Ramanisblog

Tag: journalism

  • Paid Indian Print Electronic Media Details

    I posted sometime back92011) on the pattern of Investment holding in India in the Media, both print and Electronic.

     

    Be aware what you watch in Print, Digital Format and on TV is not News.

     

    Paid News India
    Newsppaers are paid
    DMK Chief Karunanidhi’s Family controls Print electronic media In Southern languages

     

    You are being presented a  copy written Packaged commodity, which has no relevance to facts,

     

    I am reproducing some information from different sources so that we can sift facts from Fiction.

     

    Rebuttals are most welcome.

     

    We, the people of India have the Right to know the Truth.

     

    Media Ownership,India.

     

    Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman. ‘World Christian Council’ does 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.

    Star TV:

    It is run by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church Melbourne.

    HindustanTimes:

    Owned by Birla Group, but hands have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in Collaboration with Times Group.

    The Hindu:

    English daily, started over 125 years has been recently taken over by Joshua Society, Berne , Switzerland .. N. Ram’s wife is a Swiss national.

    Indian Express:

    Divided into two groups. The Indian Express and new Indian Express (southern edition) ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and latter is still with the Indian counterpart.

    Eeenadu:

    Still to date controlled by an Indian named Ramoji Rao. Ramoji Rao is connected with film industry and owns a huge studio in Andhra Pradesh.

    Andhra Jyothi:

    The Muslim party of Hyderabad known as MIM along with a Congress Minister has purchased this Telugu daily very recently”

     

    Media Ownership Details India

     

    Survey On Indian Paid Media.

     

    That “paid news” is a phenomenon that is deleterious to the credibility and independence of the media itself needs to be emphasized. Edelman, an independent public relations firm, in its 2010 Trust Barometer Survey (conducted in 22 countries worldwide, including India and six other countries in the Asia-Pacific region) stated that the Indian media has been losing its credibility and trust among the people. The study, which sampled 1,575 people in the 25-64 age group and 200 opinion leaders in India, noticed a sharp drop in trust over the past two years in television news in India. However, newspapers are ranked higher than other media in terms of credible news with people trusting newspapers more than any other medium: 38 per cent of the Indians polled trusted radio and television, while 40 per cent trusted news in newspapers. Over the past two years, trust in television news dropped sharply from 61 per cent to 36 per cent, that of business magazines has gone down from 72 per cent to 47 per cent, and that of newspapers has gone down from 61 per cent to 40 per cent. Trust in the media in India as a whole declined by 7 per cent (from 65 per cent in 2009 to 58 per cent in 2010). On the other hand, China has seen the trust in media go up from 59 per cent in 2009 to 63 per cent in 2010. However, in terms of overall trusted institutions in India, media has performed better than the government as an institution. Sixty-seven per cent of Indians trust business as an institution, followed by the Indian media in the second position, with 58 per cent Indians trusting it. Non-government organizations (NGOs) and the government are placed in third and fourth positions, respectively

     

    From BBC.-British Media is no better.

     

    ”

    India’s media is one of the nation’s great glories, with 250 radio stations, 850 TV channels and 93,000 registered newspapers and magazines. It is one of the few countries in the world where newspaper readership is growing.

    But just how free is India’s free press? Shilpa Kannan investigates the growing concern over ‘paid media’, in which powerful business and political interests ensure they get favourable coverage. This takes many forms. Advertising content in newspapers is reprinted as straight news: politicians send the text of articles they want published directly to news outlets and pay cash fees for the privilege: or businessmen build cosy connections with media outlets. It is widely believed that many media outlets have ‘rate cards’, which outline the fees for positive coverage. Conflicts of interest abound: freelance journalists are frequently given fees for attracting advertising as well as reporting the news.

    There have been over 1,400 cases where the Election Commission detected alleged paid news in polls in 17 states over the last four years. Now the Indian parliament has been considering legislation which will outlaw the practice – although detecting and proving it is likely to be tough.

