Indian and International Media News

International media news: Ireland's INM to buy Australia's APN

2007-02-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

Independent News & Media Plc (INM), the Irish media group, and United States investment vehicle Carlyle Group have agreed to buy APN News & Media Limited, Australia's fourth-largest media company.

Independent News & Media Plc., headed by 70-year old Sir Anthony O'Reilly, will reduce its stake in APN to 35%, freeing up resources to grow its business in other markets.

Sir Anthony O'Reilly, the Irish billionaire, revealed on Monday the Australian dollar 2.8-billion (US $ 2.17 billion; euro 1.67 billion) takeover bid for APN News & Media, Australia's fourth largest media group.

The deal, which values APN at A $ 3.8 billion (US $ 2.94 billion; euro 2.26 billion) -- including debt -- is the media sector's first for 2007.

Analysts expect 2007 to see the biggest shakeup of the Australian media landscape in over 20 years as Canberra prepares to relax ownership rules.

If shareholders approve the proposal, Independent will cut its stake in the Australian media group to around 35% from the 41.6% stake at present. Fellow consortium member Providence Equity will take a 37.5% stake and Carlyle Group, a 27.5% stake.

Independent and Providence Equity first approached APN -- which owns radio stations, outdoor advertising sites and newspapers in Australia and New Zealand, including the New Zealand Herald -- with the offer of Australian $ 6.02 (US $ 4.66; euro 3.58) a share in 2006.

However, they had abandoned that bid in November 2006 after failing to meet a self-imposed deadline, before coming back with new partner, Carlyle, in January 2007.

An independent committee of the board of APN has recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the increased $ 6.10 offer in the absence of a superior proposal.

Sub-committee chairman Ted Harris said the recommendation was supported by the full APN board and that all Independent directors intended to vote in favour of the offer in respect of APN shares they owned or controlled.

Latest media news headlines from DWS

2007-02-10T07:22:00.001-08:00

After axing AXN, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi angry at more `indecent' TV channels

Media worries Media worries US parents more than sex, alcohol

Vidzapper, Internet TV directory, launched

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release date announced

China's digital TV operators asked to provide 6 analogue channels

Rupert Murdoch hands out $100 million each to his six children

Allan Thompson's New book analyses media role in Rwanda genocide

testing new indian media blog

2007-02-10T00:05:00.000-08:00

this is a test post for the new indian media blog on dws

Ban on blogs lifted in India: TV and mdia coverage on the ban

2006-07-20T05:28:00.000-07:00

Quite a few ISPs have started freeing up the blogs. Mine, Iqara, seems to be a slow one there.

The coverage I have seen on most TV channels and newspapers seemed extremely superficial. No one has bothered to, or managed to, identfy the responsible person, minister or bureaucrat, and question them. All we have are bloggers looking upset, and lawyers talking about some point or the other.

The real issues I feel are:
Who gets to decide such issues, and do we expect the same in the future too?
What is the official policy on this, and how has it been applied in the blog ban?
Who is really to blame for blocking the entire blogspot domain? I think it is unlikely that all ISPs are in the same boat, and made the same mistake.
Show up the fool who did this. I also want to how anti left or anti Islam sites are banned.

I saw a story on the IBN website about govt lifting the ban on blogs Again same old story with no extra information, and no attempt to get at the truth either.

Posted below is a mail I have sent them as a comment on the story:
I am quite surprised by the superficial nature of your coverage of this issue.
True, the government has decided to backtrack. But there are many important issues here.

1. Who was responsible for the ban? Who came up with the list of 22 websites?
2. What was the criteria being applied? I suspect that what had appeared was nothing more than what appears in the newspaper columns and party magazines.
3. If something derogatory to Islam appears on a blog, how is it the government's problem? It was derogatory in what way? Does the govt intend to apply those yardsticks to all writings about Islam, or for every religion?
4. "...ISPs decided to go ahead, do one better and block all blogs." How can you say this? Do you have proof? How come we do not see any representative of any ISP on any channel including yours? It is extremely unlikely that all ISPs in India made the exact error and blocked all blogs on their own.
5. What was the extreme views expressed on princesskimberly.blogspot.com? Are they any different from the extreme views expresssed on defamer.com or wonkette.com?
6. How can blogs fuel communalism any better or worse than the people who go around making inflammatory speeches in the country? How is blocming the blogs a priority?
7. How is exposingtheleft.blogspot.com improper? Is it because the Left supports the govt in India? But that blog is about the American Left. Was it someone's kneejerk reaction without ever reading it?

