing in troubled water and others did not hesitate to follow.
These days, we hear a lot about development journalism. What does this term mean?
The term is simple. This is a kind of journalism which deals with the issues pertaining to the development of the nation as a whole (not just its over-fed urbanised middle class viewers and their make-believe problems) be it urban poor, or its hilly, mofussil and rural segments.
This term has gained currency in the past few years because of the advent of private players in the television news business. It is often complained that news media, because of its commercial compulsions of circulation and TRPs, do not accommodate the issues of development journalism.
It overlooks the issues related to the 70 per cent of India. Hence, a strong case in favour of development journalism exists.

By Vartika Nanda
(Vartika Nanda is Associate Professor, Television Journalism at the India Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Contact at
vartikananda@yahoo.com)

Demography of IIMC

2005-10-23T06:09:00.000-07:00

Sometime back Hindu published an article about a survey, which said that BBC tends to provide more jobs to women than men. This is what actually happening in the service sector jobs world over not only in media and Indian media is following suit. It seems that thousands of years of atrocity upon women is paying rich dividend now and they r fastly replacing the male dominancy from top-paid and the 'brain' sector. Fine, this is the era of women empowerment, sorry, women emancipation [empowerment is somewhat conservative like women liberty]. A noted Hindi writer and editor of Hans [Hindi monthly] says that this service sector is basically the 'savarna sector' where all the English speaking and techno savvy grand sons of old pre-90s Brahmnical landlord are getting jobs, and therefore there is no scope for the larger section of society.
But the news is, women emancipation is rocking IIMC. Have a glance at data.... This time Radio and Television Department (RTV) admitted 23 girls out of 34; the figure was 6 in last batch (A miraculous, increase in the I.Q of fairer sex). Figures are same for EJ and AD&PR as usual except HJ, though there is also a +ve trend. Sources at IIMC and the barons say that this is the demand of the market and we are reforming the demography of RTV. But what they hesitate to accept is that there is a great need for reform in faculty and admission process. There must be a English test for all the Department, like the CAT and a personality development module in syllabus rather than teaching communication theory and laws. They do not focus on practical aspects; almost half of the session is spent on futile theories. There must be a database of Media Barons, which includes their phone no., e-mail id, their background and Residential addresses. Also there must be a placement officer drawing a hefty Salary as IIMC barons get. He must have more than 10 years of experience in Media and should have good networking skills. It seems that IIMC has become a good pasture for retired Media persons, who are incapable of doing anything in the present media scenario post-90s. There should also be a performance review committee for the faculty, which submits its report every year to the governing council.
I think girls need not worry because market is in their favour. (Sorry, for speaking the truth)But the question is still there, whether this unsolicited suggestion will help the boys in getting the job… I think it will…….

Thanx 2 Susant(RTV-2004-05) for this

Harassment of bloggers :IIPM (Arindam Chaudhuri ) has issued legal notice to the blogger

2005-10-17T05:42:00.000-07:00

Harassment of bloggers seems to be catching up. Arindam Chaudhuri of Indian Institute of Planning & Management (IIPM), New Delhi who has recently launched a business magazine as well seems to be repeating the TOI act. These two articles "The fraud that is IIPM" & "The Truth About IIPM's Tall Claims" has disturbed IIPM Boss.For details read:

http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.com/2005/08/fraud-that-is-iipm.html

IIPM has issued legal notice to the blogger, a copy of which is on the web. This blogger had to quit his job with IBM for his views about IIPM advertisements.

Earlier The Times of India hit an Indian blogger, Pradyuman Maheshwari with a defamation case in response to his criticism of TOI at Mediaah!, his blog. Mediaah! (http://mediaah.blogspot.com) was a weblog that called itself "The Media's Media". Maheshwari is a senior journalist. As a consequence, the blog was shut down. The blogger did not have sufficient funds to fight TOI.
As of now there does not seem to be any specific laws for blogging and the rights of a blogger.

Re-incarnation of Sub-editors

2005-10-10T04:28:00.000-07:00

yeh meetings yeh stories yeh feature ki duniya
yeh insaan ke dushman, quark ki duniya
yeh deadlines ke bhookhe, editors ki duniya
yeh page agar ban bhi jayee to kya hai.
yahan ek khilona hai sub-editor ki hasti
yeh basti hai murda reporters ki basti
yahan par to raises se inflation hi sasti
yeh appraisal agar ho bhi jayee to kya hai ?
har ek computer ghayal har ek news hi baasi
designers mein uljhan photographers mein udassi
yeh office hai ya aalame management ki
circulation agar badh bhi jayee to kya hai?
jallaa do, jalaa do ise,
phoonk dalo yeh monitor
mere naam ka hata do yeh user thumahra hai
tumhi sambhalo yeh computer
yeh paper agar chal bhi jayee to kya hai?

