Like lawyers and policemen, software professionals and self-employed businessmen, (most not all) Indian journalists are denied credit cards by banks. Because, says rediff.com founder Ajit Balakrishnan, “They believe they have heard of enough cases of delinquent journalists who have written negative articles about his “harrowing experience” in an attempt to evade the bill collector.” “Perfectly…
Daily Archives: 8 May 2007
Working in your shorts, the dog by your side
Indonesia is in many ways like India. The internet is slow and expensive. Proficiency in the English language isn’t quite at its optimum. Working full time at a desk in an office is seen to be the honourable thing to do. But none of those hurdles have stopped Budi Putra, 34, from quitting his job…
A timely warning from a man who should know
“I never trust people who say how much fun writing is. The only thing that makes it fun is the anticipation of applause.” Tom Wolfe
93 seconds to knock 93 years of a hero’s life
At a time when of much of what the media dishes out is what its subjects want to put in the public realm, a scoop Q&A interview has become a prized trophy in journalism. Undiluted and straight from the horse’s mouth, it is a direct dialogue between the interviewee and the audience. But can the…
If you’ve been feeling nice about yourself…
If you’ve been nice and warm about being a journalist, relax, calm down, and take a couple of deep breaths. Because you—we—are in the exalted company of the Al-Qaeda, drug cartels, and war lords. Whether that is better than being ranked alongside lawyers and prostitutes, is for you to judge. But yes, the US military…