Media Mania

Major US news networks shift to live coverage of Mumbai blasts

2011-07-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

On 13th July Major US news networks shifted to the live coverage of the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, terming it as a terrorist strike days ahead of the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to India.

News channels -- MSNBC, CNN, Fox and ABC to name a few -- were providing the live coverage of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai as a breaking story, which interrupted their regular news bulletins.

While the CNN used the live feed from its India affiliate CNN-IBN, MSNBC was showing live news from NDTV, and the Fox News was hooked up with another local news channel in India.

The CNN said these blasts brought back bad memories of the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008.

The US news outlets said that this was a clear case of terrorist attack.

Terror struck Mumbai Tuesday evening when three near simultaneous blasts ripped through crowded areas in the city.

How corruption in the Indian media undermines democracy !

2011-06-13T03:29:00.001-07:00

Examples of “paid news” from the Hindi press:

Here is a selection of examples from the Hindi language press that could be construed as examples of “paid news”:

The Ranchi edition of Dainik Jagran published a “news package” on page 3 of its April 15, 2009 edition, in favour of a candidate belonging to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Shri Kameshwar Baitha. This news item stated that Shri Baitha was “getting the support of each and every section of society” and that he would win elections from the Palamau Lok Sabha constituency. There is no credit line to this news item and the font used for this news item was different from the font used in other news items in the publication. On the same page, the newspaper had published another news item stating that there would be a triangular contest between three candidates belonging to the JMM, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and an independent candidate. This report has been credited to a reporter of the newspaper.

On April 13, 2009, the Ranchi edition of Dainik Jagran published two “news” items on page 7, both relating to the Chatra Lok Sabha constituency. The first item was in favour of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Shri Nagmani (one name) with the headline stating: “Nagmani is getting support from every class and section” virtually declaring that he would become the undisputed winner. The same page had another “news” item claiming that Shri Arun Kumar Yadav, a candidate belonging to Janata Dal (United), who contested from the same constituency, would emerge a “clear winner”. Both the items do not carry any byline although the font used is different from the font used for other news articles in the publication.

Two other newspapers published from Ranchi, Prabhat Khabar and Hindustan, also published articles praising various candidates before the Parliamentary elections but the former placed the following line on top of each such item “PK Media Marketing Initiative” while the latter publication added “HT Media Marketing Initiative” at the bottom of such items.

Former Civil Aviation Minister Shri Harmohan Dhawan was quoted in Pratham Pravakta magazine (in its edition dated July 16, 2009) stating: “I was contesting the 2009 elections on a ticket of the BSP from Chandigarh. Representatives of the print medium came to me and asked for money. They said their newspapers will give me coverage if I paid them money. They offered a ‘package’ to me and in one such ‘package’ I was told editorials would be written in my favour. I have been contesting elections since 1974 but not a single newspaper asked me for money before this. Among the newspapers that offered a ‘package’ to me was Punjab Kesri. A representative of Dainik Jagran came to me 20 days before the election and clearly told me: ‘If you want coverage in this election, you have to buy a ‘package’. These packages were worth lakhs of rupees. After that, a representative of Dainik Bhaskar visited me in my home. He too offered me a “package”.

“I turned down all these offers. I felt that newspapers would cover large election rallies where many people are present but the rallies that were conducted on my behalf were not mentioned in these newspapers whereas the rallies of other candidates were covered in considerable detail. When I raised this issue with representatives of the managements of these newspapers, they told me that nothing could be done unless I paid for a ‘package’. On April 28, 2009, I spoke about this ‘paid news’ business publicly in the presence of (Kumari) Mayawati (Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and leader of the BSP). On April 30, a general manager of Dainik Bhaskar came to me and said that he was personally of the view that the pre-election activities of the BSP and its candidates should get full coverage in his newspaper but that he was helpless in this regard because his newspaper’s management had taken a decision not to publish any news about any party or candidate that would not pay the newspaper. He offered me a ‘package’ worth Rs 5 lakh but I refused to pay. Certain reporters also told me that reports that they had written about my election campaign were not published. I realized that newspaper owners were using reporters as their tools.”

The Congress candidate from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh Dr Santosh Singh stated the following in an interview to Pratham Pravakta (July 16, 2009): “After I had filed my nomination paper, a representative of the Varanasi edition of Dainik Jagran contacted me and asked me to buy one of two ‘packages’ worth Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively, for which I was offered comprehensive coverage of my election campaign. Another newspaper, Aaj, asked for an amount varying between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh. The representatives of these newspapers who met me said they were merely following orders given to them by their managements… These representatives told me that they are just following the order of management. I did not pay any money”.

Shri Ramakant Yadav of the BJP who contested and won the Lok Sabha election from Azamgarh stated the following in an interview in Pratham Pravakta (July 16, 2009): “Hindustan newspaper asked me to pay Rs 10 lakh for publishing ‘news’ about my election campaign. I refused to pay any money. In an article, the newspaper claimed I would lose the election. But, now that the results have been declared, you know that I won.”

Here are excerpts from what three contestants from the Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh told Pratham Pravakta (July 16, 2009):

Samajwadi Party candidate Shri Arshad Jamal said: “Newspapers such as Dainik Jagran, Hindustan, Amar Ujala, Aaj and Urdu Sahara asked me for money and offered ‘packages’ varying between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.”

Communist Party of India candidate Shri Atul Kumar Anjaan said: “I have received phone calls from representatives of two of the largest newspapers in north

India

, Dainik Jagran and Hindustan. They asked me for Rs 15 lakh each for coverage of my campaign in their publications. When I rejected these offers, Dainik Jagran did not published anything about my activities between March 22 and April 16, the newspaper did not even publish any report about the rally that was addressed by the CPI General Secretary Shri A.B. Bardhan. When I contacted reporters and correspondents based in the Mau bureau of Dainik Jagran and Hindustan, they said they have to follow instructions issued to them from their offices in Varanasi and Delhi. When I complained to representatives of these newspapers based in Varanasi and Delhi, they slashed the rates of their ‘packages’ and I was asked to pay Rs 12 lakh.”

BJP candidate Shri Ramiqbal Singh said the following in an interview to Pratham Pravakta reporter Shri Rupesh Pandey in Lucknow on February 5, 2010: “During the election campaign in 2009, the bureau chief of Dainik Jagran came to me and asked me to pay money for coverage. He said that members of his bureau were just following instructions given to them by their head office. He demanded Rs 15 lakh from me. During those days, his newspaper had published a few lines about me. But much more space, in fact, two full pages, was devoted to reports about the activities of Smt Sudha Rai, the Congress party’s candidate from the constituency. I believe the publication of ‘paid news’ items resulted in between 50,000 and 60,000 voters shifting their allegiance in favour of the Congress candidate. No other newspaper asked me for money.”

The BJP candidate from Lalganj in Uttar Pradesh, Smt Neelam Sonkar said the following in an interview to Pratham Pravakta (July 16, 2009): “Representatives of Aaj, Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala came to me and offered me a ‘package’ worth Rs 10 lakh for coverage in their newspapers. When I refused to pay for any ‘package’, senior executives working in these newspapers contacted me and said that they would slash the rate of their ‘packages’ for me.”

On April 16, the Patna edition of Hindustan published a banner headline stating that the “Congress is ready to create history in Bihar” but curiously, there was no news item related to this headline.

Shri Sanjeev Pandey, a freelance journalist based in Chandigarh, provided the Press Council of India, with over 70 clippings from different newspapers that were published from Haryana. All the clippings were from newspaper editions printed in the run-up to the assembly elections in Haryana and appeared to be “paid news” items.

The Rohtak edition of Haribhoomi published a news item on October 8, 2009 in favour of Congress candidate Shri Birendra Singh. Shri Singh was contesting assembly elections from Uchana constituency. However, this news item carried no byline. This news item claimed that Shri Singh had been getting support from all and sundry in society. Detailed descriptions of the plans of his election campaign were also mentioned. Using the same format, Haribhoomi published a news item in favour of BJP candidate Shri Meva Singh the following day, that is, on October 9, 2009. Giving an account of BJP National President Shri Rajnath Singh’s rally, this news item claimed that “after this rally Meva has got support from each and every section of society”.

The Panipat edition of Dainik Jagran published a news item on page 9 of its edition dated October 8, 2009, that was in favour of the electoral prospects of the Congress. The news item did not carry any byline. The headline of the news item stated that the “good work” done by the Congress had marginalised the electoral prospects of the leader of the Opposition in the state. Each and every sentence of this news item is in favour of the Congress party. This news item criticises leaders of non-Congress parties and says that they would not be able to make a mark in the elections because the Congress had done very good work for every section of society. This news item added that candidates of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) led by Shri Bhajan Lal would not be able to harm the electoral prospects of candidates belonging to the Congress.

By way of contrast, the Ludhiana edition of the same newspaper published a news item in favour of the HJC on October 11, 2009, with a headline that stated that the HJC would play the role of king or king-maker after the elections. Each line of this news item sings paeans of praise in favour of the HJC and prophesised that the party would play a very important role in forming the government after the poll results are declared. Surprisingly, on the very next day, that is, on October 12, 2010, the Ludhiana edition of the same newspaper again published a news item that was apparently paid for in favour of Shri Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana and is credited to “a reporter”. The headline of this news item states that INLD would obtain electoral benefits against the incumbent ruling party, that is, the Congress.

In stark contrast to the post-poll projections of the earlier news items, each line of the last-mentioned news item clearly favours the INLD. This news item reported that there was a “wave” in favour of the INLD in Haryana and went on to predict a clear victory for Shri Chautala and the INLD. The news story claimed that the INLD would be able to easily win the magical number of 46 constituencies that would be required to obtain a majority in the state assembly in order to form a government. This news item states that the Congress party was “struggling” because of internal feuds and that this would benefit the INLD. The story did not end there.