secular rethink

2005-10-05T03:54:00.000-07:00

The bi-lingual essay competition was held in collaboration with the Indian Express and attracted as many as 600 entries from across India. CfP and the Indian Express plan to make this an annual competition.At the prize distribution function, the two prize winning essays (Hindi and English) will be read out, and there will be a discussion among some of the judges and organizers about some of the issues the contest raised. CfP will also release a booklet that contains the shortlisted essays in both languages, as well as excerpts from several other entries.
The judges were:(English)
Anu Aga
Nalini Malani
Sudheendra Kulkarni
Ramachandra Guha
Samar Harlankar, Resident Editor, Indian Express
Dilip D'Souza
(Hindi)
Anjum Rajabali
Ashutosh Gowarikar
Shikha Trivedi
Tarun Vijay
Kumar Ketkar, Editor, Loksatta
Rajni Bakshi
Third prizes go to: (English) Uma Mahadevan-Dasgupta, Bombay
(Hindi) Chandan Kumar Srivastava, New Delhi
Second prizes:(English) LH Naqvi, New Delhi
(Hindi) Pratibha Misra, Varanasi
Winners:(English) Shashi Warrier, Coimbatore
(Hindi) Bhanwar Meghwanshi,

soorry frens

2005-10-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

dear frens

now i m bussy with some time pass type work. so i don hav more time to update my blog . when i will get some time to abussing some one , i will do it.

The Dan David Prize

2005-09-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

The Dan David Prize annually awards three prizes of US$ 1 million each for achievements having an outstanding scientific, technological, cultural or social impact on the world. In 2006, one of the prizes will be awarded to a journalist working in print media who has contributed to the field of journalism as a whole and has had a significant impact on today's society. Special attention will be paid to candidates who promote human rights, democracy and pluralism; encourage freedom of political and cultural _expression; oppose discrimination of any kind; condemn the use of media as propaganda or to promote intolerance and conflict; and act as catalysts for positive change.The deadline for submitting nominations is 30 November 2005.

SC issues notices to HT, TOI in unwanted sexually explicit

2005-08-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

A Supreme Court Bench comprising of Chief Justice RC Lahoti, Justice GP Mathur and Justice PK Balasubramanyan has issued notices to the Centre, Press Council of India, news agencies - PTI and UNI, and leading dailies Times of India and Hindustan Times.
The notices were issues upon hearing the petitioner's contention that newspapers "numerous attempts to cater to prurient interest of the public at large" to increase their circulation.
A Writ Petition (Civil)[384/2005] Ajay Goswami .Vs. Union of India & others came up for hearing on 18th August.
"The newspapers are publishing titillating material in the form of SMS jokes, articles on pornography, sex education (which at times is more pornography than education), comments on porn magazines or movies inaddition to semi-nude photographs," the petitioner said and pleaded that there was an urgent need to protect the minors from their bad influence."
The Union of India and the Press Council of India (PCI) have failed to frame any rules and regulations on this aspect," the petitioner said.
The court has been requested to direct the Centre to constitute an expert Committee to look into the problem of unwanted exposure of sexually explicit material to the minor through the media and lay down rules and regulations for the same.It said that it was the duty of the Government to protect the minors from such exposure to unwanted material circulated through media, as it was a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 and Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Both the charters had got a pledge from the countries to protect the vulnerable minors from abuse, exploitation and harmful effects of "such expression"
."The compelling interest is to protect the physical and psychological well-being of minors from the influence of literature, which is not obscene from the adult point of view".
"The PCI has laid down from time to time principles and ethics to be observed by the journalists, which are directive in nature, incomplete and even otherwise do not deal with the issue of protecting minors".

SAME " SHAME" headline

2005-08-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

newspapers yesterday made scathing attacks on Neelam Jaswant Singh after she tested positive for a banned substance during the qualification for the World Athletics Championships in Helsinki.
"Neelam hurls India into shame" screamed a headline on the front page of The Times of India while an Asian Age headline read: "Dope shames India".The Hindustan Times front-paged the news with the headline "Shame: Neelam tests positive" and ran a list of previous Indian sportspersons caught for doping

Right to information

2005-08-04T01:04:00.000-07:00

blog of courage

2005-07-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

What if we reported media the way media reports everybody else (except itself)?
Have you ever noticed that the media does not like to make itself a subject of public scrutiny, the way it scrutinizes every other insitution in the country? That the only news on media to ever appear in print or on television is that which covers itself with glory, real or faked? That, let alone targetting themselves the way they target others, journalists and editors use their vantage positions in the media to black out any criticism of themselves? That no matter how fierce the competition amongst themselves is, there's one unwritten code that hacks live by: that of not revealing the skeletons in their rivals' cupboards?
But http://spindianexpress.blogspot.com/ has written stories about indian express. excellant work.

AKA

2005-07-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of names people have started calling ToI with:
1. Toilet Paper of India
2. Slimes of India
3. Tabloid of India
4. Times-up of India
5. Timepass of India
6. English Punjab Kesri (a popular tabliod in punjabi/hindi)
7. Turds of India
Know any more?

Ifthikar Geelani, an IIMCian says, "The IB uses reporters to plant stories"

2005-07-31T05:32:00.000-07:00

Ifthikar Geelani was falsely accused of espionage andjailed. What followed was a media-led witch hunt and aKafkaesque trial, as he reveals in this interview withN P Chekkutty.