Too many questions, repeatedly asking the audience and interviewees about comparisons to China is of no use. Someone in the government deserves to hang for this, and you are not even making a serious attempt to fiogure out who it is?

Was that Bhupendra Chubey or someone else?

2006-06-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

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A few days back, while posting on the story on the Honda City fire which killed two people, i said that the anchor was Bhupendra Chaubey. Now I am not so sure.

The reason is that yesterday I saw an anchor on CNN-IBN who to my eyes looked pretty much like Chaubey - then the real Chaubey appeared on the screen from New Delhi!

So if I thought the wrong guy was Chaubey, sorry!

Photos of the monsoon

2006-05-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

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Check today's newspapers. HT - flooded roads, almost artistic. TOI - firemen looking for someone who drowned. Indian Express - nothing, but Newsline has a pic of the crowded CST platform.

DNA? A pic of a wet women running across the street smiling and bracing herself against the rain!

So TOI. So like the wet lady doctor in front of a water cannon in Delhi. Some things dont change.

Two people die in Honda City blaze; Bhupendra Chaubey and Hormazd blunder about

2006-05-30T23:44:00.000-07:00

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A Honda City caught fire on a Delhi flyover, and its two occupants were charred to death. It is now known that one of the deceased was the car's chauffeur and the other, a maid servant.

The media has raised revelant questions on this mishap. Why could the occupants not get out? Did the central locking system jam? Was it a problem with a defective part, or wth the car? Why did the safety mechanism to cut off fuel supply in case of fire not work?

All valid points, and important ones too. In recent years, a few such incidents have come to pubic attention. A Fiat Palio fire that was quite similar in Delhi, and the Mumbai victims who died in cars when their doors jammed.

So Bhupendra Chaubey calls in Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar India.

Now Bhupendra Chaubey's core competency is not automobiles; its politics. Some would say it's not anchoring either. Here, after pointing out the questions, he went on in a tone that suggested that technology itself is the culprit, and asked several questions on blackmarket accessories, music systems, central locking, tubeless tyres etc. All valid questions, but if the tone of the questioning is that of the all-knowing ignoramus, blaming all technology, what is poor Hormazd to do, other than get all defensive?

And getting defensive is what Hormazd did. Why? There has always been criticism that automobile journalists are apologists for the automobile industry. I have consistently opposed that. However, Hormazd's performance yesterday reallylet me down. I know he was reacting to the accusatory tone of Chaubey, but what stops you from being objective?

Hormazd went on to sing praises of technology. Not needed at all. If a car catches fire, there is no need for an auto mag editor to feel insecure, even though you are facing stupid questions. The fact is, 2 people died inside a car. Unless it is a suicide or murder, it is most likely that the occupants could not get out as the doors jammed in some fashion. Why can't you just say it, Hormazd? You said that the door could have deformed, but don't look so defensive while saying it. There was an automobile fire, and a door and its locking system can jam. The space shuttle explodes while re-entry, damnit, and there is nothing bad about saying that some system could have malfunctioned. The fire could have messed up the manual override, some chip could have fouled up, any number of things could have happened, and why can't you just say it?

Not that Bhupendra Chaubey was helping him along, every line of his made it clear that there was this huge mysterious issue here.

Then he asked Hormazd about the Mumbai floods, and how come some people died as they got locked in their cars. Good question. An already psyched Hormazd almost said that that could not have been because doors caught jammed, maybe the water pressure did it, etc etc. Come on Hormazd. Say that you don't know. People died in cars, for some reason they couldn't get out, they didn't choose to die. What could have happened? It could be that the system fouled up. It could be that they could not open their power windows. It could be that the battery conked off, you don't have a winding lever, and the water pressure anyway wouldn't let the doors open even if the central locking system was working.

The point is that you have to find a way to make sure that people caught in accidents and floods do not die - the doors should open. On way or the other. I have a friend who got stuck in his Maruti 800 which didn't have power windows or central locking. The doors refused to budge, the windows refused to wind down. No technology there - simple jamming. Bystanders saw him panicking inside the car and pulled it open in some way. So it happens. What are the editors and auto manufacturers going to do about it?

(And if anchors do not start talking like they have just uncovered a huge conspiracy by car manufacturers to deliberately lock people inside cars and suffocate them, that could help too.)

Da Vinci Code and the 'secular' media

2006-05-18T01:32:00.000-07:00

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To begin with, let me make it clear that this writer is a Christian by birth. Whether I am a true Christian is something I don't know for sure, and something many would disagree with. So take this piece as you will.