    Shilpa asks if the phenomenon is likely to be a threat to India’s democracy.:

     

    “Nira Radia, a political and business lobbyist, was found to be part of a wide nexus among politicians, businessmen and journalists through which news was manipulated. Names of senior and celebrated journalists Barkha Dutt, Prabhu Chawla and Vir Sanghvi did crop up in this controversy but with media ethics of maintaining high journalistic standards lying in shreds, all of them continue to hold high positions even as the public trust in a partisan media erodes fast. (Tapes are available under ‘Radia Tapes in this site, more on this under Corruption as well)

     

    Paid Newspapers.

     

     

    The Tribune has always been a centrist newspaper covering the regions of North India such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and J&K.

     

    The Pioneer is the second oldest English newspaper to be printed in India. It has always shown a pro-BJP, right wing.

     

    The statesman has always been a left wing, anti-establishment newspaper.

     

    The Hindu too has been open about its ideologies and doesn’t shy away from being declared an organized left newspaper

    .

    While The Indian Express now supports congress, The New Indian Express continues to support NDA and right wing ideologies.

     

    Hindustan Times.

    This newspaper is probably the worst case of partisan media. It can easily be mistaken for a Congress published newspaper as it has become nothing but a mouthpiece for Congress propaganda.

     

    The Times of India is the leading English language newspaper in India. It tries to present an image of being a nationalist newspaper but has not been able to shed it bias towards the UPA government, now and then.

    The Time group, whc Iincludes Timesnow News Cahnnel will go all ou against every one except Sonia Gandhi and will clam up even against speaking her name.

    Sources.

    http://hillpost.in/2013/08/top-7-newspapers-known-to-favor-specific-political-parties-in-india/94800/

     

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01tmmy9

     

    http://www.bhartiyapaksha.com/?p=9987

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  • Worst Journalists of India

    There is a report on the Worst Journalists of India, 2014.

    I am posting excerpts below.

    Mean while,one should remember Media is also a part of the Society in which we live.

    Just as they used to show in films about Judges  as the ones beyond Human failings of corruption,which is not a fact as we know at least now, we , unfortunately still believe that the Journalists are as pure as driven snow and are beyond corruption and partisan views.

    The fact is they are so , so are we.

    Burkha Dutt formerly (9/!) of NDTV
    Burkha Dutt

    Under the circumstances, I do not follow or listen to one Journalist or another.

    I watch all of them, independently verify stories from different sources and arrive at a conclusion on my own.

    The perception that some are worst or good is a  subjective .

    Let me leave it at that.

    But to expect some journalist to be of the standard of say GK.Reddy, even he was biased, is too much to expect especially after Rai tapes implicating Burkha Dutt, Vir Sanghvi, (Check for audio under Radia Tapes)

    However I have a few impressions of some Journalists.

    Arnab Goswamy, though he is overly aggressive, forms opinions for himself , wants others merely to endorse him , by and large is as independent as The channel allows him.

    Karan Thapar,Arrasive to the point of repugnancy, yet he makes the people whom he interviews squirm and generally make an ass of themselves.

    In the process, in both these Journalists cases, the people spill the beans.

    That’s it for me.

    Now to the worst Journalist of the year 2014.

    You would find most of them to be tainted.

    ”