Ifthikar Geelani's book, My Days in Prison, releasedin Delhi earlier this year, has entered its thirdprint. It is widely described as a book which destroysthe media's comfortable complacency about the values of our democratic political system. Geelani, a youngjournalist working as the New Delhi bureau chief ofKashmir Times, a highly respected newspaper fromSrinagar, was arrested by the Delhi police on chargesof spying for the ISI, the Pakistani intelligenceagency. Geelani was kept in jail for seven months withoutbail, and the only proof produced against him was acopy of an old academic document about the presence ofIndian troops in the Valley, prepared by an Islamabadthink tank, which was found on the journalist's homecomputer. He was arrested and charged under theOfficial Secrets Act 1923, a much misused piece oflegislation. Geelani's arrest evoked serious protests and theNational Democratic Alliance Government led by A BVajpayee had to finally release the journalist afterunconditionally withdrawing the case it had filedagainst him in the metropolitan magistrate's court inDelhi, when it failed to muster any evidence againsthim.His arrest on a hot summer day in June 2002 and theeventual release on a cold winter evening in January2003 and the chilling experiences he had to face inthe police lock-up, the court-rooms and in Tihar Jail are described in the book which has already beentranslated into Malayalam.A Hindi translation is now in the pipeline. Geelani was in Kerala recently for the release of theMalayalam translation of the book, and he spoke atlength on the book, the case and the role the mediaplayed in the entire episode.
Q: Tell me about your background. How did you happento come to journalism?

I was born in Sopore in the Kashmir valley and came toDelhi after graduation from the Kashmir University anddid my journalism course at the Indian Institute ofMass Communication(IIMC). Then I worked for variouspublications and feature services for some time; I wastaken into the staff of The Pioneer when Vinod Mehtawas editor there. During my Pioneer days I went toBangalore for the SAARC meet where I met theeditor of the Pakistani newspaper, The Nation, and Iworked as their correspondent in New Delhi. Inbetween, I worked with Indian Express in Chandigarhand later came back to Delhi and joined Kashmir Timeswhere I work now.
Q: You have been based in Delhi as a journalist forover a decade and you are known in the media circlesthere. But then what actually led to your arrest andincarceration?

I think a number of factors contributed to my arrestand harassment. First, I was a Kashmiri and I happened to be theson-in-law of Syed Ali Shah Geelani who is a seniorleader of the Hurriyat Conference. They decided thattargeting me would put pressure on Geelani and theyknew this to be a surefire method as they hadsuccessfully tested it in the case of some otherleaders there. The second factor was that my newspaper, KashmirTimes, was not in the good books of the establishmentand our editor Mr. Ved Bhasin had to face threats fromthe Intelligence Bureau for his bold stand. In fact,our paper was responsible for the media campaign thatresulted in the dismissal of the Farooq AbdullahGovernment in 1983. The IB had reasons to feel unhappy with us because wehad carried a number of stories that exposed theirwrongdoings. Some of these stories had created seriousproblems for them. I think all these things made methe target of their schemes.
Q: Did the Geelani connection put you under anypressure in your professional duties as a journalistin Delhi?

Never. In fact, not even my close friends knew that Iwas his son-in-law until I was arrested. I keep myfamily out of my job. I am a professional and I insiston objectivity in my reports. Perhaps that iswhy the entire national media stood by me in the daysof my difficulties.
Q: How do you look at the media coverage of yourarrest, because you say in your book that most of thereports in the initial days were biased against you?

That is true. The media had been carried away by thefalse inputs provided by the Intelligence Bureaupeople and there were many factually incorrect reportsagainst me. For example, on the day of my arrest I sawa television channel report - live form the gate of myflat - that I had fled from the scene and that theauthorities had seized a large amount of money andincriminating documents from there. The fact is they could find only Rs. 3450 in my houseand some jewellery owned by my wife. But I had no wayto counter this as I was under arrest. Later on, when I was produced in the court, the crimereporter of a national daily reported that I hadconfessed that I was an ISI agent. It was a completelyfalse report, a plant by the IB meant to influence thecourt so that I would never get bail. There were somany such reports, and since I was in jail I had noopportunity to put the record straight and my familyhad to suffer great humiliations because of the falseand biased reports put out against me in those days.
Q: So you think there is a need for the media torethink its strategies on reporting such matters?

There is. It is very clear that reporters of even themost reputable publications are being used by thepolice and the IB to plant reports against theirvictims. And what can the victim do? He has no voicebecause he is either in the lock-up or in jail and hisversion never gets published. Such reports doinfluence the public perception. I have seen manypeople in the jail whose lives have been affected byirresponsible media reports. But this is a generalproblem and the media will have to collectively address such matters.
Q: After your release, did you ever meet any of thosereporters who put out such wrong reports against youwhen you were arrested?

I did not meet any. But I know that in some cases thereporters were misled by the authorities and when theyrealized how mistaken they were, they had made amendsand some of them had even taken a keen interest inmy defense. It was my friends like Asha Khosa of Indian Expressand Anouhita Majumdar who arranged a lawyer for me,and journalists like S K Pandey of the Delhi Union ofJournalists who took up my case. Finally, it wastheir collective effort that forced the government todrop the charges against me.
Q: How was the response from your newspaper during thedays of your arrest and jail life?

