M.J. Akbar in The Gazette, Montreal: “Mass media take a superpower’s monologue into millions of homes. We think of mass media as a fractured range: oratory, print, radio, television, Internet. There is one common fact to this range, the word. The medium may be diverse but manipulation of the message is through the massage of…
Monthly Archives: August 2008
When prices diminish to match attention spans
At Church Street in Bangalore, back issues of American and British magazines are available for a fifth of their cover prices. And on K.G. Road in the same city, a roadside hawker tries to woo readers by marking down prices of science magazines in the local language, Kannada. Photographs: Karnataka Photo News
Ramnath Goenka India Press Photo Awards 2008
PRESS RELEASE: Entries are now open for the Ramnath Goenka India Press Photo Awards 2008. Professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers are invited to send in pictures that show outstanding visual qualities and tell a news story with great force. The Ramnath Goenka Picture of the Year Award will honour the entry that demonstrates…
Because the Bombay Duck is not a duck
‘Azadi advocates should be tried for treason’
Chandan Mitra, editor-in-chief of The Pioneer and a Rajya Sabha member nominated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): “Last weekend two prominent newspaper columnists [Swaminathan Aiyar in The Sunday Times, and Vir Sanghvi in The Hindustan Times] wrote about the need to think out-of-the-box urging us to seriously consider if it is morally right to hold…
“Indecent? Vulgar? Repulsive? Suggestive?”
The Shirdi Sai Baba may miraculously open his left eye and left eye only, mind you, just as the Neilsen meters start whirring. The mullahs may spew out hate 24×7 with spit and polish. The 9 pm women may all be vampish shrews with Botox vials in their hip pockets. And aging heroes may fish…
Two murders near Delhi > 3,000 farmer suicides?
P.N. Vasanti in Mint: “The recent case of a double murder in Noida received 3,464 minutes of coverage in one month (16 May-16 June)— almost 70 times more (on an average) than the agrarian crisis (an estimated 3,000 farmer deaths in one year). One of the key reasons for such excessive coverage can be attributed…
With so many legs, who on earth needs a tripod?
On World Photography Day on Tuesday, Karnataka Photo News editor Saggere Ramaswamy captures the great orb preparing to take a dip below the Wellesley Bridge at the island-town of Srirangapatna, the erstwhile lair of the Tiger of Mysore, Tipu Sultan. Cross-posted on churumuri
‘More isn’t merrier for the thoughtful reader’
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director, Biocon, on the entry of new newspapers to Bangalore, in Mint: “There is no point in having newspaper after newspaper coming. What’s your differentiator? People in the advertising business look forward to more papers as it gets them wider reach and better rates. But, for the reader, all papers…
Why journalism is not just another profession
The cynicism of the public in the media is a global sunrise industry. Fed by politicians, businessmen, sportsmen, celebrities and other newsmakers who feel the wrong end of it, or no longer have any use for it, news consumers can never resist the temptation to run it down. Till…. Video: courtesy Al Jazeera
Before the newspaper war, the hoarding war
Bangalore is the blazing new battle ground for English language newspapers. With The Times of India having displaced market leader Deccan Herald some years ago, every new entrant views the No. 2 slot to capture a slice of the City’s Rs 700 crore advertising pie. Deccan Chronicle, which launched towards the end of May 2008,…
IJR 