MediaWatch India

Speaking on Steve Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Madhavan) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:57:00 +0000

Not often that I speak on TV and that in Hindi. But the death of Steve Jobs did it. Here is the link.

Emerging picture on content shows pick-and-choose globalisation

noreply@blogger.com (Madhavan) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:01:00 +0000

So what is happening to content -- the broad word we use to describe everything from data and articles to video and audio --be it songs or news or movies?
With the coming of broadband, social media and blogs in a big way, the future could be "atomised" for piecemeal consumption of what used to be sold in big packages -- such as newspapers, TV channels and magazines. Here is my take on this after meeting Google's Nikesh Arora last week.

Plagiarism: Last Refuge of the Hack In A Hurry?

noreply@blogger.com (Madhavan) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 08:53:00 +0000

We have been talking of "cut-and-paste" journalism ever since word processing happened big time. But then, as they say in Hindi, "नक़ल में भी अकल चाहिए" --Nakal mein bhi akal chahiye (You need brains even to copy).
Apparently, the most respected India Today has witnessed a shameful case of two paragraphs being lifted straight out of another article. And the subject matter is Rajnikanth, India's own movie superstar, while the story from which it was lifted is a US-based online magazine, Slate.
Honestly, why could not the writer simply at least paraphrase the wretched insight he/she may have got from Slate? Beats me.
Also a gentle reminder for those who try to steal: You may not violate copyright in all cases, but on the Web, you can be caught out. In fact, I find that my tweets on Twitter are routinely stolen, but what is touching is that my followers come and tell me about what is going on while I am too busy/lazy to care.
I think there are solutions emerging on the Internet to catch violators, but it is sad that plagiarism is the last refuge of the hack with a deadline, with apologies to Samuel Johnson, who said, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

Exposing the expose - How media spin should be watched

noreply@blogger.com (Madhavan) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:10:00 +0000

So you think investigative journalism is cool? Or that a sting operation rocks?

The thing can be nasty and explode on your face - especially if you are not thorough. After Channel 7 -- the Australian TV channel -- "exposed" security flaws at the Commonwealth Games arrangements through a reporter's sting, its rival ABC exposed the expose by investigating the whole thing, and found it --in fact, proved it -- to be grossly dubious. Here is a brilliant video on the expose that exposed the expose.

Does social media screw up breaking news?

noreply@blogger.com (Madhavan) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:22:00 +0000

Here is an interesting perspective. "Distributed verification" of breaking news is great, but nothing like well-verified, well-packaged news, right?