On the next day, that is, on October 13, 2009, the Ludhiana edition of the Dainik Jagran reverted to praising the Congress in another news item. There is no credit line given to this news story, the headline of which claimed that the Congress was ready to “repeat the history” that was made during the Lok Sabha elections when the Congress won handsomely in the state. Every single line of this particular news story praises the Congress party and the Chief Minister of Haryana Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The news item claimed that non-Congress parties would perform poorly in the elections, that their candidates would forfeit their deposits and went on to make a prediction that the Congress would win 75 out of the 90 seats in the state assembly.

In a letter to the Press Council of India dated December 02, 2009, Shri Om Prakash Chautala, National President of the Indian National Lok Dal, expressed his “disgust” at the phenomenon of “paid news” and cited the example of the front page of the Haryana edition of the Dainik Bhaskar dated October 13, 2009, the day of polling for the state assembly elections, “which carried only the Congress party’s advertisement”. He added that half of the second page of this edition of the newspaper again carried an advertisement “along with a few news items that were obviously paid” (for) with headlines claiming that the Congress was “about to create history” in the state. Shri Chautala was of the view that if the power of the media was misused in such a blatant manner and used to drown dissenting voices, people of the country would lose their faith in the Constitution of India which guarantees free and fair elections.

On December 23, 2009, the Uttar Pradesh Journalists’ Association, Faizabad, sent a letter to the Press Council of India, condemning the practice of “paid news” adding that such malpractices would destroy the independence of journalism and thereby, democracy in the country.

A Lucknow-based non-government organization, the National Alliance of People’s Movements, analysed issues of four Hindi language daily newspapers that were published between April 01, 2009 and April 30, 2009 from Lucknow and Gorakhpur. These newspapers were Dainik Jagran, Dainik Hindustan, Rashtriya Sahara and Voice of Lucknow and documented a number of instances of “paid news” articles. The organization was of the view that these articles violated the Conduct of Election Rules. It suggested that the Registrar of Newspapers of India should cancel the registration of the concerned publications.

It was pointed out by the NGO that many of the so-called “paid news” articles were in favour of Shri Akhilesh Das Gupta, the candidate of the Bahujan Samaj Party who contested from the Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency (and who, ironically, stood in third position after Shri Lalji Tandon of the BJP and Smt Rita Bahuguna Joshi of the Congress after the results of the election were declared). Shri Akhilesh Das Gupta was quoted in Outlook weekly (December 21, 2009) saying: “I don’t blame my party if it pays for news in its favour; there is a general media bias against my party.”

* * *

Dainik Jagran: Allegations and Counter-Allegations

Senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Shri Lalji Tandon who contested and won the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the Lucknow constituency in Uttar Pradesh has publicly gone on record as to how the “the largest circulated (Indian) language newspaper in the world”, refused to publish any news about him in the run-up to the 2009 elections because of his refusal to pay any money. “When I enquired, I was told that I should pay up if I wanted news in my favour,” Shri Tandon said, adding that his rival from the BSP got more publicity than any other candidate in his constituency. Though Shri Tandon said the issue was later sorted out with the newspaper, his allegations levelled in public highlighted how rampant the malpractice of “paid news” was in the particular newspaper which is not just the largest circulated language newspaper of

India

but also one of the most widely circulated newspapers of the world.

The largest circulated paper that Shri Tandon referred to was the Dainik Jagran, which he also named in public. On January 11, 2010, the Press Council of India asked a representative of the newspaper whether what Shri Tandon had claimed was true and whether the newspaper had in fact demanded any money from him to carry favourable news on his election campaign. This is what he said: “When a politician of the stature of Shri Lalji Tandon speaks, it is natural for the media to take note. We can only assert that we did not offer our editorial space for money.” When asked further as to whether Shri Tandon was lying when he said the newspaper’s representative had asked him for money to publish news about his campaign, the Dainik Jagran representative repeated that no one from his newspaper had asked Shri Tandon for money.

When Anuradha Raman of Outlook magazine asked Shri Tandon if he had patched up with the owners of the newspaper, his reply made it evident that this was indeed what had happened. Shri Tandon asked a counter-question: “Kyon wahi baat doharana chahte hain? Rehne dijeeye. (Why do you want me to repeat it again? Let it be.)”

In a formal letter handed over to the Press Council of India on January 10, 2010, Shri Nishikant Thakur, Chief General Manager, Jagran Prakashan Ltd., claimed that the controversy relating to “paid news” was “nothing but rumours spread by lost candidates in frustration”. Describing the allegations as “frivolous” and “factually” incorrect, Shri Thakur claimed that he “could say with certainty that no editor of a reputed newspaper in the country is distorting news for money”. He added that amount spent on “publicity material” in newspapers is “marginal” in comparison to the total expenses incurred by candidates standing for elections.

Shri Thakur claimed that the ceilings of expenditure laid down by the Election Commission of India were “unrealistic” and “out of tune with reality”. Further, he claimed that attempts by candidates to influence individual reports “in the rush” of election coverage could go “undetected by the editorial board” of the concerned newspaper. He suggests that there should be “state funding” of elections, that the Election

Commission of

India

should “implement appropriate measures” to verify expenses incurred by candidates and also that there should be “inner party democracy” in political parties.

Shri Thakur argues that the right of the citizen to get “un-polluted information” needs to be balanced by “the rights of the media to conduct its business in an economically viable manner which is also guaranteed by the Constitution of India subject to permissible legal restrictions”. He adds that the press has the right to “project (the) good achievements of (a) particular candidate” and concludes with the assertion that what is required are electoral reforms, systemic correction and not merely “limb operation”.

Osama's death 3rd biggest news of 21st century: study

2011-05-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

The killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by US special forces in Pakistan surpassed Britain's much publicised Royal Wedding to be ranked as the third biggest news of the 21st century, according to a study.

A survey conducted by the Austin-based Global Language Monitor said Osama's death news was placed at the third place behind the rise of China to first-tier nation status and the election of Barack Obama as the US President which are placed at 1st and 2nd spot respectively.

It said the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29 was ranked 5th, just ahead of the media blitz surrounding the 2009 sudden death of Michael Jackson.

The Wikileaks revelations was ranked 4th whereas, Japan's last month quake-tsunami disasters was at 8th and Arab revolutions at 9th place respectively.

There was no India-centric news among top 20.

The GLM used an algorithm to track citations of the biggest news stories on the top 750,000 world print and electronic media sites, as well as citations on the Internet, blogosphere, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.

"The acceleration of the news cycle has been a long-observed fact, however the acceleration of the news itself can also be viewed as unprecedented," said Paul JJ Payack, President and the Chief Word Analyst of GLM.

Budget 2011: corporate driven coverage.!!!

2011-03-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

"With all their Live OB vans, not a single channel attempted to cut to a single one of the six lakh villages and speak to farmers in rain fed areas or landless agricultural labourers or even NREGA beneficiaries or non beneficiaries."

If you thought the Indian media had learnt any lessons from the Radia affair, you can think again. It was a corporate driven coverage all the way once again on Indian private television channels following Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's presentation of the 2011 budget in Parliament on 28th Feb.

All star anchors were out in their gleaming studios with their gleaming guests all with a keen eye on the sensex and how it was reacting. Soon it became very clear that they were livid about two things - that there was no reduction in corporate taxation and no opening up of FDI in retail and insurance as had been desired by the corporate world.

An anchor on Headlines Today said : "FM is like Robin Hood- steals from the rich and gives the poor.." . At another point another anchor on the same channel said, "the UPA has never been friendly to the middle classes-here are reasons why the Great Indian Middle Class should be miffed with the FM…"

Then, bizarrely, the poor anganwadi worker who has been struggling for proper wages since the early eighties , became an object of envy because the FM hiked their long overdue wages! The most astounding comment came from very unexpected quarters -- industrialist Rahul Bajaj telling one channel "I wish I were an anganwadi worker"!!

Even as the FM's speech ended the anchors took off on its tax implications. "Aaeeye ham chalte hai tax calculator ki taraf ", said Star News, and moving on from studio to studio it was the take off point for everyone. The income tax obsession continued through day. Why stop at Rs 1.8 lakhs? Why not hike exemption to Rs 2 lakhs? When a Doordarshan anchor raised the issue one of his panelists reminded him that there were just a little over 3 crore tax payers in a country of 120 crore people.

Other champions of the middle class and were heard screaming - what about the middle class...are they to make all the sacrifices?? Will all sops to the poor have to be on the backs of the Indian middle class ?? Should the middle class pay Rs 750 for their LPG connection ,said a visibly angry and well known woman anchor on Zee TV almost as if her kitchen were to close down from this instant.

Arnab Goswami on Times Now decided to get agitated about high taxation and the fact that FDI has fallen to 31 per cent. One buzzword that spread like wildfire from studio to studio was the phrase "big ticket reform" ...with everyone discussing whether the glass was half full or half empty on this score.

Mohan Das Pai of Infosys was having his own broadside at the government - "India is not a good place to do business anymore..there are problems on land , power etc etc". All these years when Infosys got all the land it wanted it was a great place to do business but suddenly the song had changed.

With all the technology at their command and all their Live OB vans, not a single channel attempted to cut to a single one of the six lakh villages in India and speak to farmers in rain fed areas or landless agricultural labourers or even NREGA beneficiaries or non beneficiaries.

They need not even have gone so far . One learns that 2000 middle and small farmers from Punjab had gathered in front of the Parliament in Delhi to highlight their demands on Budget Day.

Television which is a beast always hungry for good visuals, on this occasion ,surprisingly, chose to ignore this rally and miss out on the amazing visuals they would have garnered if their cameras had rolled there. Not a single OB van or news cameras were there . The farmers spoke about growing suicides , indebtedness, growing input prices and interest rates. But their stories fell on deaf ears.