    10. S. Varadarajan (New entrant)
    Till recently S. Varadarajan or “Varadabhai” as I fondly call him, was the editor of ‘The Hindu’ which is famous for its anti-Hindu articles. Lately, Varadabhai is a TV panellist who helps to continue pounding the redundant theory that Modi abetted the 2002 riots. He came out strongly in support of Rahul Gandhi’s bogus allegations on January 27 with Arnab Goswami. Incidentally, RG stated journalists told him Gujarat govt was involved in the riots. I guess RG just missed naming Varadabhai directly. Peddling opinions as news articles was one of the reasons the anti-Hindu claimed he was sacked from the newspaper.  The most hilarious article carried in the The Hindu under Varadabhai was one which more or less claimed the “masculine pose” by Swami Vivekananda was one of the causes of rapes in India. So if Varadabhai ever strikes that pose I don’t want to venture a guess on what’s on his mind.
    9. Kumar Ketkar (9)
    KK stays where he was last time. He retains his old habits of hate-RSS, hate-Hindutva and anything remotely connected with BJP. Of course, most would remember he’s also a former speech writer for Congress. Lately, he’s an “acting” defence lawyer for the AAP party. Following the anarchic acts of Arvind Kejriwal & Co. outside Rail Bhawan in January 2014 Ketkar quickly defended them by telling CNN-IBN India has always been anarchic. He recalled events like the Ayodhya movement to defend Kejriwal’s stupidity. KK has a rare distinction though. He’s one of those media heroes who has been provided police protection following police complaints and threats for abusing a certain caste in Maharashtra. And that contempt is because he hated a certain politician. There’s also a case relating to defamatory articlesagainst the RSS and also abusing judiciary. It’s unlikely the man will change. A hate-filled heart remains the same.
    8. Nikhil Wagle (New entrant)
    Frankly, this media moron is in the bad news not so much for journalism but for his filthy tweets and some allegations by one Nitin Rane. I haven’t watched him on IBN Lokmat nor have I had the misfortune to read anything he may have ever written. Like some others in this list he is most known for peddling of untruths. His most stupid outburst was against the middle class people. Hetweeted in March 2012: “I am surprised by the low IQ of middle class in this country. Their understanding of politics is so dismal that they vote BJP. God save!” In another tweet he brazenly claims “Not a single PM of India has defended communal riots directly or indirectly. If @narendramodi dreams to become PM he should know this!” Of course, this Congress crony apparently backs what Rajiv Gandhi said justifying killing of Sikhs with a great tree falling. While Wagle often screams about corruption, readers and voters are quite aware of his bosses being alleged to be involved in the Coal scam. I don’t see any reason why Wagle why will ever move out of this list.
    7. Nidhi Razdan (10)
    The “Larger picture” has made progress and has gone up the list. If she is angling for a permanent spot among India’s worst then she’s doing just the right things. With a permanent scowl on her face and permanent contempt for some panellists, her show called “Left, right, centre” is nothing more than filler on NDTV. Sort of bench-warming for passing the “buck”. Nidhi delivered one of the most shameful episodes on Indian TV in her mindless rant against a British MP for inviting Narendra Modi to speak in the British parliament. She even claimed she had the right to “question” SC judgements. If you watch the video of that shameless spectacle Nidhi mentions “controversial/controversy” as many times as Rahul Gandhi mentions empowerment or systems in his speeches. A thorough disgrace to journalism.
    6. Karan Thapar (6)
    India’s only “bow-tie” journalist (he often reminds me of thebow-tie killer). He has earned the nickname ‘The Tool’ after infamously ridiculing PA Sangma, the presidential candidate, of being a tool in the hands of some political parties. His standard pose is the dangerous “masculine” pose that The Hindu warns us of as the cause of rapes. Often also called a Paki-Tool, KT sort of proved it when he was handed a quote of Nawaz Sharif about friendship with India. This quote was planted by the Pak news agencies after Sharif became PM and KT grandly discussed the “hand of friendship” on his show. It just turned out the statement was made by Sharif to none other than KT earlier (before Sharif became PM again) and the Pakis made KT a “useful idiot” to peddle that old statement in the midst of LOC violations. The other thing KT is fond of is making others (like Sibal, Jaitley) sit in his chair and play Devil’s Advocate and pay him compliments. His 2007 statement hoping for a “sudden removal of Modi” may hold more interest now in many quarters.
    5. Rajdeep Sardesai (3)
    If Rajdeep has fallen one place it’s only because a bigger disgrace has made a grand debut in this list. “Point taken, fair enough” is now the standard defence RS offers when zapped by a panellist (much like Nidhi’s “larger picture” diversion). From defending Robert Vadra and the Gandhis, RS is now seen as grand campaigner for the AAP party. The number of interviews and promotions of Arvind Kejriwal on CNN-IBN and the whole IBN group would stand as proof. His most famous event in the past two years would be the incompetent interview with Modi on the bus floor. Modi even, deliberately or inadvertently, called him “Sar-ka-dard-esai”. Under RS the IBN group has hit rock bottom with many employees being sacked and the channel hitting new lows in TRP. Quite unfortunate considering CNN-IBN does have some of the best journalists on TV. Rajdeep’s judgement and prudence can be measured by the fact that most of his IOTY nominees have ended up as disasters. If the “top” is bad then no number of good journalists can shore up a failing channel.
    Source:

     http://www.mediacrooks.com/2014/02/indias-worst-journalists-2014.html#.UvCATj2SzHL

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    ”

    KT: So in other words you buckled under media pressure?