First, links to some secular media stories:

HT

Who’s afraid of Dan Brown?
...There is nothing to fear from Brown or The Da Vinci Code. What one should be afraid of is one’s own ignorance.
Chhotebhai Noronha
The writer is the former National President of the All India Catholic Union

Control dramas
The Talibanesque charade being played out over the movie based on The Da Vinci Code raises questions about how freedom of expression is being encroached on by illiberal groups, and the Government of India.

IE

‘The Da Vinci Code’ controversy: the I&B minister has no business styling himself chief censor

If there is something refreshing about the Da Vinci Code protests and its coverage by the media, it is a clear stance. A clear stance, that this is a liberal society, censorship will not be tolerated, let people judge for themselves, etc etc. And for once, I can't see the Christian counterparts of the 'sensitive Hindu' writing columns about how it hurts the sentiments of the community, ban it please or there will be riots, etc etc. Sure, there are some who keep talking to the media and appearing in news reports, but so far, I haven't come across any columns or opinion pieces asking for a ban. Thank (Christian) God!

It also makes me smirk - how come the media which is in the thrall of the Italian Roman catholic Sonia Maino doesn't ask for a ban too? Sonia, Christian and Catholic and born in Italy, Manmohan - indebted to her, Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Times of India, sucking up to the Congress and therefore Christian Sonia all the time - so why are the newspapers supporting the movie and opposing the opposers?

Oh, I know. I think its that Hindus have finally awakened and if the newspapers would do just one more thng to please the minorities, they would wake up and cancel all their subscriptions. yes, that must be it.

Also, the surprising absense of anyone asking for a ban on Da Vinci Code from the edit and op-ed pages of the papers leads me to the next question - can't Christians write?! Occasionally, Muslims have a Shahabuddin writing in the papers, and all the editors and reporters (supporting the Muslims as my Hindu brethren would say), Balbir Punj and associates write about Hindu sentiments and such-like, where are the bloody columns on Christian sentiments? Oh I am so angry now I think I should go out and burn some shops.

Or could it be that Christians who can write columns are actually liberals and would want the movie in our cinemas? Such a horrible thought. I am sure my right-winger friends must be thinking - they have sold their religion off, what will they sell next - their mothers?

Most interesting thing in the papers are the letters to the editor. Also the discussions on websites of TV channels. The posters in their message boards seem to be very confused - why a ban? After all, isn't it a story? A better, more human interpretation of Christ? And then I check their names, and I see Hindu names. Umm, righties say Christians can't understand why Hindus feel strongly about 'insults' to their Gods, so the reverse line doesn't work?

Anyway, in case you are truly confused by now about where I stand, let me clarify: Dan Brown can 'insult' my religion as long as he wants, I will go watch his movie and laugh. If my fellow Christians don't stop me from it.

Vir Sanghvi writes the article I wanted to do

2006-05-14T02:56:00.000-07:00

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This is about the Da Vinci Code.

Christian organisations have started protesting against the Da Vinci Code movie. I wanted to wirte a piece and make the point that when Hindus or Muslims protest, everyone notices. When Christians get into their wimpy pathetic protesting mode, the media pubishes a few articles, but nobody gives a hoot.

Sanghvi had in an earlier piece said that Christians seem to be a lot more tolerant than Hindus or Muslims. Today he says that probably this is not the case, all Indians are intolerant when it comes to matters of religion. They protest becaue they are Indians, thats what we do. He goes on to say that the current Christians protests actually prove that they are Indians first, and Christians next! I like that!

Anyway, it still leaves one little point that I can talk about. Here I get into anrgy (!) Christian mode. How is it you people don't care about our religous sentiments, eh? I write a book about Rama which questions some generally accepted beliefs, and there will be crowd outside my house baying for my blood and getting it too. I say something Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and you blast a bomb under my arse. Here is a book and movie that questions the very fundamentals of current Christian belief, and just because we can't chop your head off, burn buses, issue fatwas asking for the censor board's collective heads and have no idea of bomb-making technology, you can you can let us stew?! (Angry Christian mode off.)

Actually you are right. Insulting a religion is no big deal in India. Can you create sufficient damage, be a big nuisance, and have a nice riot or two, and the country is quick to do something. No muscle, no cheese.