My paper stood by me in those difficult days. In fact,the management sent two senior editors to Delhi tofight my case and they did everything possible for mydefense. They ran a campaign in the paper,paid all the expenses for fighting my case and theyalso sent the monthly salary to my wife who was facinga kind of social boycott in the initial days of myarrest, because no one in our colony dared even totalk to her. But this changed eventually when themedia realized that I was innocent and changed theirattitude to me.
Q: How did your family cope with the difficultsituation?

Those were very difficult days for us, especially mywife. Her father was also under arrest; he wasarrested from Ranchion the same day and her twobrothers were hiding as they were afraid they toocould be taken into custody. She had to face the situationalone. Except for my friends from the media, there wasno one to turn to for help.
Q: Now that you are free, do you consider going tocourt for compensation?

After my bitter experiences in the court, I think itwould be of no use going to them for justice. When itwas proved that the police had forged a document toget me arrested, the court did not take cognizance ofthematter and take action against them. In fact, I was terribly dejected by the way the courttreated me in the case knowing fully well that I was ajournalist and the document they said violated theOfficial Secrets Act was simply a printed one freelyavailable on the internet. If my friends had failed to produce a copy of thedocument and prove the charges were false, I wouldhave been in jail for 14 years. So I don't know what Icould expect with that kind of judges. Perhaps if theywould review similar cases still pending in courtsunder this obsolete legislation called OfficialSecrets Act, I think that would be a bettercompensation for me than any monetary gains.
Contact: chekkutty@gmail.com
P.S: Iftikhar Geelani was the Resident Editor of twoPakistan-based newspapers, The Nation and The FridayTimes, as well as the bureau chief of the Jammu-basedKashmir Times when he was arrested on June 9, 2002. Heis one of All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader SyedAli Shah Geelani's two sons-in-law.

A Secular Rethink

2005-07-27T01:08:00.000-07:00

As a freelance journalist , I’m putting up this notice to encourage people to submit an entry. Please send all further correspondance to the address at the end of the post, not to me. Also, as this is an announcement, no comments are enabled.‘A SECULAR RETHINK’THE INDIAN EXPRESS - CITIZENS FOR PEACE ANNUAL ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION
Citizens for Peace (CfP) is proud to announce its alliance with The Indian Express Group to organize a national level essay competition on the theme ‘A Secular Rethink’. This competition, the first of an annual endeavor, aims at reawakening all Indians to the need for redefining ’secularism’ in today’s time.
The prize-winning entry in English and Hindi will each receive grand prize of Rs. 50,000. The winning essay in English will be published in The Indian Express and the winning essay in Hindi will be published in Jansatta. A panel of five eminent persons from different fields will judge the entries. The competition is open to all individuals above 18 years of age. The essay should not exceed 2000 words.

Entries can be submitted by post to The Indian Express-Citizens for Peace Essay Writing Competition, Express Towers, 2nd Flr, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021 or by email to citizensforpeace@gmail.com. All entries must be received by August 15, 2005. The winners of this contest will be felicitated at an award ceremony to be held in Mumbai on October 2nd, 2005.

write about A SECULAR RETHINK , and I'm going for it. Yes, there is a Rs. 50,000 prize....you can furgget it, I gotta pay some dues.

Ambani Vs Ambani: Storms in the Sea Wind by alam srinivas

2005-07-25T01:50:00.000-07:00

Ambani Vs Ambani: Storms in the Sea Wind by Alam Srinivas is “about the internal and external factors ...about unrelated factors that made it impossible for Mukesh and Anil to work together”. The book has a rather interesting dramatis personae, where Pramod Mahajan is described as one “who was accused of being close to Mukesh and who vehemently denied it”, Shankar Adwal as “Mukesh’s chief lobbyist in Delhi, he constantly lamented...that the two Ambanis were fighting so openly” and Prem Chand Gupta as “the minister for company affairs who never revealed his true cards... and kept changing his stance regularly”. From the business editor of a leading Indian weekly, this is quite a thriller, involving most of contemporary India’s business and political players. But “the final chapter is yet to be written in this saga.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:In his twenty-year career as a journalist, Alam Srinivas, Business Editor, Outlook, has worked for premier Indian publications like The Times of India, Businessworld, India Today and Business Today. He has focused on investigative pieces exposing corporate corruption and the nexus between big business and politics. Since 1986, he has written dozens of articles on the Reliance group and the various controversies that gripped the Ambani family. He lives in Delhi.