The faces analysing the budget were the Cosy with Corporates Club that has begun to frankly dominate the Indian media and the like-minded guests they chose to bring into their studio. One anchor went to the extent of saying : "The true test will be how foreign countries react to our budget and whether they continue to invest here or not in the coming months." Indian sovereignty be damned. Most channels subsumed with the budget coverage forgot even to report that the Supreme Court had passed a major directive on the Union Carbide case virtually doubling the compensation demand for the victims of the tragedy.

But there were some surprise bouquets too. CNBC star anchor Shireen Bhan was beaming ecstatically saying the Finance Minister had indeed delivered and India Inc was very happy and the CII chief was saying he see no 'negatives' in the budget. Yet on the same channel Udayan Mukherjee, CNBC's principle star anchor was clearly non ecstatic about the budget saying it was a Nifty 5300 budget..whatever that may mean to India's poor farmer. Several anchors were mystified as to why the stock market was being decisively bullish as the day wore on.

There were a few sensible voices who were asking why the government hadn't talked about the Lok Pal Bill in the face of never ending scams and corruption and announced a firmer plan on recovery of ill gotten wealth in Swiss and other safe haven banks. What will these subsidies achieve in NREGA if there is no accountability clause and good governance set in motion ,they asked . Governance deficit and subsidies to the poor don't go hand in hand stressed government-critic-at-large ,the inimitable Mani Shankar Aiyar.

In fact it was channels like DD and Lok Sabha which actually had some very sober and balanced debates by some very fresh and new faces as anchors who elicited nuanced analyses of the budget from their non starry but well chosen guests without sounding like the lackeys of Indian Corporate world.

But overall, the coverage on the private channels once again smacked of Morgan Stanleyisation and Reliance Digitisation of the Indian Media. And the Indian farmer living on the edge with his family and malnourished children was once again lost in the din.

Courtsey:Nupur Basu

Social Media becoming popular in India: report

2011-02-25T18:28:00.000-08:00

Although the use of social media by Indians was first highlighted during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, social media tools is being effectively used by a cross section of society in India, says a report of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

"The Indian social media scene represents a fast-emerging and influential domain of information exchange involving nearly 60 per cent of the 83 million Internet users in the country," said the DNI report titled, "Overview of Leading Indian Social Media" .

"While Facebook and Orkut continue to dominate the social media scene, Twitter and some other Indian micro blogging websites are also becoming very popular.

The rising significance of social media in India is demonstrated by the fact that almost all the conventional media have registered their presence on the social networking websites," the report said.

According to DNI, which has based its report on open source information, in a recent instance, pressure from social media appeared to force conventional media to report on the alleged links between some noted journalists and a lobbyist.

"The lobbyist is being investigated for her role in an alleged telecommunications spectrum allocation scandal, over which IT and Communications Minister A Raja had to resign.

While the conventional media were accused of overlooking the story, Twitterati kept on building pressure for media discussion, making it virtually impossible for conventional media to ignore," it said.

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India data, there are 83 million Internet users in India and more than 56 per cent of them are on broadband.

A large number of users also access social media through mobile phones.

According to a report, the number of mobile social network users in India is expected to reach around 72 million by 2014.

This would be driven by the reduced cost of smart phones and the launch of 3G services, which will enhance the consumer experience Various surveys show social media reach 60 per cent of the online audience in India.

ViziSense, an online audience measurement service, recently reported that Facebook has the highest reach, with 22.1 million people accessing Facebook in July, followed by Google's Orkut with 18.5 million.

Together, they cater to 90 per cent of the users of social media sites.

However, there is a worrying trend too, as the report notes that social media is also being used by separatist outfits from Kashmir to those on the North East.

DNI said since January 2008 it has observed a marked increase in pro-separatist material and propaganda on social networking websites.

During the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes, Twitter and Flickr became the media through which much information about the attacks reached Indians and the outside world

Northeast rebels have reportedly used Orkut and YouTube for hate campaigns against the government.

Remnants of Sikh separatist groups have been observed to have Khalistan pages on Facebook and photo streams on Flickr.

China,Iran push world's tally of imprisoned scribes to 14-yr high

2011-02-19T01:10:00.000-08:00

China and Iran together put the most number of journalists behind bars last year,accounting for nearly half of those imprisoned worldwide and pushing the global number to the highest level in 14 years, said a survey.

In 2010 China's brutal suppression of ethnic journalism and Iran's sustained crackdown on critical voices have pushed the number of journalists in prison worldwide to its highest level since 1996," said worldwide survey.

Survey said the group identified 145 reporters, editors and photojournalists behind bars worldwide as of December 1, and that China and Iran tied for first place with 34 imprisoned journalists each.

Eritrea came third with 17 journalists in jail, followed by Myanmar with 13 and Uzbekistan with six.

The 431-page survey "Attacks on the Press in 2010" said the number of imprisonments in China was "up significantly" from the previous year.

The increase was propelled by a series of imprisonments of Uyghur and Tibetan journalists that began in the latter half of 2009 and continued throughout 2010, "the details of which have emerged only recently in accounts of their court proceedings," the report said.

Tibetan and Uyghur journalists covered topics "officially off-limits," including ethnic issues and violent regional unrest, and were unrecognized by the state or Communist Party, which authorise all Chinese media, it said.

According to the report, the data from Iran were "surprising" in that they reflected not simply the post-election crackdown in 2009 but showed that a "sustained assault on critical voices...Continued throughout 2010."

The detainees ranged from Issa Saharkhiz, an internationally well-known veteran reporter, to Navid Mohebbi, a blogger covering women's rights, who at the age of 18 became the youngest person tracked by the New York-based NPO.

"We have consistently maintained and have communicated to the secretary general that we believe the United Nations, in particular, the secretary general as an individual should become an outspoken advocate of freedom of expression and freedom of the press," he said.

Egypt's official media changes tone post-Mubarak

2011-02-15T23:52:00.000-08:00

The media apparatus loyal to Hosni Mubarak's regime until the end glorifying his 30-year rule are now celebrating the ouster of the longtime president, saying it will be more attentive to the Egyptian people.

The Egyptian uprising brought down the media apparatus which entirely dedicated its fourteen television stations, tens of radio stations and numerous dailies to glorifying Mubarak, his family and ruling National Democratic Party.

But after Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that 82-year-old President Mubarak was stepping down, there was a drastic change in the tone of the state media.

Soon after the announcement, the state television took to the street and filmed people celebrating Mubarak's ouster. It aired numerous video clips of the celebrations and people's opinions and focused mainly on the new era.

For the first time the protesters found their way to appear on the national screen.

A state TV reporter, covering celebrations outside Mubarak's palace, said that "Egyptians are breathing freedom."

The employees of once pro-regime Al-Ahram daily formed an emergency council to revamp the paper's coverage and its headline of the next day read, "The people ousted the regime."

For the first time since uprising, coverage of Al-Ahram provoked positive comments on facebook for its objectivity and fluent proper language instead of the usual cynicism preserved for its commentaries and lies.

Two days after the president stepped down, the state TV started referring him as Mubarak and not former president.

It also featured the investigations of origin of wealth of former ministers who were at the same time practicing businessmen.

The guests on television changed as well.Independent analysts from international and regional strategic centers found their way to the screens of state tv which is currently providing the best coverage of events.

The station is also in touch with journalists of independent newspapers who happen to be in Al-Tahrir or other places witnessing protests.

The ceiling of freedom of expression granted to the guests and field reporters has been obviously raised remarkably.

One of the reporters mentioned that the forensic reports of the victims who died in the clashes noted the Ministry of the Interior had used live ammunition in facing the protesters "which may pave the way for the former minister of interior to be ruled in international courts".

The news bulletins started to cover activities of opposition parties as well as protests taking place in different parts of the country.

Earlier, when the anti-Mubarak protests began on January 25 the official media showed one side of the events portraying the protesters as arms for foreign interference and individuals belonging mainly to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

When the protesters occupied the Tahrir Square -- the hub of anti-regime protests in central Cairo - on the 'Friday of Rage' on January 28, the Egyptian radio and television denied this had happened.

It fixed the camera on a narrow strip by the Nile and insisted that all Pan Arab TV stations were lying about the Tahrir Square.

The stations were adamant that the protesters were working for external powers and countries that would benefit from instability in Egypt.

In the coverage of the events, the television focused on the security personnel who were injured completely oblivious to the young Egyptians who lost their lives as a result of security brutality and the use of live ammunition.

The coverage prompted news anchor Soha Nashat to resign after reading five bulletins on January 25.

She says her resignation came in objection to "the lies she was forced to tell the people and out of shame for misleading her people".

A few hours later Vice President of Nile TV Shahira Amin followed suit.

She says: "I just looked down at the papers I was expected to read and could not do it. I snatched a paper before I could give it another thought and wrote my resignation after having worked there for twenty years."

Amin was soon the guest on international broadcasters such as BBC and the CNN where she said she could "speak freely for the first time without fearing she would be sacked".

After the minister of information rebuked the licenses of all Al-Jazeera reporters in Egypt and forced them to shut their office, veteran musician Ammar Al-Sharai spoke live on TV and accused them of forcing Egyptians to turn to stations such as Al-Jazeera for the "straightout lies you have been feeding them for decades".

Al-Sharai praised the young protesters ""for daring to do what the previous generation could not".

One of the television presenters, Hala Fahmi, took the square of Al-Tahrir wearing a sign accusing the minister of information for hiring thugs to stage as pro-Mubarak protesters and apologizing for working with a bunch of liars.

She said: "Everyone develops by time except for those at the radio and television building. Their stupidity does not develop as they have been using the same lies for thirty years. I am proud I am no longer part of them."

Egypt Google staffer faces risk of torture: Amnesty

2011-02-06T20:14:00.000-08:00

Rights watchdog Amnesty International said that an Egyptian executive of the Google software giant who was snatched from the street during anti-government riots faces a serious risk of torture.

Wael Ghoneim was arrested by Egyptian security forces during protests on Friday and his whereabouts are unknown, Amnesty said yesterday, adding he "is facing a serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment by security forces."