    JJ: No, not at all. It was misunderstood by many people. It was not an anti-conversion law, it was an anti forcible conversion law.

    KT: But it was misunderstood for almost two years. You could have repealed it earlier, you didn’t. You only repealed it after you failed to win seats.

    JJ: It has nothing to do with that. If you insist on giving this interpretation I can’t help it.

    KT: What about the…

    JJ: (Intervenes) As to why the media is biased, that is because I am a self-made woman. Politics has for long been a male bastion. Mrs. Indira Gandhi changed all that, but still you must remember that Mrs. Indira Gandhi had all the inbuilt advantages. She had the advantage of being born in the…

    KT: (Intervenes) You’re saying that media picks on you?

    JJ: I do think so.

    KT: Because you are a woman?

    JJ: You are not allowing me to finish anything I want to say.

    KT: No, is it because you are a woman?

    https://ramanisblog.in/2010/03/03/karan-thapar-interviews-jayalalitha/

    The above one is interesting with Video.Check out.

    https://ramanisblog.in/2011/02/26/140-radia-tapes-audio-with-transcripts/

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  • List of Media Journalists, Received Money From Government

    Many of us naively believe that the Media is Free and we read what is News , not views in the garb of News.

    To me there are four types of Journalists.

    .Pakistan Paid Money to Journalists
    Journalists received Money, Pakistan

    1.Who write only the Truth in Public Interest.

    I am yet to see one.If any one has an idea, please let me know the details.

    This species is like mythical Gold Country.

    I can recall only two names which come closer to this category.

    ‘CHO’ Ramaswamy in Tamil, Late. Babaurao Patel of Mother India(English)

    2.Those who write because of Political inclinations,  like RK.Karanjia of Blitz(now defunct),DF Karaka (Current,now defunct)

    3.Slight variation of the above category,

    Political Papers, Card holding Members.

    4.Those who write for extortion

    5..Government Protagonist.

    This class receives money from he Government, occasionally criticize the Government for Credibility(?) and sings praise of the Government,plant stories subtly.

    Listen to Radia Tapes how the Media is manipulated by Industrialists.(Filed under Radia Tapes)

    This piece of writing is euphemistically  called ‘paid journalism”

    Pakistan Government has been foolish enough to have the list lying and was caught.

    They had to be released by a Supreme Court Order.

    I am reproducing excerpts and the List.

    Indian Government is smarter, or I am dumb, I am unable to find evidence of this.

    Story:

     

    The list of the 282 journalists who received payments and gifts from the secret fund of the information ministry was made public following a Supreme Court order.

    The complete list can be viewed as a PDF here, or scroll down to the bottom of this report.

    The list of  disbursements totals just over Rs177 million.

    Many names of senior journalists and anchors are included in the list, some of whom have been added for being provided flights or accommodation as part of official delegations with government officials such as the former prime minister. A few journalists who did not choose to travel on the offered trips have also been included in the list, seemingly erroneously.

    According to the rules and regulations, the purpose of the secret fund is only to obtain or uncover sensitive information necessary to protect ‘national interest/national security’.

    It cannot be used for any other purpose, such as emergencies or incidental expenses. All withdrawals are supposed to come under specific heads and justifications.

    Another list of 155 journalists who took gifts and payments from the information ministry will also be made public later.

    A spokesman of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting clarified that secret funds have no link with Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI),tweeted Radio Pakistan.

    Background

    SC Judge Jawwad S Khawja remarked during the April 11 hearing of the information ministry secret funds case that Rs300 million was apparently given away to a private television channel.

    Journalists and members of the civil society demanded the Supreme Court make public the names of the private TV channel that received Rs300 million from the information ministry and of all those journalists who allegedly received huge payments from the ministry.