Now just in case you think that I am for banning the book or the movie, let me clarify: I am all for insulting all religions, their founding fathers and mothers, cartooning every single religious figure in the nude, drawing vicious cartoons about them, and making movies that go about questioning ever single dearly held belief and tradition. And bloody people around are getting as sensitive about religion as little children, I sincerely wish there would be blasphemy of all religions all around so they all become immune to it after a while. Develop some thicker skins, for goddsakes.

PS. Yes, I am a believer. I say you fold up your insult of my religion into a nice shaft and shove it up yours. Bring out ten movies, and show Jesus and Mary Magdalene copulating. I just wish I could do that to your religions too, without getting my head cut off. That's the good thing about us Indian Christians you know - we don't blast you into little pieces or chop up your mothers, and we are proud to be so.

And more chaddis in TOI

2006-05-12T23:39:00.000-07:00

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Today's TOI has a front page picture of a nice pair of bums. I like that.

Now, there are certain uncomfortable questions here, which we at DWS once discussed (maybe twice) in our media section. Our last story on the topic - Dad, why is this girl wearing only chhaddi? was when Mumbai Miror got into trouble for some semi-porn pictures (okay, erotica) of Adam Bedi and Nisha Harale.

Much as I appreciate and support a nice female figure, Greenpeace, less pollution, and bums in thongs, I still don't think such images in a morning family newspaper (suposedly) is a good idea. TOI supporters can argue that while it is entirely culturally inappropriate, the society and our families can easily adapt to seeing them. Or that it is tastefully done. Or whatever. We are not a society that has had, in the recent past, a sexual revolution, and I for one wouldn't want to be the one to play a part in hastening it. Oh it will come, alright, but who am I to change sexual mores for the good or bad? I don't think that is the realm of general newspapers either.

2 media stories on DWS

2006-05-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

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OK magazine comes to India. Hope they don't get into the same kind of trouble that Maxim invited on itself.

The Hindu vs Deccan Chronicle battle in Chennai gets more interesting.

The advantages of anonymity...

2006-05-11T03:10:00.000-07:00

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was recently brought to our notice by one of the many anonymous blogs. It carried a post on an alleged instance of sexual harassment at the party of a television channel. Being anonymous, it could first allude to, and then mention the name of the alleged harasser. If the story is true, and blog has actually managed to bring something out that happens in the media all the time. If the blog weren't anonymous, they wouldn't have been able to carry it.

It also shows the dangers of anonymous blogs. Say, the said blog has an agenda. It could easily ruin someone's life by such a post.

That said, anonymous blogs, and anonymous media blogs are here to stay. Journalists, especially in the national capital, are regular abusers of the law. In contrast, the ones in Mumbai prefer other benefits, usually financial. The media closes ranks extremely easy, and drunk press club sessions were the only places where the dirty dealings were discussed. Even if a male journalist sexually harasses a female journalist, there is just no way the man will be punished. To begin with, the female journalist is not likely to file a police complaint - they too profess such stuff in the newspapers they write for. Then, the colleagues, and even the management professes complete understanding of the victim's mental state, promises exemplary (but secret) punishment for the offender, and that's about it.

Take a hypothetical situation. If a senior male journalist assaults or even rapes a female reporter, you think a rape case will be filed? Hah. There is just no question of another media organization coming to the victims' rescue either. They too already have enough leering skeletons in their cupboards.

It is high time media organizations in India have a sexual harassment policy. The media is quick to ask for it in private companies, but the question will never be discussed in a newspaper.

'Leftie' Outlook has Madhu Kishwar rubbishing Medha Patkar

2006-05-08T05:21:00.000-07:00

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Is this really happening? I am sure a right wing blogger would be confused by this. Isn't Outlook all for communism, socialism, environmentalism and in essence anti-national? Perhaps, they decided that publishing something against the NBA's campaign would get them favours from Narendra Modi? Perhaps, Vinod Mehta is a closet khakiwalla?

So, please, bloggers, don't be confused. It is all a trick to obfuscate and confuse. Don't get taken in.

You can read the full article by Madhu Kishwar in Outlook here: Obstruction as ideology.

Your minds will get further clouded when the same issue of Outlook has a story on the Vadodara riots. It claims that the dargah demolished predates even the city of Vadodara (impossible!), that demolishing a pre-1947 religious structure is against the Places of Worship (special provisions act) of 1991 (when has that stopped us?) and that the temples demolished before the dargah were recent structures (A recent temple is equal to ten 200 year old dargahs) and more such nonsense. Please re-emphasize these points further in your blogs, I beg you.