"The Egyptian authorities must immediately disclose where Wael Ghoneim is and release him or charge him with a recognisable criminal offence," said Amnesty's regional deputy director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

Ghoneim, who is Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, travelled to Egypt on January 23, two days before massive nationwide rallies erupted demanding the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.

Witnesses said Ghoneim was seen being arrested in Cairo's Mohandesseen area.

"He was snatched from the street by men in plainclothes who are believed to be state security officers and since then he's been held in secret," Hadj Sahraoui told.

"So we don't know who's holding him, where he's being held and he hasn't had access to the outside world and these are the conditions that facilitate torture," she said.

Egyptian activists say state security services still use torture, with no sign their tactics are about to change despite the regime's promise of reform.

Deadly protests demanding the end of Mubarak's 30-year-rule have gone on for almost two weeks. According to UN estimates, at least 300 people have been killed, scores injured and an unknown number arrested.

Media under attack in Egypt: journos beaten, arrested

2011-02-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Amid the political turmoil and chaos in Egypt, foreign journalists have become targets of Egyptian Millitary and rampaging mobs, mostly aligned with embattled President Hosni Mubarak.

Journalists became targets, beaten, bloodied, harassed and detained by raging men, most all in some way aligned with President Mubarak, CNN, ABC News, Al-jazeera, IBN7 and other media outlets reported.

They said members of their staffs had been attacked, most on the streets of Cairo Thursday, a day after the 82-year-old Mubarak refused to step down to end his 30-year reign.

In several cases, news personnel were accused of being "foreign spies," seized and whisked away, and often assaulted, the report said.

"It was pandemonium. There was no control. Suddenly a man would come up to you and punch you in the face," said CNN's Anderson Cooper, describing being attacked by pro-Mubarak demonstrators with two colleagues outside of Tahrir Square, the hub of Wednesday's bloody confrontations.

Mubarak's supporters turned up on the streets on Thursday in significant numbers for the first time and some were hostile to journalists and foreigners.

CNN's Hala Gorani, who got caught in a stampede of demonstrators, some of whom were riding on camels and horses, said: "I got slammed against the gates and was threatened by one of the pro-Mubarak protesters who was ... Telling me to 'get out, get out."

The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news network was among the worst hit, its office damaged and several of its staff targeted. Two Associated Press correspondents and two IBN7 journalists were also roughed up in Cairo.

Three journalists from TF1, France's biggest private TV broadcaster, were detained in Cairo by armed men in civilian clothes and taken to an unknown destination.

On the contrary, State TV had reported that foreigners were caught distributing anti-Mubarak leaflets, apparently trying to depict the movement as foreign-fueled.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based advocacy organisation, detailed about a dozen incidents, accusing men, most of them described as pro-Mubarak demonstrators, of perpetrating attacks on reporters.

The group laid the blame for this violence squarely on President Mubarak's administration, accusing it of scheming to suppress and stifle news coverage.

In a statement, Jean-Francois Juillard, secretary- general of the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said "the use of violence against media personnel is especially shocking."

"We urge the international community to react strongly to these excesses. And we remind the Egyptian government that it has a duty to apply the law and to urgently restore security for everyone, including media personnel."

"I am pained and shocked to learn about the detention and attacks on journalists in Egypt, who were reporting on the unfolding developments. Such incidents are totally unacceptable and must stop immediately," Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said.

Media dubs mosque illegal without probe

2011-01-24T18:40:00.000-08:00

The demolition of an `illegal' mosque has given rise to tension and further alienation of the Muslim community from the media. Newspapers and agencies have not checked if the mosque was really built on illegal land, says Civil Rights' Activist Mr. Alam.

On the morning of 12th January 2010, a mosque, Noor Masjid, located in south Delhi~s Jangpura area was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) claiming that it stood on 'illegal' land. The demolition sparked protests. English news agencies Indio-Asian News Services (IANS) and Press Trust of India (PTI) filed reports on the incident.

The IANS, one of the largest subscribed news agencies, wrote, "The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) demolished an illegal mosque in south Delhi~s Jangpura area today morning, sparking protests against which police used force and tear gas shells, an official said." This appeared on different news portals with the headings, "Delhi: Protest over demolition of illegal mosque" and "Protest over demolition of illegal religious structure".

PTI, partly funded by the government of India, reported, "Six persons, including four policemen, were injured here today when police used batons to disperse a group of people who indulged in stone-pelting to protest the demolition of a religious structure illegally built on government land," with the heading, "Protest over demolition of illegal religious structure, 6 hurt". In follow up reports PTI used the word illegal in quotes to question the DDA's claim but its subscribers, including The Hindu, ignored these.

"Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Saturday reviewed the situation in South Delhi's Jangpura area where an illegal mosque was demolished by civic bodies, leading to tension," reported The Hindu dated 15th January using PTI as its source. Earlier on 13th, the daily reported, "Several people were injured when the police lathi charged and tear gassed residents who were protesting against the demolition of a religious structure by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) at Nizamuddin here on Wednesday" with the heading, "Demolition of religious structure by DDA in Delhi sparks tension". It was also reported in various news papers and portals that the demolition was ordered by the Delhi High Court.

In covering the incident the newspapers and agencies have not bothered to check if the mosque was really built on illegal land. They have relied entirely on official sources and not spoken to the protesting people.

Dr Zafar Mahmood, who heads the Zakat Foundation of India (ZFI) and is Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of Sachar Committee, in an article titled "Jangpura Masjid: Factual Position" (TwoCircles.net, 13th January) claimed that months before the demolition, his organisation had approached the office of Lt Governor, DDA and Delhi Government's Home Dept. seeking details about a meeting of the Religious Committee held on 16th June 2009 at which this mosque was discussed. As yet there has been no response to this request, he wrote.

He claimed that the High Court had not ordered the demolition of the masjid and that the Delhi Wakf Board had informed DDA on 26 Oct 2010 that the 30 year old masjid was located on land owned by the Board as per a 35 year old gazette notification. He said he had all the relevant documents in his possession.

He further argued that while the demolition was carried out under the pretext of a Delhi High Court order in response to a writ by the Jangpura Residents Association for removal of unauthorized construction and encroachment on the adjoining Nala and public land, the comments by the court indicate that it was satisfied with the action on encroachment taken prior to the demolition of the masjid. "Having examined the photographs filed by the Association it appeared to the Court that most of the unauthorized structures have been removed and there is a boundary wall constructed to ensure that no further encroachments take place. It is stated by the counsels for the Petitioners that any further grievance that the Petitioner may have, including those made in the present application, will be promptly looked into and appropriate action taken thereon. 'In view of this statement, this Court does not consider it necessary to continue to monitor the progress of the implementation of its directions'," he added.

A report by journalist Seema Mustafa in The Sunday Guardian also confirmed the claims made by Zafar Mahmood. "Documents with The Sunday Guardian show that it was not the Delhi High Court alone as is being propagated, but the Lt Governor~s office, supported by the Delhi government that pushed for the demolition. On 28 October 2009, Joint Secretary (Home) in the Delhi government, R.N. Sharma wrote to the vice chairman saying, "The Religious Committee in its meeting held on 16.06.2009 ... recommended for the removal of Masjid. As regards the Balmiki mandir it has been recommended that DDA should consider the request for re-allotment of land." He goes on to add that the Lt Governor has approved these recommendations and that immediate action should be taken."

A curious fallout of the incident is that the area has become a tourist attraction due to the media coverage it has received. This is not unlike what happened after the 2008 `encounter' at Batla House locality of Jamia Nagar. Apart from attracting gawkers, the reportage has lead to furthering the belief within the Muslim community that the media is biased against it. It has engendered an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust that can be allayed only through responsible and sensitive coverage of such events by the media.

(Civil Rights' Activist Mr. Alam can be reached at activist.journalist@gmail.com)

'Conscious efforts must to uphold positive Media roles'

2011-01-03T00:15:00.000-08:00

It was important to introspect if the media was upholding ethical and professional values and fulfilling its social commitments.

Ominous trends like 'paid news' and publication of Niira Radia tapes on corporate-media nexus made it all the more important that media organisations and mediapersons made a self-critical assessment.

As far as growth of the media was concerned, India was in a favourable position compared to the developed world.However, some of the recent trends had thrown up the question whether media had been living up to the social responsibilities expected of them and promoting democratic, secular and pluralist values.

In the existing globalised context, media often preferred to be on the side of international capitalism and became powerless to highlight human values and concerns of the poor.

Conscious efforts should be made to uphold positive roles of media like maintenance of credible information system, concern for justice and cultural and educational functions. While doing this, the tendency of "manufacturing of consent" should be brought under control.

It was fortunate that the Election Commission had come forward to take some action to contain the paid news menace while media watchdog bodies had done very little on it.

However,the fundamental idea of journalism was simple -- it uncovers something that someone is trying to cover up. Freedom of journalism could be safeguarded by keeping this idea in mind.

Parents start to see TV, Internet the same: survey

2010-12-17T03:08:00.000-08:00

No TV for a week, the time-honoured punishment for misbehaving children, has been enhanced. Now, parents are also withholding Internet access to punish their kids, further sign that the Web has become as important to families as television.

As the two mediums converge, parents are quickly coming to see TV and the Internet in similar ways and are seeking to limit their kids' access to both, according to a report out this week from researchers at the University of Southern California.

The survey from the USC Annenberg Centre for the Digital Future found that two-thirds of parents say they restrict their kids' access to TV as punishment, a number that has barely budged over the past 10 years.

But the percentage of parents who limit Internet access as a form of punishment has nearly doubled in the last decade.

Among parents surveyed this spring, 57 per cent said they withheld Web access to punish their kids. That is up from 32 per cent in 2000.