Jaychands and Meerjafers of IIMC

2005-07-25T01:29:00.000-07:00

Hello friends
this is sushant jha from 2004-05 batch of RTV once I wrote about the lack of proper marketing of IIMC and now i want to say something more . Once i alongwith some of my unemployed friend were wondering around the office of prof chari.A staff of RTV told me that if i arrange some student who are eager to join the mass com. in a pvt institue of Gurgoan run by ex- IIMC director J.S. Yadav , he will make some commission available [10% of the total fees of that institute] to me and also if i trap more than five student than Mr Yadav will make me placed through his vast contacts
The problem is not here to blame anyone for establishing his own media school, but the real problem is the person who happens to be in the faculy of IIMC , make bread and butter, name and fame, add the work ex of IIMC in their CV , becomes' a never see eye to eye ' enemy of the institute afteer retirement. A course director whose voice is like Om Puri is engaged in the placement of Vivekanand institute because that institute is run by his castemen and they pay commission to that faculty of IIMC.
Also friend what is the logic of making N Ram, Chandan Mitra and many media kings our governing body members when they have no role in our placement ? And why should they afterall they have their own media school?
so the real enemy is not the emergence of pvt intitutes but the Jaychands and Meerjafers of IIMC

Sushant Jha
2004-05 batch
IIMC Delhi

Manas Chakravarty: Reporter`s Diary: The DNA Effect

2005-07-25T01:20:00.000-07:00

PRE-DNA

Jan 3, 2005: Terrible day. I was rudely woken up by a phone call from Boss complaining loudly that I had missed several stories.

Boss warned me that I wouldn’t get an increment this year. I’ve decided to send my family to our native village because I can’t afford to pay the rent.

Jan 4: I really get tired, travelling in that packed train to office in town and then coming back home all the way to Thane.

I’ve broken the news about ABC Corporation planning to pump in $5 billion into India. Boss said they would take it on page 1 of the Companies section if they didn’t have anything better.

Jan 5: Boss’s pet from the Banking Bureau got that junket to Singapore. My friend’s application for a job was turned down by the Resident Editor (RE) on the grounds that his ten years’ experience is not good enough.

Boss also made a sarcastic remark about my copy—he said I couldn’t write for nuts.

Jan 6: Received my salary today. Paid credit card dues with half of it, but I’ll have to borrow some more money to pay my bills. My application for leave to take my family to our native village has been turned down. Boss tells me I must work harder and submit at least two exclusive stories daily.

Jan 7: I’m sick of remaining senior reporter for five years, so I went to a rival paper to try and get a job. No luck. I think I’ll open a paan-beedi shop.

POST-DNA

July 3, 2005: Great day. I was woken up by a call from DNA offering me a job as principal correspondent with a 100 per cent rise in salary. I immediately told my boss about the offer. He made a counter-offer on the spot, making me special correspondent with a 120 per cent rise in salary.

July 4: Our Deputy Resident Editor has joined DNA taking ten reporters with him. Boss asked me whether I would like to go on a junket to Singapore. I said I only go to Western countries.

I’ve been asked to choose between junkets to New York, London and Paris. I said I would go for all of them.

July 5: Our News Editor has joined Mumbai Mirror, taking with him five sub-editors. I have got another offer from Hindustan Times. I told Boss about it, and I’ve been made Deputy Chief of Bureau.

I’ve also been told to ask friends and relatives to join the paper. My sister, who has just given her BA exam, has joined as principal correspondent.

The RE has also made a job offer to my cousin, who is twelve years old—he will be absorbed six years later as Assistant Editor when he turns eighteen.

July 6: Our Associate Editor has joined Hindustan Times, taking my boss with him. I told the RE that I had a job offer from Mumbai Mirror, although I haven’t actually got it. He has made me Bureau chief, replacing my boss.

The company has offered me a car, and another 25 per cent hike. I finally submitted a story today, after three weeks. It was an old recycled story about how steel companies may lower prices. The RE said that it was one of the finest stories he had ever come across, and took it on page 1.

July 7: I was woken up this morning by an SMS from the RE telling me how much he loved me. I’ve bought a two-bedroom flat in Bandra. Our tea boy has been poached by DNA, and has been made a Bureau chief there.

My sister has become a special correspondent at Hindustan Times. I told the RE that I was tired of writing news. He said that was no problem, and that with my excellent writing skills I could write features, edits, columns, etc.

I suggested that I write an edit on the media scene with the heading “May a hundred DNAs bloom”, but the suggestion left him cold. I am deeply offended. I have discreetly let it be known that I am open to being poached as Executive Editor.

Shouldn’t scribes behave themselves?

2005-07-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

The execrable behaviour of journalists in Mysore at the cremation of the husband of Nidhi Kulapathi, a New Delhi television anchor, last week could have been dismissed as churlishness from testosterone-rich males but for the regularity with which scribes in that City fail to remember that they are in the business to report news, not to make it. Admittedly, the lady’s action of snatching a photographer’s camera chip for shooting pictures of a family affair and threatening to speak to the chief minister wasn’t entirely above reproach. And that the police did not order a post-mortem on the body found in mysterious circumstances in a hotel room with gnashes under the eye can be questioned. Still, to use that as a licence to hold up the final rites demanding an apology from the grieving widow at the funeral pyre takes mind-bending insensitivity and shamelessness, and Mysore’s scribes have provided both by the bucketful.
At one level, the journalists’ rudeness should leave their readers wondering if they have become a law unto themselves, with none of the social norms and graces that apply to ordinary humans being applicable to them. At another level, the journalists’ arrogant presumption that they have a fundamental right to intrude shows just where ‘gotcha’ journalism is heading. If this is what journalists can do to one of their own, God forbid what they can do to the rest. Whether a prominent personality’s private life is automatically of public interest can be debated till the media bulls come home. But there can be little debate that Mysore’s editors, reporters and photographers and their various associations and guilds need to introspect big-time on their recent conduct to prevent readers from becoming cynical and suspicious. The simple question they need to ask themselves is this: do they want to set an example as the eyes and ears of the public? Or do they want to flex their muscles at the risk of their credibility?

kya entry mari hai yar!

