The “national” media in India—a loose moniker that alludes to Delhi-based newspapers, magazines and TV stations—are routinely accused of picking up stories from the regional language press and passing them off as “exclusives” when no one is watching. Fingers are now being pointed at the northern editions of The Indian Express which on November 23…
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Why did the editor cross Kasturba Gandhi Marg?
So, why did Raju Narisetti suddenly leave Mint, the business Berliner launched by the Hindustan Times group, in December 2008, less than two years after the newspaper’s launch, and return to the United States? *** # Was it because he was opposed to staff and salary cuts as proposed by the management, as insiders claimed?…
Prabhu Chawla’s son named in media bribery case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named advocate Ankur Chawla, son of Prabhu Chawla, editor of the leading English newsweekly India Today*, for allegedly acting as a conduit to pay a bribe to a quasi-judicial official for “a favourable verdict in a case concerning a media house”. The Hindustan Times reports that junior Chawla…
Journo who broke Dalai Lama story passes away
From The Hindu: Guwahati: Veteran journalist Naresh Chandra Rajkhowa, who broke the news about the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet through Tawang in March 1959 and his seeking asylum in India, passed away at his Chandmari residence here on Monday. He was 87. He is survived by his wife Aparajita, a son and three daughters.…
The Paid News of India: a DD News docu film
MEDIA RELEASE: “Advertorial: Selling News or Products?“, a documentary film on the blurring of the line between editorial and advertising in Indian news media, will be telecast on Wednesday, November 25, at 10.30 pm on Doordarshan News. The film, directed by journalist and academic Paranjoy Guha Thakurta (in picture), has been produced by the Public…
Eric Steward reveals Plan B to save newspapers
Reuters news agency throws kindly light on the kind of folk likely to respond to the prayers of newspaper publishers, managers, editors and journalists: 81-year-old Australian man goes out to buy a newspaper. Takes a wrong turn onto a major highway. Drives 400 miles in 9 hours. Buys newspaper. Read the full story: Lost man…
CAMPAIGN TO FREE LAXMAN CHOUDHURY
India’s war on Maoists, described by prime minister Manmohan Singh as the “gravest internal threat” facing the country has begun to ensnare journalists too. Laxman Choudhury, a stringer with the Oriya daily Sambad, picked up eight weeks ago because eight leaflets of Maoist “literature” addressed to him were found with a bus conductor, is still…
The best editor The Pioneer, Delhi, never had?
The writer Rudyard Kipling was once on its rolls; the former British prime minister Winston Churchill served as its war correspondent. Now, The Pioneer, New Delhi, has announced its best editor who wasn’t: Eric Arthur Blair In a front-page story, the right-wing paper reports that the left-wing novelist and political thinker (born in Motihari, Bihar)…
Former journalist falls to death trekking in China
sans serif records the sad demise of Arun Veembur, a former journalist in Bangalore who went trekking to China “on a whim” to escape the humdrum of routine journalism. According to a report in The Hindu, Arun, 28, suffered serious head injuries after a fall while hiking in the mountains of southwest China on Monday.…
Letters modern-day authors no longer write
From the superb blog Letters of Note, a dream letter from the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov that every editor would love to dream of. Visit the blog: Letters of Note
The brave last words of Prabhash Joshi. RIP.
The full text of the press release issued by the Foundation for Media Professionals (FMP) of the address made by Prabhash Joshi at a seminar held in New Delhi on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, on the blurring of the line between editorial and advertisements in the Indian media. Joshi, a former editor of the Hindi…
Is India right in barring foreign journalists?
The Great Wall between India and China is not made of bricks and mortar; it is made of freedom and liberty. Any debate, any discussion, anywhere, on the superpowers-to-be is sealed, signed and delivered by the roaring presence of those essential ingredients in plentiful on our soil, and the utter lack of it in our…
PRABHASH JOSHI, A HINDI TITAN, IS NO MORE
sans serif records with deep regret the passing away of the veteran Hindi editor and a fearless voice against media malfeasance, Prabhash Joshi, in New Delhi on Friday morning. He was 72 years old. Founder editor of the Hindi daily Jansatta published by the Indian Express group, Joshi was a key member of the inner…
There’s a new ism in town, and it’s Arnab-ism
The Indian government’s “Operation Green Hunt” to track down Maoists—described by prime minister Manmohan Singh as the “gravest internal threat facing India”—is the flavour of the season in newspapers, magazines, and on TV stations. In reporting from the ground; publishing long essays; interviewing key players in studios; debating the whys and the wherefores of various…
How come Mario Garcia didn’t redesign this one?
Vijaya Karnataka, the largest selling Kannada newspaper owned by The Times of India group and edited by Visweshwar Bhat, has undergone a redesign. Above is the front page of the first edition of the relaunched issue; below is yesterday’s front page. This is the second revamp of the paper after ToI acquired the Bangalore-based paper…
Guess who monetised editorial space first?
“Paid News”—editorial space being sold for a fee, without revealing to news consumers that it is an advertisement—is suddenly all the rage, with the Magsaysay Award-winning journalist P. Sainath weighing in on the issue. In just the last week, the Foundation for Media Professionals (FMP) has conducted a seminar on the topic*; the communist party…
IJR 