Michael Gilbert, a senior fellow at the centre, said parents are starting to not see a big distinction between TV watching and Internet use. Even so, parents are still more comfortable with the amount of time kids spend on the Internet, 71 per cent said it was "just about right" compared with just 51 per cent for TV.

Earlier surveys by the centre have shown that families are spending less time together than they used to, a decline that has coincided with the explosive growth of social networks in the past few years.

Now, parents are saying Internet access at home is also reducing the time their children spend with their friends face-to-face. Gilbert called this a worrisome trend, though noted that the number of parents to report this is still small -- 11 per cent in 2010 compared with 7 per cent in 2000.

Of course, the Internet and social networks also make it easier to communicate and they help families stay in touch with loved ones.

"The answer is never about technology. It's always about parental responsibility," Gilbert said. But he noted that the explosive growth of digital technology has made it increasingly difficult for parents to monitor what their kids are doing.

Media distrust touches a new high

2010-11-20T22:38:00.000-08:00

Even as belief in the entrenched media in the West sees a new low, it is time to take stock of where Indian media stands. Today’s media produces a service that plays to a specific range of beliefs.
At its core, the paid news debate raging in India is about media trust. Apart from concern about election time paid news, there is growing cynicism about what the media puts out. It is now standard practice to create news events to provide publicity to films before openings.

Controversies are created to nourish the media and titillate interest in non-events. The supernatural and the bizarre are commonly presented as ‘fact'. Newspapers mastheads are reworked to suit advertorials and a whole new gamut of approaches are fashioned to redefine news and blur transparency between news, views, publicity and advertisements.

So is India alone in coping with these distortions of accepted journalistic practice? Not at all. The 7th Asia Media Summit in May this year in Beijing saw this issue come up. The Summit links members of the broadcasting industry from Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Arab countries, Europe and the Americas.
Of particular interest to those present was a presentation by the Chairperson of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Maurice Newman, which drew on the Pew Research Center's findings on Public Trust in Media. The findings point out that in the USA trust in media is at a new low with a large number of Americans saying that reporting is ‘inaccurate, biased and shaped by special interests'.

He said only 29% respondents believed that organisations got their facts straight and 74% said that reporting on political or social issues was biased. He added that most Americans got their news from satire and comedy programs - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report.

Credibility ratings for the major broadcast and cable television outlets in the US have fallen somewhat in recent years, due in large part to increased cynicism towards the media on the part of conservatives and Republicans. CNN no longer enjoys the top spot as the most credible TV news source; it is now in a statistical tie with CBS's 60 Minutes.
The Pew Centre report shows that from 1996 to 2002, CNN was viewed as the most believable broadcast or cable outlet, but its ratings have fallen gradually over time. Today only 32% of those able to rate CNN say they can believe all or most of what they see on the cable network. This is down from 37% is 2002, 39% in 2000, and a high of 42% in 1998.

Ratings for other major broadcast networks have declined as well. NBC News, ABC News and CBS News are rated about equally in terms of believability. Among those able to rate NBC News, 24% find the network highly credible, down from a high of 30% in 1998. ABC News has followed a similar pattern: 24% view it as highly believable, compared with 31% in 1996. In 1996 32% considered CBS News as believable while today only 24% do so.

A similar pattern of waning credibility can be seen for print news outlets in America which have registered “modest shifts downward across a broad range of print sources”, according to the report. Two news organizations share the top spot in terms of print news credibility. The weekly news magazine U.S. News & World Report and the Wall Street Journal are viewed as highly credible by 24% of those who rate them.

In previous polls the Wall Street Journal stood well above the rest but that is no longer the case. In 1998 and 2000, 41% of those able to rate it said they could believe all or most of what they read in the Wall Street Journal. That number fell to 33% in 2002 and now stands at 24%.

Most of the other print sources tested in the poll received similar ratings for believability. Time magazine is viewed as highly believable by 22% of people rating it, and the New York Times gets a 21% rating. Newsweek and USA Today get a high rating from 19%; that is also the rating respondents give to their own daily newspaper. The Associated Press is viewed as highly credible by 18% of Americans who can rate it.

The trend now is for news organizations to build trust not through impartiality and objectivity but by producing a service that plays to a specific range of beliefs. Fox News serves conservative America while CNN serves the liberal audience. Partisan blogs too, increasingly, fulfill a growing need of news audiences in the US for partisan news. A new development in the business of media trust: you trust those who think like you.

So what does that bode for India? Our own newspapers have become increasingly partisan over the years, with identifiable ideologies. Media ownership has also created its own variables in defining news and positioning that creates trust. Political ownership of Indian media is growing. The performance of Doordarshan and AIR during the Emergency brought their credibility to a low and it got them branded as ‘official mouthpieces' from which they have yet to recover.

Selective reporting and single source reporting can be a dangerous trend which does not help democratic processes. With everyone having the means to become a reporter and few checks and balances in place, the ‘facts' in news can be layered with ‘opinion and fiction'. If India TV contributes to science through its imaginative and bizarre aspects of our lives and turns us ‘non-believers' into ‘believers' in the supernatural, it is testimony to the power of the media. Facts are distorted and we are left no wiser in these news stories reinforced with reconstructed images.

In other countries many channels which receive unsolicited news have set up a system to check and recheck stories. NHK receives more than 200 unsolicited news stories from citizens. These stories are checked for facts before accepting and transmission.

Similarly ABC, Australia, as a public broadcaster has accomplished this transparency through its editorial processes. Many public service broadcasters like ABC are bound by legislation to keep balance and impartiality in their news reports. To keep the process transparent a system of research and assessment in editorial content has been evolved with the help of academics. Assessment reports are published regularly. On-air news is supplemented with on-line material, additional videos, full interviews and transcripts that enable the public to have clarity. ABC research reveals that 85% of the public find their news balanced and objective.

Any takers for research and a test on trust for the Indian media?

Global watchdog issues warning on press freedom

2010-10-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

The new "freedom index" from press watchdog Reporters Without Borders slams the usual dictatorships, but also warns that economic growth in emerging powers does not always lead to more liberty.

As expected, the pressure group's annual league table of media freedom condemns authoritarian regimes -- such as Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan -- that employ the most brutal methods to silence the free press.

But it also warns that the impressive economic progress made in recent years by major powers such as China, India and Russia has not been matched by any greater openness to criticism on the part of their governments.

And it hits out at several European Union countries, former leaders in freedom of expression, who are quick to criticise others but who now find themselves slipping in the rankings as authorities chip away at media rights.

Reporters with Borders (RSF) praises Brazil for making progress in changing its laws to better guarantee free expression -- moving it up 12 places to the 58th best place to be a journalist -- but hits out at India, Russia and China.

"These four countries now shoulder the responsibilities of the emerging powers and must fulfil their obligations as regards fundamental rights," the group's secretary general, Jean-Frangois Julliard, said in a statement.

"More than ever before, we see that economic development, institutional reform and respect for fundamental rights do not necessarily go hand in hand."

China was criticised for censoring and jailing dissidents, writers and bloggers, and drops to 171st place out of 178 countries surveyed.

RSF praised the Nobel committee for giving its 2010 Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, "symbol of the pressure for free speech building up in China, which censorship for the time being is still managing to contain."

France and Italy, at 44th and 49th, were hit for prying into "journalists' sources, the continuing concentration of media ownership and contempt and impatience

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi owns the country's big private broadcaster and several publications, and has been accused of putting political pressure on state and independent media.

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy is accused of ordering secret police to hunt out the source of leaks to the press about a high-profile fraud probe, and his wealthy friends in industry own much of the daily press.

"It is disturbing to see several European Union member countries continuing to fall in the index," Julliard said.

"If it does not pull itself together, the European Union risks losing its position as world leader in respect for human rights... How could it be convincing when it asks authoritarian regimes to make improvements?"

Nevertheless, the top six countries in joint first place in the world for press freedom are still in northern Europe, and three of them in the European Union: Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

"These six countries set an example in the way they respect journalists and news media and protect them from judicial abuse," RSF said.

RSF compiles its annual table by scoring each country in the light of 43 criteria measuring violence and persecution against journalists, censorship and self-censorship and the financial and legal independence of media.

'Media losing focus on real issues in pursuit of profits'

2010-10-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

India has finally woken up to the menace of 'paid news' syndrome in the mainstream media. The practice that involves money in acquiring unethically media space by the beneficiaries remained an important issue in India for many years. But lately a number of influential media persons' organisations have shown their concern with the ill practice of journalism in the country.

The practice of offering envelopes to reporters remained visible across Asian media and especially India and China for decades. But lately the practice appears to be becoming institutionalised, not by poverty-stricken reporters but by the publishers themselves. It is alleged that many media houses in India irrespective of their volume of business have started selling news space after some understandings with the politicians and corporate people without disguising those items as advertisements.

First it was a meet of South Asia Free Media Association (India chapter) in Mumbai during the first week of December 2009, where the issue of paid news was officially discussed with serious concern. Then came the annual general meeting of the Editors' Guild of India during the fourth week of December, where most of the members expressed concern at the growing tendency of a section of media groups (both print and visual) to receive money for some 'non-advertorial' items in their media space.

The editors' guild sent a letter to each of its member-editors throughout the country asking for pledges that his/her 'publication/TV channel will not carry any paid news' as the practice 'violates and undermines the principles of free and fair journalism'. The letter, signed by Rajdeep Sardesai and Coomi Kapoor, president and secretary general of the Guild respectively, expressed hope that 'the entire journalist fraternity would come together on this issue' and defend their credibility with public declarations on the subject in
order to restore public trust.

Indian media has been recognised as sensitive, patriotic and very much influential tool in the socio-political sphere since the days of freedom movement. The father of Indian nation Mahatma Gandhi initiated his movement with the moral power of active journalism. Today, India with its billion population supports nearly 70,000 registered newspapers and over 450 Television channels (including some 24x7 news channels). The Indian media, as a whole, often plays the role of constructive opposition in the Parliament as well as in various Legislative Assemblies of the State. Journalists are, by and large, honoured and accepted as the moral guide in the Indian society. While the newspapers in Europe and America are losing their readership annually, the Indian print media is still going stronger with huge circulation figure and market avenues. For the democratic India, the media continues to be acclaimed as the fourth important pillar after judiciary, parliament and bureaucratic set-up.