I know bloggers are not mainstream media - but still I have to mention this site sandeepweb. Such an amazing naivete about our country, I have never seen before. I quote: "One harmless, well-meaning governmental move to ramp up the infrastructure has steadily matured into a grave political battle fought with the secular media as an important ally." Read more of the NRI patriot's writings here.

Harmless governmental move? Come on, all we wanted was a little better traffic movement in Vibrant Gujarat! Such childlike innocence! In a state where every action by the government is looked upon with suspicion by Muslims, and vice versa, there are NO well meaning governmental moves. Or well-meaning moves by Muslims. Everything is a threat, a muscle-flexing - by one or the other of the two parties.

Pioneer is another newspaper that wallows such angelic ideas. Its editor Chandan mitra's closeness to the BJP helped it become so. The right wing says that Muslims are irresponsible or worse, and then pretends that they are not so when it wants to demolish something. Any demolition has enormous significance in India now - and without taking the other party into confidence (Take Muslims into confidence - ha!), you can't govern. Pretending that Muslims should be reasonable - despite what you did to them, and they have done to you - is asking for trouble. In Modi's Gujarat, nothing is as simple as a minor governance issue.

B Mathew

MF Husain writes about himself in DNA

2006-05-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

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I am not going to compare MF Husain writing in DNA to some crook or criminal justifying himself by writing a piece in a newspaper. I am not going to say that MF Husain is anti-Hindu, and that the government is right in planning to press charges against him of 'hurting religious sentiment' either. That is a different article, for another day.

However, I object to Husain's piece in DNA as a bad bit of writing. He starts off with examples of Ajanta and Ellora, gives more examples and claims that he and today's painters are "descendents of that golden era of great vision." You can read the full piece here. Bit of history, claim that you are a part of that, give a list of stuff you have done, end. Huh?

If anything, the piece shows a clear lack of understanding of today's India and the world - where cartoons of Prophet Mohammed can't be published, Rama can't be mocked, but a Da Vinci Code can be a book and a movie, and Husain can paint nude Hindu goddesses and gods. Husain's world is not what exists right now - maybe a tough fact for a man born three decades before India's independence to come to grips with.

I am all for freedom of expression and the right to insult religions and gods. What I am not for is a lack of awareness about the trends in the society you live in. But then, what can one expect out of a man who is 90? How many 90-year old men make any sense? Perhaps we should just ignore him.

Spindian Express is just pissed that Indian Express is not pro-BJP

2006-05-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

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That is what I feel after following the famous Spindian Express for a while. Looking at the initial inspiration behind the blog that takes a few nasty blow at the Indian Express, over a period of time, all you see is a pale shadow of what it should be.

For example, IE has, in the recent past, aligned itself with the secular-liberal bandwagon. That in itself seems to offend Spindian Express. If the Pioneer has aligned itself with the BJP and RSS, if the Hindu has practically joined hands with the Left in India, why shouldn't the Express go pseudo-secular? Each to his own.

This is where I believe Spindian Express has gone overboard. If the biggest problem you have with the IE is that it is pseudo-secular, how many times can you hammer it in? And especially when your own blog so obviously takes sides with the pro-Hindu, pro-RSS paper Pioneer? It takes some amount of delusion to think that you are being an impartial critic of Indian Express if your ideal is Pioneer.

Also, what is with the bitchy tone? Learnt it from Pradyuman Maheshwari? Calling names is so easy, especially if you are an anonymous blog.

The fact is that much of the English media is pseudo-secular. But that's not news, is it? The problem is that in their vigor and enthusiasm and political correctness, they have taken it too far. And there are enough ways to make that point without name calling and pretending to be an objective observer when you are not. What comes of pot calling the kettle black?

Can Spindian Express really critique the IE? Of course it can. Yes, it would mean that it would have to get rid of the street thug behavior, posturing, name-calling and stick to the facts. It would become ten times more believable then. Right now, read it, and within the first two posts, you will be able to figure out the political bias of the blog - just as easily as the Indian Express' bias comes through in a single day's reading of the paper.

This is where Bullshitpress succeeded. Despite the aggro tone, Bullshitpress did not take sides. It could have been right, it could have been wrong, but you couldn't find a political bias in the blog. It preached to everyone, and even if you were the target, you knew your opposition would be the target tomorrow. And he stuck to facts. Lots of it. Which is enough to rest your case. Spindian Express reads like something written by a hired illiterate thug. I am sure it is not, and why the writer has chosen that tone baffles me.