2005-07-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

Leading Delhi-based newspaper Hindustan Times on Thursday launched its Mumbai edition. Whatever we cover from politics to people, from world development to local news and from economic to entertainment, we will do it with style, depth and class," Editor and Director, Vir Sanghvi said in its front page editorial.
Delhi's largest selling and most read paper is targeting the 'top-end, discerning' reader in Mumbai. It hopes, say reports to hit a circulation of 2 lakh in a year.That is a good target. It is just under half of leader The Times of India's (TOI) Mumbai circulation. It is also the number at which advertisers will pick up any alternative to TOI. Reports say HT has already sewn up a large part of the number through a subscription drive started three months ago. Against the Rs 4 that TOI Mumbai sells for, HT's Mumbai edition is priced at Rs 2.50. Its card rate for advertisement space is Rs 500 per sq cm, against Rs 1,570-1,700 for TOI and Rs 800 (colour) for DNA. The last is a daily from the Zee-Bhaskar combine scheduled for launch on 30 July.

Poacher and recruitment

2005-07-15T22:43:00.000-07:00

Many newspapers in India have always excelled in the dirty habit of giving counter-offers to their journalists who managed a new job with enormous difficulty. Those days are mostly over, thank God. The media honchos have always refused to pay according to your true worth, until a poacher came along to pay you double your true value!
Counter-offers to keep staffers are mostly gone. If 'X' poaches from 'Y', the 'poached staffer' is immediately absorbed into 'X', with the new employer paying up the notice period dues. This leaves little time for further negotiations for the journalist to extract salaries from current employer. There is a new kind of forced ethics - the papers cannot offer cannot counter-offers, and journalists can't take them anymore.

Kar Lo Duniya Mutthi Mein -Explore, Search and Discover our planet

2005-07-13T05:10:00.000-07:00

Want to know more about a specific location?

Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

Fly from space to your neighborhood. Type in an address and zoom right in.
Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions.
Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings.
Save and share your searches and favorites. Even add your own annotations.

link:- http://earth.google.com/

download this tool and enjoy it at your desktop

BROADCAST NEWS for hardcore journalist

2005-07-10T05:07:00.000-07:00

Vetran journalist & Sr. editor of indian express Mr. Diptosh Majumdar and columnist of indian express Sagrika Ghosh are leaving Indian express and join Rajdeep's broadcast news. Mr. Diptosh majumdar is joining broadcast news as National affair editor. That mean,rajdeep has planed for pure journalistic News channel. It's good for serious people, who watch news not for entertainment. Oherside

TV18's chief executive Haresh Chawla says "Already 65 people are on board. We expect to hire about 300."

Agrees Chawla: "Business is a profitable space. We may launch regional business news channels later."

Now times of india became RSSd

2005-07-08T23:09:00.000-07:00

Look this add. what does times of india want to communicate from this stupid add MANY INDIAS? I couldn't understand. How many indias ?? I am searching . if so many indian community live in india then why did only show the hindu sign TILAKDHARI forehead???

I think, times of india group has become RSS follower

Amity Syndrome is Killing Journalism:- subhash dhuliya

2005-07-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Long back, Dhurv Todria did his journalism course from Garhwal University and came to newspaper in Lucknow I was working with for internship. He was very talented among the lot and on his own decided to work at district level as he rightly felt the real events occur at grass root level. He did not pay any heed to my segmentation that initial few years he should spend at some major city. He became correspondent of Amar Ujala at Rishikesh in Dehradun district -my home town-and was doing extremely well. He filed a story against Dr Gupta the "Mrigi specialist". (The doctor is now in jail) as most of us now aware. He was offered bribe and he refused. Then one fine morning he was removed and the Doctor made it a point that he does not get job in any other organization. The Doctor was providing huge advertisements to all newspapers-the TV boom has not occurred at that time. He was highest income tax payer of UP and even "physician" of "president of India" as per his claim. The entire medical fraternity of Dehradun region knew the about the "medical expertise" of the Doctor but there was not a single media outlet that could take on him.

No one can afford to be so utopian that would suggest that every media outlet can afford to offend advertisers. Advertisers do have a say and it is fact of life. But there has to be “lakshman rekha”. Can we afford to have a media model in which people involved in all kinds of businesses can buy media because they happen to carry huge money bag? We have large number of business and industrial houses and they do indulge in irregular practices and media perhaps cannot do much. But do we need to have some kind of threshold for this kind of irregular practices? What can be ignored and what cannot be? Media news gathering model is becoming very anti-people in a way. Good news story need more expenses so they tend to go for a story which is easily available for little money and that is why all kind of fraudulent practices that are prevailing in rapidly booming education industry are being ignored by media.