But unfortunately a cancer in the form of paid news has been diagnosed with the Indian media in the recent past. Millions of rupees have been reportedly been paid to media houses.

Some veteran editor-journalists like Prabhash Joshi, the founding editor of the Hindi daily Jansatta, who died in November, and BG Verghese, previously the editor of both the Hindustan Times and Indian Express, warned the Press Council of India that paid news has already turned into a full-blown scandal.

It is worth mentioning that the Mumbai SAFMA meeting had serious discussion and concern on the recent trend of commercialisation of mainstream media, and degradation of media ethics and practices in the country. All the speakers in the meeting of SAFMA (which is recognized by the SAARC), were unanimous that media in the entire region must come forward in a transparent way with maintaining public trust. Addressing the audience, eminent journalist and the rural affairs editor of The Hindu, P Sainath disclosed that that the corporatisation of the media world had simply threatened the existence of free media. "Newspaper owners are greatly influenced by political clout," P Sainath, the rural affairs editor of The Hindu, warned another media group. It was Sainath who raised the issue of paid news through his regular columns in The Hindu, urging the press council and election commission to take appropriate action.

"The proprietors now grant space for vivid coverage for the benefit of their 'friendly politicians' in the newspapers," Sainath warned in his speech. "Furthermore, to entertain their growing demands, many media groups have even gone for arranging extra space (during election periods). Let's finish the culture of paid news, otherwise it will finish us in the coming days."

An official statement of the SAFMA meet, which was attended by many distinguished editor-journalists of India including K K Katyal, Satich Jacob, Kumar Ketkar (editor of Loksatta), Om Thanvi (editor of Jansatta), Vinod Sharma (political editor of Hindustan Times), Sevanti Ninan (editor of www.thehoot.org) etc, expressed serious concern at the growing trend of selling news space.

"Recent assembly elections in Maharashtra and elsewhere revealed the spread of the pernicious practice of accepting money for giving editorial space to contestants. In fact, this evil had been perpetrated by institutionalising it," according to a statement by the South Asian Free Media Association.

Meanwhile, the press council, a quasi-judicial body, has decided to investigate, establishing a committee to examine violations of the journalistic code of fair and objective reporting. The press council Chairman GN Ray, a retired justice, acknowledged that a section of Indian media had 'indulged in monetary deals with some politicians and candidates by publishing their views as news items and bringing out negative news items against rival candidates' during the last elections.'

Even a documentary titled 'Advertorial: Selling News or Products?' was produced by an eminent media critic and academic Paranjoy Guha Thakurta for India's national broadcaster, Doordarshan. It was telecast in last November.

Guha Thakurta, a member of the press council investigative team said in an interview that the committee had received many complains from the journalists that a large number of newspapers and television channels (in various languages) had been receiving money to provide news space (and even editorials) for the benefit of politicians. Speaking to this writer from New Delhi, Guha Thakurta claims that the paid news culture has finally violated the guidelines of the Election Commission (of India), which makes restriction in the expenditure of a candidate (for any Legislative Assembly or Parliamentary elections). "Amazingly, we have found that some newspapers even prepared rate cards for the candidates in the last few elections. There are different rates for positive news coverage, interviews, editorials and also putting out damaging reports against the opponents," Guha Thakurta asserted.

The Indian Election Commission recently asked the Press Council of India 'to define what constitutes paid political news', so it can adopt appropriate guidelines. During a December meeting, the elections body also directed the press council to 'formulate guidelines to the media house' to require that the money involved be incorporated in the political party and candidate expenditures.

Lately, the Guild had submitted a memorandum to the election commission expressing its grave concern over the paid news phenomenon. A delegation from the Guild, led by its president Rajdeep Sardesai met the election commission on January 22 and urged the chief election commissioner Navin Chawla to 'take strong action against both candidates and media persons who violate the disclosure norms of election expenditure in regard to media publicity.'

Rajdeep Sardesai, the editor's guild president and also the chief editor of the CNN-IBN television news channel, speaking to this writer, said that the Guild was 'deeply shocked and seriously concerned at the increasing number of reports detailing the pernicious practice of publishing paid news by some newspapers and television channels, especially during the recent elections'.

"We strongly believe that the practice of putting out advertising as news is a grave journalistic malpractice. Moreover the trend threatens the foundation of journalism by eroding public faith in the credibility and impartiality of news reporting. It also vitiated the poll process and prevented a fair election, since richer candidates who could pay for their publicity had a clear advantage," Sardesai added.

While admitting the right of news media to go for advertisements in various occasions, Sardesai insisted that the 'media houses should distinguish the advertisements with full and proper disclosure norms, so that no reader and viewer is tricked by any subterfuge of advertisements published and broadcast in the same format, language and style of news'.

With the same notion, a Guwahati-based media observer H. Mahanta claims that many regional newspapers in Northeast India in effect sell favourable reporting for extra income.

"You can find a number of examples in Guwahati, where the proprietors of the media houses had misused the media space for their individual benefits. It is amazing how some newspapers change their point of views towards a politician or party suddenly after getting money (in cash or kinds)," Mahanta said.

Media is increasingly becoming the "handmaid" of politicians and business houses and losing focus on real issues in pursuit of profits prompting an urgent need for paid news menace to be isolated, treated and removed.

There are specific allegations that many journalists in Guwahati, who are among the lowest paid in India with starting salaries as little as US$50 a month, enjoy regular payments like monthly lump sum compensation from politicians in power. Licenses for wine shops are offered to reporters (and accepted happily by many) with the inherent understanding that they only write positive stories and if possible, kill negative reports against their politician-financers. However, the newspapers of Assam still maintain ethical values in respect of editorial space, as those are not being utilized visibly for earning extra hard cash till now, observers say. But how long it will continue that remains a bigger question.

Courtsey: N Thakuria

Only 22 per cent news makers in India are women: Report

2010-09-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Only 22 per cent of the news makers in print, radio and television news in India are women, while the corresponding global figure is 24 per cent, according to Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) Report 2010.

In contrast, 78 per cent of the people in news are men in the Indian media and 76 per cent worldwide, GMMP said in its National report pertaining to India.

GMMP is the world's largest-running and most extensive research on gender in the news media and India was one of the 108 countries across the world which was monitored.

The percentage women heard or read about in print, radio and television news in Asia was 20 per cent, the report said.GMMP which carries out similar study every five years said there is a significant improvement since 1995 when globally only 17 per cent of the people in the news were women.

This is the first time monitoring of Indian media was done and was carried out by the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI), a professional association linking women journalists and other women working in or on the media across the country for the GMMP.The national report was released by the Additional Chief Secretary Chandra Iyengar at the Press Club of Mumbai.

Media does not report about growth of women in various fields including politics, bureaucracy and do not promote their point of view as much it should be doing. Indian women journalists should not just look for visibility but fight for alternative ways of expressing women in the society, Additional Chief Secretary said.

The report for India is based on data gathered from sample of 20 dailies, 11 TV news bulletins and five radio bulletins which together represent nine languages.The monitoring was conducted by 22 volunteers registered as participants in the day-long exercise on November 10 last year. Globally, GMMP research covered 16,734 news items, 20,769 news personnel and 35,543 total news subjects. Internet news monitoring was introduced for the first time on a pilot basis where 76 national news websites in 16 countries and eight international news websites were monitored. GMMP has been doing such a study every five years since 1995.

'Excessive internet browsing could cause depression, obesity'

2010-09-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

Excessive internet browsing can lead to negative outcomes like social isolation, depression, insomnia and obesity, especially among teenagers, a study by industry chamber Assocham has said.

The study defined over five hours of internet usage daily as "excessive".
It said teenagers (in the age group of 12-18 years) are most vulnerable to these risks due to over usage of internet.

"A large number of children and adolescents have access to internet and are getting exposed to the online world at a very early age," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said in a statement.

The survey said that working parents' children are more internet addictive in the absence of parental supervision compared to those whose single parent is employed.

"This trend is emerging mostly in metros where normally both the parents are employed," it said.

The chamber surveyed 1,500 internet users, both boys and girls, in 10 major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune and Bangalore.

"Boys reported excessive internet browsing compared to girls," the study said.

Of the total respondents surveyed, over half of them said that they accessed internet for over five hours a day, about a quarter of them told they browse for less than five hours daily and the remaining said they did not access internet everyday, it said.

The study said with the availability of broadband facility at cheap rates, internet has become more accessible in homes, schools, colleges, libraries and internet cafes.

"Also, the introduction of 3G services has further increased the accessibility of internet through mobile phones," it said.

The survey said excessive internet usage is also due to less likelihood of having friends and feelings of depression.

Has paid news turned media into a 'lap dog'?

2010-08-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

Has the media turned into a "lap dog" from the watchdog of society it is supposed to be, thanks to the increasing trend of paid news witnessed today? Senior journalists and experts voicing concern over the issue said the media should be united in refusing paid news.

At a panel discussion on the increase in paid news and the Press Council of India's role to curb it, veteran journalists and judges Monday expressed concern over big business houses dictating to the media on what news to carry and how some journalists fall prey to sponsored trips, gifts and even sometimes cash to carry news.

The discussions witnessed noted journalists and columnists like T.N. Ninan of Business Standard newspaper, Seema Mustafa, Siddharth Varadarajan of the Hindu, Alok Mehta of Nai Dunia newspaper, sharing their views on the topic 'The press council on paid news: Where do we go from here?'

Commenting on the Press Council of India's role in curbing the growing paid news culture, its chairman, Justice G.N. Ray, said: "I am aware of the paid news which is flourishing in the media today, but we at PCI are like a toothless tiger as we can't enforce, we can only put moral codes of conduct."