    Complete list.

    Media men Received Money.
    List of Journalists who received Money from The Government,Pakistan

    Sources:

    http://tribune.com.pk/story/538900/secret-funds-case-list-of-282-journalists-to-be-made-public-today/

    http://dawn.com/2013/04/18/money-given-to-media-houses-journalists-sc-likely-to-order-making-list-public/

  • A Novel Approach in Journalism.Commuters on The Move

    Truly a Novel approach to reporting from the ground.

    It looks as if people are not as unapproachable as one assumes them to be.

    The Underground New York Public Library is a visual library featuring the Reading-Riders of the NYC subways.

    The Underground New York Public Library is a visual library featuring the Reading-Riders of the NYC subways. This library freely lends out a reminder that we’re all capable of traveling to great depths within ourselves and as a whole.

    The NYC Reading-Riders are a plentiful and diverse group. They’re engaged in a simultaneous journey, one that takes them towards their daily pursuits as well as towards a greater sense of themselves and our world. This project takes a closer look at them in celebration and revelation.

    I’m Ourit. I take and post these pictures along with some behind the scenes stories and thoughts. I’m fascinated by how we apply ourselves to stories and discourse. In so doing, we shape the course of who we understand ourselves to be.”

    Library Hours

    Sunday- Friday: Posting 4-6 images daily

    Sunday: A Sunday Morning Bible is posted at 8:00 AM

    Friday: At 12:00 PM I post a photo with an unsolved title. The Tumblr community helps me solve it.

  • ‘The Hindu’s Pro-Lanka Bias? N.Ram Fumbles.

    The Hindu‘s coverage of the news relating to  Tamil Genocide warrants this conclusion.

    The Hindu which was known for integrity and unbiased reporting is no more.

    English: Dmitry Medvedev and Mahinda Rajapaksa...
    Image via Wikipedia

    ‘Activists of Delhi Tamil Students’ Union, Democratic Students Union, Students for Resistance and other common students raised slogans against N. Ram accusing him of being a ‘media fascist’ and ‘a stooge of Rajapaksa’ at a public meeting in JNU after his reply to a question on The Hindu’s role in whitewashing the Sri Lankan state genocide of the Eezham Tamils, wherein he had extensively blamed the LTTE. The meeting on ‘Paid news and media ethics’ was organized at JNU on Wednesday by the Student’s Federation of India, which is the students wing of the CPI(M). The fact that N.Ram and The Hindu have unethically manipulated news to cover up the war crimes of Colombo makes them complicit in the genocide committed on the Eezham Tamils, a Tamil Nadu research scholar in JNU told TamilNet.

    Mr. Ram was talking about journalist coverage in India elections and during the US’ wars and on the theme of media ethics, referring greatly to Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent, a classic on understanding how news is manipulated and on editorial bias.

    An activist of the DTSU raised a question on why Ram, who had talked about journalists being attacked in Palestine and Iraq, had nothing to say about media freedom and assault on journalists in Sri Lanka, including murder of Sinhala journalist Lasantha Wikramatunga.

    When he has been silent about this, used his newspaper to support the genocidal war on the Eezham Tamils, called a visit to the IDP camps in Vavuniya an uplifting experience when they were reality in concentration camps, how could he talk about the ethics of journalism, the activist further asked.

    As a reply, N. Ram had said that those who criticize the GoSL do not criticize the LTTE [an argument highlighted by Mahinda Rajapaksa too nowadays]. After criticizing the ‘ruthlessness’ of the LTTE in his reply, he added a line that had the GoSL committed excesses, he would criticize that too…..

    When an activist of the DSU observed that his bias was obvious in his reply itself, where he had criticized the LTTE for ten minutes, but had only one line to say about the GoSL, and whether this was his idea of media ethics, Ram fumbled for a response. At this, students in the audience remarked loudly that ‘this is why they gave you Sri Lanka Ratna’ and shouted ‘shame’.

    http://www.tamilnewsnetwork.com/2012/03/15/ram-journalism-faces-criticism-in-jnu-for-pro-sri-lanka-bias-endorsing-genocide/