Look at some of these examples:

"Both Arjun Singh's and Shekhar Gupta's gameplan is same", an analyst said, "Thakur Singh will not give up his job to an OBC nor will Bania Gupta. The goal is: claim to speak for the disadvantaged, but make sure it is no skin off your own nose."
"Here is a deal. Why won't Sahakar Gupta go live in an area of Baroda that will have to use that road for a daily commute for just a month?" a reader asked. "I am not even asking that the chap get moral and ethical by stopping letting out his building!!"
"Instead of sucking up to Prannoy Roy by giving an award to Barkha Dutt", a reader suggested, "Rabble Rouser Gupta should persuade Vivek Goenka to donate a few crores to Baroda Municipal Corporation so that traffic problems can be solved without demolishing Muslim structures."

Very objective and impartial and decent. Those analysts, readers are none other than the blogger himself, obviously. or a close friend who is too drunk.

B Mathew

Bullshitter deletes my comment - Why?

2006-05-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

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Yesterday, I went to bullshitpress blog. The blogger had said that he is gone - maybe for now, maybe forever.

Anyway, I posted a comment. It basically said something like this - "Hello, sorry that you have decided to go away. I didn't agree with you occasionally, but wish you woud come back".. or something like that.

Today morning, my comment is deleted. The message says, "This post has been removed by the blog administrator."

I am confused - why delete something as innocuous as that?

The remaining comments are pretty much expressing their sorrow that he has gone. The only difference I can see is that they don't mention anything about ever disagreeing with bullshitpress.

Now, perhaps this will be one more insight into the mind of the media bloggers. Perhaps it is not.

Let me explain what I think this means.

The first commenter is Spindian Express. No reservations expressed by him on anything bullshitter has written - but just a 'come back' comment.

The reasons why bullshitter deleted my comment could be:

1. It is his blog, and he can do anything there.
Yes. I would do the same if I felt like that on a morning. Who are you to question that?

2. The bullshitter just wants to see posts expressing sorrow at his leaving.
Possible. Many people are very sentimental.

3. A reader could click on my name 'dancewithshadows', read my blogger profile, and then could come visit this blog. Bullshitpress doesn't want that.
True. But why wouldn't he want that? Will he lose visitors to me? Unlikely. His blog has stuff which a reader will find more exciting, and whether they agree or not, he makes some points which I am in no position to make. Especially because I am not anonymous.

4. He plans a comeback.
Yes, he can come back even if he didn't delete my comment. Perhaps, coming back among a cacophony of comments begging for him to come back is better. But I did that, didn't I?

5. No tolerance for dissent.
Easy to accuse, tough to prove. Not a new thing for media people, though. I suspect I have no tolerance for dissent either, probably I just pretend I do.

6. No criticising a media blog.
Hmm.. I haven't seen any evidence of this from bullshitpress before. But it could be true that media doesn't like being criticised or blogged about by media bloggers, and media bloggers don't like being blogged about either. This will be true to nature for mediapersons. But then again, no evidence that bullshitter is so too.

Are you wondering why such a long blog post about one deleted comment? Because its 10:40 a.m, I haven't had any breakfast, and I work from home and have a lot of time on my hand for bakwaas.

Cheers and have a good day.

B Mathew

Bullshitpress vanishes?

2006-05-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

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The latest post in bullshitpress blog titled 'Away' says that the blogger is gone somewhere, and may or may not be back. For good measure, he / she has deleted all the previous posts too.

Much as I think that the blog often went overboard, I feel sad. It made several excellent points, regularly, and whether you agree or not, it was clear that the blogger felt strongly against what many newspapers and journalists did.

Somehow, I think that an anonymous blog won't really work well. It is their strong opinions which will be stamped out instantly in an edit meeting or a non-anonymous blog that makes them take up these projects. But once they get a regular following, writers that they are, the fact that you are anonymous to your readers eats you. My thought, of course - that would be what I would feel if I had an anonymous yet successful blog. (spindianexpress is an exception to this.) I am afraid it will be a matter of time before the bloggers behind warfornews get tired of it all too.

Will bullshitpress be back? I don't know. It looks like a goodbye forever, considering that the blogger has deleted his earlier posts. Especially, when abandoning the blog is easier - just leave it as is, and go. Considering everything, it is a sad thing - the media needs watchdogs, and someone like bullshitter who would take on everyone will be missed.

PS. This seems to be a week of vanishing media bloggers. 'K' of presstalk has gone traveling, and now bullshitter has gone too. Editional had a couple of posts and then it was abandoned, from the looks of it. Newscoolie has occasional posts, and the layout just doesn't cut it - distracting circles, too small text. Even warfornews is not updated for the last two days, and the comments section has once again been taken over by breast-lovers.