Speaking about the change in the media sector and the entry of business barons to run media organizations, columnist Seema Mustafa lambasted the "the control over the media by the big business houses who dictate which news should go and what should not…. Nowadays a newspaper does not require editors, there are only managers to run it. And paid news is one step further for degenerating media."

T.N. Ninan, chairman and editorial director of Business Standard, said the trend of paid news has been going on since decades. He cited examples of sponsored trips for journalists, gifts and even sometimes cash.

"PCI's name and shame campaign was a wonderful idea which did not work. The only solution I can see is to get people together who feel strongly about it and work towards refusing it (paid news)," said Ninan.

Another solution was suggested of an alternate public broadcast system which is not controlled or governed by the rich and powerful.

"Public broadcast system like Prasar Bharati and the likes did not fail, they were systematically killed by the private media, agents of the corporate houses and advertisers. Unless it is projected in some way that the law should be enforced, the paid news culture will keep growing," said B.G. Verghese, organizer and chairman of The Media Foundation.

Journalist Alok Mehta talked about the journalism of hope, giving examples of media organizations that refuse to bow down to the paid news culture. The Hindu's Siddharth Varadarajan said paid news is "a management issue" and if a journalist continuously refuses it, then his job security is at stake, which is a matter that needs to be dealt with.

Justice J.S. Verma, chairman of Independent Broadcast Regulatory Authority (IBRA), concluded the discussion with: "Media is considered to be the watch dog of the society, it should not become a lap dog."

Courtesy: IANS

From BREAKING NEWS to BROKEN NEWS

2010-07-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS

Did this grab your attention?

Well, that's what BREAKING NEWS is supposed to do, grab viewers' attention and keep you hooked. This is in fact the electronic media's bastion. Television media competes for eyeballs and New media (Online) competes for visitors. In both cases, it helps to be the first one to "break news".Even the search engines favours the first source that publishes information about any developing story.

Earlier news anchors would only use the term "Breaking News" for serious issues, such as plane crashes, wars etc. But now, it seems that the term pops up on the news every hour. Sometime it seems like a planned segment.

Indian television news networks have never expanded as they are now. In a decade, India has experienced the rise of more than hundred 24 hour satellite news channels, broadcasting news in different languages. But the news selected and transmitted has been changed fundamentally where the urgency and accuracy dominate. It differs significantly from traditional media because of its visual nature and its capacity to simultaneously capture and publicize 'reality'- or at least what seems like reality.

But the question arises, does quality matter here? Not too much, "Good Enough" is what the electronic media aims to be. From where and how the news come from? What role do news channels now play? These are the questions, becoming urgent day by day. And the answers seems to be a moving target and answering them is a big challenge. Indeed the expanding universe of new media, including blogs, Twitter and local websites played only a limited role: mainly an alert system and a way to disseminate stories from other places. New technology is more prevalent as a way for media both traditional and new to break news more quickly.

It is well known fact, in the attempt to grab eyeballs and visitors, electronic media in India, does broadcast breaking news, without confirming the facts.

Compounding the social POTENTIAL OF TELEVISION, Indian network have arisen in a dynamic multimedia environment, almost in tandem with new media like the internet and mobile technology. By marrying the continuous cycle of 24 hour rolling news with these personalized new technologies, India's 24Hour news Channels provide a new avenue for politics and public activity that is profoundly transformative.

Let me illustrate the meaning of Indian 24HOUR news with a story that occupied two days of non-stop Live Coverage with BREAKING NEWS on Indian TV news channels in July 2006. It began with BREAKING NEWS on July 21st when Prince, the five year old son of a farm labourer, fell into a narrow 55foot pit being dug for a water borewell in Aldeharhi village, some 150km north of Delhi. Once, the missing son of a farm labourer would not have been important enough for reportage in anything other than a local daily. In the case of Prince, however producers at various national networks saw the promise of a good story and ratings. A number of channels scrapped their regular programming to cover the rescue attempt live, except that there were simply no specialized rescue services in the area.

Wasn't the news coverage of dramatic rescue lopsided in this country like India, where every hour twenty five violent crimes take place, everyday fifty nine housewives commit suicide and where two rapes, four murders, ten culpable homicides and one dowry death occur on an hourly basis? Wasn't this publicity disproportionate? Didn't channels go over the top?

Most of our countrymen are still superstitious in practice and are easily misled by elites. The people who belong to the group of illiterates are unable to understand their right to information.The electronic media targets them and show programmes, according to their needs. Thus, news channels overcome the expectations of these people.

In result, TV has become now increasingly the synonyms of entertainment. News is either entertainment or sensationalism. It is being created with some elements of entertainment…..people shouting at each other…..or some kind of conflict with BREAKING NEWS. It is not always about information.

Scientists usually says, when we observe an event we in some way change it. Leaving the esoteric concepts of theoretical physics aside, we know that the presence of news reporters and cameras not only changes events, but it can even create news.

In a survey conducted by Insight media research, when viewers were asked open ended questions about their complaints against TV news of people who said, they watch less TV news. Here are the reasons in percentile below given by respondents:

Question: Why people watch less TV News?

Reasons:

• Too much repetition            37%

• Sensationalism            34%

• Balance of Positive/Negative news        33%

• Irrelevant Crime Coverage            32%

• Limited coverage of real issues        22%

• Want more than spot news          21%

• Limited regional coverage          20%

• Not getting enough respect          20%

TV news reporting requires the same core values of accuracy and impartiality as other types of journalism - but the unique demands involved in providing video illustration mean broadcast producers and reporters must also develop creative approaches to telling each story.

Broadcast news is a highly competitive business and in the rush to get a story on the air it's sometimes tempting to guess at facts or use information from a questionable source. However, errors in stories not only damage a channel's credibility but they can derail a reporter's professional future. Here are five points to keep in mind always while reporting or writing news stories.

I-Question those who claim to be a witness to an event and confirm that they really were in a position to see what happened.

II-Use a second source to double-check information that seems surprising or may be in doubt --especially if it could put any person or agency in a bad light.

III-Double-check all names, titles, and places, and, when necessary, write out the pronunciation of names phonetically.

IV-When writing the story, do the math on numbers. If a telephone number or address is involved, make very sure they are accurate.

V-Make sure that sound bites selected during editing accurately reflect what the person being interviewed meant.

Let's not forget, these forms of practice contain an essential insight for contemporary journalism. They tell us that what journalist should be doing is standing outside the cycle of symbolic and physical violence, corruption and manipulated information that makes up the power relations of society, so they can show audiences the truth of the system and how it works. But, instead, they, themselves, are immersed in this system of untruth. This essential act of corruption on the part of news media is all the more disturbing when we begin to see the nature of the system that journalists have allowed themselves to become a part of. The dominant medium, Television, which is controlled by the big companies, is worse than ever. It offers an ever-more extreme caricature of news and entertainment, because the limited number of channels make it possible for it to be controlled by a few and because visual images encourage TV producers to increase immediacy at the expense of reflexives. Even the journalists who still have a sense that journalism is a calling and not merely a business, spin out the same stale stories rather than challenge colleagues and those is executive offices in a way that might endanger their power and position.

At the end, what we need, than, is a news media that is willing to step outside the system and tell the truth to a public that is hungry for it.

HONOUR killings: Rigid tradition and Modernity Conflict

2010-06-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

With a spate of so-called 'honour killings' shocking the nation in recent weeks, human rights activists say the increase in such cases is a testimony to the growing conflict between rigid family tradition and modernity.They also feel the problem can be resolved by increasing awareness and bringing tougher legislations.

While the younger generation wants to break the shackles of traditional family norms, the older generation wants to teach them a lesson for violating the rules they have been following since ages.

Our politicians are tyring hard to showcase India as an emerging superpower. But we have not made enough efforts to educate the rural masses who comprise 70 per cent of our population.Honour killing is like any other social problem which can be fought with awareness and stronger legislation. We need to convince people who give their social customs more priority than anything else that these young people are making their own choices and that is not against the rule of law.

A series of cases, where young men or women were murdered for marrying outside caste or within the same sub-caste or against the family's wishes have come to the fore in recent times. Delhi had back-to-back cases in the past two weeks.

Only a few politicians have spoken against such crimes because caste can determine an election win or loss, felt Kant, whose organisation had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Supreme court on this issue.

Hearing the petition, the apex court had last week asked the Centre and eight state governments to submit reports on the steps taken to prevent such barbaric crimes.

According to the UN Population Fund, such crimes are being committed across the globe and mostly in the Asian continent since ages. It estimates that around 5,000 women are killed in this way every year worldwide, vast majority of them in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

In March this year, a Haryana court sentenced five people to death for murdering a couple on the orders of a 'khap panchayat' -- a traditional unofficial local council.

Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily has said that the government would soon come out with a law against honour killings and a draft has already been prepared.

Welcoming this, senior Supreme Court lawyer P N Lekhi said, "Offences like honour killing are social offences and strict laws are needed to combat them."

Another Supreme Court lawyer Shanti Bhushan said, "Making the crime a separate offence would attract more attention from the authorities as well as common man."

'Reality shows more meaner than fictions'

2010-06-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

Although reality television shows display almost no such physical violence, the non-physical aggression shown on those programmes can encourage viewers to imitate them in real life, a new study has found.

The "realistic portrayal" of aggression and snarky gossipping in those shows even make them much "meaner" than the fictional programmes, according to the research carried out at the Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Those verbal or relational aggression in reality shows typically slips past TV-rating systems and media watchdog groups, which instead focus on condemning the physical violence of gunfights and fisticuffs, said Sarah Coyne, who led the study.

"All of these reality shows would never receive a rating of violence or aggression from the current rating systems," Coyne told LiveScience.

According to the researchers, verbal aggression includes direct taunts or insults. By contrast, relational aggression includes more indirect attacks on social status or relationships, such as anonymous gossip-mongering or threats to end a friendship.

For their study, they examined the 10 most popular shows from the third quarter of 2007 among the TV-viewing audience in the UK. A few American TV shows also appeared as audience favourites among the top five reality shows and top five fictional shows.

They found that five reality TV shows that included "American Idol" and the British versions of "Apprentice" and "Big Brother" typically showcased more acts of aggression per hour of TV than the five fictional shows, including the medical drama "ER" and the sci-fi drama "Torchwood".

Verbal aggression represented the most frequent type of aggression by far among all the TV shows, the researchers found, and pointed to past research that showed links between viewing verbal aggression in the media and then behaving aggressively afterwards.

Women spend more time viewing TV than men

2010-05-23T00:21:00.001-07:00

Television is the most preferred entertainment medium and women have established their supremacy over men in living rooms, a media study has found.

TV sealed the first slot with as many as 92 per cent of respondents voting for it in a survey conducted by commercial consultancy firm Deloitte on 'State of the Media Democracy Survey,'. Among 2,000 respondents across the country, women were found to be watching more TV programmes (93 percent), compared to men (91 percent).

Analysing the reason behind TV's sway among respondents from cities like Bangalore, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Surat and Indore, the study said, "this may be because TV has a wider reach than any other medium and the 'visuals' have a greater impact irrespective of their educational background, status etc."

It further said "in India, the growth of the DTH platform has ensured that the remotest corner of the country can now get hooked onto numerous soaps, sports, news and other powerful visuals that modern day television beams out".

Even the senior citizens rate TV as the preferred entertainment medium, with their score being as high as 95 per cent.

Newspaper occupies the second position.

"Indians, unlike the westerners, want to read dailies with their morning cup of tea. This reading habit is more visible in the younger bracket of respondents (those above 26 years), with 68 per cent of them preferring newspaper.
Among the younger generations, going to the movies, listening to music and radio are high on their next preferred entertainment areas. The tech-savvy generation is more inclined to Internet, gaming and cell phones as means of recreation," the survey said.

Cell phone came out as the most preferred entertainment device as 64 per cent of the respondents falling in the age group of 14-25 voted for it.

Media Circus: For the love of bad fatwas!

2010-05-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

It is not easy to decry media reports of Deoband's latest directive on working women. But there is no denying the respective logic of fatwa issuers.

Reference recent news reports on the Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband fatwa regarding women working in the proximity of men without the veil — and be hereby informed that the Indian Muslim charge sheet against the national media is long and ready. This is the latest instance of the media's pursuit of its favorite pastime: habitual meaningless bashing.

Aren't we entitled to ask for Introspection by our own Media which can play such an important part in disseminating the right kind of news that make our citizens more empowered and responsible in shaping a new future for our Country rather than magnifying the insignificant issue to make it sensational without factually investigating it.

Within 24 hours of this news being flashed on NDTV couple of week ago, all major Indian media reported this over a month old fatwa. And every new report had added information that was not even there, says managing editor of Two Circles.net.

Everybody loves a bad fatwa. And why not? Newspapers, for it fills the front page for its readers; Television channels, for it brings in the audience; communalists, for it plays into the image of Muslims as backwards; and activists, because it gives them a chance to reinforce their secular credentials.

Never mind that this fatwa will not change the lives of millions of Muslims and may be text of the fatwa is not what it has been reported or may be the said fatwa doesn't even exist.

A fatwa is nothing but a religious opinion from a religious scholar to a question asked by a Muslim on a particular situation that he or she may be facing or might face in future, and does not know what should be appropriate way to act in light of Islamic teachings. A mufti then issues a fatwa or opinion based on his understanding of the question and Islam. Just as different medical doctors will have difference of opinion regarding diagnosis and a treatment plan, it is common for different muftis to give different opinions on the same question.

Media Circus

At least once every year, on a slow news day, some enterprising journalist finds a fatwa that will fit the stereotype about Muslims being backward or Muslim scholars being ignorant or out of touch with the real world or both, and publish a news story based upon this 'prized' fatwa. Let's take the example of the fatwa issued by Darul Uloom Deoband that is making the round in news cycles this week.

The fatwa in question was issued more than a month ago and one can ask, why the sudden interest by media in this particular fatwa? A fatwa that is only a sentence long has had numerous newspaper columns space and hours of airtime devoted to it. The media bosses have decided that it is an important fatwa because it has all the right keywords to keep the readers, audience, and therefore revenue coming in.

One has to question the motive of the major media regarding this fatwa. There is more to this than meets the eye when the Indian media which is obsessed with breaking news and exclusives these days picks up a fatwa that was issued more than a month ago. Within 24 hours of this news being flashed on NDTV on Tuesday (May 11th, 2010) this week, all major media of India have reported it. And every new report had added information that was not even there.

Let's look at the fatwa first.

Question number 21031 (http://darulifta-deoband.org/viewfatwa.jsp?ID=21031) to Darul Ifta (house of fatwas) of Darul Uloom Deoband asked by someone in India states:

“Asalamu-Alikum: Can muslim women in India do Govt. or Pvt. Jobs? Shall their salary be Halal or Haram or Prohibited?”

Answer published on April 4th, 2010 simply answers it as follow: “It is unlawful for Muslim women to do job in government or private institutions where men and women work together and women have to talk with [to] men frankly and without veil.”

Headlines

Now let's look at some of the headlines of news reports about this fatwa:

Fatwa against working Muslim women: NDTV

Fatwa to working Muslim women: Don't talk to male colleagues: NDTV

Women's earnings haram, says Deoband: Times of India [Print edition]

Deoband fatwa: It's illegal for women to work, support family: Times of India [Online]

Don't talk to male colleagues: Darul Uloom's fatwa to all working women: DNA

Muslim women can't work: Deoband: Samay Live

Darul Uloom says Muslim women can't work in public: India Today

Now, fatwa against working women: Indian Express

Women Working with Men Un-Islamic: Deoband: Outlook

Fatwa against men-women proximity at workplace: Zee News

In case you ever wondered why there is no successful supermarket tabloid in India, this is your answer. There is no need for one because major media in India does that job very well.

Courtsey: TwoCircles.net

Manmohan fine as PM but Rahul will be better: TV Survey

2010-05-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

A large number of people feel that they are worse off at the end of the first year of the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

An opinion poll conducted by a NDTV news channel said a majority of those surveyed expressed satisfaction with the performance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but nearly half felt Rahul Gandhi would make a better premier.

44 per cent of the surveyed Indians felt that they were worse off under UPA II as compared to UPA I with the bulk of both Congress and BJP voters feeling "let down".

According to the opinion poll conducted by the channel on completion of first year of the UPA-II government, 41 per cent of Congress voters and 49 per cent of BJP voters felt they were worse off compared to the previous term of the UPA.

Giving their verdict on the performance of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister in the last one year, almost 70 per cent of surveyed Indians expressed their satisfaction.

However, nearly half of the surveyed population felt Rahul Gandhi would make a better Prime Minister than Singh and a majority of 55 per cent people felt Gandhi will be the next man in the post.

When it came to comparing Congress chief Sonia Gandhi with Manmohan Singh in terms of their influence, 63 per cent of the surveyed population considered her to be more powerful than Singh.

On the performance of cabinet ministers, 61 percent of the people covered by the opinion poll rated Home Minister P Chidambaram as a "high performer".

67 per cent felt government should use the army to fight Naxalites.

On Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, 59 per cent of applauded him but 62 per cent of the people felt they were very much affected by the inflation, according to the opinion poll.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was considered by the opinon poll as the best performing Chief Minister in the last one year with those surveyed giving him 85 per cent, just one per cent higher than Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

About Telecom Minister A Raja, a majority of the voting population in Tamil Nadu (57 per cent) believed he was guilty of spectrum allocation scam, said the opinion poll.

A sharply divided response came from Kerala voters on Shashi Tharoor's exit from the union ministry in the wake of the IPL controversy with 37 per cent voting in favour his dismissal while an almost equal percentage felt it was a wrong action.

The response was also divided on what should be India's attitude towards Pakistan, with 39 per cent of the people believing that India can be friends with the neighbouring country while 35 per cent of them opining that India should fight Pakistan.

A majority of people (76 per cent) agreed with the verdict of capital punishment for 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab.

An overwhelming 77 percent were in favour of reservation of one-third of seats in parliament for women, with most of them feeling that women make better leaders.

Though politicians continue to be the most pilloried, with respondents of the opinion poll saying that 90 percent of politicians are corrupt, 88 percent also felt the police force was corrupt.

Only 30 pc of TV channel viewing in country planned: Survey

2010-05-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

Only 30 per cent of the TV channels viewing in the country is planned, says a survey conducted by television guidance channel, What's On India.

A survey reveals that amidst the increasing number of channels on the digital platforms (DTH), planned viewership is just 30 per cent and 70 per cent of it is unplanned due to lack of exposure to content.

The channel run by What's On India Media Private Limited and funded by two venture capitalists -- Nexus Capital and Sequoia capitals -- has launched TV Channel Guide in India on the lines of TV Guide available in USA, UK and Australia.

"To help viewers take informed decisions about content of interest on the digital platforms such as Airtel, Digicable, Dish TV and Hathway the channel is offering 'Now and Next programme' facility," What's On India Media's Channel Head, Shalini Behl said.

"The option with an electronic programming guide scroll on the bottom enables the viewer to locate programme of interest on the channels and also informs them about other such programmes to be aired in next few minutes," she said.

"The company is in talks with leading DTH operators like Tata Sky, Reliance Big TV and Videocon, besides analogue cable operators," Behl said

The 24x7 channel generates revenue from tie-ups with broadcasters like Star, Color, Discovery, besides through advertisements.

For the promotion of preferred viewing on digital platforms, our channel has aired a three minute programme Celebrities Talking, which shows favourite channels viewed by celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.