I know a bit about media education and know large number of institutions who have taken affiliation form more than one university because they can take only sixty students in one professional course-more affiliation means running more courses from same facilities and minting more money. Three year degree course and sixty students in mean 180 students for BJ and if fee is 50,000 you can calculate how much money it means? And more than one degree course and MJ too. Soon they will start providing PhDs also and if academicians like former Director of IIMC have a say they will be best sited to become faculty members at premier institutions of the country? And quality of education- they are just selling dreams; promising these youngsters job of anchors in leading television channels; promising them to make them famous in half an hour and why not in this age everybody can be famous for 15 minutes; claiming 100 percent placement – see the flood of advertising and the claims that are being made. These youngsters are not guided or trained but misguided and misinformed and our news media is not bothered to pay any attention to the fraud of this colossal nature.

How can education be permitted to become this kind of naked commerce? Amity got university from Chatisgarh and once supreme courts intervened on Prof. Yash Pal pleas-they “managed” it from UP? What are the fee structure and the faculty in all this kind of universities? How come there are only three sections in Class X and in Class XI it are eight sections of sixty students each. Students being attracted from state like Bihar, MP, UP –promising international class education. How much fee is charged? These are just few random information I got from my personal experience and it was job of news media to inform me what is not within domain of my personal and direct experience but I know nothing more.

Now with regard to Amity the first question which arises is why any organization having commitment to education should get involved in the kind of aggressive media blitz that Amity in involved in? Why an education institution should try to buy media as was the case of Tehelka and same thing was repeated to NDTV-offering huge advertisement? If there is nothing fishy why to be afraid of”false news”? Education is not blatant business of street smart capitalism mode. Few days back I happen to visit a "journalism school" having affiliation with Bhopal University. It was a small space with very clumsy class room and even the address was fraudulent. I discover that this institute has affiliation with four universities -Bhopal, Hissar and two from south India. The would be anchor does not read newspapers only “guides” for examination of journalism and who knows perhaps this is the need of fast expanding television news media and I may prove wrong ? People like me are branded too “Idealistic” who do not know needs of the news industry that is being governed by weekly market rating! And rape sells well and fast not colossal fraud in education as if education is not concern of common people.

Subhash Dhuliya

NYT reporter refuses to divulge source

2005-07-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

jailedA Washington court sent New York Times reporter Judith Miller toprison on Wednesday for refusing to divulge the name of a source to agrand jury probing the leak of the identity of a Central IntelligenceAgency agent.
Citing Miller for contempt of court, Judge Thomas Hogan jailed theveteran reporter until she agrees to testify or until the grand jury'smandate runs out in four months.
"If journalists cannot be trusted to guarantee confidentiality thenjournalists cannot function. There cannot be free press," Miller toldthe judge.
"I am here today because I believe in the rule of law and your rightto send me to prison for disobeying your ruling if you choose to doso," she said.
Another journalist who had been facing possible prison time inconnection with the case, Time magazine's Matthew Cooper, told thejudge that he had agreed to testify to the grand jury.
Cooper said his source had given him a personal waiver allowing him totestify."
I am prepared to testify. I will comply" with the court's order,Cooper told Hogan.
Cooper took the podium in the court and told the judge, "Last night Ihugged my son goodbye and told him it might be a long time before Isee him again."
"I went to bed ready to accept the sanctions" for not testifying,Cooper said. But he told the judge that not long before his earlyafternoon appearance, he had received "in somewhat dramatic fashion" adirect personal communication from his source freeing him from hiscommitment to keep the source's identity secret.
Miller and Cooper have been at the centre of a high-stakes case thickwith political intrigue, enmeshing the White House, press freedom andthe rationale for the Iraq war.
They had refused to name their sources to a federal prosecutorexamining which Bush administration official leaked the name of CIAspy Valerie Plame during a fierce row over Iraq's alleged weapons ofmass destruction program.
Plame's husband, former US ambassador Joseph Wilson, claimed her coverwas blown in revenge for an article he penned in The New York Timescriticising Bush's justification for war with Iraq.July 07, 2005 http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/jul/07press.htm

Star News CEO Misbehaves with Journalists

2005-07-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sources have revealed that Star News CEO Uday Shankar uses very harsh languge and misbehaves withjournalists. If there is a contrary version to it,please let us know to set the record straight.
But if it is really true, is there a way to respond tosuch misbeahaviour with journalists by corporatebosses?
At least all instances of such misbeahaviour should beput in public domain for the sake of record. It shouldnot be brushed under the carpet. But while puttingsuch things in public, one should also refer to bothsides of the story.
In the era of corporate autocracy, one should notsuffer indignity in silence.