B Mathew

Don't miss this! Sagarika Ghose allegedly takes on Warfornews!

2006-05-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

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This is one thing nobody should miss.

For 2 days, warfornews took potshots at Sagarika Ghose - especially for her ridiculous presentation in Kolkata Adda or something like that. I saw it a few times, and despite the bright and cheery saree she wore and big bindis and earrings, it fell flat. She seemed to be in a tearing hurry, neither of the interviewees ine ach of the programmes got a chance to finish what they were saying, and she kept on interrupting. Unwatchable and irritating as hell.

And then, finally, warfornews' postings got her goat. I am assuming that its her - maybe I am wrong. A post appeared in the comments section of warfornews, which spewed venom, contempt, anger and much vocabulary. It was signed Sagarika Ghose. Now anyone can do that get another person into trouble.

Here, the believability of the comment came about because of the language. Other bloggers who read the convoluted style went to her own blog in the ibnlive website and checked - and found a similarity that was too obviously her. Could anyone have faked it? Possible - but then that person went to extra ordinary lengths, I must say. Anyway, read it all and decide for yourself.

And by the way, the post by 'Sagarika Ghose' changed the entire tone of the discussion in warfornews. For once, the blabbermouths were outnumbered by those who took offence at what 'Sagarika Ghose' wrote and hit back. The entire post can be summarised as, "who are you to expect anything out of us, who are you to judge us, you are a miscreant and don't talk about stuff you don't know and you are anyway an anonymous coward." She definitely knows the answer to the last point - the blog is anonymous because if it was not, it wouldn't exist. Not everyone can afford to put their name to what they write.

If this really is Sagarika Ghose, she will find it difficult to live this down for a long, long time.

B Mathew

CNN-IBN - listen to your own reporters

2006-05-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

...
I don't remember the name of the show, but Rajdeep Sardesai and Vidya Shankar Aiyar were the anchors. For the first minute, when Vidya Shankar Aiyar spoke about the Indian engineer Suryanarayanan who was killed by the Taliban, Rajdeep had the expression of a gruff tiger on his face. Rajdeep and 'tiger' shouldn't really go in the same sentence, but it looked like that to me, what to do? Anyway, if that is your outraged expression I saw, I can understand - who am I to tell people to change their expression! :-)

Anyway, what followed was interesting. The reporter from Hyderabad, in a quick para, explained to Vidya Shankar Aiyar about the atmosphere in Hyderabad, about the engineer's wife's attempted suicide, and the 'second wife' who popped up and that she was sitting on the road outside Suryanarayanan's house. Clear and concise she was.

And Vidya Shankar Aiyar asks her, "We are hearing some reports of a woman who claims to be his second wife, do you have any information on that?"

What!

That's what the reporter has just told you, man. Listen to her.

The one man who could beat Vidya at this has reformed, and become a lot more 'listening' than before. That's NDTV's Srinivasan Jain. He used to grate on my nerves for a long time, for his constant interruptions. He has since improved, and though still a trifle self conscious, has learnt to listen better.

TOI presents.. a pornstar!

2006-04-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

...
Bullshitpress has a hilarious piece on today's Times Life! main story, 'Confessions of a porn star'. Do read it. Nona Walia of TOI has done an interview of a pornstar I have not come across in regular everyday reading yet. The porn actress is Sahara Knite. Just why does this 'actress' merit a story, let alone a cover story? For once, I find myself fully in agreement with the permanently angry Bullshitpress blog.

We know about Medianet, and how it presents new actresses and celebrities for us in Bombay Tims for a price. Ethically that doesn't have a leg to stand on, but you can always say that all thosse journalistic traditions are wrong, and we are right. Fine, go ahead. But why would even a TOI would want to tell us about this actress, however accomplished she is in her sphere of work? What is the relevance to its readers in any imaginable way?

Does TOI believe that a substantial section of its readers are connoisseurs of porn? Does it have the research to back it such a contention? If it doesn't, does it believe that they should, and does it have a mission to accomplish that end? And why this porn star, and not another? What is the criteria used to do a feature story on this one? Does TOI believe that porn should be mainstream? If TOI thinks so, is it possible that the media in India and general public are both wrong? Does such stories fill a vacuum in our media which we have so far been blissfully unaware of?

The mind boggles.

Rambler strips on highway

2006-04-29T02:31:00.000-07:00

...
What do you make of that?

Someone was rambling, kept rambling, and then they stripped on a public highway?

This headline appeared in DNA Navi Mumbai.

It seems the correspondent was taken in by the vernacular accent. The story talks about rumbler strips being placed on the Sion - Panvel highway to reduce vehicle speeds. Nothing as exciting as a striptease on the highway.

Aaj Tak gives a lesson on mangal dosha

2006-04-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

So maybe Abhishek Bachchan's rumored marriage to the ice maiden is not going to happen. The reason, according to this CNN IBN report, is the Ash is a manglik - and CNN IBN says that "And quite understandably, the Bachchans do not want the “dark shadow of Mars” on their son’s Bollywood career which has just taken off to a flier."

Their funny business, actually.

But around 8 PM today, Aaj Tak decides to tell you all about Abhishek, Aishwarya, what mangal dosha really means - and much of the more than 15 minute programme was dedicated to an interview an astrologer who explains it in detail. We had a narrative, interspersed with bullet-points and slides on how dangerous it can be, what are the potential threats and problems, how you can overcome them etc etc. And never once a token disclaimer that this is a belief which has no scientific basis, no one to say that all this is rubbish. The entire manglik idea is handed out as if it is nothing but the truth.

Considering that Aaj tak caters to a North Indian audience that might be largely superstitious, this one programme has probably done immense damage to the work of those who try to eradicate them.

I wish someone would file a PIL or something.

Times, DNA, ET go for redesign

2006-04-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

We still cannot understand why a newspaper which is doing well should go for a design rejig, especially when the established design has no major problems. In the last couple of months, Econonic Times, DNA and now, Times have done some design "tweaking" - mostly changing the fonts, reducing and increasing column-widths and changing the artist's palette. Do they serve much of a purpose?

Economic Times did a redesign about 2 months back. The front page briefings column reduced in width. More headlines appeared in sans-serif fonts. Also, ET scrapped the popular CFM page (companies, finance and markets) and replaced it by an Economy, Finance and Markets page.

Many of the stories which appared on the erstwhile CFM page now appear in the Business of Brands pages, which are mostly left-hand side pages littered with ads. Those of us who used to turn to CFM after the front page have now lost interest. ET has successfully killed a sub-brand called CFM and replaced it with a weak economy page.

I am not a regular DNA reader; so won't be able to comment much on it. The redesign has made it look more spacious. It is clear that the re-designers had the HT format in mind when they attempted this task. But papers aspiring forthe HT design just cant make it because HT's mode of work is different from that of other papers, whereas newspapers these days are made mostly by the sub-editor clan & entry-level pagemakers who have has no training in design. What often happens in such cases is that the "integration" of page design and graphics dont happen. Many times, the grahics from the art depat dont gel well with the overall design. Not so with HT.

Times really had no reason to go for a design change I guess. or did they think they too have to go for the sans-serif fonts to make them look more contemporary? Times is already doing well as the largest English newspaper. Adding colour is one thing, but was the redesign rejig warranted?

Times does not seem to believe in the dictum that if somethng ain't broke, dont fix it.

But still, we are sure that Times can "carry off" the new design. They even got the entire industry and advertisers to shift from the broader format to a narrower format; didn't they?

I almost missed it: HT Style too had a design rejig sometime back. Now, HT Style is the only place where Ithink HT's design fundamentals have failed. Competitors Bombay Times and DNA After Hrs are far better. HT's design gives importance to a lot of free space and non-cluttered look. But this fails at HT Style. A celebrity-party-society section fails to catch attention if it looks loose and disconnected. HT Style looks more like a party where the invitees did not turn up. The buzzing-happening feel of Bombay Times is lacking in HT Style. It looks more like a Sunday afternoon read.

JM

Attacks with a salt?

2006-04-26T04:21:00.000-07:00

This is a minor error, of course.

Ever been attacked with a salt? A Mid-day.com report says you can be assaulted with a salt.

"They also attacked me with a salt and I received 24 stitches on my chest."

Deepak Chaurasia does it again!

2006-04-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

Quoting from editindia.blogspot.com:

"Ajtak's Deepak Chaurasia was enlightening all of us with his special comments the morning Pramod Mahajan was shot. Chaurasia revealed his closeness with the family like I know his brother, sister, son, daughter....almost everybody....and went on to describe his relations with the family for over a decade and categorically denied that there was any brother by the name Praveen.
'He seems to be a cousin of Pramod', said Chorasia."

Hohoho.