Grow with khainee( a kind of tobacco) journalism

2005-06-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

"Assi chutki nabbe taal ragad ke khainee muh mein dal" ye main nahin apne bade miyan kahte hain . to bhaiya journalism mein nam kamana hai to khainee khana suru kar do. age tarakki karoge apne alumni Deepak chaurasiya jaisa. aaj kal khainee jaurnalism ka trend kuch purana ho gaya hai lekin jaise pahle print jounalism mein ise log budhdhivardhak( mind growing ) churn mante the waise ye aaj electronic media mein bhi jagah bana raha hai. khainee khao aur ise senior ko khilao sath hi jaldi se asst . producer se assosiate producer bano.... .......executive producer. is liye meri salah mano real journalism karna hai to khainee journalism suru kar do .

soap opera journalism by star news

2005-05-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

a new type of journalism is started by star news. one my iimcian fren is doing anchoring of this programe.

Forget it Not

2005-05-14T01:24:00.000-07:00

IIMC NEW DELHI
Posted by Hello

don't break ur heart, i will be back

2005-05-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

I'm taking 4 day off from blogging. Will be back on 19th of May.

WHY DID I CREAT BLOG

2005-05-12T02:31:00.000-07:00

I believe that free media like internet can be a great help in reaching the right people. Bcoz,The merchants, the communists, the old political Ass and A builder (S1) runs a media business from Delhi and manage to forge the public opinion to get maximum profit.

Crisis for "journalism of courage" ( shocking news)

2005-05-11T03:59:00.000-07:00

sorry don't take it seriously,
Water Motor pump of "couragious news organisation" is not working. And couragious management has manage a mobile tanker of11,000 litr for regular water supply, bcoz this organisation is sifting from old building to new building. But after two-three month later. show some courage.............

why rajdeep left NDTV

2005-05-11T03:44:00.000-07:00

The answer to the question, "Why Rajdeep left?" is simple.

There is nothing beyond obvious. It is for a simple fact, looking for better opportunites like everyone does.
Rajdeep salary hike to 2 crs now. qn is will it last ?
does the grass really turns out to be greener on the other side ??
Sources said what hurt Rajdeep more than anything else was the fact that salary-wise he figured sixth on the NDTV list after Prannoy Roy, Mrs Roy and three others. He felt insulted when the figures were made public by NDTV, sources said. "Rajdeep was a star who slogged day in and day out for the company to produce the best programmes. He rarely took an off day and worked round the clock when the situation so demanded. While Narain Rao, Managing Director, got Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) per annum, Rajdeep's salary was Rs 36 lakh (Rs 3.6 million) per year," sources said. According to market sources, Rajdeep has received Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) as the signing amount from TV 18, along with a brand new Toyota Corolla.

blog by journalist

2005-05-11T02:50:00.000-07:00

M.J. AKBAR Editor Journalist - The Asian Age has created this blog only for positive comment if u don't beleive u can sent comment ilaxi@mjakbar.org as a example http://www.mjakbar.org/mjletters.asp

http://www.mjakbar.org/

blog and group by iimcian

2005-05-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

1st ...some e group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iimcosa1966/
For Alumni related suggestions and queries outside IIMC please contact:Jaimini Kr Srivastava, Email: mihirjkumar@yahoo.comGopal Krishna, E-mail: mediavigil@yahoo.co.in, Mb: 9818089660Vinay Menon, E-mail: vjourno@rediffmail.com

2nd group : iimcommunicationalumni@yahoogroups.com
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Solomons win top award in India ( IIMC NEWS)

2005-05-10T07:36:00.000-07:00

SOLOMON Islands came at the top of other third world media trainees when its journalist won the top media academic award at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in New Delhi last week.Solomon Star reporter, George Herming won the top award and scored a footmark recognition for Solomon Islands at the Institute as well as from journalists in other developing nations from Africa, Asia, Central Europe and Latin America.Mr Herming was the first Solomon Islands journalist to attend a four months training course in Development Journalism at IIMC in India.The training program was funded by the Indian government under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program for mid-career journalists from developing countries around the world.The program is aimed at training journalists in the broad field of development in relation to third world countries and how the media can help in critically promoting development issues affecting the third world.Herming said the course is intensive and involves a lot of interactive and cross-cultural learning experiences from his colleagues and media professionals from India.“I enjoyed the course and more importantly the useful knowledge relating to development issues affecting the developing world,” he said. “Not only that but the extensive exchange of cultural and social information from my colleagues from the developing world is also very useful to broaden my knowledge on what is happening in other places,” he added.He said he is pleased with the successful completion of the course and is now prepared to use the additional knowledge and skills acquired from the training program to move on in his job in Solomon Islands.
source: http://www.solomonstarnews.com/drupal-4.4.1/?q=node/view/2497

IIMC Bombay meet on 28 May

2005-05-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hi GuysIIMC Bombay is meeting on the 28th. Please do let us know if you are attending,We were thinking of meeting up on the 28th of May at 7 pm at Cafe Coffee Day, Shivaji Park, Dadar. Let's at least assemble there and then if there are a lot of us we could think of some other place.

please spread the word among other Bombay-based IIMCians.

news iimc

2005-05-09T01:19:00.000-07:00

1)The Nagaland University has opened several new departments after it was granted national status in April 2005. It has recently started a post-graduate diploma in mass communication and journalism as a joint venture between the university and the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi